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Using an international sample of IPO firms and two country-level measures of financial literacy, we find strong evidence that financial literacy is negatively associated with IPO underpricing. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that the effect of financial literacy in reducing IPO underpricing is more pronounced when the information environment is less transparent. Employing path analysis, we document that information friction, firm transparency, and stock market participation are mechanisms that mediate this relationship. Our study contributes to and extends the literature by providing strong evidence that citizens' financial literacy has an important and consistent influence on IPO underpricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "U.S. Army's Special Organizations" were unusual, little-known units within the U.S. military during World War II designed to segregate and monitor potentially disloyal soldiers. The existence and composition of these units pointed at the nationalist and ethno-racial tensions afoot in the United States at the time, reflecting both wartime undemocratic hysteria and social changes, along with long-standing concerns about U.S. national identity. The continued suspicion and large-scale internment of Japanese-American servicemen stood in contrast to the smaller numbers of other servicemen of enemy alien origin similarly interned (German- and Italian-Americans). The internal social dynamics within these units mirrored the fraught relationship among the Axis partners and the socio-cultural issues between the Japanese, German, and Italian national communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An immigrant-made city, Los Angeles has served as the heart of the Immigrant Rights Movement for decades. From the 2006 immigration reform protests to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Los Angeles has rarely neglected the topic of immigration. Yet, one lived experience seldom recognized is that of mixed-status families (i.e., families that are not uniform in legal status). Approximately 1 in 5 individuals identify as either undocumented or having an undocumented family member. Acknowledging that mixed-status families vary, I focus on the mixed-status of U.S. Citizens with Undocumented Parent(s)/Guardian(s) and, consequently, how a U.S. citizen’s life is altered by living under the undocumented umbrella. In this paper, I propose the existence of the Restriction of Mobility, (Active) Family Separation, Second-Hand Undocumented Trauma, and (Un)Documented Double-Consciousness under a developing framework called the Mixed-Status Family Complex. By reviewing existing literature and reflecting on my lived experiences, the mission of the framework is to help understand the nuances of how U.S. children of undocumented immigrants experience belonging.

This study examines legitimacy in municipal budgeting decisions, focusing on input, throughput and output dimensions. Using data from four Swiss studies, we explore how citizens assess these dimensions across traditional and innovative decision-making processes and investigate the impact of different voting methods on legitimacy perceptions. Our findings reveal that in routine processes using traditional voting, legitimacy dimensions are considered collectively. Conversely, in innovative participatory budgeting, dimensions are judged separately, involving more active evaluation. Throughput legitimacy (perceived fairness) emerges as crucial in both contexts, while input and output legitimacy's importance varies by process type. The Method of Equal Shares voting system shifts focus towards procedural fairness, increases representation and is perceived as fairer than the traditional Greedy method. However, even fair processes cannot fully compensate for outcome dissatisfaction, highlighting the complex interplay of legitimacy dimensions. This research contributes to understanding legitimacy construction in municipal decision-making, offering insights into the relationship between voting methods and legitimacy perceptions. The findings have implications for policy-makers seeking to enhance the effectiveness and acceptance of budgeting processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Co-creating the future: participatory cities and digital governance'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the practice of considering cases under Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for violations of the equality of citizens depending on their racial, national, regional affiliation, religious beliefs, disability and other characteristics. According to the results of the monitoring of court decisions, placed in the State Register of Court Decisions for the period from January 1, 2019 to August 2024, 45 convictions were found. It was established, that the majority of persons were convicted under Part 1 of Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The most typical forms of actions were identified as signs of the objective side of this crime, the most ways of committing them and a number of «traditional» criminal offenses, that are committed together with this crime. In particular, it was established, that the most common forms of socially dangerous actions, which were directed at inciting national, religious enmity and hatred, on humiliating the national honor and dignity of Ukrainians and Jews. The addressees of the actions, which consisted in offending the feelings of citizens in connection with their religious beliefs, were parishioners of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Based on the analysis of the sentences, certain trends regarding the punishment of guilty persons were revealed. In particular, it was noted that in most cases a fine