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This study analysed legislative oversight, accountability, and corruption in Osun State, Nigeria between 2010 and 2022. The research utilises qualitative approach, with data collected from various sources such as government reports, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were utilised to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives and subject-matter. The study purposively selected 25 respondents including majority leader, minority leader, and chief whip of the Osun State House of Assembly, Irewole Isokan, Ede North, and Ife North. Data collected were analysed through the use of Nvivo 4.0 software in order to corroborate with extant literature with respondent’s arguments. The results reveal that there is lack of legislative oversights in the state, which has led to an increase in corruption and a lack of accountability. This has had detrimental effects on the socio-economic development in the state. Findings also indicated that legislative oversights have a significant effect on increasing accountability and decreasing corruption in the state. However, there are certain challenges, such as lack of resources and political interference that hinder the effectiveness of legislative oversights. The study recommended that there is a need for effective and independent legislature in promoting accountability and reducing corruption in Osun State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis sativa is a high-value crop that can be cultivated for ruminant's feed and medicinal purposes. The demand for Cannabis and Cannabis products has increased since the beginning of 21st century. Objectives: The increase in the production cost of high-protein feeds such as lucerne has led to an urgent need to investigate alternative high-protein sources. Methods: Cannabis has been identified as an alternative to lucerne due to its high protein content. Results: However, the cultivation and uses of Cannabis and its by-products in South Africa is limited due to the strict legislation. The metabolites and nutritional value of Cannabis are influenced by growing conditions and soil type. Furthermore, the available literature has shown that Cannabis contains anti-nutritional factors that may affect feed intake or bioavailability and digestibility. Conclusions: Therefore, it is crucial to employ a processing method that can reduce anti-nutritional factors to promote the feed intake and growth rate of sheep. Fermentation, as a processing method, can reduce anti-nutritional factors found in Cannabis, which will make it a palatable alternative feed supplement for ruminants such as Dorper sheep. Overall, this review paper aimed to examine the available literature on the use of Cannabis as an alternative high-protein feed supplement for Dorper sheep in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The topic of legal forms in public administration is strongly influenced by the principles of good administration. In the Czech legal order, the Parliament acts as the rule-maker of statutory foundations for public administration, making it crucial to focus on the legislative approach to enacting legal forms. This paper examines the weaknesses in legislation related to the enactment of legal forms of public administration, specifically through the principles of legal certainty and predictability of law. Design/Methodology/Approach: The author analyses Czech legal norms, existing legal doctrine, and administrative court's rulings in relation to the legislative enactment of legal forms of public administration. This analysis leads to categorisation of legislative techniques based on the clarity with which the legal form of public administration activity is enacted. The paper also includes a case study consisting of a qualitative analysis of the legislative process in a specific case, based on publicly available records of parliamentary debates during the legislative process. Findings: In the case under review, there was no proper discussion of the implications of removing the explicit designation of legal form during the legislative process. No case has been found in which the Constitutional Court, acting as a negative legislator, annulled a statute for failing to explicitly specify a legal form, either due to its removal or its absence from the outset. Academic contribution to the field: The article highlights that, for the public administration to function effectively as good administration, the rules governing its activities must be clearly defined. The findings encourage legislators to ensure that proper discussions regarding the legal form of administrative activity take place when enacting laws. Such expert debate during the legislative process is essential to ensuring the clarity of the laws under which public administration operates in a particular legal form. Circumventing the legislative process or failing to engage in proper debate disproportionately impacts legal certainty and the predictability of law. Originality/Value: This article presents arguments emphasising the irrefutable role of the legislature in creating clear rules for the exercise of public administration and, as a direct result, enabling public administration to function as good administration. It points out the importance of clearly referencing the legal form of public administration in the law. The categorisation of legal form designation aids in identifying patterns and trends, helping to isolate relevant issues and focusing research on specific legal questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article clarifies the historical aspects and current features of the constitutional regulation of the people's legislative initiative in foreign countries; attempts to introduce a popular legislative initiative before the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine in 1996 were analyzed; the shortcomings of the attempt to constitutionally regulate the people's legislative initiative by submitting a draft law on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in 2019 have been clarified, and their own proposals