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Omnichannel retailers face the elusive challenge of maintaining customer patronage in the current competitive business environment. Drawing upon the flow theory and literature on omnichannel integration, this study investigated how different types of omnichannel integration (i.e. informational, transactional, and relational integration) influence customer patronage through the flow experience. Additionally, this study examined the potential moderating role of retailer-customer value congruence in the impact of omnichannel integration. We collected survey data from 292 omnichannel customers to test our research model. The results showed that the flow experience mediated the positive effects of transactional integration and relational integration on customer patronage. Additionally, value congruence positively moderated the effects of informational integration and relational integration on the flow experience. The implications and limitations of this study are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy’s finest poet at the twilight of the Renaissance, Torquato Tasso (1544–95), has long been cast as the lionized icon of lonely genius, absorbed into a Romantic fantasy of torturous exile and withheld community. The figure of “mad Tasso,” however, misses key points in the historical poet’s dynamically social literary career, in which Tasso’s immersion in poetic communities prompted novel reflections about history, place, time, and belonging. Rome uniquely served as a catalyst for Tasso’s reflections on these very themes. A new kind of patria to which to direct the encomiastic voice of his late literary production, Rome became the subject of much of Tasso’s writings in the final three years of his life. With an eye toward the city’s classical heritage, Tasso composed a series of lyric, dialogic, epistolary, and epic experiments designed to immortalize the image of “Roma celeste” (celestial Rome) and the urban renovation projects that redefined its cityscape. This essay analyzes the forms of accoglienza Rome extended towards Tasso, outlined in the twinned lights of literary hospitality and readerly patronage, particularly as they evoke the poet’s collaborations with the Aldobrandini family and its Vatican literary academy.

The politicization of the civil service is not a new phenomenon but it is highly contested and contingent on the environmental and institutional contexts in which it operates. The global environment has changed radically and has become more turbulent witnessed by, inter alia, the rise of populism and democratic backsliding. Institutional contexts have also changed as politicians demand greater accountability from officials in implementing their (mandated) policies. What is new is the various forms that politicization takes. This review paper takes relations between politicians, political staff and bureaucracy and offers a multi-dimensional analysis of the politicization concept: politicized appointments; politicized recruitment; behavioural politicization; and, structural politicization. We analyse politicization in different regimes: the UK as liberal democracy; Georgia as electoral democracy; and Turkey as electoral autocracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

William W. Cleghorn (1815–1878) was an Indian trader and fur trader who worked in northern Indiana and later in the Kansas Territory. Cleghorn's business and personal papers, held by the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington, are here excerpted with scholarly footnotes, and published for the first time. The papers provide a look into mid-nineteenth-century Indiana and the West through the lenses of Native Removal, the Indian trade and fur trade, the operation of the federal Office of Indian Affairs, and the webs of patronage and influence that made up life for so many people like William Cleghorn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes the dominant ideologies of the different representations of the countryside in modern and contemporary Catalan literature. I propose three main tendencies or stages. First, in the nineteenth century the countryside provided a symbolic form to local fatherlands that portrayed the mythification of the native soil, the transmission of historical memory and an implicit defense against the penetration of the Spanish state. Second, in the twentieth century the countryside became part of the political process of spatializing the Catalan nation. Josep Pla's oeuvre constitutes the most comprehensive effort to narrate the national genius loci. Finally, literary works in the twenty-first century have focused on representing the ways in which globalization has altered the Catalan countryside. In our present, the geography of the rural has been largely disjointed by suburbanization, tourism, overexploitation of natural resources, itinerant immigration, remote work and political clientelism, but also multiple instances of local resistance and alternative forms of life. As AMO/Rem Koolhaas argue in Countryside: A Report, the rural world is currently more volatile than the most accelerated city, and many of the tensions between the global and the local, capital and labor, and human and natural histories emerge there in more extreme ways than in any urban space. In this global context, one singular novel, Irene Solà's Canto jo i la muntanya balla (2019), thematizes how even the geological sphere of the countryside has become an unstable space of postsubjective experience and magmatic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special section aims to examine the relationship between succession and legitimation in post-Soviet Eurasia. Presidential successions in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan offer valuable insights into the intricate nature of regime gaining and losing legitimacy in the aftermath of political succession. Since the early 2000s, the leaders of the four nations have advocated for constitutional amendments that have substantially enhanced presidential authority. In Kyiv, Minsk, Astana, and Baku, the established personal politics have favored the president, operating on principles of loyalty, cooptation, and clientelism, rather than relying solely on institutional regulations and electoral procedures. Elections in these