Symbolic Political Communication,and Trust: A Young Voters’ Perspective of the Indonesian Presidential Election

Communication in political marketing plays an important role in political mobilization, building trust both in political actors and the government. Politicians construct their messages through careful branding as the power of the cultural symbols and signs conveyed through the brand are potent heuristic devices. This is particularly important in emerging democracies, where there is limited political knowledge and understanding. Therefore, this research explores how young voters understand the symbolic communication fashioned by political actors in Indonesia and how it relates to their brand. Indonesia is an interesting area for study; it is both secular and the world’s largest Muslim democracy. Using a phenomenological approach, a total of 19 in-depth interviews with young voters were conducted to gain rich insight into perceptions of the complexity of political symbolism, and trust among young voters. This study conceptualized political communication as a dual approach. The political brand promise is intrinsically linked to cultural references and conveyed through symbolic communication combined with a distinctive brand message. This builds trust, which then affects political participation. This conceptual framework provides insights into the importance of culture in branding which has implications for policy makers and actors in emerging and established democracies.     

Fiscal Institutions,Credit Ratings,and Borrowing Costs

This paper investigates the impact of fiscal institutions on state government borrowing costs. We find that institutions have both a direct and indirect effect on interest costs paid by state governments. Revenue limits are associated directly with higher interest costs; expenditure limits, stricter balanced budget rules, and restrictions on state debt issuance are indirectly associated with lower interest costs because they lead to higher credit ratings. It appears that investors and bond raters incorporate information on fiscal institutions into their assessment of state government credit quality.     

The role of foreign donors in rebuilding the Ukrainian nation-state

The viewpoint discusses the role of foreign donors in rebuilding the Ukrainian nation-state. It argues that a gardener’s care is needed – not guidance, traditional teaching, or direction, but assistance. Foreign donors’ activities should be oriented principally to the support of internal points of growth, social and economic. The task of empowering actors that show promise to propel socio-economic development from within can and should be prioritised. The policies of empowering local actors (as opposed to financing the government and established businesses) involve first and foremost supporting bottom-up initiatives and start-ups that have demonstrated their relevance and promise.     

Volunteers in Ukraine: From provision of services to state- and nation-building

This article discusses the volunteer movement in Ukraine. After the 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity and the subsequent military confrontation with Russia, the volunteer movement became an influential and trusted actor capable of mobilizing a large number of supporters and a significant amount of resources. Donations made to volunteer initiatives represent in Ukraine a percentage of the country's GDP similar to that seen in some Western countries. However, compared with volunteerism in developed countries, volunteer initiatives in Ukraine have several distinct features: a mostly informal character; their reliance on a hard core of committed and active leaders; and connections with the nationalist movement understood here as an actor aiming to attain and maintain the identity of the Ukrainian nation-state in the making. The article explores the intersection between warfare, nation-building, state-building and democratization using Ukraine as a case in point. Data from two sources inform the analysis: a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with leaders of the volunteer movement (N?=?22) and results of a survey conducted on a representative sample (N?=?2040).     

Innovation Agents in the Public Sector: Applying Champion and Promotor Theory to Explore Innovation in the Australian Public Service

Innovation is critical to organisational success and is a process steered, and potentially thwarted, by individuals. However, despite the importance of public sector innovation given the complexity of policy issues faced and the sector's specific contextual features, our understanding of innovation processes in government requires expansion. This study, using in‐depth case analyses of three Australian Public Service agencies, focuses on understanding the ‘human component’ of the innovation process by drawing on both innovation champion and promotor theories to explore, through the lens of organisational power, how multiple human agents progress public sector innovations. The results highlight the key, and often tandem, roles of individuals at multiple organisational levels who work to inspire and motivate others to progress an innovation (champions) and those with specific power bases who help overcome organisational barriers to innovation (promotors).     

Organizational slack in subsidized nonprofit institutions

Informal objectives of managers next to the formal objective of the organization can be a source of organizational slack or X-inefficiency in nonprofit organizations. If the organization is subsidized the donor can restrain organizational slack by choosing an appropriate subsidy system. Four subsidy systems are discussed: output, input, revenue and lump sum subsidy. Output subsidy reduces slack most. The ranking of input subsidy compared with lump sum subsidy depends on the elasticity of demand for output. Revenue subsidy equals input subsidy. Changes in the subsidy regime for residential adult educations in the Netherlands turn out to have been inconsistent.     

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING POLICY AND FEDERALISM

There are widespread misperceptions about the way in which American federalism has worked in the past and is working now. One is the belief that since the 1930s, the federal government has engaged in many new activities. Another misperception is that liberals support centralization and conservatives, decentralization. Actually, most Americans tend to be pragmatic. The vitality of this American pragmatism is seen in state economic development policies. States have provided leadership in initiating new economic development programs in such areas as foreign trade and enterprise zones. Four major patterns in American federalism characterize the emergence and development of most of these programs: responsiveness, elitism, pluralism, and experimentation. Implications for employment and training policy are examined.     

The New Elites in the Baltic States: Recirculation and Change

Regime change is closely connected to elite change. although classical theories of elite rule would predict considerable elite continuity. The basic question is how the downfall of communist regimes and introduction of democracy have affected elite patterns in the three Baltic states. The data indicate a combination of continuity and change: circulation of indigenous elites has taken place, while Russians are excluded from power in important state institutions. Elite continuity is explained by lack of "alternative elites" and a need for competent leaders in the state building process. Elite change is explained by ethnic cleavages which raise the issue of indigenous control over power positions.     

The Future of the European “Social Model” in the Global Economy

This article examines the prospects for European welfare states in the context of globalization. It begins with a critical review of the globalization arguments. While there is some evidence that external constraints make life harder for policymakers seeking positive-sum outcomes, it is the combination of national debt and spending limits, plus domestic tax resistance, that really count in making expenditure-based social and employment policies more difficult in certain countries. In understanding the constraints and opportunities that will shape Europe's welfare future, globalization—crudely understood—is therefore much less influential than many suppose. While EMU has radically diminished national autonomy in exchange rate, monetary policy, and fiscal policy, there are also beneficial consequences for social policy and broader economic management. On the employment and social policy side, initiatives required to match greater flexibility with sustained security are now at the top of the EU agenda, and mechanisms for diffusing best practice across Europe are being put in place. Within this framework, European welfare states must place more emphasis on dynamic equality, being primarily attentive to the worst off, more hospitable to incentive-generating differentiation, and actively vigilant with regard to the openness of opportunity structures.