Education As an Instrument for an Active Social Policy： Assumptions, Performance, and Prospects

The crisis of the welfare state caused the change of the approach to the policy of social protection and the tools of its realization in countries of EU. The present trend consists in the transfer of the responsibility for the welfare of the society from the state to local autonomies, businessmen, and, first of all, people themselves. A basic assignment of the present social policy is building active attitudes of persons and families being found in a difficult situation. Help in this has to be： the realization of the watchword work instead of benefit and the broadly understood education as the protection （guarantee） against life risks. Therefore, the author undertook synthesis of the current sociological knowledge on the change of an approach to social policy objectives formulation. Using qualitative methods, she analyzed the content of literature comprising （showing） discourses on the opportunities and constraints associated with the modernization of the existing social policy and selected EU documents.

Visualizing Need: Using Data Visualization as a Decision Support Tool in the Formulation of Social Policy

International social work is facing an exponentially growing number of critical challenges in developing nations in meeting essential social needs as well as the distribution of material goods, social and economic resources and the provision, and effective services delivery to populations of need. There is a need to respond rapidly to populations in need and adapt to quickly changing socio-economic conditions. However, the resources needed to evaluate data and make effective decisions to provide support are often limited by the availability of trained data analysts who can interpret statistical findings and make relevant service delivery decisions for such communities of need. Modern computing technology shows promise of providing a graphical evaluation approach to enriching understanding of the available information. Thereby, the need to make critical decisions is augmented for those decision-makers that are working most closely with marginalized groups. A recent research effort undertaken by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) sought to provide administrators and policy-makers with information regarding the associations between social capital, economic development, and food security in the mountain region of Perú. Survey data collection and descriptive statistical analysis were used to provide information on the relationship between socio-economic development services and the emergence of social capital needed to develop effective human self-support systems. This paper demonstrates how to provide a graphical interface between areas of economic need and development initiatives. A visual exploration of data patterns would serve to inform human service decision-makers as they develop policies and programs. Visualization of data helps to enrich meaning and understanding of core areas of population need. This enhanced information format can identify needs for social policy development and improve the delivery of critical services and resources. This paper will provide a conceptual argument for considering data visualization methods in the evaluation of significant needs for, at risk, international populations. The paper will also present a number of examples for improving data evaluation and the understanding of need through data visualization methods through widely available computing technology. Procedures for graphically representing data will be demonstrated using the Perú survey, and applications for social policy formulation will be discussed.

Higher Education Admission Policy and Social Class of Ethnic Minority:The Case of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,China

Gaokao has been considered as the gatekeeper of intergenerational class reproduction in today’s slowing social mobility in China.In order to bolster the fairness of Gaokao,the Policy of Bonus Scores for Ethnic Minority Candidates(PBSEMC)has been issued,whose,however,effectiveness in promoting upward social class has not been adequately empirically explored.The difference-in-differences(DID)analysis based on cross-sectional data,which is distinct from the traditional DID analysis paradigm,was implemented to assess the Reform of PBSEMC in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1988.The results showed that PBSEMC had a significant and positive impact on the social classes of ethnic minorities,and gender,residence type and occupation type were also relevant to social class,aligning with the previous literature.The PBSEMC is effective in improving the social classes of ethnic minorities.However,the PBSEMC policy should be made more precise,in order to benefit the candidates who are in genuine need of assistance.

Are Socially Responsible Banks More Risk Averse and Dividends Providers?Empirical Evidence from a Developing Economy