states helped both to legitimize authoritarian rule and to spark violent uprisings against incumbent regimes. The coordinated succession in post-Soviet autocracies indicates that the reservoir of support to regime founders is robust, at least in the short term. The occurrence of post-electoral protests in Ukraine in 2004 and Belarus in 2020 and the Bloody January riots in Kazakhstan in 2022 serves as evidence of the erosion of personalistic rule. The lack of policy innovation or performative legitimation fosters a persistent desire for change, critical voices, and inter-elite rivalry. The incumbent regimes in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan used the guise of democratic legitimation to conceal their autocratic inclinations; Ukraine broke this cycle of personalistic tendencies and adhered to a democratic path. Autocratic stability aligns with the compulsion to reevaluate policy priorities and patronage networks during periods of succession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of a research cluster in this issue on the economic power of medieval queens. This paper explores the only known surviving detailed economic register of a queen of Portugal's expenses up to the early sixteenth century. Covering the early years of Maria of Castile and Aragon's queenship (1501–1508), the document gives extraordinary insight into the queen's household and the management of her finances. The study conducted over the book allows us to become acquainted with some of Queen Maria's ladies, officials, and servants, detect expenditure patterns, and get a glimpse of daily life at court, along with how the queen constructs her image, exercises her patronage and consolidates her authority. It is also possible to better understand how connected Portugal and Castile were, both economically and culturally, even before the Dual Monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the intersection of sport and public administration, focusing on the impact of athlete activism on government systems. It highlights how athletes have influenced social and political issues, such as voting access, law enforcement accountability, and gender equity. The text also delves into the relationship between sport and societal values, as well as the challenges and benefits of large sports stadiums for communities. Additionally, it discusses the concept of sportswashing, where countries use sports investments to divert attention from human rights abuses. [Extracted from the article]

The topical focus of the paper is to examine how national sports administration reflects the interconnectedness of politics and public administration in Zimbabwe. To achieve this aim, the paper examines the patron-client relationship between the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) and the ruling political party, the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). The paper demonstrates how the interference of ZANU-PF in the management of the ZIFA has soiled the governance and formal administration of the national football administration body. The study reveals that due to constant political manipulation, ZIFA has been marred by allegations of corruption and maladministration, sexual harassment and the marginalization of women and the subsequent suspension by the global football governing body, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) in February 2022. The paper argues that these challenges are not unique to football administration but are reflective of the broader public administration culture in Zimbabwe, which is entangled with partisan politics. This entanglement has over the years expressed itself through transactional relationships, whereby the ruling ZANU-PF seeks to control football administration for its political and hegemonic purposes. Some individuals have used their political links with ZANU-PF as political capital to both legitimize and entrench their football administration careers. This implies that ZIFA has morphed into a subsidiary of the ruling political establishment, in the process compromising its independence as a football governing and regulatory body. Football administration is therefore a useful lens that can help us understand and theorize on the impact of politics in public administration. Methodologically, the paper utilizes a qualitative research design which included in-depth interviews and document analysis with the intent to capture and express in detail the nexus of politics and football administration in Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year about thirty billion dollars are spent on aid across Africa, yet recurrent crises followed by a blame game amongst different actors, and a poor understanding of the failures encountered, result in ambiguous assessments and unclear paths for reforms. Through the extended case study of the village of Lojom, this article examines the historical unfolding of a failing aid system in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. The article traces a nexus between the agrarian crisis, the protracted humanitarian regime and social protection, in a regional context of structural underdevelopment. It argues that at the core of failing aid in Karamoja lies a manufactured agrarian crisis that dates back to colonial times. The article concludes that if aid policies and programmes remain inscribed in an enduring agrarian crisis, they will only continue to exacerbate exploitative dynamics of patronage, clientelism and subversion that characterize what is called here "the failing aid complex". