Political participation beyond the vote : how the institutional context shapes patterns of political participation in 18 Western European democracies

Politiskt deltagande är en definierande del av varje demokratiskt politiskt system, även mellan valen. Men det har skett en betydande utveckling i vilka aktiviteter som uppfattas som politiskt deltagande. Det är inte enbart aktiviteter i politiska partier som är i fokus, men också olika protestaktiviteter, delaktighet i nya sociala rörelser och livsstilspolitik i form av politisk konsumtion. Politiskt deltagande mellan valen kan leda till en potentiell legitimitetskonflikt. Den potentiella konflikten mellan ansvarsutkrävande och medborgarnas aktiva medverkan har varit känd sedan länge. Representativa demokratier har genom olika institutionella mekanismer försökt konstruera ett fungerande politiskt system som förenar möjligheten för politiskt deltagande med en tydlig ansvarsstruktur. I detta sammanhang har den institutionella öppenheten haft en central position eftersom denna antas påverka hur lätt det är för medborgarna att påverka de formella beslutfattarna. Avhandlingen undersöker därmed konsekvenserna av institutionell öppenhet för olika former av politiskt deltagande. Resultaten tyder på att demokratiska staters institutionella uppbyggnad har väsentliga konsekvenser för det politiska deltagandet. Men samspelet mellan systemet och deltagandet verkar vara mera invecklat än de dominerande teorierna om politiska institutioner och deltagande ger vid handen. Institutionell öppenhet har inte den förväntade effekt beroende på om den politiska handlingen sker inom eller utanför det formella systemet, och den institutionella effekten är mera uttalad för föreningsaktivism och politisk konsumtion, vilket är de aktiviteter som ligger längst bort från det formella politiska systemet. Resultaten utmanar därmed centrala teoretiska antaganden inom forskningen om politiskt deltagande. I ljuset av de resultat som presenteras i avhandlingen framstår det som särskilt angeläget att omvärdera effekten av institutionell öppenhet.

Inventaire de la bibliothèque 'Umarienne de Ségou : conservée à la Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris / par Noureddine Ghali, Sidi Mohamed Mahibou ; avec la participation de Louis Brenner

Collection : Documents, études et répertoires

Value co-creation through virtual community participation

Consumers create a great deal of content in the Internet. As they do not get a monetary compensation for doing so, it seems apparent that other types of reward are derived from giving up one's time and other resources. The purpose of this study is to describe value creation and user participation in a virtual community. It can be broken down into three research questions. 1. What is the value creation logic of a virtual community? 2. What value is perceived by virtual community users? 3. What is the association between value perceived by virtual community users and their participation in a community? The study employs the discussion on value co-creation as well as perspectives on the notion of value for consumers to create a theoretical framework for value creation. To understand value creation in the context of virtual communities and to create a theoretical framework for user participation, existing literature and research on virtual communities is discussed. The empirical part of the study employs quantitative methodology to analyze data collected by sending a survey questionnaire to the users of a Finnish wellbeing-based virtual community. The results indicate that virtual community users perceive self-development, enjoyment, reputation-building and community commitment value when using the service and that value perceptions are associated with community participation. Moreover, it was found that different types of value are associated with different forms of participation. Based on the findings, it is suggested that the four types of value make up a considerable share of value for virtual community users. Moreover, as the results indicate that different value types are associated with different forms of participation, it suggested that virtual community organizers consider what forms of participation they want to promote and design their virtual communities to support creation of the different types of value accordingly.

Pursuing substantive participation in Russia : a perspective from international legal obligations and comparative law