Purpose:This study examines whether socially responsible firms are uninterested in risk-taking and whether socially responsible banks are more dividend providers than socially irresponsible ones.We conducted the analysis using the least-squares method for 290-panel data observations of 32 commercial banks operating in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2018.Methodology:We employed Ordinary Least Squares Regression for 290-panel data observations of 32 commercial banks operating in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2018 using EViews software version-8.Moreover,we conducted descriptive analysis and correlations using SPSS software.We considered CSRI and CSRPI as the indicators of corporate social responsibility,dividend per share and stock dividend as a proxy of dividend policy,LEV(leverage),and non-performing loan to total loan as the indicators of financial risk,and lastly,Z score as the indicator of financial stability.Findings:Studies have shown that banks prioritizing social responsibility tend to pay dividends to their shareholders more frequently and consistently than banks that do not.In particular,banks that invest heavily in corporate social responsibility(CSR)tend to maintain a stable dividend payout,which can help address agency problems that arise from overinvestment in the CSR sector.Additionally,we found that banks that make huge expenditures on CSR also seem to have a low eagerness for risk-taking.Again,we found that the financial stability of a socially responsible bank is high and stable enough,which will help efficiently handle the bank’s financial risks,reduce price fluctuations,and increase financial assets that generally influence a bank’s monetary stability.Implications:Banks implementing fruitful CSR strategies can produce substantial shareholder advantages through high dividend payout levels.An expansion in CSR-related expenditure does not prompt a cut-down or reduce the portion of income paid out as dividends to shareholders.Therefore,the Output of our study will help provide critical information and a thorough understanding of corporate social responsibility and its association with the dividend policy,risk,and financial stability in the banking sector.This will also be useful to the researcher,students,and corporate policymakers while making a critical decision about whether a firm should make expenditures on CSR purposes,how it impacts a firm’s dividend decision,and its connection with its overall risk and financial stability.According to the study,corporate social responsibility should be integrated into a firm’s mission and strategy rather than appearing to be a mere act of generosity.Originality/Value:This study uniquely considers CSR,dividend policy,risk,and financial stability simultaneously in a developing country.Besides,the three-dimensional measures of CSR used in the research focused on developing the economy are a precious contribution.

Firm review revelation policy considering social ties among consumers

An optimization model is proposed to analyze the optimal review revelation policies and consumer online social network management strategies of e-commerce firms.The results show that displaying friend reviews to consumers does not necessarily increase firms profits.Only when positive reviews account for a large proportion of all the reviews and when the cost of showing friend reviews is not high,can showing friend reviews be more profitable than not showing such information.The distribution of social ties among consumers can affect firms profits.Even in the case that showing friend reviews to consumers is more profitable,an increase in the proportion of strong ties is not necessarily beneficial to firms.Only when the proportion of positive reviews is large enough,can firms profits increase with the increase in the proportion of strong ties among consumers.Moreover,the degree of consumer distrust in the average quality rating can also affect firms strategies for managing consumer online social networks.As the degree of consumer distrust in the average quality rating rises,firms are more likely to obtain higher profits by taking measures to increase the proportion of strong ties among consumers on their websites.

Social Media and the Public Policy Process in Egypt

For the past three years the political environment in Egypt, and the middle east in general, has undergone substantial change such as increase in public opinion and awareness, increase in political participation, increase in voting turnout franchise as well as introducing a new paradigm of communication which has great influence on the political and social landscape of the world ＂Social Media＂. The aim of this study is to explore the impact and effect of social media （Facebook） on the changing political environment of the public policy process in Egypt. This article analyzes the different stages of the Public Policy Process in Egypt, with application to the Minimum and Maximum Wage Policy, and examines how it was influenced by the Facebook, as a device of the social media, as a new channel of political mobilization.

Uncoordination of China’s social assistance program resources and policy solutions

With the promulgation and implementation of Social Assistance Interim Measures, China hasbasically established the social assistance system framework with Dibao, Three-nos people support and disasterrelief as the basis, with housing aid, medical aid ,education aid and employment aid as the support and with temporaryassistance and charity help as the supplement. The establishment of various social assistance programsundoubtedly aims to fulfil different demands of urban and rural neddy people, however,the increase of socialassistance programs does not necessarily bring about an increase in the effectiveness of social assistance. Thispaper analyzes the uncoordination of Chinas social assistance program resources and put forward related policysolutions.

Policy Needs for Social Security in the Process of Citizenization of the Peri-urban Farmers:A Case Study of Hefei City

We conduct a survey of transformational towns and villages in High-tech Development District, Yaohai District and Shushan District, Hefei City. Using data, we analyze the "sideline effect" and inherent contradiction of transformational cities, research the policy needs for social security and its trend in the citizenization process of the peri-urban farmers. On this basis, we construct the social security policy system that can adapt to the accelerated process of urbanization. Finally, we put forth the following recommendations for the social security policy in the citizenization process of the peri-urban farmers: distinguishing different groups' policy needs for social security; attaching importance to people's dynamic policy needs for social security in urbanization; focusing on the adaptability of social security policy transformation in urbanization; attaching importance to the social psychosocial environment of social security policy transformation in urbanization; achieving the trinity of non-farm conversion, urbanization and citizenization in the process of urbanization; strengthening the government's dominant position in the building of social security policy system.