was imposed, mostly from 200 to 600 non-taxable minimum income of citizens, as well as the fact that when imposing imprisonment, the courts actively applied the institution of exemption from serving a sentence with probation. For the purpose of ascertainment of the features of the portrait of the criminal, the data analysis of the report «On persons, who have committed criminal offenses» for 2017-2023 was carried out. As a result, socio-demographic and criminal-legal characteristics of the perpetrator were summarized. In particular, the number of detected under Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine of persons, their structure by gender, age, citizenship, education, employment, presence/absence of a criminal record, features of the commission of the crime (perpetration with complicity, in a state of intoxication). Individual characteristics, such as a person's place of birth, marital status, were established on the basis of the monitoring of sentences. As a result of the generalization of these data, a portrait of the criminal was outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is dedicated to a detailed study of the discretionary powers of local self-government bodies in the field of land relations, taking into account the new approaches enshrined in the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure. The study examines the theoretical aspects of discretionary powers in both narrow and broad senses. Analyzing the definitions established in the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure», the author provides their understanding of discretionary powers "in the narrow sense" as the ability of an administrative body to choose one of several options for decisions that are lawful and meet the purpose for which such powers are granted. This creates space for making individual administrative acts within the framework of administrative procedures. Such powers are limited to the adoption of individual acts aimed at resolving specific land issues. Discretionary powers in the broad sense, on the other hand, should be understood as the authority granted to local self-government bodies based on a law or other regulatory legal act, allowing these bodies to independently regulate legal relations in the field of land relations. These powers include the ability to make decisions at their own discretion, particularly through the issuance of normative acts. This regulation must comply not only with the requirements of general legislation but also be aimed at achieving the goals set out in special legal acts, as well as in local regulatory legal acts adopted by the local self-government bodies themselves. The author also emphasizes the need for further development of doctrinal approaches to discretionary powers, which should contribute not only to improving the efficiency of law enforcement but also to creating legal mechanisms that ensure an adequate level of control over their implementation. The article highlights the importance of developing legal guarantees for the protection of citizens' interests in the context of the exercise of discretionary powers by local authorities in the field of land relations. The author believes that this will contribute to increasing the transparency and accountability of local self-government bodies, as well as ensuring fairness and legali ty in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a detailed analysis of the legal regulation of personal data protection in various jurisdictions, including the European Union, the United States, Canada, and Ukraine. Special attention is given to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is one of the strictest international standards in this field. The main provisions of the GDPR are examined, such as the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, and data minimization, as well as the rights of data subjects, including the right to access, rectification, and erasure of data. The impact of GDPR on international businesses is analyzed, showing how it has forced companies worldwide to adapt their data processing systems to comply with European legal requirements. The section on the United States focuses on California state law, particularly the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which grants citizens rights over their personal data. Although the U.S. legislative framework is fragmented compared to GDPR, the CCPA is a significant step toward protecting the privacy of American citizens. Canadian legislation is represented by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which ensures the protection of personal data in commercial relationships. PIPEDA strikes a balance between business interests and citizens' rights, providing flexibility in the use of personal data while adhering to principles of transparency and consent. The article also analyzes the process of harmonizing Ukraine's legislation with the GDPR, which is a crucial step in the context of the country's integration into the European legal space. Ukrainian legal reforms focus on strengthening citizens' rights and improving mechanisms for controlling personal data processing. The article offers a comparative analysis of the discussed legal systems, highlighting key differences in data protection approaches. Unlike the EU, where regulation is comprehensive and stringent, U.S. laws are fragmented. In Canada, PIPEDA creates a more flexible system oriented toward the commercial sector. Ukraine, meanwhile, is on its way to full harmonization with European standards, which will enhance the legal protection of citizens in the digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author examines the legal nature and content of a notarial act through the prism of its normative regulation. The author establishes that the legal term «notarial