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, temples have been spaces meant for religious and spiritual activities— meditation, sacrifice, devotion and worship. Historically, temples have been understood as the dwelling spaces of spirits/gods. Therefore, they were natural sites of the community socialisation and exchanges. In Hinduism, temples are designed to bring human beings and gods together in a spiritual destination. Gradually, temples evolved and represented the economy, art, belief, faith and traditions of community or communities. All of these elements of the cosmic world such as good, evil and human are incorporated in temples. Basically, these are for reflecting the powers of unknown forces that are present in nature. These elements of the cosmic world are incorporated in the temples along with the cyclic notion of time. The essence of life was represented symbolically through dharma, kama, artha, moksa and karma, and temples became naturally chosen sites to represent these aspects. However, throughout the ages, temples have undergone transformations. Due to this, temples are historical sites for understanding the historical processes and happenings around the temple structures. As time passed, temples became the surviving examples of temporal continuity. Through this article, an attempt has been made to highlight the temporal continuity around a few temples, cultures and shrines of Rajasthan. The constant—continuity and change—pushed temporality as an essential feature which needs to be highlighted for a fuller understanding of the heterogeneous nature of the Thar Desert and its society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates why it is so difficult for women to succeed in politics in India, and it analyses this from a grassroots perspective in a slum in New Delhi. Based on longitudinal ethnographic research, I explore and compare in-depth the political trajectories of two women activists and examine why, despite being successful leaders of women and allied with male political 'godfathers', they have ended up leaving grassroots activism altogether. I show that both women were first pulled into political activism by NGOs working on women's empowerment, that both later allied with male politicians to help draw 'the women's vote' and that both women's respective success largely rested on their concern with so-called women's causes. However, neither of them was able to build up their own patronage networks, which is necessary to gain an independent political standing in politics. They remained dependent on their male political mentors and on family support; losing one or both of these instigated their respective exits from activism and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"China's Chance to Lead" by Richard Carney explores the relationship between political regimes and their participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects. The book argues that electoral autocracies are more compatible with China's infrastructure financing due to heightened clientelism and public-private partnerships. While the book provides a systematic theoretical explanation and empirical analyses, it also presents limitations in its theoretical foundation and analytical strategy. Despite these limitations, the book contributes valuable insights to the literature on China's globalization and infrastructure financing. [Extracted from the article]

More than half of Cambodia’s residential care institutions (RCIs) for children are operating in contravention of law and policy, consequently putting children at risk. Despite advancements in regulatory measures and a decrease in the number of institutions, there are concerns that clientelism may exist in RCIs enabling some RCI operators to exploit children and bypass regulations. Clientelism refers to enduring, asymmetrical relationships between patrons and clients that exist to facilitate reciprocal and mutually beneficial exchange. This article presents qualitative research that used the Conceptual Model for Identifying Clientelism in New Sites to understand relationships in RCIs. An analysis of the literature and data collected from interviews with key stakeholders were conducted. Findings showed that clientelism does exists in Cambodian RCIs, and how clientelism operates as a distinct driver of child institutionalisation, specifically facilitating the recruitment of children, their unlawful removal, irregular admission, prolonged institutionalisation, and how regulatory oversight is evaded. This article demonstrates the importance of addressing clientelism in the context of child protection and care reforms in Cambodia and strengthening child rights governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the POOL Group, a cultural pioneer in the late 1920s and early 1930s, focusing on their prototypically queer perspectives on cinema. The group, including H. D., Bryher, and Kenneth Macpherson, published avant-garde films and feminist film criticism. The text explores how members like Bryher and Blakeston developed queer film criticism, challenging heteronormative narratives in Hollywood and advocating for more nuanced portrayals of sexuality in cinema. The article highlights the historical context of the POOL Group's work and its resonance with contemporary queer perspectives, emphasizing the group's contributions to challenging traditional gender and sexual norms in film. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the limited research on policy processes in authoritarian settings compared to Western democracies, highlighting the importance of understanding how policies are formulated, implemented, and contested in autocracies. It emphasizes the need to study policy processes in autocracies to explain how these regimes sustain themselves, deliver public services, and respond to crises. The article presents case studies from various countries to deepen the understanding of policy processes in authoritarian settings and suggests future research priorities to explore the conditions under which authoritarian regimes respond to new policy problems. [Extracted from the article]

In the first decade of the eighteenth century, two converts to Catholicism from Western Asia sought Louis XIV's patronage. One was Vakhtang VI, a crypto‐Catholic Georgian regent imprisoned by Persia's Soltan Hosayn. He hoped to secure his release with the French king's help and establish himself as a political and religious ally in the Caucuses. The other was Avétik, an Armenian Orthodox patriarch from the Ottoman Empire imprisoned at the Bastille. He abjured Orthodoxy and became a Catholic priest in Paris. Ethnic and religious minorities from the Safavid and Ottoman Empires, Vakhtang VI and Avétik relied on conversion to forge partnerships with French representatives. They failed. This article explains why the French king snubbed these prominent converts from the Islamic world while unifying France under the banner of religious uniformity and projecting himself as the world's preeminent Catholic ruler. It centers the lives, voices, and writings of traditionally overlooked minorities who