Comparative Analysis on Policy Realization of Old and New Rural Social Endowment Insurance System

Based on the perspective of"political potential"and"incentive mechanism",this paper compares the different effects of the old rural social endowment insurance system and the new rural social endowment insurance system,so as to explain the policy realization degree of the old and new rural social endowment insurance system.According to the analysis,the new rural social endowment insurance system has greatly improved the implementation of policies,the implementation of policies,the overall planning ability between departments,and the enthusiasm of individual farmers to participate in the insurance.Compared with the old rural social endowment insurance system,the policy realization ability of the new rural social endowment insurance system has been significantly enhanced,and the effect of the policy realization has been significantly improved.

For a Legal Guarantee to Improve People’s Livelihood and Protect Human Rights——Thoughts on policy concerning Social Insurance Law (draft)

The People＇s Republic of China Social Insurance Law （draft） has undergone three readings at the Standing Committee of the National People＇s Congress. The Law, once promulgated, will be of great significance to implementation of the constitutional principle of ＂respecting and protecting human rights.＂ It will help regulate the various social insurance relationships and the rights and obligations of the parties involved.

Analysis of the relationship between environmental policies and air quality during major social events

Based on an analysis of major recent social events in China,such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,2010 Shanghai World Expo,2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games,and 2014 Beijing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference,mandatory,temporary,and indemnificatory quantitative policies aimed at protecting air quality,which were carried out by both central and local governments,made substantial contributions to changes and improvements in air quality.To some extent,the findings show that command and control measures play a significant role in protecting air quality,while the law and economic and voluntary environmental safeguard measures do not during major social events.Therefore,it reminds us the air quality could and will improve not only during major social events but also in the regular days if we implement appropriate environmental policies and safeguard measures.

Personalized Privacy Protecting Model in Mobile Social Network

With the rapid development of the new generation of information technology,the analysis of mobile social network big data is getting deeper and deeper.At the same time,the risk of privacy disclosure in social network is also very obvious.In this paper,we summarize the main access control model in mobile social network,analyze their contribution and point out their disadvantages.On this basis,a practical privacy policy is defined through authorization model supporting personalized privacy preferences.Experiments have been conducted on synthetic data sets.The result shows that the proposed privacy protecting model could improve the security of the mobile social network while keeping high execution efficiency.

China's climate socialization and renewable energy coalition building

Against the backdrop of a heavy carbon lock-in energy structure,China has made considerable progress in renewable energy(RE)development and become a world leader in this area within a decade.Although existing research suggests that rapid RE growth is mainly due to the convergence of economic growth,green industry competition,and energy security concerns under a unique state-led model,they oversimplify the difficulty inherent in RE policy shifting supported by formerly weak pro-RE actors in China's historical trajectory of a low-carbon transition.By exploring the interaction between international and domestic actors by means of a socialization-based coalition-building framework,this paper aims at analyzing how the capacity building of the RE coalition gets enhanced via institutional anchoring and resource reallocation in the climate socialization process and how the strengthened RE coalition has spurred transformation in China's RE policy and the challenges they are confronted with.

Accelerate China's Social Security Legislation

Since the financial crisis in Asia in 1997, China's social security system has undergone continual reform and readjustment, and has proved to be an integral part of government efforts to perfect the socialist market economy as well as in building a socialist harmonious society. Although social security construction has achieved certain results, it has also left a lot of problems. With the rapid growth of China's economy and revenue, people from all walks of life are putting ever-increasing demands on the social security system; therefore, the construction of a sound social security system suited to China's current situation still remains an arduous task. In this article, the author have reviewed the 10 years development of China's social security system, analyzed problems and challenges and proposed its suggestions.

Path of Social Construction in Northwest Sichuan Plateau Pastoral Area

On the basis of main contents of social construction and key points of construction,this paper analyzes features of conditions of northwest Sichuan plateau pastoral area.The social construction at current stage mainly includes social cause in narrow sense,and social management at meso-level.The northwest Sichuan plateau pastoral area is faced with the best policy and development opportunity.However,there are still many weak aspects.Firstly,social structure is not coordinated with economic structure.Secondly,social construction ability of grass-roots government is weak.Thirdly,the ability to respond to public demands is low.Fourthly,there is a big gap in availability of basic public service.Finally,it presents path selection for social construction of northwest Sichuan plateau pastoral area:strengthen social construction ability of grass-roots government;promote social construction with livelihood projects as key projects;boost social construction taking advantage of ecological construction;develop basic public service with the aid of external forces;intensify evaluation system for supervision of social construction works.