act» is perhaps the most commonly used in the acts of legislation on notary issues. However, despite the long-term use of this term and its indisputable importance in notarial activities, the legislator does not define it either at the constitutional level, or at the legislative level, or at the subordinate legislation level. It is determined that the features of notarial acts are a set of properties which make them distinctive and which can be used to distinguish them from a large volume of legal activities. These features include: the list of notarial acts defined by law; statutory consolidation of the subjective composition of notarial acts; indisputability of a notarial act; procedural form of a notarial act; and payment for a notarial act. The legislatively established list of notarial acts can be divided into the following types: certification of the fact of a citizen's presence in a certain place, the identity of a citizen with the person depicted in a photograph, transfer of applications of individuals and legal entities to other individuals and legal entities; certification of transactions, the task of which is to certify their legality by a notary, verification of legal capacity; certification of indisputable facts. According to the territorial competence of the bodies authorised to perform notarial acts, they can be classified as follows: acts performed by public and private notaries; acts performed by officials and officers authorised to perform notarial acts; acts performed by officials of local self-government bodies; acts performed by consular offices and diplomatic missions of Ukraine. The indisputability of a notarial act is one of the main principles of notarial activity, which means that a notary may perform a notarial act only if: there is no dispute between the parties concerned regarding the rights and obligations arising from the notarial act; the rights and obligations of the parties concerned are based on legal grounds; and the documents submitted for the performance of the notarial act are valid. Notarial acts are performed in compliance with the procedural form. Violation of this procedure will affect the legality of the notarial act and, therefore, will be a reason for its appeal to the court, and, conversely, its non-violation will confirm the legality of the notarial ac t. A notarial act is a functionally structured system of procedural actions performed in accordance with the procedure established by law by an individual authorised by the state who carries out notarial activities in a state notary office, state notary archive or independent professional notarial activity, in particular, certifies rights and facts of legal significance and performs other actions provided for by the legislation on notaries in order to give them legal validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possibility of covenantal pluralism in Zambia: Is it possible to develop a new approach for living together in a country with both religious and ethnic differences? Theoretically, it seems likely that Zambian citizens would likely benefit from expanding covenantal pluralism. However, while the paper discovers empirical evidence of popular support for key conditions and propositions of covenantal pluralism, progress seems slow. The paper uncovers little evidence that Zambia's government diligently pursues covenantal pluralism, arguably because it might undermine a key source of governmental legitimacy—Zambia as a "Christian nation." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European citizens' attitudes towards defence are a fundamental element of common identity in the EU's aim of becoming a unitary international actor. In Spain, since the early 2000s, the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces have developed a public policy to promote defence culture to influence Spanish society's views, perceptions, opinions, etc., towards defence and military policies. However, this approach is flawed because, despite being defined as part of the Spanish citizens' political culture, these institutions reduce this concept to 'knowledge' or 'awareness of its importance'. Therefore, the understanding of the Spanish defence political culture has been ill-analysed. Hence, a political culture related to defence issues can be best explained within the political culture framework, from which an ideal type, in the Weberian sense, can be established. Thus, based on previous studies, using survey data and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA & CFA), we test five sub-models to explain this political culture. This research is relevant to the study of the defence political culture because it reaffirms the existence of different cultural subtypes and civil–military relations and shows that the cultural gap in the convergence of values must be worked on in a segmented manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts in the UK to regulate the sharing and use of health data for secondary purposes such as research have been dogged by controversy and failure. This article considers health data stewardship as a response to these challenges. It develops a normative understanding of the concept through an examination of stewardship in a variety of contexts. This leads to a definition of health data stewardship which encapsulates the necessary constituent elements that focus group participants viewed as crucial to an accountable health data sharing scheme in which they could place their trust. It examines two potential mechanisms for facilitating health data stewardship, the data trust and the data cooperative, arguing that whichever regulatory mechanism is adopted must incorporate mechanisms responsive to citizens' requirements for accountable stewardship of their data. Without this, their wishes, and