shaped French diplomatic conversations with Islamic empires from the margins and who remained particularly vulnerable to imperial violence. It also shows how including ethnic minorities in studies of France's engagement with the Safavids and Ottomans complicates our understanding of France's relationships with Islamic empires in the Mediterranean world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between early summer 1540 and the new year of 1541, Alexander Nowell composed the only surviving Latin letter from England to Sir Thomas Wyatt. On behalf of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich Cathedral, he asks Wyatt, Sir Francis Bryan, and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, to help the new foundation resist the expropriation of its properties. The letter fills in several biographical lacunae for this prominent trio of courtiers. It provides primary evidence of Wyatt's membership and sponsorship of English humanist networks. It offers the first sure evidence of Wyatt's contact with Surrey, corroborating the evidence of Surrey's poetry. It reveals the association of Wyatt, Surrey, and Bryan with evangelical figures: Nowell, later Dean of St Paul's, was already a central figure in Oxford reform. And it presents an intricate example of the chains of patronage that reached, in the wake of the dissolution, across the universities, the new fleet of cathedral foundations, and the heights of the Henrician court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the outcome of a study to investigate the regional public transport spend in each state of Australia. The objective is to derive a reliable figure for comparison and the core metric used is spend per capita. The study assessed publicly available data on public transport spend, followed by a series of consultations with key staff from state bus associations and governments. The analysis was conducted separately for metropolitan (metro) and regional areas and then the regional data were further examined. While the Northern Territory (NT), Tasmania (TAS) and regional South Australia (SA) completely rely on bus services, Victoria (VIC) stands out as the state with the highest public transport spend per head in regional areas with robust train and bus networks which deliver the highest patronage. Western Australia (WA) is the state with the highest bus transport spend per head ensuring relatively high patronage despite the low population density. The study identifies low public transport patronage in regional areas as being influenced by low spending per capita and poor connectivity. It recommends prioritizing improvements in connectivity, multi-modal networks, and opening school buses to the general public. Additionally, funding strategies should focus more on patronage trends linked to spend rather than overemphasizing population density. Further, the study reveals that publicly available data seldom clearly segregates public transport spending in terms of regional and metro expenditure, which would lead to inefficiencies when assessing spatial equity in public transport provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on biased public sector hiring highlights local politicians' incentives to distribute government positions to partisan supporters. Other studies instead point to the role of bureaucratic managers in allocating government jobs to close contacts. We jointly consider the relative importance of each source of biased hiring as an allocation problem between managers and politicians who have different preferences regarding public sector hiring and different abilities to realize those preferences. We develop a theoretical model of each actor's relative leverage and relative preferences for different types of public sector positions. We empirically examine our theory using the universe of payroll data in Kenyan local governments from 2004 to 2013. We find evidence of both patronage and bureaucratic favoritism, but with different types of bias concentrated in different types of government jobs, as our theory predicts. Our results highlight the inadequacy of examining political patronage alone without incorporating the preferences and leverage of the bureaucratic managers who are intricately involved in hiring processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electoral volatility and clientelism were traditionally analysed through the lenses of clientelistic behaviour by political actors. However, we know very little about the importance of volatility for the formation of attitudes towards clientelism within the electorate. This article addresses that gap by analysing the extent to which volatile voters are more likely to accept electoral clientelism as a political practice. We bring evidence from Romania, which is a crucial case due to its extensive use of clientelism in elections over time and high electoral volatility. The analysis uses individual-level data from a survey conducted on a national representative sample of 4316 respondents in 2021. Contrary to the theoretical expectations, the findings illustrate that loyal voters accept clientelism easier, which holds when controlling for variables such as targeting awareness, political interest, income, or education. These results have important implications for the study of elections and voting behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secretary William Davison (d. 1608) is best known for his involvement in the execution of Mary, queen of Scots, in 1587. This article explores Davison's earlier diplomatic career, specifically his mission to the Low Countries in autumn 1585. It argues, first, that Davison was an influential political actor prior to his elevation to the privy council, as he fulfilled significant diplomatic responsibilities and was highly regarded by his conciliar patrons; and second, that study of Davison's diplomatic career casts new light on familiar debates over mid-Elizabethan diplomacy, men of business and patron-client relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a genre of Punjabi poetry, as a voice from the periphery, a powerful vehicle of the marginalised for the performance of collective expression and resistance against the hegemonic nature of colonial rule, charting a strong relationship between language and articulation of political imagination. The images