for further changes have been expressed. A conclusion was made regarding the existence of such types of people's initiative as: people's initiative on holding a referendum, people's legislative initiative, people's constitutional initiative, local initiative. The following features of the people's legislative initiative can be distinguished, based on the analysis of the foreign experience of the constitutionalization of the relevant institution: 1) It is an optional instrument along with traditional subjects, such as the Government, deputies, the President, etc.; 2) Constitutions indicate the minimum number of citizens (mainly voters) who have the right to the relevant popular legislative initiative; 3) Constitutions, as a rule, stipulate the implementation of a popular legislative initiative by the rules established in a special law. The popular legislative initiative is inferior in importance, for example, to such an institution of direct democracy as a referendum. At the same time, the spread of the popular legislative initiative in the world makes it a fairly traditional element of constitutional design and demonstrates respect for popular sovereignty, democracy, and human rights. In Ukraine, during the drafting of the draft Constitution, there was a rather progressive version of the people's legislative initiative, which the constitutional commission subsequently rejected. In our opinion, the caveat expressed by the CCU in its opinion No. 5-в/2019 dated November 13, 2019 is quite significant, and the number of voters' votes that must be submitted in support of the relevant draft law must be directly defined in the Constitution itself. That is why it is worth developing and submitting after the end of martial law a new draft law on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine with the aim of normalizing the people's legislative initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In majoritarian legislatures, minority parties cannot directly influence policymaking. However, they may serve as whistleblowers against the majority parties' harmful policymaking. This study aims to explore whether a minority party's monitoring mitigates a political agency problem in a majoritarian legislature. For this purpose, we construct a two-period election model in which voters face information asymmetries regarding each party's type and the state of the world. After the majority party proposes a bill, the minority party votes for or against the proposed bill, which is a cheap-talk message. We show that the role of monitoring by the minority party is limited, even if we allow the possibility that the party is the truth-telling type. Under a weak condition, its opposition is informative, but does not change the electorate's voting behaviors. Consequently, any equilibrium outcomes attained in the game with monitoring are attainable in the game without monitoring. This implies that monitoring by the minority party does not influence electoral accountability. This irrelevance of monitoring is resolved when the minority party can delay legislation through obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the effects of the oversight and scrutiny function of postapartheid South African legislatures, with specific reference to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), on service delivery. It also recommends measures to enhance the contribution of legislatures towards service delivery, which is seen to improve the quality of life for citizens. Available literature points to poor performance by legislatures globally in holding the Executive accountable, contributing to poor service delivery and unsatisfied citizens. In South Africa, this dissatisfaction has often been expressed through service delivery protests. To explore the effectiveness of the GPL in contributing to service delivery, the study employed a qualitative methodology. A descriptive exploratory case study design was chosen to address the 'how', and 'what' questions of the study. Data was gathered by analysing published and unpublished documents including 31 GPL documents and interviewing seven individuals purposefully selected within the GPL, with planning and performance reporting as one of their main key Performance Areas. The findings of the study revealed that service delivery is directly linked to the oversight function of legislatures. The research also found that, while the quantity of goods and services has been improving over the years in South Africa, the quality and extent to which they meet citizens' expectations have been declining. Thus, the study concluded that although the GPL has a plethora of oversight tools, their effectiveness has been minimal due to their failure to influence service delivery to meet the expectations of the citizens the institution purports to represent. Some of the reasons advanced for the ineffectiveness of the legislative sector, including the GPL, include a lack of an explicit and appropriate results chain to inform desired outcomes, and a political system that encourages elected public officials to prioritise political party allegiance over citizens' interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The focal point of legislative efforts in addressing structural violence within a democratic framework lies in its duty to promulgate laws promoting good governance, advocating for citizens’ interests in public policy formulation, and executing oversight functions to ensure equitable distribution and access to public goods and services. In Nigeria, the elimination of poverty has remained a major focus of every successive government; however, more than half of its population still lives in poverty and continues to battle challenges emanating from inequality in societal structures. This study uses a secondary source to gather data and analyze the legislature’s impact on poverty alleviation in Nigeria’s fourth republic. The study reveals the extent of legislative intervention in alleviating poverty in Nigeria, the effectiveness of those actions and finally identifies ways through which the menace of poverty could be eliminated in Nigeria.

