Education for Modernisation? The Impact of Higher Education Member Development Programmes on Councillors’ Perception and Performance of their Roles

The recent ‘modernisation’ process in local government has brought about the most significant, and certainly the most explicit, changes in councillor roles for decades. At the same time – partly as a result of this and partly for other reasons – there has been a significant growth in the provision of training for councillors, and in particular, training – or, rather, education – programmes provided by higher education institutions (HEIs). These accredited programmes, leading to standard, nationally recognised academic qualifications at a range of levels, first appeared in the early 2000s, and have been steadily growing since. The entry of supposedly disinterested institutions and academics and the introduction of accreditation into the field of member development raise a number of questions around potential conflicts of interest between councillors, officers and the academy, councillor motivation and selection processes. Of particular interest is the question of what HEIs and the courses they are providing are doing, deliberately or otherwise, to shape, reinforce or challenge the new (and old) roles explicitly and implicitly being introduced and promoted through the modernisation reforms. This article utilises interviews with councillors, local authority officers, academics and representatives of national bodies representing or with an interest in local government to examine how councillors’ roles and the way that they perform them are perceived by all involved, and whether these are altered by participation in a higher education programme of study.     

Through the looking-glass: Exploring the wonderland of ‘other’ female portrayals in advertising

Abstract

Research on gender portrayals in advertising are prolific and mostly focus on stereotypical roles. However, there is no previous research report analysing portrayals that fall into the ‘other’ category of female roles. This article aims to provide an outline of female role portrayals in advertising and, importantly, to examine the ‘other’ role category for new portrayals. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on samples of South African magazine and television advertisements. The findings indicate that the stereotypical decorative role was prevalent in magazine advertisements, while in television advertisements the product user was the person most often featured. A detailed analysis of the ‘other’ category in both media revealed four new role portrayals. These roles represent a different view of the modern woman and may be used to differentiate effectively those brands in the media that are cluttered with advertising messages. The research provides directions for future content-analytic studies on the topic of female portrayals in advertising.     

Adult roles and the gender gap in political knowledge: a comparative study

The unusual size and persistence of the gender gap in political knowledge is perplexing in comparison to other dimensions of politics. Building on situational explanations of political engagement, this article claims that women’s and men’s specific adult roles lead to an enlargement of the gender gap in knowledge. The present study analyses men and women’s levels of political knowledge at different life stages by means of two unique datasets specifically collected to measure what people know about politics. Findings show that adult roles provide more opportunities for men to gain political knowledge than for women. Furthermore, the comparison of levels of political knowledge in two such dissimilar countries as Finland and Spain suggests that while gender equality policies are successful in tearing down some of the obstacles that hinder women’s contact with the political world, they are still insufficient to completely bridge the gender gap in political knowledge during adulthood.     

女性话语角色与交际语言常量

社会对女性角色的刻板印象,女性角色意识的自我认同,影响了女性交际语言常量,为弥补言语量的不足,女性常用自己独特的方式——语言的辅助形式进行补充。这种独特的弥补方式的背后反映的问题,是与语言表达密切相关的社会心理。     

从臣民到公民：角色转换界及其生成与发展

臣民与公民的本质区分并不在于是否拥有法律文本意义上的权利 ,也不完全在于实际权利的是否享有 ,关键在于是否具有自觉、理性、强烈、持久的权利意识。在由臣民向公民的角色转换中 ,启动与推进因素只能是权利和权利意识 ,而不可能是义务和规范意识。权利意识的生成与发展既需要现实生活中享有权利的激活与滋养 ,也需要权利思想启蒙 ,有时后者更重要。两者共同作用便可促进角色转换 ,完成向真正公民社会的过渡     

辛亥革命时期女性经济角色的变迁

辛亥革命时期,在新的历史文化情境下,中国女性的经济角色受到了新的挑战,出现了向现代化演进的新趋向,这主要从新的角色期待与新的角色扮演两个层面展开.我们可以运用角色变迁理论,反映这一时期女性经济角色变迁的早期现代化境况.     

民主党派在促进党际关系和谐中的作用

中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度创立了一种崭新的政党关系,而这种政党关系开辟了我国党际关系和谐的新境界。在我国政党制度的框架中,共产党是保持和促进我国党际关系和谐的主导力量,民主党派是重要力量。民主党派在开发我国政党制度合法性资源、保持政治秩序和发展民主、提高执政党的执政水平和政党活动的制度化等方面发挥了重要作用。当前,我们应该不断推进政治文明建设,努力提升民主党派在促进我国党际关系和谐中的能力。     

转型中国的司法策略

因为既没有对当下中国法官在其角色扮演的过程中所需要的具体知识进行类型分析,又没有对其角色扮演时所处的具体而复杂的角色环境做同情理解,所以当下对于中国司法及其运作方式的批评就多少有失偏颇。实际上,在具体的司法实践中,当下中国法官所采用的司法策略,尽管看起来有些“上不了台面”,但却能在既有的司法环境下顺利推进问题的解决。     

"入世"与政府的现实选择

加入WTO,标志着中国经济开始融入世界经济大潮.然而,入世既有机遇,也有挑战,尤其是政府的挑战是具体而现实的.政府必须加紧修订和完善法制,科学定位在管理、经济、社会等方面的角色,以此推动中国经济的不断发展.     

妇女和婚姻从此就失去保护了吗？——评婚姻法解释三第七、第十一条

媒体和学界对《婚姻法解释三》第七条、第十一条等条文的诟病甚多，认为它们弱化了对妇女的保护，违反甚至冲击、摧毁我国传统婚姻家庭文化、婚姻家庭伦理和婚姻家庭价值取向；另外还认为婚姻家庭领域与物权、合同领域殊有不同，这两条司法解释是将后者的原理粗暴地适用于前者，甚为谬误。笔者认为，这些抨击是对婚姻法解释三的误读。本文试图从对这些抨击作出辩驳的角度论证婚姻法解释三第七条、第十一条的正当性。