societal aims of improving health through research using comprehensive data sets may be unachievable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of civil society during and after the Presidential Elections of 2015 in Sri Lanka created a new era in democracy-building. Civil society played a decisive role in bringing the National Unity Government (NUG) into power in 2015 and revived the space for civil society to consolidate democracy with much waited reforms in the political and governance spheres amidst challenges on the part of ethno-religious forces. The article thus explores the role played by CSOs in building democracy during NUG (2015–2019). The article demonstrates that, while Sri Lanka's CSOs made significant progress toward democratic consolidation during the NUG, there is still a long way to go to ensure that a democratic political culture pervades all aspects of citizens' lives which is possible only through political institutionalization. Despite Sri Lanka's democratic accomplishments since 1931, efforts to consolidate democracy face challenges that have the potential to derail the gains made in the democratic consolidation process. The article claims that the single most critical factor in the consolidation of democracy is not only civil society but also political institutionalization. Though the article focuses on Sri Lanka, it does provide lessons for other developing countries that encounter democratic recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship investigating autocrats' motivations to adopt gender equality reforms has proliferated. Yet, many questions remain unanswered: Who supports these gender reforms? Do citizens support gender quota policies? What is the role of political elites? Under what conditions do women's increased presence in politics lead to positive outcomes for women? Answering these questions is crucial for both practical and empirical reasons. On the one hand, the number of 'partly free' and 'not free' countries is increasing, making up the majority of world countries (79%). On the other hand, women's access to political power has exponentially grown over the past two decades. Women in autocracies are participating in politics more than ever before. This special issue presents cutting-edge research on gender and authoritarian politics relying on diverse methodological approaches and geographical foci. The introduction of this SI identifies the remaining knowledge gaps and provides future directions for more scholarship on the intersection of gender and authoritarian politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the drivers of citizens' support for electoral gender quotas in transitioning and authoritarian states? Despite extensive research examining public support for women in politics in democracies, we know little about how the public perceives them in less democratic settings. To address this shortcoming, we use original survey data from authoritarian Morocco and transitioning Tunisia – two Arab countries hailed for their progressive gender policies. We argue that in these countries where citizens lack political information, they instead rely on their assessment of the government's performance to form attitudes toward gender quotas. Furthermore, electoral legitimacy plays an important role in shaping citizens' support for quotas, which are closely linked to how elections and legislatures operate. The findings offer strong support for our theoretical expectations and uncover important gender differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence from democracies shows that making laws more egalitarian can increase individuals' perceptions that others hold egalitarian views. How do citizens in authoritarian regimes that promote women's rights perceive public opinion on gender issues? While regime actions and narratives could increase perceptions that egalitarian attitudes are widespread, the disconnect between policy and public preferences could inhibit the expressive power of law to alter perceived norms. Drawing on original surveys and qualitative evidence from Morocco, an important case of de jure advances in women's rights, I find that Moroccans tend to overestimate others' embrace of patriarchal attitudes on gender issues. The tendency to misperceive conservatism spans demographic categories and is especially pronounced among men. I argue that citizens' awareness that policy processes are divorced from electoral accountability and the raised salience of conservative opposition during reform processes can reinforce perceived conservatism, even as women's rights advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining research in political geography and social psychology, this article investigates lay theories of "place effects"—that is, ordinary citizens' beliefs about the effects that urban or rural places have on the individuals who live in them. We do so using a novel survey vignette embedded in a large‐scale survey of the Canadian public. Our results suggest that (1) citizens see rural identities as less malleable than urban identities, (2) lay theories of place effects depend on citizens' own place identities, and (3) lay theories of place effects are stronger for nonpolitical than for political place‐based characteristics. We also find that lay theories of place effects are associated with individual‐level characteristics that are connected to cosmopolitan‐communitarian divides, such as ideology and postsecondary education. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for the growing literature on urban–rural divides and for research on citizens' implicit theories of places and their political consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores citizens' perceptions of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem, addressing the need for governance legitimacy in crisis management and policymaking when fighting this crisis. Previous research has shown that the public has limited knowledge of AMR and has given it little attention. Our study investigates how Norwegian citizens perceive the problem of AMR, considering their fear, knowledge, and trust, and using panel data from a Norwegian survey. The findings show that Norwegian citizens are aware of the severity of AMR and express concern about the declining effectiveness of antibiotics. However, their concern is linked to their fear of other major crises and to their knowledge of AMR, rather than their trust, both generally towards others, and in the authorities. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers and crisis management strategies. It suggests that public policies addressing AMR must consider governance legitimacy and the public's awareness, including citizens' fear and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a growing body of work suggests that women representatives are less likely to be involved in corruption scandals, we know less about if changes in representation patterns also have implications for citizens' first-hand experiences with corruption in public service delivery. This study suggests that women elected representatives reduce street level bribery, in particular when the share of women increases in contexts where relatively few women are elected or when the absolute increase in women's representation is relatively large. Using newly collected data on the share of women in 128 regional level parliaments in 10 European countries and four rounds of the European Quality of Government Index (EQI) survey (2010–2021), our two-way fixed effects models show that on average, the proportion of women in regional parliaments is strongly associated with citizens' self-reported experiences of bribery across all countries and years. Furthermore, our difference-in-difference design shows that the level of bribery in public service provision dropped more sharply in regions that experienced a greater absolute or greater marginal increase in women's representation. Our results may be understood in light of women candidates placing priority on well-functioning and low corrupt public service provision and the important signals of inclusiveness, non-discrimination and decreased tolerance towards corruption that women's representation conveys to civil servants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do citizens and non-citizens perceive themselves as more politically influential in contexts with more immigrant-inclusive local enfranchisement policies? Despite long-standing debates about the unequal responsiveness in the political systems of many advanced democracies, we still know little about whether targeted public policies at the local level can alter perceptions of political representation among residents. Importantly, little attention has been paid to the potential intended and unintended consequences of local electoral policies on external efficacy and research designs that include non-citizen residents. In this paper, we argue and test whether local alien enfranchisement raises external efficacy among non-citizens as a highly effective marker of immigrant inclusivity. Next, considering the potential spill-over effects of alien enfranchisement on citizens, we examine whether such electoral expansion is associated with a perceived increase in competition for political influence and a subsequent decline in citizens' external efficacy. Empirically, we focus on the Swiss case and exploit local electoral institutions' sub-national and temporal variation using longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel from 1999 to 2014. The paper adds to earlier work by proposing local policy context regarding non-citizen enfranchisement as one of the predictors of external efficacy on the resident population. Our findings suggest that perceived political influence among non-citizens is higher in municipalities with inclusive enfranchisement. We find no evidence for citizens experiencing lower external efficacy when voting rights are extended, making alien enfranchisement potentially a valuable tool to improve political integration among immigrants in today's diverse democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses how issue familiarity conditions longitudinal news framing effect dynamics. Comparing how the economic consequences frame impacts interpretation of two global problems—antimicrobial resistance and climate change—we study longitudinal effects across two similar issues varying significantly in salience and politicization, focusing on how various effect dynamics (single, repetitive, and counter-framing exposure) influence citizens' beliefs over time. A longitudinal experiment conducted with a probability-recruited sample in Sweden (N = 1,956) reveals (1) clear framing effects for both issues, (2) dynamics driven primarily by recency mechanisms, and (3) that individual differences in baseline belief certainty condition news framing effects. In sum, while the same news frame can have very similar effects on different issues, the findings suggest a "dual role" of issue familiarity, potentially conditioning the specific longitudinal effect dynamics, on the one hand, and effect susceptibility, on the other hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how citizens' attitudes toward government are affected by verifying or correcting their prior knowledge of governmental policy concerning the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using a survey experiment, we asked respondents about their knowledge of the stimulus check provided by local governments in South Korea. We then provided the correct answer to half of the respondents at