of rich tribal culture, warriors as sons of the soil, Punjabi valour and mystical symbols were used to portray the punjab's plural landscape. The socio-economic marginality of disenfranchised individuals, created by a vertically structured patron–client network, operating in a coercive administrative framework, forged a sense of community identity along religious lines. Using religious rhetorics, community identity was converged into Islamic identity to construct nationhood. Anti-colonial nationalism became the language of a meta-project for the attainment of political independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the transcultural career of one particular Spanish ecclesiastic, the Palencian, Francisco de Reynoso (1534–1601). Reynoso is a far more significant historical and cultural figure than has previously been thought, although never the subject of a holistic study. He began his ecclesiastical life as major domo and secretary of Pope Pius V and ended it as Bishop of Córdoba. Through a novel and detailed analysis of Reynoso's career and patronage the article sheds new light on the dynamics of a broader Iberian world that co‐existed between Spain and Italy. It reveals the ties that continued to bind Reynoso to Rome, where he had lived for some ten years, throughout his long career and demonstrates how easily individuals could now transition between Spain and Italy. In particular, the extensive opportunities for cultural patronage that were offered thereby are analysed, Reynoso was to prove a discerning patron in many fields – art, architecture, music and literature. Finally, it makes a revealing comparison between Reynoso and the career trajectory of his exact Bolognese contemporary and colleague, Alessandro Casale, as to the different possibilities this Iberian world now offered the ambitious cleric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of urban redevelopment processes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially around retail spaces, have gained currency among scholars. Some scholars frame these processes as state-led, informed by party politics, clientelism and meddling, and often resisted by traders and residents. Drawing from Growth Machine theory, this article uses a qualitative case study of the Takoradi Central Market (TCM) in Ghana to reframe this conversation in two important ways. First, it takes a broader view of these redevelopment processes by arguing they are constitutive of often-overlooked neoliberal processes that are disciplining the political-economic and spatial logics of people and spaces across sub-Saharan Africa. The TCM case illustrates the (mis)aligned spatial, economic, and political motives driving various actors within Ghana's neoliberal placemaking processes that foster accumulation and dispossession around retail spaces under the cover of civic boosterism. Second, rather than simply focusing on local resistance and activism, the article orients us toward a relational understanding of the conflict that exits between market traders and the state by interrogating the embedded alliances and conflicts within and between different actors as they pursue their myriad (mis)aligned economic, spatial, and political motives. It is these inherent conflicts and alliances, and the neoliberal urban redevelopment contexts within which they occur, that must remain central to urban research and policy discourses in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a new approach to analysing the medieval vaults of Norwich cathedral cloister, which at first appearance seem to be of a consistent design, yet detailed inspection and analysis reveals this not to be the case. Whilst previous scholars have recognised the presence of inconsistencies, their focus has been on chronology, patronage as well as the iconographic programme of the extraordinary range of sculpted bosses. Our approach is based on accurate digital surveying and analysis methods and comparison with similar data obtained from other sites. This enables us to understand the design of the cloister vaults in plan, including bay proportions and the nuances of the tierceron star arrangement of ribs. We then employ a representation technique termed the 'middle plan' to identify and analyse specific design runs and their breaks in a greater level of detail than previously achieved, including analysis of geometric data to explain different processes that were likely used to create the curvatures of individual ribs. In doing so, we have identified methods not previously described, which reveal the inventiveness of medieval masons faced with a series of complex constructional issues and enabling them to achieve a range of visual effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Mpofana protests are characteristic of local protest actions occurring across South Africa. In 2014 Mpofana Municipality was placed under administration by the provincial authority and one of the reasons cited for this were high levels of protest. This paper focuses on Mpofana protests to examine demands for 'service delivery' and citizenship as well as political strategy with regards local level leadership. The paper also considers the narratives and strategies around protest in the context of the 'neoliberal citizen' and 'market' approaches to citizenship. It draws on a qualitative study comprising focus groups conducted across three Mpofana wards. The paper suggests that in Mpofana there are clear struggles for the attainment of social citizenship in the context of a divide between those who have no access to work and wages and those who have access to income and assets. Citizenship attainment struggles are interwoven with failed patronage networks, and processes of piercing the 'common sense' appear through protesters questioning local leadership and proposing solutions for change. There is also evidence in Mpofana though of the 'depoliticised subject' fostered by the neoliberal doctrine where the language of protest is cast in market terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the involvement of four Swiss individuals at Fort Laramie during America's western expansion. Topics include Fort Laramie's historical role in the frontier fur trade, the Swiss soldiers who served there, and the impact of the Civil War on military deployments to the western territories.