Så som är fallet för många andra stater, kan vissa delar av den ryska förvaltningen ännu utvecklas för att till fullo uppfylla internationella standarder. Internationella fördragsorgan som övervakar förverkligandet i Ryssland av fördrag om mänskliga rättigheter framför ibland kritiska anmärkningar om den demokratiska utvecklingen i Ryssland. Enskilda fall där politiska rättigheter möjligen kränkts av ryska myndigheter har utan tvivel placerat Ryssland i fokus för internationell media. Exempel på sådana fall är mordet på journalisten Anna Politkovskaya, Sergei Magnitskys död i fängelse och fängslandet av medlemmarna i "Pussy Riot”. Likväl anser författaren av denna studie att politiska rättigheter i Ryssland förverkligas inom rimliga gränser och i enlighet med internationell människorättslagstiftning. Denna studie fokuserar på förverkligandet av den individuella rättigheten att delta i det politiska beslutsfattandet i Ryssland genom andra mekanismer för deltagande än val och folkomröstningar. Studien utgörs av en sammanställning av forskningsartiklar som har publicerats i olika internationella tidskrifter. Sammanställningen föregås av ett fristående inledande kapitel. Författaren koncentrerar sig på frågan om Rysslands invånare ges effektiva möjligheter att delta i handhavandet av allmänna angelägenheter och om det finns användbara rättsmedel till hands för skydd av de politiska rättigheterna. Författaren tar sig an en juridisk analys av rysk lagstiftning gällande olika sätt för direkt deltagande i beslutsfattande samt analyserar rättsfall angående direkt deltagande från domstolarna i Moskva, Perm Krai och Sverdlovsk Oblast. Denna studie använder sig även av en rättshistorisk infallsvinkel för att visa på den positiva dynamiken hos den historiska utvecklingen beträffande d e väsentligaste plattformarna för offentligt deltagande. Det bevisas att rysk lagstiftning som garanterar rätten att delta i beslutsfattande är väl utvecklad i enlighet med internationella människorättsfördrag, och att åtminstone domstolarna i de utvalda ryska områdena fattar beslut som stöder deltaganderättigheter som eventuellt kränkts av myndigheter inom den verkställande makten. Författaren kommer till den slutsatsen att de i denna studie inkluderade enskilda dokumenterade händelserna gällande administrativ felbehandling inte nödvändigtvis tillåter den direkta slutsatsen att det begås systematiska och grova kränkningar av medborgares deltaganderättigheter i Ryssland.

The board of directors as a part of family business governance – multilevel participation and board development

In this study, I examine the board of directors as a part of family business governance. Both boards and governance have increased their attractiveness as a research topic lately. Research on boards has concentrated mostly on the study of different board attributes, like composition, and the relationship of these attributes to the firm’s performance. Family business governance studies are criticized for ignoring the multifaceted needs of companies. More research observing the context and contingencies affecting the governance and board of directors is needed. The objective of this study is to clarify: 1) how the board participates in family business governance, and 2) how the board develops along with the firm’s and family’s development. The study is implemented as qualitative research, and the longitudinal process approach has been used as it provides the opportunity to examine development in context. Selection criteria for the two cases selected for this study are: active board of directors, at least one implemented succession, and interviewees available from two generations and from different positions in the firm. The data consists of interviews and secondary data, and it is collected from different data sources. The analysis was done selecting first some critical events from both cases to closer examination, and analysing them by using content analysis technique. Several conclusions were drawn basing on the findings. First, the family business board participates in the firm’s activities much more widely than it is customary to think. Second, the family business board is not a static part of the business, but it develops and it has to develop for different reasons. Third, ownership is not only the basis for the board’s activities or existence, but the relationship between the board and ownership is two-way. The board contributes to a large extent to the ownership decisions, and in this way to the management of ownership. Fourth, according to the cases, the board has many unrecognized possibilities to facilitate succession in family firms.

Participation of kinins in the inhibitory action of captopril on acute hypertension induced by L-NAME in anesthetized rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of bradykinin in the inhibitory action of captopril in hypertension induced by L-NAME in anesthetized rats. Male Wistar rats (260-320 g) were anesthetized with chloralose and arterial blood pressure was recorded with a polygraph pressure transducer. The hypertensive effect of L-NAME was studied in rats pretreated with saline, captopril or HOE 140 plus captopril. The effect of captopril was also studied during the sustained pressor effect of L-NAME. The acute pressor effect of L-NAME (10 mg/kg, iv) was significantly reduced by iv pretreatment with 2 mg/kg captopril (D increase of 49 ± 4.9 mmHg reduced to 20 ± 5.4 mmHg, P = 0.01). The pressor effect of L-NAME (D increase of 38 ± 4.8 mmHg) observed in rats pretreated with captopril and HOE 140 (0.1 mg/kg, iv) was not significantly different from that induced by L-NAME in rats pretreated with saline (P = 0.09). During the sustained pressor effect induced by L-NAME (D increase of 49 ± 4.9 mmHg) captopril induced a significant (P<0.05) reduction in arterial blood pressure (D decrease of 22 ± 3.0 mmHg). The present results demonstrate that the acute pressor effect of L-NAME is reduced by captopril and this inhibitory effect may be partly dependent on the potentiation of the vasodilator actions of bradykinin

Opiatergic participation in the thirst-inhibiting effect of acute third ventricle injections of cadmium (Cd2+) and lead (Pb2+)