States should avoid arbitrability in decision-making processes concerning foreign fighters by amending their current legislature including criminal prosecution of foreign fighters. Authorization regime similar to the one in Poland may offer higher guarantees, control and monitoring of medium to high-threat individuals whilst offering states direct targeting of prevention and mitigation policies. States should create a transparent and clear framework for evaluation of applications to travel abroad for the purpose of fighting with lawfully set discretion for state organs that will enable them to deny applications for political, social or even economic reasons.

The pivot of the legislature in addressing structural violence in a democratic polity is its responsibility of enacting legislation for good governance, representing citizens’ interests in the public policy formulation process and performing oversight functions for equitable distribution and access to public goods and services. In Nigeria, the elimination of poverty has remained a major focus of every successive government, however, more than half of its populace still live in poverty and continue to battle with challenges emanating from inequality in societal structures. This study applies a systematic literature review to gather data and analyse the legislature’s impact on poverty alleviation in Nigeria’s fourth republic. The study reveals the extent of the capacity of the Nigerian legislative institutions to push for the development of the nation the socio-political dynamic of the country impeding legislative oversight of the implementation of government policies and programmes and the implication of accountable and transparent governance in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discourse has lauded the efficacy of female leadership in national governments, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employs two-way fixed effect (TWFE) and instrumental variable (IV) regression methodologies to reveal a more pronounced association between the proportion of female legislators and reduced epidemic-related mortality, rather than a direct correlation with female executive leadership. Further analysis elucidates that the effectiveness of female legislative representation is amplified through its interaction with the deliberative processes in governance. This suggests that policy diversity and inclusive decision-making mechanisms are instrumental in enhancing epidemic response efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, seventeen African states have added a second chamber to their legislatures. This sudden trend is puzzling for two reasons. First, bicameral legislatures have decreased by 33 percent worldwide. Second, although upper houses often aim to improve democratic representation, descriptive statistics suggest these institutional changes were not due to democratic or representative pressures. The changes occurred primarily in hybrid regimes. What explains this resurgence of bicameral legislatures in Africa? I argue that incumbents introduce a second chamber when the opposition has sufficient power in the lower chamber to contain the executive branch. I adopt a mixed-methods approach combining statistical analysis and two case studies of Côte d'Ivoire and Zimbabwe. I find that African incumbents have created a second chamber to (1) weaken the legislature as a whole and the opposition in particular and (2) manage intra-party dissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018-2023 legislature started with an autosubliminal show in South Kivu, a province of Congo-Kinshasa. The spectacle led to an unfavourable environment to significant impact work production on the provincial governance. Members of provincial Assembly, mainly those who regularly fell into disputes, lost opportunity to emerge as political or institutional actors with a development-axed target. Thus, this paper aimed at analysing these behaviours and practices to find out their effects on the governance in province. This study is then a functioning conceptualization of the SouthKivu provincial Assembly in interaction with the provincial government management for the progress of the province. It is based on quality features. The south-kivucentrist pathology conceptualization is the main innovant point of this study. It has widely explained the real living situation in South-Kivu during the 2018-2023 legislature with its consequences on the socioeconomic sector of this part of the country. Our results have shown that no governance that promotes socioeconomical area can emerge from that pathological situation. The obtained results have given a new explanation to the power or governance phenomenon of South-Kivu. They include several dimensions in the point understanding by enlighting irrational digressions and deviant behaviour before some cure has been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to deconstruct the Trias Politica Doctrine in the South African context, with specific reference to the influence and power of the judiciary over the other two arms of government (legislature and executive).Through utilising case study design, qualitative methods, and document analysis as data collection technique, we argue that the judiciary, through its various courts, has in numerous cases influenced the legislative and executive activities and programmes of government. We conclude that, while