random. For outcome variables, we measured satisfaction with the stimulus check, trust in the government, and intention to pay extra taxes. We found that only verifying correct prior knowledge, not correcting incorrect knowledge, improved respondents' attitudes. Subgroup analysis revealed that the verification effect occurred specifically among those whose income remained stable during the pandemic, regardless of whether their political orientation was congruent with their local government. Our findings suggest that rather than publicly releasing policy‐related information to citizens indiscriminately, verifying the information through closer communication with well‐informed citizens can be a more effective strategy to improve citizens' policy efficacy and attitudes toward the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "The Omnipresent Gaze: Exploring Surveillance in Amir Naderi's Goodbye Friend (1971)" delves into the concept of surveillance in modern societies, particularly under authoritarian regimes like the Pahlavi state in Iran. The film, a notable example of Iranian New Wave cinema, portrays the pervasive fear of being under constant surveillance through its visual expression and cinematic techniques. It explores the dichotomy between individuals evading detection within the urban crowd and the surveillance entities' relentless efforts to identify them. The film cleverly blurs the lines between narrative storytelling and surveillance, using the camera as both a narrative tool and a surveillance device, reflecting the era's sense of ubiquitous surveillance and societal suffocation. [Extracted from the article]

Public institutions are essential for executing government policies. Citizens' trust in public institutions is a crucial factor to consider when assessing the state of democracy. Working processes, trends, organisational principles, neutrality, approaches and impartiality are also used to assess an institution's trustworthiness. Failing to satisfy any of these indicators can create distrust. Good governance is essential for every country to move forward and attain its development goals. For most countries in South Asia, governance is not in a good condition, with government institutions struggling to perform satisfactorily. In this situation, distrust may be fostered among citizens with limited conviction in democracy and diminish the reliability of public institutions. By taking these issues into account, this article uses secondary literature to evaluate the level of trust in the public institutions of South Asian States with a distinct emphasis on good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The invariance thesis suggests the effectiveness of procedural fairness in enhancing citizens' views of police is not conditioned by individual differences. In this study, we used data collected from a randomized controlled trial testing the effects of procedural justice on driver perceptions of the police during traffic stops to explore whether perceptions of procedural fairness varied across subjects of differing socioeconomic backgrounds. Methods: Confirmatory principal components analysis was used to generate a latent variable measuring driver socioeconomic status by income, education, and occupation variables for procedural justice treatment group drivers and 'routine policing' control group drivers. OLS regressions tested whether socioeconomic status moderated the relationship between procedural justice and trust, as well as between procedural justice and perceptions of police. Results: The analyses found that procedural justice intervention improved citizen perceptions of trust and procedural fairness in the police during traffic stop encounters, and these positive impacts did not vary across drivers from differing socioeconomic backgrounds. Conclusions: These findings support the invariance thesis and suggest that the police can expect universal benefits to their legitimacy during traffic stops of drivers of varying backgrounds by ensuring procedurally just encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how Chinese citizens' leadership qualities relate to their intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) and how socio-cultural factors, mianzi (face), may affect this relationship. By conducting a national survey (N = 995) among Chinese social media users, this study finds that those with higher opinion leadership report higher intention to engage in both public-sphere and private-sphere PEBs. Self-perceived opinion leaders are also more willing to express themselves on social media, which consequently promotes their public-sphere PEB intention but not private-sphere PEB intention. In this process, perceived interpersonal trust strengthens opinion leaders' expressive behaviours on social media. Meanwhile, Mianzi is more effective in boosting non-opinion leaders' intention to engage in private-sphere PEBs, catching up with self-perceived opinion leaders. These findings shed light on the differences between public- and private-sphere PEBs and provide both theoretical and practical implications for promoting PEB intentions in the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Rawls's political liberalism demands that reasonable citizens comply with the duty of civility, which limits the justification of state action to public reasons. However, many religious citizens in liberal democratic societies reject the exclusion of religious reasons from public debate. What can be done to encourage these citizens to endorse public reason? Rawls proposes the idea of reasoning from conjecture (RC), i.e. directly engaging with someone's comprehensive doctrine and showing them that such a doctrine actually supports public reason. In this article, we argue that reasoning from conjecture faces serious