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of contact between citizens and Members of Parliament (MPs) in Africa by combining theories of contact developed in advanced Western democracies with theories of clientelism developed in the Global South. Based on Afrobarometer data matched with constituency‐level electoral data, we provide a first analysis of the determinants of citizen–MP contact in 32 African countries, encompassing a broad range of regime types. We find that smaller districts and single‐member districts strengthen contact across regime types, while electoral competitiveness is only positively associated with contact in more democratic settings. In line with clientelist theories of public resource access, district links to national ruling coalitions are positively associated with contact, but we find little evidence of partisan bias. Overall, we find that contact theories travel remarkably well across regions and regime types, and we caution against interpreting clientelistic contacts as harmful for democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the connections between John Florio and William Shakespeare, specifically focusing on Florio's language lesson manual called Second Fruits. It suggests that Florio's manuals, which contained dialogs and proverbs, may have influenced Shakespeare's works. The article also discusses Florio's involvement in the theatrical environment of London and his ambivalence towards theater, which could have influenced Shakespeare's portrayal of plays. Overall, the article highlights the cultural and linguistic influences on early modern theater and the impact of Florio's work on Shakespeare's oeuvre. [Extracted from the article]

This study presents a commercial hospitality model, examining the relationship between word-of-mouth, Loyalty, Patronage, and revisit intention. Our analysis of responses from 213 customers using Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that commercial hospitality has a positive influence on word-of-mouth, Loyalty, and Patronage. These factors, in turn, shape customers’ intention to revisit the restaurant. The practical implications of our findings are significant. We contribute to the fields of hospitality and customer behavior by integrating these constructs and proposing an empirical model of behavioral intentions. Furthermore, our study provides a valuable tool for managing commercial hospitality in restaurants and other businesses within the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the violence trap framework, ruling elites use rents to control contending elites who pose a violent threat. Political development results in transitions from a fragile state, wherein rents are tentative and personalized, to a basic natural state, and then a mature natural state, through standardization of elite privileges, consolidated state control of the political-military apparatus, and the enactment of a credible contracts regime. Accordingly, the institutional logic of fragile states is rooted in the incentives that undergird elite bounded rationality, transacting under highly personalized, tentative patronage networks. The paper addresses the question of why fragile states fail to develop into basic natural states. In doing so, it applies the violence trap analytical framework to illustrate the logic of the fragile state through a most different systems (MDS) comparison of Afghanistan and South Sudan. The main finding is that the institutional logic of the fragile state in the two cases is rooted in a lack of three necessary conditions: institutional incentives for broadening elite consensus, credible patronage agreements among different elite groups, and a consolidated state with specialized political and military functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new surveillance practices is not solely a matter of technological and political developments. It is also intertwined with the production of scientific knowledge. This article traces how scientists in the 1960s developed some of the earliest computerized facial recognition techniques while covertly sponsored by a U.S. intelligence agency. The article situates their project within approaches from the technical field of pattern recognition. It demonstrates how the scientists especially amid unsteady patronage relationships reinforced a key assumption: that recognizing identity could be reduced to classifying specific features within a set of existing examples. As their ambitions grew over six years the scientists transformed human identity into a scientific object tailored to their recognition techniques. How this transformation occurred foregrounds the epistemic underpinnings of surveillance technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of Bernard Shaw in the twentieth-first century, through looking at the performance of an excerpt from Pygmalion (1913) at Buckingham Palace, London. This performance was part of a Gala held to celebrate the UK's dramatic arts, to mark the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art's (RADA) 110th anniversary, and to celebrate sixty years of Queen Elizabeth II's patronage of RADA. It was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duchess of Cambridge who is now the Princess of Wales, and Prince Michael of Kent, together with 250 guests, including superstars from the theater, radio, TV, and films holding Academy, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, and numerous other awards. The ways these personages encountered Shaw reflected not only the various renditions of Shaw's plays in modern times, but also the high-level possibilities to revive Shaw, which still need championing before they can materialize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text discusses the controversy surrounding the decision to use the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as a cinema in 1921, sparking a debate among literary figures like G. K. Chesterton and Bernard Shaw. Shaw supported the decision, arguing that cinema was a valid form of entertainment, while others like Sydney W. Carroll criticized the move. The theatre eventually abandoned the cinema scheme due to declining attendance, and a fire in 1926 destroyed the building, leading to the construction of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The text also delves into various scholarly analyses of Shaw's works and legacy, showcasing different perspectives on his plays and ideas. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the role of bishops in the Byzantine Empire, specifically focusing on the Syriac community during the early Islamic period. It discusses the administrative and governmental tasks of bishops and argues that their secular function remained relatively unchanged during this time. The article also explores the political interaction between Muslim rulers and bishops, highlighting periods of caliphal intervention in ecclesiastical matters. It further examines the civil functions of bishops, including their role as diplomats and judges, and how these functions may have endured into the early Islamic period. The text also explores the complex relationship between Muslim caliphs and the Christian church, with caliphs often intervening in the appointment of bishops for political reasons. The level of caliphal involvement varied depending on the political climate, and local governors and other constituencies also influenced caliphal support for bishops. Overall, the study suggests that caliphs adopted a pragmatic approach to ecclesiastical disputes, aligning themselves with candidates who had broad consensus within the Christian community. [Extracted from the article]