We have previously demonstrated that acute third ventricle injections of both lead and cadmium prevent the dipsogenic response elicited by dehydration or by central injections of dipsogenic agents such as angiotensin II, carbachol and isoproterenol in rats. We have also shown that the antidipsogenic action of cadmium may be due, at least in part, to activation of thirst-inhibitory central serotonergic pathways. In the present paper we show that in Wistar male rats the antidipsogenic effect of both lead acetate (3.0 nmol/rat) and cadmium chloride (3.0 nmol/rat) may be partially dependent on the activation of brain opiatergic pathways since central injections of naloxone (82.5 nmol/rat), a non-selective opioid antagonist, blunt the thirst-inhibiting effect of these metals. One hundred and twenty minutes after the second third ventricle injections, dehydrated animals (14 h overnight) receiving saline + sodium acetate displayed a high water intake (7.90 ± 0.47 ml/100 g body weight) whereas animals receiving saline + lead acetate drank 3.24 ± 0.47 ml/100 g body weight. Animals receiving naloxone + lead acetate drank 6.94 ± 0.60 ml/100 g body weight. Animals receiving saline + saline drank 8.16 ± 0.66 ml/100 g body weight whilst animals receiving saline + cadmium chloride drank 1.63 ± 0.37 ml/100 g body weight. Animals receiving naloxone + cadmium chloride drank 8.01 ± 0.94 ml/100 g body weight. It is suggested that acute third ventricle injections of both lead and cadmium exert their antidipsogenic effect by activating thirst-inhibiting opioid pathways in the brain.

The conveyor belt hypothesis for thymocyte migration: participation of adhesion and de-adhesion molecules

Thymocyte differentiation is the process by which bone marrow-derived precursors enter the thymus, proliferate, rearrange the genes and express the corresponding T cell receptors, and undergo positive and/or negative selection, ultimately yielding mature T cells that will represent the so-called T cell repertoire. This process occurs in the context of cell migration, whose cellular and molecular basis is still poorly understood. Kinetic studies favor the idea that these cells leave the organ in an ordered pattern, as if they were moving on a conveyor belt. We have recently proposed that extracellular matrix glycoproteins, such as fibronectin, laminin and type IV collagen, among others, produced by non-lymphoid cells both in the cortex and in the medulla, would constitute a macromolecular arrangement allowing differentiating thymocytes to migrate. Here we discuss the participation of both molecules with adhesive and de-adhesive properties in the intrathymic T cell migration. Functional experiments demonstrated that galectin-3, a soluble ß-galactoside-binding lectin secreted by thymic microenvironmental cells, is a likely candidate for de-adhesion proteins by decreasing thymocyte interaction with the thymic microenvironment.

Role of nitric oxide in hypoxia-induced hyperventilation and hypothermia: participation of the locus coeruleus

Hypoxia elicits hyperventilation and hypothermia, but the mechanisms involved are not well understood. The nitric oxide (NO) pathway is involved in hypoxia-induced hypothermia and hyperventilation, and works as a neuromodulator in the central nervous system, including the locus coeruleus (LC), which is a noradrenergic nucleus in the pons. The LC plays a role in a number of stress-induced responses, but its participation in the control of breathing and thermoregulation is unclear. Thus, in the present study, we tested the hypothesis that LC plays a role in the hypoxia-induced hypothermia and hyperventilation, and that NO is involved in these responses. Electrolytic lesions were performed bilaterally within the LC in awake unrestrained adult male Wistar rats weighing 250-350 g. Body temperature and pulmonary ventilation (VE) were measured. The rats were divided into 3 groups: control (N = 16), sham operated (N = 7) and LC lesioned (N = 19), and each group received a saline or an NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 250 µg/µl) intracerebroventricular (icv) injection. No significant difference was observed between control and sham-operated rats. Hypoxia (7% inspired O2) caused hyperventilation and hypothermia in both control (from 541.62 ± 35.02 to 1816.18 ± 170.7 and 36.3 ± 0.12 to 34.4 ± 0.09, respectively) and LC-lesioned rats (LCLR) (from 694.65 ± 63.17 to 2670.29 ± 471.33 and 36 ± 0.12 to 35.3 ± 0.12, respectively), but the increase in VE was higher (P<0.05) and hypothermia was reduced (P<0.05) in LCLR. L-NAME caused no significant change in VE or in body temperature under normoxia, but abolished both the hypoxia-induced hyperventilation and hypothermia. Hypoxia-induced hyperventilation was reduced in LCLR treated with L-NAME. L-NAME also abolished the hypoxia-induced hypothermia in LCLR. The present data indicate that hypoxia-induced hyperventilation and hypothermia may be related to the LC, and that NO is involved in these responses.

