Structurally Excluded? Structural Embeddedness and Civil Society Competition for Funding

ABSTRACT

The debate about the funding and support of civil society by government bodies has become a central and politicized issue in many countries. European states in particular have sought to make use of civil society to deliver key supra-national policy aims of addressing economic and social disadvantage, as well as delivering national and territorial outcomes. To this end European structural funding has been used at a regional level to develop and engage organizations and their beneficiaries. One of the key considerations in such activity is the ability of civil society organizations to engage with the funding available, and whether structural barriers exist that potentially prevent organizations with relevant expertise participating. In order to illustrate this, this article investigates how civil society organizations fared in gaining funds from the 2007–2013 European Social Fund (ESF) programmes in Wales, what, if any, barriers were found to exist in acquiring those funds and what this means for the sector in Wales in the context of future funding. The wider significance of this work is in revealing how the structural embeddedness of organizations plays a significant role in determining organizational success in gaining ESF funds, and how this contributes to a cleavage in the sector as a whole. Thus, this article concludes that it is organizations that are structurally embedded that will be most successful in gaining ESF funds, due to their organizational characteristics and their institutionalized relationships with, and receipts from, the state. Other organizations, conversely, are shown to become structurally excluded.     

Structural Convergence in Manufacturing Industries between Leaders and Latecomers

This article uses cross-country panel data on three-digit manufacturing to test for progressive structural convergence in industrial output mix between industrialising and industrialised economies. Regressions based on Logistic and Almost-Ideal models show that industrial deepening entails share losses for light and selected heavy manufacturing, and share gains for engineering and consumer durables. While semi-industrial economies manage to shift into petrochemical and engineering industries, the least industrialised nurture a broad spectrum of non-traditional manufacturing. Diversity in factor endowments and policy notwithstanding, growing similarity in demand and technological diffusion appear to produce weak convergence of industrial structures between developing and developed countries.     

From Polarisation to Integration in Vietnam

This paper analyses the growth trajectory of China and related structural change to assess China's capacity to continue its rapid growth over the next decade. The evidence demonstrates that the multi-path approach undertaken has enabled China to transform its economy from low value-added towards high value-added activities through structural change from low to high value-added industries, as well as upgrading within industries. In doing so, China did not follow the neo-liberal advocacy of freeing markets. Selective state interventions facilitated China's transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy over the last few decades. Upgrading towards higher value-added activities and the continuing strength of macroeconomic indicators, such as balance of payment and capital account surpluses, and low trade intensity of GDP and debt service along with significant deepening in human capital and R&;D activities, suggests that China will continue to grow relatively rapidly over the next decade. To do this China needs to find solutions to growing deficits in power and water supply, and potentially dangerous political upheavals if growing economic inequality problems are not solved.     

Intramedia Mediation: The Cumulative and Complementary Effects of News Media Use

This study focuses on one often overlooked political communication-based media effect, intramedia mediation, and the indirect effects that stem from relationships that exist among various forms of media use. Data from a 2000 national Annenberg election panel survey are used to assess a series of relationships between television and newspaper public affairs use and how these forms of media consumption affect citizens' knowledge of presidential campaign endorsements. The indirect effects that stem from the relationships that exist among these two forms of media use reflect the cumulative and complementary functions of mass communication consumption across time. An analysis of intramedia mediation in coordination with the study of the direct effects of public affairs media use on this study's outcome variable produces substantially larger overall effects for both forms of news use. Thus, the study of intramedia mediation contributes to a better understanding of the full range of media influences on a given outcome variable over the course of a political campaign. Ramifications of these findings are outlined and future lines of research summarized.     

Citizen Participation Models in the Local Government

This research pretends to propose and test a new explanatory model relating to citizen participation, which will help us to implement participatory public policies in the local government scheme, comparing with the models of citizen participation derivatives of structural theories and choice theories. The author refers to the case of Spain and he tests five hypotheses derived from these theories, using structural equations. This study used an open and cross-sectional design. He uses ＂Citizenship, Participation and Democracy Survey＂ from Sociological Research Center of Spain. The model proposed in this study has taken into account both structural variables from the macro context of participation （political opportunity structure） and individual variables （individual resources）, thus considering that the most recent literature on citizen participation tells us that it is necessary to overcome the reductionist perspectives limited to individual factors. Based on the above, we saw the importance of structural variables and individual variables for the participation of people. In line with that, we find that a citizen is involved in participatory policy when they have individual resources such as education, interest in politics, non-political disaffection, civic social norms, personal effectiveness, and community pride. Another find from this research, according to the empirical results, is that structural variables are predictive of citizen participation： resources, mobilization, membership of deprived group, economic deprivation, interpersonal trust, membership of associations, ties to the local community, and membership of an informal network.     