According to the most widely accepted view, Imāmism and Muʿtazilism were originally poles apart. Subsequently, proselytes physically transported Muʿtazilī theology to Imāmī circles where it was adopted by the Banū Nawbakht among others. The basic problem with this explanation is that intellectual developments remain disconnected from wider social and political realities, which obscures the illocutionary force of texts and distorts their significance. Therefore, the first part of this article examines the background to the Imāmī turn toward rationalism. To understand the assimilation of Muʿtazilism as a creative historical process, intellectual developments are placed in the context of three sociopolitical factors: the crisis of the Occultation, Buwayhid patronage, and the religious topography of Baghdad. The second part of the article compares two texts that represent the evolution of Imāmī theology in this period: Ibn Bābawayh's Iʿtiqādāt al-imāmiyya and al-Mufīd's Taṣḥīḥ iʿtiqādāt al-imāmiyya. When historicised properly, a detailed comparison of these creeds suggests a more nuanced understanding of the Imāmī turn toward rationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of hotels' eco-label credibility (HELC) on customers' green word-of-mouth behavior through triple mediating effects of biospheric and egoistic values, pro-environmental attitude, and green patronage intention. Data were collected from 304 customers of eco-label hotels in Hong Kong. The PROCESS Macro plug-in software model (6) was employed to assess the hypotheses' direct, indirect, and triple mediating effects. The results showed that HELC did not have a significant link to green word-of-mouth behavior. However, the triple mediation effects of biospheric and egoistic values, pro-environmental attitude, and green patronage intention between the impact of HELC and green word-of-mouth behavior were confirmed. This study contributes to the existing literature in the hospitality field by applying a robust theoretical background and examining consecutive chain-of-effects in environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the literary rivalry between Sir Philip Sidney and Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, during the Elizabethan era. The rivalry encompassed various aspects, including their competition for Anne Cecil, their status as renowned poets, and a public quarrel in 1579. The article suggests that Sidney's Defense of Poesie, while influential in literary criticism, also contained criticisms of contemporary theatrical practices, possibly aimed at Oxford's plays. The rivalry between these two courtier-poets is intricate and requires a nuanced understanding. Additionally, the text explores the influence of Baldassare Castiglione's book "Il Cortegiano" on courtly behavior and literature during the Renaissance. It examines how the principles of sprezzatura, or the ability to conceal art, were instilled in courtiers like Sidney and Oxford. The text also highlights the impact of "Il Cortegiano" on Shakespeare's plays, providing examples from several works. It mentions that de Vere, who wrote The Courtier, a play available in Elizabethan London, was influenced by Castiglione's work. De Vere has been proposed as the author of Shakespeare's works, shedding light on the portrayal of courtiers in the plays and the poetic rivalry between de Vere and Sidney. The rivalry is evident in their exchange of epigrams and responses to each other's poetry. Sidney's Defence of Poesie influenced Love's Labour's Lost, but the influence of his essay on Shakespeare [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the connection between John Lyly, the Marprelate Controversy, and the 1589 version of Hamlet. It argues that the Marprelate controversy, a pamphlet war challenging the established order, led to the inhibition of stage performances mentioned in Hamlet. John Lyly's involvement in the controversy resulted in the dissolution of the Paul's Boys acting troupe. The article suggests that the 1589 version of Hamlet, known as Q1 or the Ur-Hamlet, was likely written by William Shakespeare and alludes to the Marprelate controversy. The publishing history of Hamlet is also discussed, with Q1 and Q2 being considered legitimate publications, while FF, the collected plays of "William Shakespeare," was printed in 1623. The article concludes by examining the passage in Hamlet where the Tragedians of the City are mentioned and the reasons for their travels. The text explores different interpretations of the term "innovation" in Hamlet, including the rise of child actors and possible official displeasure faced by adult actors. It also discusses historical events such as the Essex Rebellion and the revival of Paul's Boys as potential sources of the innovation and inhibition mentioned in the play. The Marprelate controversy of 1588-1590, which involved a war of pamphlets between Puritans and the Church of England, had a significant impact on the theater industry. The controversy led to the prohibition of plays by Paul's Boys in [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This paper examines the relationship between heterogeneous political connections and corporate overinvestment. