Search results
1 – 10 of 18
Social media have become the main channel of direct communication between members of parliament and constituents. The study analyzes the content in all Israeli MPs' Facebook…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media have become the main channel of direct communication between members of parliament and constituents. The study analyzes the content in all Israeli MPs' Facebook channels throughout an entire term of parliament and asks if the results are consistent with the equalization or the normalization hypotheses.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses automatic analysis to produce a birds-eye-view of the content uploaded to the Facebook pages of all Israeli MPs during a full term of parliament. All 106 MP pages were automatically scraped. Some complementary information was added to each post in the dataset, such as post length (number of words) and whether the page belongs to a member of the opposition or coalition. The total of 441,974 posts was analyzed to compare engagement and publication rates between pages, coalition vs opposition MPs, MPs vs users etc.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that the MP-Facebook sphere is non-egalitarian, in that it follows skewed distributions by MPs in terms of post publication and engagement rates; non-inclusive, in that pages of coalition members receive significantly much more engagement vis-a-vis pages of members of the oppositions; and “top-down”, in that MP-authored posts receive dramatically more engagement then user-authored posts, suggesting MPs have a near-monopoly on setting the agendas manifest in their pages, while users have extremely limited agenda-setting capabilities in these pages.
Originality/value
Previous studies have looked at the character of the interactions between MPs and constituents on the Internet and particularly on online social media. Yet, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study provides a birds-eye-view of the content in all MPs' Facebook channels throughout a full term of parliament. Such an analysis provides a more comprehensive understanding of the character and dynamics of conversations that take place in such arenas.
Details
Keywords
Ge Wang, Qiang Chen and Shenghua Xie
Although internet plus government platforms (IPGPs) are being increasingly used by citizens around the world, questions emerge regarding the public adoption, utilization and use…
Abstract
Purpose
Although internet plus government platforms (IPGPs) are being increasingly used by citizens around the world, questions emerge regarding the public adoption, utilization and use of IPGPs. This study aims to explore the determinants of citizens’ differentiated IPGPs usage behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
An analytical framework has been built upon the rational choice theory and the cultural dimension theory. The present study draws on a survey of 866 citizens from Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chengdu.
Findings
The empirical findings suggest that the perceived functional benefits and personalization features both significantly affect citizens’ informational, service and participatory uses of IPGPs, to varying degrees. Furthermore, long-term orientation plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceived functional benefits and the service use of IPGPs.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrate that the public’s rational choice of a new digitalized service channel depends on to what extent and to what degree the absolute and relative benefits they consider important compare to other possible channels. Users also consider how the new service channel satisfies their personalized demands of digitalized services. Also, users’ long-term orientation can affect their rational choices by adjusting the perceived functional benefits of the channel when that channel is used for service transactions.
Details
Keywords
Parliament reports on education and the Information Society. At its meeting in Strasbourg from 10–14 March, the European Parliament adopted three major reports on Community policy…
Abstract
Parliament reports on education and the Information Society. At its meeting in Strasbourg from 10–14 March, the European Parliament adopted three major reports on Community policy in relation to the Information Society, education and social policy.
While many consider court involvement in immigration matters a given, in liberal nation-states, there is actually a substantial degree of variation. This chapter revisits two…
Abstract
While many consider court involvement in immigration matters a given, in liberal nation-states, there is actually a substantial degree of variation. This chapter revisits two “critical junctures” in the early immigration histories of Canada and Germany to show that institutions and policy legacies are not just historical backdrop, but actually shaped the strategies of political actors, subsequent institutional configurations, and policy options for long periods of time, thereby revealing unintended consequences, as well as alternative paths that the involvement of the courts (and other actors) could have taken.
Sisira Dharmasri Jayasekara, K.L. Wasantha Perera and Roshan Ajward
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how agency conflicts between people and main government organs affect the combatting ability of white-collar money laundering in an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how agency conflicts between people and main government organs affect the combatting ability of white-collar money laundering in an emerging economy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative design under the philosophy of interpretivism. The case study research strategy is used inductively to investigate how structural limitations affect white-collar money laundering.