The influence of job assignment on community engagement: bicycle patrol and community-oriented policing

The purpose of this study is to compare a specialized community-oriented policing (COP) unit to a reactive unit on officer perceptions of public contact and officer perceptions of job performance. We also compare bicycle patrol officers to motor vehicle patrol officers within these units. Using a static group comparison design, questionnaires were distributed to officers within the Toronto Police Service (n = 178). Bicycle patrol is associated with more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control. Officers with a COP mandate engage with the public for a wider variety of reasons compared to those with a reactive mandate, and are more likely to rate higher on perceptions of performing job duties in a procedurally just manner. This study demonstrates the value of a specialized COP unit that includes bicycle patrol in achieving tenets of COP. It contributes to the literature on COP and the use of bicycle patrol in law enforcement by presenting the perspective of the police officer.     

中国电影产业受众反应的定量分析与文化阐释

电影票房和网络评分是衡量电影产业中受众反应的重要指标。经统计学的定量分析表明,2002至2013年每年票房排名前二的国产影片,其影片票房与网络评分存在线性关系。受众是具有差异性的群体,其观影过程是复杂的解码过程,经历着各自情感的共鸣或者间离。电影的受众群体应区分为专业化的观众和大众化的观众,两者有着不同的逻辑、表述不同的话语、对票房与评分的作用也不尽相同。了解受众的心态与行为,才能更好地促进电影产业的发展。     

牛趋化因子受体4基因的克隆表达及序列分析

采用RT-PCR技术,从被刺激诱导的牛外周血单个核细胞(PBMC)中克隆了牛趋化因子受体4(CXCR4)全长基因,并将CXCR4基因和CXCR4基因N端1～126 bp(CXCR4~(42aa))片段分别亚克隆到原核表达载体pGEX-4T-1中,命名为pGEX-4T-1-CXCR4、pGEX-4T-1-CXCR4~(42aa).获得重组菌株后,采用不同的IPTG浓度、不同诱导时间、不同温度和不同培养基等组合诱导表达这两种重组菌,其中pGEX-4T-1-CX-CR4~(42aa)重组菌获得了表达,并在37℃、IPTG浓度为0.8 mmol/L、诱导6 h时表达量最大,约占菌体总蛋白的45%,目的蛋白主要以包涵体的形式存在;而pGEX-4T-1-CXCR4重组菌未表达出目的蛋白.     

136例听神经瘤性别差异和左右发病情况的中西医结合分析

目的 对听神经瘤的性别差异和左右发病情况进行中西医结合分析。方法 回顾性分析2011年7月至2015年7月收治及手术治疗的听神经瘤患者的临床资料,对比研究男性与女性、男性左右侧、女性左右侧肿瘤性质等相关指标的差异,并基于中医学和西医学理论对听神经瘤发病规律进行分析。结果 男性与女性听神经瘤患者在住院时间、肿瘤大小、肿瘤囊变方面比较,男性左侧与右侧听神经瘤患者在肿瘤囊变、术后感染脑膜炎、术后耳鸣缓解方面比较,以及女性左侧与右侧听神经瘤患者在年龄、住院时间、肿瘤大小、肿瘤囊变、肿瘤全切、术后脑脊液漏、术后面神经完整解剖保留方面比较,差异均具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 男左侧女右侧听神经瘤性质较良好,这与人体中男女、左右的阴阳气血升降差异有关。     

脑络欣通对大脑中动脉阻塞再灌注模型大鼠神经干细胞增殖分化的影响

目的 观察脑络欣通对大脑中动脉阻塞再灌注（middle cerebral artery occlusion-reperfusion,MCAO-R）模型大鼠神经干细胞增殖分化的影响。方法 采用线栓法复制MCAO-R大鼠模型,将30只健康雄性SD大鼠随机分成假手术组、模型组和给药组。分别采用神经功能评分和TTC染色鉴定模型大鼠的神经功能缺损和脑缺血面积,采用免疫荧光染色法观察大鼠海马CA1、CA2、CA3、齿状回（dentate gyrus,DG）区巢蛋白（Nestin）和神经丝蛋白-H（hypophosphorylated neurofilament-H,NF-H）表达水平。结果 给药组Nestin阳性表达主要发生在DG区,NF-H阳性表达主要发生在CA3区。脑络欣通促进神经干细胞增殖的作用在DG、CA1、CA2、CA3区均十分明显,以DG区尤为突出,促进神经干细胞分化的作用主要表现在CA3、DG、CA2、CA1区。与模型组比较,给药组大鼠海马各区的Nestin、NF-H阳性细胞均明显增多,差异具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 脑络欣通具有促进海马区神经干细胞增殖并分化为神经细胞的作用。