Participation of nitric oxide in the nucleus isthmi in CO2-drive to breathing in toads

The nucleus isthmi (NI) is a mesencephalic structure of the amphibian brain. It has been reported that NI plays an important role in integration of CO2 chemoreceptor information and glutamate is probably involved in this function. However, very little is known about the mechanisms involved. Recently, it has been shown that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is expressed in the brain of the frog. Thus the gas nitric oxide (NO) may be involved in different functions in the brain of amphibians and may act as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator. We tested the hypothesis that NO plays a role in CO2-drive to breathing, specifically in the NI comparing pulmonary ventilation, breathing frequency and tidal volume, after microinjecting 100 nmol/0.5 µl of L-NAME (a nonselective NO synthase inhibitor) into the NI of toads (Bufo paracnemis) exposed to normocapnia and hypercapnia. Control animals received microinjections of vehicle of the same volume. Under normocapnia no significant changes were observed between control and L-NAME-treated toads. Hypercapnia caused a significant (P<0.01) increase in ventilation only after intracerebral microinjection of L-NAME. Exposure to hypercapnia caused a significant increase in breathing frequency both in control and L-NAME-treated toads (P<0.01 for the control group and P<0.001 for the L-NAME group). The tidal volume of the L-NAME group tended to be higher than in the control group under hypercapnia, but the increase was not statistically significant. The data indicate that NO in the NI has an inhibitory effect only when the respiratory drive is high (hypercapnia), probably acting on tidal volume. The observations reported in the present investigation, together with other studies on the presence of NOS in amphibians, indicate a considerable degree of phylogenetic conservation of the NO pathway amongst vertebrates.

Combined effects of diethylpropion and alcohol on locomotor activity of mice: participation of the dopaminergic and opioid systems

The widespread consumption of anorectics and combined anorectic + alcohol misuse are problems in Brazil. In order to better understand the interactive effects of ethanol (EtOH) and diethylpropion (DEP) we examined the locomotion-activating effects of these drugs given alone or in combination in mice. We also determined whether this response was affected by dopamine (DA) or opioid receptor antagonists. A total of 160 male Swiss mice weighing approximately 30 g were divided into groups of 8 animals per group. The animals were treated daily for 7 consecutive days with combined EtOH + DEP (1.2 g/kg and 5.0 mg/kg, ip), EtOH (1.2 g/kg, ip), DEP (5.0 mg/kg, ip) or the control solution coadministered with the DA antagonist haloperidol (HAL, 0.075 mg/kg, ip), the opioid antagonist naloxone (NAL, 1.0 mg/kg, ip), or vehicle. On days 1, 7 and 10 after the injections, mice were assessed in activity cages at different times (15, 30, 45 and 60 min) for 5 min. The acute combination of EtOH plus DEP induced a significantly higher increase in locomotor activity (day 1: 369.5 ± 34.41) when compared to either drug alone (day 1: EtOH = 232.5 ± 23.79 and DEP = 276.0 ± 12.85) and to control solution (day 1: 153.12 ± 7.64). However, the repeated administration of EtOH (day 7: 314.63 ± 26.79 and day 10: 257.62 ± 29.91) or DEP (day 7: 309.5 ± 31.65 and day 10: 321.12 ± 39.24) alone or in combination (day 7: 459.75 ± 41.28 and day 10: 427.87 ± 33.0) failed to induce a progressive increase in the locomotor response. These data demonstrate greater locomotion-activating effects of the EtOH + DEP combination, probably involving DA and/or opioid receptor stimulation, since the daily pretreatment with HAL (day 1: EtOH + DEP = 395.62 ± 11.92 and EtOH + DEP + HAL = 371.5 ± 6.76; day 7: EtOH + DEP = 502.5 ± 42.27 and EtOH + DEP + HAL = 281.12 ± 16.08; day 10: EtOH + DEP = 445.75 ± 16.64 and EtOH + DEP + HAL = 376.75 ± 16.4) and NAL (day 1: EtOH + DEP = 553.62 ± 38.15 and EtOH + DEP + NAL = 445.12 ± 55.67; day 7: EtOH + DEP = 617.5 ± 38.89 and EtOH + DEP + NAL = 418.25 ± 61.18; day 10: EtOH + DEP = 541.37 ± 32.86 and EtOH + DEP + NAL = 427.12 ± 51.6) reduced the locomotor response induced by combined administration of EtOH + DEP. These findings also suggest that a major determinant of combined anorectic-alcohol misuse may be the increased stimulating effects produced by the combination.