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive Malaysian dataset of 834 publicly listed companies from 2000 to 2022, the authors employed multivariate ordinary least squares regression to test the relationship. Findings: Despite different types of political connections, the findings demonstrate a positive relationship between political connections and corporate overinvestment. In particular, the association is more profound in government-linked companies (GLCs) but weaker in firms that developed political ties through family members of ruling elites. Further analysis reveals that the "helping hand" effect is only observed in GLCs and firms with politically connected directors and businessmen, whereas the "grabbing hand" effect is observed among firms connected through board, businessmen, and family ties. Moreover, the relationship is more persistent among firms with politically connected directors and businessmen around the regime change. Research limitations/implications: Regardless of the types of political connections, the findings show that politically connected firms tend to engage in rent-seeking through political patronage networks and high levels of government interference in resource allocation. Therefore, a more sophisticated monitoring system should be developed within the political patronage networks to reduce the likelihood of different types of political-business collusion. In terms of research limitations, the research design does not consider the influence of financial constraints and management efficiency. Future research could explore these facets to comprehensively understand the dynamics between political connections and corporate investment decisions. Practical implications: The evidence informs market participants about the relationship between heterogeneous political connections and corporate overinvestment, reinforcing previous findings that crony capitalism, political patronage, agency problems, and weak governance are well-entrenched in Malaysia's emerging economy. The government should acknowledge these concerns by enacting anti-corruption campaigns and promoting a fair business environment. In the meantime, policymakers might redesign regulations and revise corporate governance frameworks to substantially reduce the value of political connections, thereby diminishing the bargaining power of politicians. Social implications: As corporate investment efficiency has a considerable impact on firm value, investment decisions that enhance firm value will increase share price and maximise shareholder value. Conversely, firms may damage shareholder value if they overinvest or undertake projects that do not yield sufficient. Hence, the findings of this study may assist investors in making more informed judgements, particularly by understanding different types of business-government relations, as political connections are one of the determinants of corporate overinvestment. Originality/value: This study reveals that the degree to which overinvestment issues manifest within firms is influenced by the nature of the political connections those firms possess. This indicates that politically connected firms should not be regarded as a homogenous group of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of New Perspectives in Translation Studies is the property of New Perspectives in Translation Studies Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Adam R. Rosenthal's book, "Poetics and the Gift," challenges the Western poetic tradition by reframing it in terms of the concept of the gift. Rosenthal argues that the distinction between poiemata and poiesis must be rethought in relation to the gift in Derrida's philosophy. He explores the relationship between gift and poetry, showing how they both implode and explode. Rosenthal also examines the abandonment of poetry in Derrida's thinking once he begins thinking about the gift. He deconstructs the notion that poetry is only in some poem and argues that the gift's impossibility already determines heliopoetics from its inception. The book explores the fissures and the (im)possibility of the gift, poetry, and the poem itself. It also investigates the economies of the gift of poetry and its potential annihilation as it enters the market. Rosenthal's work is a sophisticated meditation on Derridean philosophy and its implications for literature and poetry. It offers a theory of poetry and a history of poetics that rely on the instability of their ontological status. [Extracted from the article]

Due to increasing competition among rental service providers, creating and enhancing perceived value is a critical element for sustainable growth. Given the growing interest in sustainable consumption practices, this paper examines the role of perceived benefit in the online rental industry, particularly the relative impacts of economic, social, and environmental benefits on customer patronage behaviors toward service providers. The proposed model is tested using data from 404 online rental platform customers in the United States. The results of partial least squares structural equation modeling show a positive impact of perceived benefits on both consumer attitude and personal norms. In addition, the impacts of attitude and norms on behavioral intention are confirmed. Finally, differences in customer behaviors between low- and high-frequency rental platform users are identified. The economic benefit on subjective norm is only significant among high-frequency customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bu çalışma, Tanzimat Devri’nin siyasî ve entelektüel manada simgesel değere sahip şahsiyetlerinden Mehmed Emin Âli Paşa ile İbrahim Şinâsî arasındaki münasebetlerin erken dönemine dair Osmanlı arşivlerinden edinilen ve bu vesileyle ilk kez yayınlanan belgeler üzerinden söz konusu ikili arasındaki ünlü münaferetin kökenine dair çelişkiler ile belirsizlikleri ortadan kaldırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Araştırmanın yöntemi doküman analizine dayanmakta ve bu kapsamda arşiv belgelerinin yanı sıra birincil kaynaklar ile araştırma ve inceleme eserlerinden yararlanılmaktır. Çalışmada, iki şahsiyet arasında düşmanlıktan evvel müspet münasebetlerin bulunduğu; Şinâsî’nin Paris yıllarında söz konusu münasebetlerin gelişmeye devam ettiği ve bunun zamanla bir himaye ilişkisine dönüştüğü hususları ilk kez ortaya çıkarılmaktadır. Öte yandan çalışmada Şinâsî’nin devlet tarafından Paris’e gönderildiği tarih kesin olarak belirlenmekte ve kendisinin ilk ve tek Fransızca el yazısı örneği sunulmaktadır. Ayrıca Şinâsî’nin gençliğinde bürokraside hızla yükselmeyi arzuladığı ve bu doğrultuda ısrarlı girişimlerde bulunduğu tespit edilmekte; son olarak kayıp eserlerinden “Sarf Mecmuası”na dair önemli yeni bilgiler gün yüzüne çıkarılmaktadır.

This column discusses the benefits and limitations of continuous assessment by reporting on the authors' perspectives of ongoing assessment using examples from patron surveys designed to understand user experience in the physical library and to measure whether needs were met throughout the pandemic. This column will be helpful to anyone involved in assessment or who is interested in what factors to consider while carrying out ongoing assessment or using evidence-based data for decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]