County council politicians' attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention: a qualitative cross-cultural study

The purpose of the present study was to compare county council politicians' attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention in five European countries. A questionnaire was distributed and here the responses to the open-ended questions are analyzed qualitatively. Considerable differences were found in what the politicians in the five countries believed to be the most important causes of suicide and how suicide can be prevented. There were also differences in to what degree the politicians revealed a judgmental attitude toward suicide, which seemed to be related to the magnitude of the problem in the respective countries. A certain implicit inconsistency in the logic directing the politicians' responses was found when their views on causes to suicide and suicide prevention strategies were compared. The responses indicate a need for increased consciousness and knowledge about suicide and suicide prevention among politicians in all the five countries. This is important since they are responsible for initiating and funding suicide preventive efforts.     

Redemocratization and economic liberalization in Turkey: The limits of state autonomy

Liberalization policies implemented in semi-industrial countries are based on a common theoretical framework and embody a standard set of policy instruments. Yet, countries differ widely in terms of their capacity to implement liberalization programs, the extent to which liberalization programs are applied as measured by deviations from “orthodox norms,” and, finally, the degree of success generated. The article proceeds from the premise that the institutional characteristics and the policy environment of a country are of crucial significance in accounting for both the nature of the adjustment process and the subsequent economic performance. The organization of the state and society as well as the degree of centralization of the state constitute key components of the domestic structures that help to illuminate why we observe differential responses to a common external shock, namely, an identical economic strategy. Turkey’s patrimonial state tradition has strongly conditioned and modified the nature of economic liberalization as well as the process of democratic consolidation during the 1980s. This article seeks to elucidate the fundamental paradox concerning the weakness and vulnerability of a highly centralized state which, in turn, embodies negative implications for both economic liberalization and the process of democratic consolidation.     

The oakland hiv/aids planning council: Its organizational form and environment

An observational study of the Oakland Eligible Metropolitan Area and its Ryan White CARE Act Title I HIV health services planning council, officially known as the Alameda/Contra Costa HIV Planning Council, has been in progress since October 1992. Until June 1994, the Oakland planning council had a bifurcated organizational structure, with a component council for Alameda County and a component council for Contra Costa County. This case study focuses primary on the Alameda Component Planning Council (ACPC) and reveals that since its inception, the ACPC has struggled with numerous difficult issues, including volunteer membership, part-time staff support, membership selection and composition, conflict of interest, tensions among competing interest groups, conflicting demands from patientsJconsumers, and tensions among competing service delivery organizations. In spite of the substantial effort required to address these issues, the ACPC managed to fulfill its basic responsibilities of prioritizing the service needs of HIV-infected persons in the community and allocating funds to service providers to meet those needs. Over time, however, dealing with these issues took its toll on the planning council, resulting in a near complete turnover of members within 18 months. One reason that the planning council survived may be due to its unusual organizational form, which fits closely the definition of a minimalist organization. This form of organization is flexible and very efficient at adapting to changes in its environment. Previous studies of such minimalist organizations, however, have examined organizations functioning in stable, non-competitive environments. Whether HIV planning councils with this particular organizational form will be able to survive over a long period of time in turbulent environments is an important question for future research.     

令人关注的士耳其正义与发展党

2002年11月3日对土耳其来说是个不寻常的日子,这一天举行的提前大选使一个伊斯兰温和派政党--正义与发展党一举成为土执政党.对此人们不禁要问:这个带有伊斯兰面纱的正发党究竟是怎样一个政党?她将把土耳其带向何方?     

The Role of Non -Economic Drivers in Development Planning: The Case of South Korea and Turkey

ABSTRACT

The relationships between economic growth and planning strategies have been debated in different disciplines of social science. However, the emphasis has been more on structural and theoretical assumptions of planning and economics at the expense of other important non-economic and institutional factors that include social, cultural, political, and administrative dimensions. To explain the different approaches and outcomes of development planning, one needs to examine other factors that influence the nature of these plans and why they have been adopted. Using rigorous systematic and thematic review of government reports, academic publications and data from international organizations, this comparative study reveal the unique role non-economic factors play in countries’ development. It has been revealed that these factors not only influence the nature of planning strategies adopted by governments but also affect how these plans are implemented. Since South Korea and Turkey have achieved impressive economic growth over the last half a century, they have been selected as a case study to examine the role non-economic factors in their respective developments.     