John Locke and Charles De Montesquieu offered, great contribution in explaining the concept of separation of powers, the judicial power and influence in South Africa over the activities of the legislature and executive suggest that separation of powers does not fully hold water in the context of this sub-Saharan African state. However, there is what should be understood as judicial Hegemony informed by the principle of constitutional supremacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African Courts frequently juggle diff erent roles within the country’s governance. This causes discomfort among some of the role players within the polity as it is seen as judicial encroachment in matters outside the court’s role. In the South African context of separation of powers, the role of each branch of government is not always clearly defi ned, and now and again, it gains perspective as courts interpret parliamentary legislation and executive policies. The court’s role and limitations often come under scrutiny. This causes confl icts between the respective branches of government regarding the extent of judicial intervention concerning other branches of government, namely the legislature and executive. This article examines the role and limits of judicial intervention in the terrain of other branches of government within the context of separation of powers as envisaged by the South African Constitution. The doctrine of separation of powers entails the establishment of a trilateral government. The envisaged government consists of the legislature, which enacts laws, an executive that recognises and executes the law and an independent judiciary to regulate public power when all else fails. The article attempts to clarify the place and role of the judiciary in upholding the rule of law in a constitutional state such as South Africa amid rampant complaints of judicial overreach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of legal regulation of acupuncture in the United States, as the first acupuncture law was enacted in Nevada. Acupuncture, like any other medical modality, is regulated at the state level, with each state formulating and enforcing its own laws and statutes over time. This article narrates the legislative process and major developments of the acupuncture profession in Minnesota, in the context of legislative developments across the country. It tells how this midsize, Midwest state's acupuncture profession became regulated, and examines the challenges faced by the profession before and after state statutes were enacted. Minnesota stands as a representative example of the legislative process in other states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct democracy appeared in the United States back in the colonial period. However, when the country became sovereign in the late XVIII century, the founding fathers gave preference to representative democracy in order to prevent the mob rule. This research traces the history of various institutions of direct democracy in the United States. The late XIX – early XX centuries saw an era of progressivism in the United States: civil society struggled against negative social, political, and legal phenomena. Implementation of referendums, general direct elections, recalls of officials, etc., into the legal system seemed a perfect solution. In the early XX century, these institutions were enshrined in the legislation of some Western states and proved rather effective. The so-called second wave of direct democracy occurred after 1950s, and institutions of direct democracy became even more widespread. This process reached its peak in the late XX – early XXI centuries. As a result, they predominate in the current US legislation. The USA are currently going through a further rise in direct democracy, which is even more implemented into the legal system. The American experience of direct democracy is of considerable interest to Russia as it may help to improve the domestic state mechanisms of making socially important decisions.

Background: Cannabis sativa is a high-value crop that can be cultivated for ruminant’s feed and medicinal purposes. The demand for Cannabis and Cannabis products has increased since the beginning of 21st century. Objectives: The increase in the production cost of high-protein feeds such as lucerne has led to an urgent need to investigate alternative high-protein sources. Methods: Cannabis has been identified as an alternative to lucerne due to its high protein content. Results: However, the cultivation and uses of Cannabis and its by-products in South Africa is limited due to the strict legislation. The metabolites and nutritional value of Cannabis are influenced by growing conditions and soil type. Furthermore, the available literature has shown that Cannabis contains anti-nutritional factors that may affect feed intake or bioavailability and digestibility. Conclusions: Therefore, it is crucial to employ a processing method that can reduce anti-nutritional factors to promote the feed intake and growth rate of sheep. Fermentation, as a processing method, can reduce anti-nutritional factors found in Cannabis, which will make it a palatable alternative feed supplement for ruminants such as Dorper sheep. Overall, this review paper aimed to examine the available literature on the use of Cannabis as an alternative high-protein feed supplement for Dorper sheep in South Africa.

