The Transformation of Soviet Industrial Relations and the Foundation of the Moldovan Dniester Republic

The debate about post-socialist internal conflict has overcome the ‘ethnic turn’ and increasingly focuses on actors. For the case of separatism in the Moldovan Dniester Valley, research has highlighted the crucial role of industrial factory directors. These managers mobilised their factories’ employees. To refine the knowledge of how collective conflict actors are formed, this article asks the question: what enabled directors to mobilise ‘their’ workers? The sources show that, on the one hand, the managers’ political power was rooted in typical Soviet enterprise structures; on the other, it was further strengthened by perestroika market reforms and the economic crisis entangled to them. These results suggest that separatist mobilisation and internal conflict were entangled to social transformation and functioned as a catalyst to the process of (re-)distribution of capital and power.     

Labour relations in the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ sectors: Report of a case study in South Gujarat,India—Part I

The fate of peasants, agricultural labourers and others who leave the agrarian sector, either temporarily or permanently, to seek employment in towns and cities, must be of great interest to anyone concerned with the peasantry. Yet it is an area about which we are remarkably ignorant. Jan Breman's study of the ‘labour relations’ (or, one might say, the ‘poverty') of those who are, to a significant extent, first‐generation town‐dwellers, or who, indeed, although they seek employment in towns, have not yet severed their connections with the countryside, is extremely enlightening in this respect. Although it is not directly about peasants we publish it as an important contribution to our knowledge of this hitherto ‘dark’ area, in which rural origins or connections are of manifest significance. The author employs the ‘informal'/'formal’ sector dichotomy, with suitable scepticism, to examine in great detail the labour system outside agriculture in the Valsad district of South Gujarat.?     

Legitimacy through Partnership? EU Policy Diffusion in Britain and Sweden

Partnership has become a central principle of European Union (EU) policies, particularly in relation to the structural funds. This article considers the diffusion of the partnership principle in the EU, focusing on Britain and Sweden. It is concerned with two questions. First, has the partnership principle led to a process of harmonisation across states or to national resistance? Second, to what extent has the partnership principle enhanced the legitimacy of EU decision making? The evidence presented here suggests that though there has not been significant resistance to the partnership principle within Britain and Sweden, the EU’s requirements have been interpreted and implemented differently in the two states. Thus it is more appropriate to speak of ‘adaptation’ to partnership rather than ‘adoption’. This is explained by what we summarise as ‘national democratic traditions’. In terms of democratic legitimacy, the Swedish adaptation to partnership was nominally more democratic in that local politicians were readily involved from the outset, whereas in Britain they were not. However, the importance of this inclusion should not be overstated in relation to substantive democratic legitimacy. The Swedish model was not supported by well‐articulated democratic strategies or principles. Despite the limitations of the Swedish model, recent developments suggest that Britain is following a similar path.     

And What About Siblings? A Longitudinal Analysis of Sibling Effects on Youth’s Intergroup Attitudes

Within the process of political socialization, the family is of particular importance. Apart from parents, however, little is known about the role of other close family members. The present study examined if siblings affect each other’s intergroup attitudes (i.e., intolerance towards immigrants, social dominance orientation). Drawing on a sample of 362 sibling dyads (older siblings: M _age?=?17.77, 53.6% female; younger siblings: M _age?=?13.61, 61.3% female), the results showed that older siblings’ intergroup attitudes predicted younger siblings’ attitudes, but this effect was moderated by gender. Specifically, older siblings’ intolerance and social dominance orientation were only found to affect their younger sisters, yet not their younger brothers. Although younger siblings’ intergroup attitudes had no main effect on older siblings, a significant moderation by age indicated that younger siblings affected older siblings’ social dominance orientation with increasing age. These moderation effects of age and gender were not mediated by the quality of family relationships. The findings also remained the same when parental intergroup attitudes were taken into account. While siblings were generally identified as an important agent of political socialization in youth, the results also highlight the necessity to further examine the mechanism that either facilitate or hinder sibling effects.     

Trajectories of Identity Formation Modes and Their Personality Context in Adolescence

Identity formation is a dynamic process during adolescence. Trajectories of identity formation were assessed longitudinally in early and middle adolescents, taking into account the personality underpinnings of this process. Identity formation was conceptualized according to the circumplex of identity formation modes. The model distinguishes basic modes rooted in Marcia’s categories of exploration and commitment. Plasticity and stability, the two higher order Big Five meta-traits, were used to assess personality underpinnings. This study includes five measurement waves over 1.5 years and involves 1,839 Polish participants; 914 early adolescents (53.9% girls) and 925 middle adolescents (63.8% girls). The results suggest that (1) the four identity formation modes change dynamically, showing linear and curvilinear growth and that (2) identity formation mode trajectories are more dynamic in middle adolescence than in early adolescence. The results also showed that, in the conditional model, (3) the higher-order personality factors and gender affect the growth factors of identity formation modes. Overall, trajectories of identity formation modes are more linear during early adolescence and more curvilinear during middle adolescence. The initial levels in identity trajectories are influenced by the personality metatraits but only plasticity is related to change among early adolescents.     

Citizen and Open Government: An Empirical Analysis of Antecedents of Open Government Data

Given the lack of empirical research investigating citizens’ use of open government, this study examines the antecedents of citizens’ use of open government data. Based on technology acceptance and motivation theory, this article proposes and empirically tests a research model, applying structural equation modeling to survey data collected from 210 citizens. The findings show that ease of use, usefulness, intrinsic motivation, and Internet competence significantly determine citizens’ intention to use open government data. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of citizens’ attitudes and behavior in the context of open government and offers implications for research and practice.     

The relationship between competition and efficiency of waste-collection services in the Czech Republic

This paper examines the role of the competition on the waste-collection market. Based on the case study of the Czech Republic, we evaluate the influence of competition intensity on supply side of the market on efficiency of waste-collection services. The rate of competition was approximated by the number of submitted bids to public tenders and efficiency was measured by per capita expenditures for municipal waste-collection services. We developed two regression models – the first model verified a competitive effect on the public procurement market for the provision of waste-collection services; the second model identified factors that affected municipal expenditures for waste-collection services per capita. We concluded that the competition in the waste-collection market increases by organising open tenders for suppliers at regular intervals, by adapting the duration of contracts to economic life of fixed assets, by sustaining pressure on service providers through a change in suppliers or the distribution of contracts among jurisdictions.