Great Social Transformation Afoot in China

After su ering from the short nightmare of "market society" in the 1990s,China has found a burgeoning countermovement hastening the birth of a "social market". In a social market,the market is still the primary mechanism of resource allocation but the government employs redistributive instruments to conduct "decommodification" in areas concerning people's rights of existence,letting everyone share the fruits of market operation and letting each social class share the costs of market operation in a bid to reembed the market in social and ethical relations. A litany of social policies enacted in recent years show that the Chinese government has both the political will and fiscal prowess to serve as a midwife for the birth of the social market. Nevertheless,China has yet to strengthen its will and prowess. Today there still exists a multitude of grave problems in Chinese society but it is a historical turning point to see the eventual emergence of social policy whose importance cannot be overestimated.

Social Media in e-Governance: A Study with Special Reference to India

This paper makes an attempt to analyze current use of social media and their promising advantages for e-governance in government organizations. It discusses potential issues especially issues related to security and privacy of individuals, employees, infrastructure and data that impede successful implementation of social media for e-governance. It examines draft government of India framework for embedding social media in organizational structure and examines issued guidelines for platform to be used, authorization to engage on behalf of government organization, scope and extend of such engagement, etc. It compares these guidelines with similar guidelines of some other nations in terms of employee’s access, account management, acceptable use, employee conduct, content, security, legal issues and citizen conduct and enumerates its merits, demerits and scope for further improvements.

Contributions of Social Networks to Health and Care Services in Myanmar’s Older Adult Population: 2012 Myanmar Aging Study

Background: Myanmar’s National Health Plan 2017-2021 set out concrete steps to strengthen the health system on the way to achieving the goal of universal health coverage by 2030. Ensuring these steps include the 7.7 million older adults in Myanmar’s population by 2030 will require novel strategies that improve health and reduce financial burden of health expenditures. An examination of the relationship between social networks and selected health outcomes was undertaken to determine whether these networks can safeguard older adults’ continued contributions to family, society and their own health. Methods: Secondary analysis of a nationally representative study of adults aged 60 years and older. Ordered logistic regression analyses with weighted data were used to examine the relationship between a social network variable and a number of health outcomes. Findings: Stronger social networks were associated with better health outcomes like better memory (OR 1.2), lower reported walking difficulties (OR 0.58), better self-reported health (R 1.15). People with higher social ties were also more like to receive regular assistance and provide care for other household members. Interpretation: Social networks play a role in mediating health outcomes and interactions with the health care systems. Social network interventions should be explored as part of policy mechanisms to ensure universal health coverage for older adults in Myanmar.

Civic and Social Applications to Support Public Policies on Health

The discussion with emphasis on social control is expressed in new guidelines for its effectiveness through normative instruments and the legal creation of institutional spaces that guarantee the participation of organized civil society in the direct supervision of the executive in the three spheres of government.Social participation for the strengthening of public health in Brazil has undergone complex processes of change,which have resulted in an increasingly qualified,deliberative,independent,and representative social control system.However,policy makers need to identify new technologies and carefully analyze their potential before they begin to exert their breaking power in the economy and society.Mobility and unlimited connectivity deserve special attention from the public power for the ability to achieve the digital inclusion of the citizen through smartphones.This requires a transformation of the governance structure into a platform that is based on the tripod transparency,participation,and collaboration,which relies on the Internet,social networks and connectivity.

Central and Peripheral Cultures and the Problem of Social Conflict in Vietnam

This article deals with relationship between cultural globalization and local cultures, seen mostly as conflict between centre and peripheries on the world scale and also as conflict among ethnicities in the societies. It also suggests some solutions to the problem of conflict on the global scale in general and in Vietnam in particular. In the era of globalization, there exists a risk of cultural imperialism rising as a cultural centre. Nevertheless, the cultural imperialism always bears the economic and political motives. This is the very cause which leads to politico-cultural conflict. Therefore, in essence, cultural hegemony is also the very economic hegemony and it serves the economy. Thus, in fact, social conflicts are often the contradictions, but these contradictions could lead to conflict only when they are pushed to political and economic interests level, and then they are the truly economic and political conflicts and not cultural ones. Therefore, in essence, there are not purely cultural conflicts, but culture is only the medium for politico-economic conflict. There may be various kinds of solutions for the problem of conflict： the economic solutions, the social solutions, the political solutions, and the cultural ones. Vietnarrv--as a multi-ethnic natiorv--is not a country without social conflict. To solve the problem of conflict is to solve the contradictions in economic interests and to overcome the lack of democracy. Therefore, the most important solutions for the problem of conflict are the cultural and political solutions. Especially, the article emphasizes the democracy and the rule of law as the critical points in solving the problem of social conflict.