Findings
This study reveals that serious agency conflicts exist between public and main government organs which are detrimental to the rights of people to enjoy a crime-free society. First agency conflict of people and legislature intensifies as a result of limited understanding of the legislature and failure to take precautionary actions to develop an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime with evolving global standards. This delay has resulted in identifying Sri Lanka as a deficient AML/CFT regime twice. The second conflicts arise between people and the executive which is a serious conflict due to misuse of statutory power and failure to perform duties. The independence and integrity of administrative authorities who perform executive functions were inherent problems of implementing a sound AML/CFT regime. Lack of monitoring, nonavailability of an independent audit and inappropriate reporting channels were other encouraging factors of administrative organs to misuse statutory power. The third conflict between people and the judiciary was not intensified because the function was not so exposed to create agency conflicts. After all, an adequate number of cases had not proceeded to the judiciary due to inherent limitations as a result of intensified first two agency conflicts. The agency conflicts have intensified over the years and AML/CFT regime has been ineffective as a result of limited influence and understanding of the principal, people. Therefore, the principal has to influence the agents to make reforms in the AML/CFT regime to make the country a white-collar crime-free country.
Research limitations/implications
This study uses a case study strategy to assess the context of Sri Lanka as an emerging economy. It is recommended to take into consideration the contextual facts when the findings are applied to other jurisdictions.
Originality/value
This paper is an original work of the authors which discusses how agency conflicts arise between people and three main government organs in implementing a sound AML/CFT regime in Sri Lanka as an emerging economy.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this study is to explore legislative kleptocracy, specifically, budget padding, in Nigeria’s budding democracy, using systems thinking approach for a positive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore legislative kleptocracy, specifically, budget padding, in Nigeria’s budding democracy, using systems thinking approach for a positive social change. Nigeria’s legislature is not free from the problem of kleptocracy inasmuch as some legislators have been charged with kleptocratic activities. The multifariousness of kleptocracy rooted in its differential coefficient in the Nigeria’s legislature does not underplay its sophistication.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative analysis, the author generated data through a systematic analysis of documents.
Findings
The findings show that unexplored organismic factors or forces within the living being such as the inability of legislators to control their mind, low self-control, cheating propensity, identity crisis, etc., play vital roles in contributing to legislative kleptocracy.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the study is that it is not generalizable.
Practical implications
The practical implication of the study is that implementation of the study recommendations is pragmatic, cost-effective and time-effective, and it would ensure legislative transformation and mitigate kleptocracy.
Social implications
The social implication of the study is if the Nigerian legislature implements the recommendation(s) of the study, there will be a legislative positive social change because financial crimes would have been mitigated.
Originality/value
This study filled the lacuna in the financial crime literature because it is the first of its kind in the discipline, and hence its originality cannot be disputed.
Details
Keywords
Peter Skærbæk and Preben Melander
This paper presents an in‐depth study of the processes of constructing a new strategy in a large Danish government‐owned ferry company undergoing privatisation. To explain the…
Abstract
This paper presents an in‐depth study of the processes of constructing a new strategy in a large Danish government‐owned ferry company undergoing privatisation. To explain the emerging characteristics of accounting, the sociology of translation is used. The paper provides a story of a translation of strategy and related management initiatives using Callon's four moments of translation. The story illustrates how, during the translation process, accounting changed its characteristics and uses from principles of control to principles of financialisation. Such emergent forms of accounting also reflect the political manoeuvring in the organisation as the result of network relationships. However, networks are open to erosion and undermining by active agents, changing the purposes of accounting. Whereas other authors within accounting, applying the sociology of translation, usually conceptualise accounting as inscriptions, this study explicates accounting as an interessement device. Finally, the study suggests that the sociology of translation may be a promising explication of accounting change.
Details