Implementation of CRM systems in Portuguese Municipalities

Customer relationship management is a business strategy which dynamically integrates a set of services with the purpose of creating value for the organisation and for their customers. In Portugal, the 2009/2010 edition of ‘Simplex for Municipalities’, the action plan carried by the Portuguese government through the Secretary's Office of State for Administrative Modernisation, makes a commitment to promote a set of initiatives in order to help citizens using the public services. This process intends to reduce costs of context which burden the economic activities, making way for the modernisation of administration. Customer relationship management assumes a central role in this context. This paper presents the main results of a survey that was carried out with Portuguese municipalities, aiming a general characterisation of the adoption of customer relationship management systems, covering several aspects, from the motivations for CRM adoption to the obtained results. The improvement of the relationship with citizens and a higher information quality are some of the most important results obtained by municipalities.     

严打“两抢一盗”政策评析——以被害调查为视角

当前中国盗窃、抢劫和抢夺犯罪形势严峻。严打行动的开展，对于遏制该类犯罪的高发态势有着积极意义，但也存在一些不足。治理犯罪，保护民生，需要多策并举、多措并举。     

对新时期山东公安民警需求现状的调查与分析

了解公安民警的需求现状,满足公安民警的需求,调动和发挥公安民警积极性,是新时期公安工作的重点。文章对新形势下公安民警的需求现状进行了调查,并在该基础上分析总结出了存在的问题,为今后探讨公安民警需求的激励创新机制提供现实依据。     

公安侦查类专业建设与人才培养调研报告

通过对山西省部分地区基层公安机关民警的职业素质现状和现实公安工作对民警的职业素质需求的实地调研，认真分析，认为目前刑事侦查类专业人才培养方案需要调整。改进教学方法，提高侦查类专业学生的专业能力；特别建议，以培养实践所需公安专业人才为导向，大幅度缩减公共、基础课程。     

Beyond elections: perceptions of democracy in four Arab countries

This article draws on public opinion survey data from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan to investigate first, whether a “demand for democracy” in the region exists; second, how to measure it; and third, how respondents understand it. The picture emerging from this analysis is complex, eluding the simple dichotomy between prima facie support and second order incongruence with democracy, which characterises current debates. Respondents have a more holistic understanding of democracy than is found in current scholarship or indeed pursued by Western or regional policymakers, valuing civil-political rights but prioritizing socio-economic rights. There is broad consensus behind principles of gender equality, but indirect questions reveal the continuing influence of conservative and patriarchal attitudes. Respondents value religion, but do not trust religious leaders or want them to meddle in elections or government. Moreover, while there is broad support for conventionally-understood pillars of liberal democracy (free elections, a parliamentary system), there is also a significant gap between those who support democracy as the best political system in principle and those who also believe it is actually suitable for their country.     

Support and Opposition for Invading Iraq: Did the President's Speech Make a Difference?

Utilizing data from the annual San Antonio Survey, this research addresses the issue of support and opposition to invading Iraq among respondents randomly selected from Bexar County, Texas. Data were collected prior to and after President Bush addressed the nation on October 7, 2002, seeking broad citizen support for his plan, allowing us to ascertain whether or not his speech impacted the attitudes of potential voters. Our results indicate that the President's speech, along with the extensive media coverage about it, was effective in gaining support for his proposal to invade Iraq. A multivariate logistic regression analysis also displayed that the speech still had a significant impact even after controlling for confidence in the president, political orientation, race, ethnicity, nativity, and socio-demographic context. The findings suggest support for earlier research indicating that the impact of presidential speeches could boost the approval of a policy, in particular, if the speech occurred during his first term of office, was considered a “major” speech, was devoted to one important topic, and its primary focus was on foreign policy. Under these conditions, such a speech portrays the president as a strong leader.     

Do Bilinguals Respond More Favorably to Candidate Advertisements in English or in Spanish?

Candidates for political office in the United States can appeal to constituents in either English or in Spanish. We investigate the consequences of this choice in a series of survey experiments conducted on large, diverse samples of both monolingual and bilingual Americans. We take advantage of parallel advertisements produced in both English and Spanish by real candidates for national office—one presidential and two congressional. Because our design holds constant candidates’ policy positions, we can attribute the effects on vote choice directly to the choice of language over and above other candidate attributes. In two of our three experiments, the Spanish-language advertisements increased candidates’ electoral support by 5 percentage points among bilinguals. We find the opposite pattern of results among English-speaking monolingual Americans, who respond very negatively to Spanish-language advertisements. Our results shed light on the strategic calculus of candidates who must appeal to multiple linguistic communities at once.     

Voter attitudes when democracy promotion turns partisan: evidence from a survey-experiment in Lebanon

This article studies how voters react when foreign powers support a particular political party in a fragile democracy. The article identifies which voters believe the intervention plays a positive role in the electoral process and which voters have the opposite opinion. The article argues that educated and politically sophisticated voters will reject such interventions because of the negative role those play in the democratization process. Specific hypotheses are developed based on this argument and were tested in a randomized framing experiment embedded in a post-election survey of 2500 voters in Lebanon 2009. The survey results confirm the argument above. Furthermore, this study derives implications for the risks and benefits of ‘guiding’ democratic outcomes from abroad.     

重庆市北碚区农业科技发展的现状及对策

近年来重庆市北碚区大力发展现代农业,采取生态农业建设、建立专家大院、发展示范项目等措施,科技对农业生产的贡献率不断提高。调研发现,北碚区农业科技发展过程中存在着科技含量不高、接受新品种新技术的意识不够、产业宣传力度不够、品牌意思薄弱等问题。该文建议通过实施品牌发展战略、加大结构调整以提高农产品档次、搞活市场流通、加大扶持服务力度、加快新技术普及等措施来发展北碚区农业科技。