objections and that interfaith dialogue (ID) provides a better and more effective tool to encourage religious citizens to endorse public reason. More specifically, ID provides support to public reason by (i) relying on the principles of equality, sincerity and self-criticism, which are also central to public reason; (ii) leading participants to de-parochialize religion; and (iii) promoting tolerance. Moreover, ID avoids the main objections faced by RC, which undermine the latter's morality and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the increasing pressure of urbanization and the diversity of social preferences have led to the loss of human peace and the disconnection between man and nature. One of the ways to reconnect people with nature is to pay more attention to green and blue spaces (rivers, streams, and green areas) through planned architectural and urban design solutions. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between nature (view and access to nature) and Sanandji citizens' mental health and use ART and SRT theories to find a solution to revitalize the landscape of the Qeshlaq River. The current research is based on the nature of practical objectives and follows a quantitative-qualitative approach. According to the research objectives, 254 questionnaires, including scales of contact time, frequency of visits, and the short form of mental health scale (WHO-5), were distributed to the target population in two periods based on the available population samples. In addition to the questionnaire, a structured interview was used to substantiate the results of the questionnaire and to highlight the problems of the Qeshlaq River environment. To analyze the data according to the type of variables, statistical tests were used in SPSS software version 27. The results of this study showed a significant but inverse relationship between the contact time/frequency of visits and the level of mental health. The most common reasons cited were lack of amenities and services, environmental issues, and lack of access to riverscapes. However, the relationship between mental health and access to nature was significant and positive. Finally, the results of this study provide guidelines for revitalizing riverscapes using two theories, ART and SRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate factors that influence citizens' cognitive maps on strengthening the sense of place on the Aliqapu pedestrian walkway, which can improve the quality of the urban space. The research method is applied development and was done using the content analysis method. Library studies, field survey methods, observation, and questionnaires were used to collect information. Due to the abnormality of the data, there is a strong correlation between physical and identity-spatial components using the Spearman correlation test. Using the Friedman test, it was found that among the physical components, the diversity of activities and hierarchy has the highest score, and among the identity-spatial components, identity buildings, and Sheikh Safi's tomb have the most impact on creating a sense of spatial belonging. In the citizens' cognitive maps, the most attention was paid to the Allah Dome and the High Mosque of Aliqapu. The reason for this is the different identities, histories, and skylines. Understanding the roots of identity and history in the construction of sidewalks, creating better efficiency, and strengthening the sense of attachment to the place is very important and can strengthen people's mind maps in this way. In addition to these identity features, recognizing the physical body and paying attention to patterns in harmony with the community's identity and culture can increase the sidewalk's efficiency. The historical elements present in this sidewalk are the most important influential elements in the sense of place and the mental image of citizens. Therefore, paying attention to the identity components of new sidewalks and using the historical and identity symbols of the city can strengthen citizens' sense of spatial belonging and the mental image of the sidewalk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South Indian soapnut tree, Sapindus trifoliatus L, is a midsized evergreen tree from the Indian subcontinent whose fruit can produce natural detergents, biodiesel, and biopesticides. In this study, we document the systematic destruction of soapnut trees through a citizen-supported tree census in an emerging Tier 2 city, Kochi, in South India. In the study, 3580 respondents allowed us to find and map 210 locations of soapnut trees across 411.57 km2. Kochi expanded suddenly in the early 2000s, with a drastic increase in built-up area (126%) and a steady decline in wetlands (57.6%) and croplands (15%). Habitat loss and removal from home gardens has quartered soapnut tree density, to 0.11 km−2. With only 50 trees remaining, the population of the South Indian soapnut will reach the brink of local extinction by 2080. Key policy insights: Citizens have the power to conserve soapnut trees outside protected areas, yet only 3.41% of respondents were well informed. Knowledge transfer regarding biodiversity is being lost across generations. Frequently updating People's Biodiversity Registers is essential to document and conserve biodiversity within cityscapes. Citizen reporting provides deeper information and data points than the work of expert taxonomists alone, provided the species is familiar to the locals. Regular population census with GIS mapping and citizens' input can effectively monitor populations within urban refugia. The collection of soapnuts and the protection of trees on private property should be incentivized through policy change and accessibility and benefit sharing agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]