Setting the decision agenda requires restricting information and focusing attention on specific issue dimensions. Agenda setting also carries opportunity costs: focusing on some issues and proposals means others go unaddressed. Agenda setting thus generates conflict about the choice of issues and selection of alternatives and proposals. Using data on "views" attached to U.S. Senate committee reports and Volden and Wiseman's legislative effectiveness scores, I show that more effective legislators are more likely to express disagreement with agenda-setting choices. And rather than harm senators' future prospects at advancing legislation, expressing disagreement is associated with more subsequent legislative success relative to what other individual and institutional characteristics would predict, particularly in the middle stages of the legislative process. This article's findings illuminate potential short-term benefits to expressing disagreement in agenda setting. I also find these activities have declined over time, which suggests changes in the institutional environment about venues for expressing disagreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many researchers have extensively studied the distributive politics of legislatures in liberal democracies, only a few have examined the role of those legislatures outside of liberal democracies in the geographical distribution of public resources, and their findings have been inconsistent. Based on an original dataset of 75,797 deputy proposals of China's National People's Congress from 2008 to 2017, this article first reveals that when deputies from a particular province submitted more proposals about constituency interests, it usually resulted in more central fiscal transfer payments to that province. However, a province whose relevant proposals were signed by more deputies usually received fewer fiscal resources. Deputy proposals can influence governmental policymaking to a certain extent, but deputies are discouraged from mobilizing bottom-up collective action. This study further indicates whether and how legislatures outside liberal democracies influence public resource distribution and sheds light on the limitation of such influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I show that a state representative's political party determines transportation expenditure in the area she represents. Previous studies of this topic consider party changes through election outcomes, which may be correlated with unobservable determinants of expenditure. To overcome this issue, I identify my estimates using Ohio's 2012 state legislative redistricting, which moved many geographic areas into districts with opposite party incumbents. The Republican party controlled the state legislature and governorship over the period I study. I find that areas moving from governing party Republican to minority party Democratic districts received $3.4M (0.18 standard deviations) less annual highway construction funding than areas remaining in Republican districts. Areas moving from a Democratic to a Republican district, on the other hand, experienced no increase in expenditure—the negative effect of moving to a different representative's district appears to outweigh the positive effect of a majority party representative. Descriptive evidence suggests that changing representative's party through redistricting had a different effect on construction funding than changing through an election, underlining the importance of my identification strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expects to determine from the Job of Ladies in the Regulative Organization of the Provincial Nation's Delegate Board of Aceh Tamiang Rule. This examination is helpful to decide the degree of the job of ladies in the council. The sort of exploration utilized is subjective examination, subjective examination is a strategy to investigate and comprehend the implying that various people or gatherings credit to social or helpful issues. The methodology utilized in this study is an unmistakable methodology. The enlightening strategy can be finished up as a technique that intends to portray or depict what is happening on the ground efficiently with realities with exact translation and interrelated information, and not exclusively to look for unadulterated fact of the matter however basically look for understanding. The consequences of this study show that ladies' support in the council in the Aceh Tamiang Rule DPRD has been executed as seen from the accompanying viewpoints: 1). APBD arranging is helped out through the phases of the APBD arranging cycle to settle on a joint choice in spending plan readiness through the proposition submitted. As well as OPD programs that are consolidated into PPAS programs. 2) The assurance of the local financial plan has been executed through legal arrangements and.3). Execution of management and arrangements of neighborhood states and local projects through Bapempeda.

The prevalent interpretation of COVID-19 mortality underreporting typically focuses on authoritarian regimes’ propensity for data manipulation. This study, however, posits that the demand side is integral to enhancing the veracity of COVID-19 mortality figures. Through quantitative analysis, it is demonstrated that legislative oversight of the executive significantly correlates with the divergence between excess mortality and officially reported COVID-19 mortality. Moreover, such oversight is shown to bolster the influence of bureaucratic capacity on the precision of mortality data. Consequently, these findings suggest that the notion of “autocratic advantage” in COVID-19 management is not solely a byproduct of regime-led data falsification but also a reflection of deficiencies in legislative and bureaucratic capacities.

