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Political Role (political + role)
Selected AbstractsThe role of political myth in the international conflict over genetically modified foods and cropsENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2007Sarah Lieberman Abstract Although the controversy over genetically modified (GM) foods and crops has generated some well known myths, such as ,frankenfoods', there has been little analysis of the political role played by these myths. Yet the significance of myth in the GM debate is considerable: indeed, by reflecting and reinforcing the political stances of the major protagonists, myths have themselves become important components in the conflict. With the aid of theoretical tools derived from Laclau, we examine the notion of political myth, and find that it has three levels: factual error, social meaning and political hegemony. We apply this theory to the GM controversy, distinguishing between substantive GM myths, such as frankenfoods, and procedural GM myths, such as the EU moratorium on GM products. We conclude that if such political myths become powerful enough, they could transform themselves into dominant hegemons , i.e. what Laclau calls social imaginaries , and begin to dictate GM policies across the globe. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] The Court in England, 1714,1760: A Declining Political Institution?HISTORY, Issue 297 2005HANNAH SMITH Although recent studies of eighteenth-century English politics have moved beyond viewing political activity solely in parliamentary terms and consider the extra-parliamentary dimensions to political life, the royal court has not been included in this development. This article seeks to reassess the political purpose of the court of George I, and particularly that of George II, by analysing how the court functioned both as an institution and as a venue. Although the court was losing ground as an institution, with the royal household declining in political importance, the article argues that the household should not be the only means of measuring the court's political role. Through analysing the court's function as a venue for political brokerage and as a type of political theatre, it is argued that the court retained a political significance throughout the period from 1714 to 1760. The article examines the importance of the court as a place where certain forms of patronage might be obtained, and as a location for political negotiation by ministers and lower-ranking politicians. Moreover, it also analyses how the court was employed as a stage for signalling political opinion through attendance, ceremony, gesture, and costume. [source] A President for the European Union: A New Actor in Town?,JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2007SPYROS BLAVOUKOS In the post-Constitution EU, the rotating Presidency would be replaced by a hybrid system combining a rotating component with the establishment of a permanent President for the European Council. Using a principal-agent framework, we look at the supply and demand for formal leadership in the new system, accounting for the substantial institutional change in the format of the Presidency. We then examine the President's effectiveness and efficiency and discuss whether the President, as a new institutional actor, has the potential to evolve into an autonomous political actor in the EU. Our analysis suggests a discernible though by no means unconditional strengthening of the President's potential for an autonomous political role in the new EU institutional architecture. [source] The political role of illness narrativesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 6 2000Jurate A. Sakalys PhD RN The political role of illness narratives Cultural criticism is used to describe the political role of autobiographical illness narratives or pathographies. In expressing the subjective experience of illness, authors of pathographies illuminate ideological differences between patient and health care cultures, reveal the dominance of health care ideologies, and explicate patients' moral and political claims. The contributions of these literary works to nursing practice provide direction for relational restructuring. Gadow's concept of the relational narrative is proposed as a way to restore patient subjectivity and agency and establish the dialogue necessary for cultural pluralism in nursing and health care. [source] CUSTOMER CARE AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE ETHOSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2006CATHERINE E. NEEDHAM The Labour governments that have been in power in the UK since 1997 have reconceptualized the public service ethos. In an apparent departure from their Conservative predecessors, Labour ministers have argued that the distinctive culture of public service can enhance rather than impede service quality and deliver high levels of customer care. This article utilizes interviews and content analysis data to explore the ethical dimension of public service, the significance of the language of customer in relation to ethos, and the implications for service delivery of a customer care focus. Case study findings show that a customer orientation is endorsed by politicians and bureaucrats in both central and local government, although there is a lack of clarity about the service manifestations of such a shift in emphasis. Respondents voiced concerns about the viability of customer care in the public sector as well as the sidelining of the political role of citizen. [source] THE COMMONPLACES OF "REVISION" AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR HISTORIOGRAPHICAL UNDERSTANDINGHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2007JONATHAN GORMAN ABSTRACT Recognizing the contingent entanglement between historiography's social and political roles and the conception of the discipline as purely factual, this essay provides a detailed analysis of "revision" and its connection to "revisionism." This analysis uses a philosophical approach that begins with the commonplaces of our understanding as expressed in dictionaries, which are compared and contrasted to display relevant confusions. The essay then turns to examining the questions posed by History and Theory's Call for Papers announcing its Theme Issue on Revision in History, and, where philosophically relevant, answers them. The issue of paradigm change proved to be quite significant and required particular attention. A "paradigm" is analyzed in terms of Quine's "web of belief," and that web is itself explained as an ongoing process of revision, in analogy with Rawls's concept of pure procedural justice. Adopting this approach helps clarify the entanglement between politics and historiographical revision. [source] Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcareJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 21 2008Barbara Pesut Aims., To discuss some of the challenges of conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare practice. Background., With the growing interest in spirituality in healthcare, has come the inevitable task of trying to conceptualise spirituality, a daunting task given the amorphous nature of spirituality, the changing understandings of spirituality among individuals and the diverse globalised society within which this task is taking place. Spirituality's relationship to religion is a particularly challenging point of debate. Design., Critical review. Conclusions., Three social and historical conditions , located in the context of Western thought , have contributed to current conceptualisations of spirituality and religion: the diminishment of the social authority of religion as a result of the Enlightenment focus on reason, the rise of a postmodern spirituality emphasising spiritual experience and current tensions over the ideological and political roles of religion in society. The trend to minimise the social influence of religion is a particular Western bias that seems to ignore the global megatrend of the resurgence of religion. Current conceptualisations are critiqued on the following grounds: that they tend to be ungrounded from a rich history of theological and philosophical thought, that a particular form of elitist spirituality is emerging and that the individualistic emphasis in recent conceptualisations of spirituality diminishes the potential for societal critique and transformation while opening the door for economic and political self interest. Relevance to clinical practice., Constructing adequate conceptualisations of spirituality and religion for clinical practice entails grounding them in the wealth of centuries of philosophical and theological thinking, ensuring that they represent the diverse society that nursing serves and anchoring them within a moral view of practice. [source] | |||||||||||||