From Ocalan to Al Qaida: The Continuing Terrorist Threat in Turkey

The most recent terrorist attacks in Turkey suggest a new phase in the country's war against terrorist groups. Although the PKK has largely been neutralized as a major threat to internal stability, the continued existence of other militant organizations--particularly Islamist groups who appear to be cooperating with elements of al Qaida--suggests continued security problems for the government.‐     

Local climate governance and policy innovation in China: a case study of a piloting emission trading scheme in Guangdong province

This paper investigates how piloting programmes in China can promote local policy innovations. By using one of the piloting emission trading schemes (ETS) in Guangdong province as a case study, it is argued that the main features of the piloting experiments, particularly in the climate change domain, are largely different from previous local marketization experiments that dominate the reform period of China. Whereas previous experiments are often characterized as bottom-up or indigenous initiatives with strong patronage relations to the pro-reform politicians at central level, the current piloting programmes are often crafted in a top-down fashion that is often misaligned with local market or corporate interests. Hence, local policy innovations are designed, developed and brokered by the local state officers, in order to bridge this central–local interest gap. As a result, successful implementation of these policy innovations largely depends on local political traditions, bureaucratic culture and perceptions of distinctive development needs.     

The politics of return: exploring the future of Syrian refugees in Jordan,Lebanon and Turkey

Abstract

Although the Syrian conflict continues, local and global stakeholders have already begun to consider the return of the six million refugees, especially as neither the option of local integration in the countries of first asylum nor that of resettlement to third countries is seen as a realistic possibility. Elaborating on the return debates in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, we relate the politicisation of this question to the growing acceptance of the option of voluntary and involuntary repatriation in the international refugee regime as well as to policies and public opinion. We argue, based on empirical fieldwork, that any debate about the return of Syrian refugees is problematic, since the conditions of safety, voluntariness and sustainability are not fulfilled. Further, returns should not be left entirely to the individual hosting states and actors in the region but should be carried out in collaboration with representative authorities in Syria and the mediation of international organisations upon full resolution of conflict.     

The impact of revenue diversification on municipal debts: comparing short-term and long-term debt levels

The extant literature has offered two competitive implications of revenue diversification: revenue stabilisation and fiscal illusion. Stabilisation helps governments have less revenue volatility, while fiscal illusion expands tax burdens through the increase in expenditure. The competitive views on revenue diversification leave a niche to explore the association between revenue diversification and debt levels in local governments. We estimate the static and dynamic effects of revenue diversification on both short-term and long-term debt levels in 150 fiscally standardised cities. Our findings show that local governments with greater revenue diversification are more likely to reduce short-term debts while expanding long-term debts. The findings imply that a stabilised revenue structure helps local governments better manage operational budgets but also invest in capital projects with greater debt capacity.     

Enforcement Process Tracing: Forbearance and Dilution in Urban Colombia and Turkey

Cities are complex regulatory environments. Attempts to regulate urban behavior create opportunities for politicians to manipulate enforcement to win votes and reward supporters. While some politicians choose not to enforce regulations, or forbearance, others undercut their intent, or dilution. Empirical research on enforcement has lagged behind due to the identification challenges in distinguishing weak state capacity from political manipulations. We develop a structured approach to process tracing that follows enforcement decisions sequentially across bureaucracies and specifies statistical distributions as counterfactuals to identify the causes of limited enforcement. We illustrate these strategies through original data on enforcement against squatters in urban Colombia and the provision of building permits in urban Turkey. Enforcement process tracing helps to document a form of distributive politics that is common to cities in the developing world.     

Economists in government: The case of Malawi

The problem of the relationship between economic rationality and decision‐making in Africa is seen largely as a problem of communication between economists, administrators and politicians. The way in which economists are integrated into the machinery of government in Malawi is described and briefly compared with Zambia, where the Ministry of Development Planning was effectively excluded.     

Training of Civil Servants in Turkey: Progress,Problems, and Prospects

Abstract

Today, public servants in Turkey, like in many countries around the world, face major challenges, including an increasingly demanding citizenry, intensifying globalization processes, rapid developments in the use of information and communication technologies, and the rise in the number and influence of the civil society organizations. To overcome, or at least to lessen, the possible negative impacts of these and other such challenges, thoughtfully designed, and effectively implemented training activities may serve as catalyst. After a brief introduction, the article first identifies and describes the main policies and institutional players associated with training and development of civil servants in Turkey. Second, the article identifies and concisely discusses the most critical and enduring problems concerning training and development of civil servants in the country. The third section of the article evaluates prospects for developing effective training policies and practices. In doing so, the article offers ideas and arguments about the issue around the following topics: publicness, performance, proficiency and professionalism, participation, and partnerships and partnering. The article concludes with a brief summary of the issues discussed along with one specific suggestion for future research on training and development policies and practices in Turkey.