Nursing Economic$ Editor Donna M. Nickitas and Associate Editor Mary Ann Donohue-Ryan recently talked with Lieutenant Governor for the State of Delaware Bethany Hall-Long about health and public policy, and why it matters now more than ever as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential issues confronting the nursing profession, the nurses themselves, and the overall workforce, education, and training are explored. Vital concerns related to politics, power, and the significance of nurses running for public office are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislative initiation, in the sense of presenting a proposal for a new law or amending existing laws, is considered the first stage in the legislative process in any legal system. Based on the theory of separation of powers, the exercise of legislation power belongs to the legislative branch. However, nowadays it is accepted in parliamentary and semi-parliamentary systems that the executive branch can also play a role in initiating legislation. The legal systems of Iraq and Egypt are among the systems that have recognized the joint competence of the legislative and executive powers in the process of initiating legislation. In this context, Article 74 of the Iranian Constitution is worthy of attention as it is devoted to the issue of legislative initiative and the joint role of the legislative and executive powers in presenting draft laws. Using a descriptiveanalytical method, this paper has tried to evaluate the evolution of the constitutional laws of Iraq and Egypt on this issue. The Paper aims to draw lessons from the Iraqi and Egyptian systems in terms of reforming the process of legislative initiative in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy PointsThe increasing political polarization of states reached new heights during the COVID‐19 pandemic, when response plans differed sharply across party lines.This study found that states with Republican governors and larger Republican majorities in legislatures experienced higher death rates during the COVID‐19 pandemic—and in preceding years—but these associations often lost statistical significance after adjusting for the average income and health status of state populations and for the policy orientations of the states.Future research may help clarify whether the higher death rates in these states result from policy choices or have other explanations, such as the tendency of voters with lower incomes or poorer health to elect Republican candidates. Context: Increasing polarization of states reached a high point during the COVID‐19 pandemic, when the party affiliation of elected officials often predicted their policy response. The health consequences of these divisions are unclear. Prior studies compared mortality rates based on presidential voting patterns, but few considered the partisan orientation of state officials. This study examined whether the partisan orientation of governors or legislatures was associated with mortality outcomes during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: Data on deaths and the partisan orientation of governors and legislators were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Conference of State Legislatures, respectively. Linear regression was used to measure the association between Republican representation (percentage of seats held) in legislatures and (1) age‐adjusted, all‐cause mortality rates (AAMRs) in 2015–2021 and (2) excess death rates during three phases of the COVID‐19 pandemic, controlling for median household income, the prevalence of four risk factors (obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack, stroke), and state policy orientation. Associations between excess death rates and the governor's party were also examined. Findings: States with Republican governors or greater Republican representation in legislatures experienced higher AAMRs during 2015–2021, lower excess death rates during Phase 1 of the COVID‐19 pandemic (weeks ending March 28, 2020, through June 13, 2020), and higher excess death rates in Phases 2 and 3 (weeks ending June 20, 2020, through April 30, 2022; p < 0.05). Most associations lost statistical significance after adjustment for control variables. Conclusions: Mortality was higher in states with Republican governors and greater Republican legislative representation before and during much of the pandemic. Observed associations could be explained by the adverse effects of policy choices, reverse causality (e.g., popularity of Republican candidates in states with lower socioeconomic and health status), or unmeasured factors that predominate in states with Republican leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the factors that drive how legislative actors respond and manage protests during social movements? Protests are taken as a feature of democratic expression. However, when they escalate into extreme violence, threatening lives and property, they also impact on how legislators as key governance actors channel the direction of their choices. Among many theoretical explanations, we single out the rational choice theory (RCT) as an analytical framework to assess Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS protests. This is because of the RCT’s explanatory focus on how macro-societal, meso-institutional and microindividual level factors shape actors’ preferences, limiting decision making options. During #EndSARS, legislators and legislative symbols were targeted by peaceful and violent protesters alike, and we draw on this to analyse the extent to which the RCT provides explanations for legislative behaviour and the rationality of legislative choices on the one hand, and how the actions demonstrate legislative preferences in responses to protesters, on the other hand. Drawing on secondary data sources complemented with interviews with legislators, we argue instead that the explanations to variations and similarities in the behaviour of legislators during violent protests are largely domiciled at an adjusted meso-level of action where new stakeholders, interests and complex decision-making problems. This, in turn, limits alternatives, patronage and the wider engagement that should inform legislative interventions. To navigate this, legislators adopt a collective than individualised approach to engaging with protest stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial discusses the 2024 Legislative Session. It reflects on the session's healthcare-related developments, particularly focusing on Medicaid expansion and other pertinent legislative matters. It emphasizes the importance of physician engagement in the legislative process and highlights the efforts of MSMA (Mississippi State Medical Association) leadership in advocating for healthcare-related issues.