| 1. |
- Baldersheim, Harald, et al.
(författare)
-
The anatomy and drivers of local autonomy in a European perspective
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Starke Kommunen - wirksame Verwaltung. - Wiesbaden : Springer. - 9783658171346 - 9783658171353 ; , s. 85-100
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Making democracy work is a continuous struggle (Putnam 1993). This also goes for local democracy (Wollmann 1999), including the maintenance of the autonomy of local government, which is the basis for local democracy. The autonomy of local government varies across countries but there is little understanding of why systems of local government develop in such different ways. The purpose of this article is to contribute to such an understanding. The variation in local autonomy as well as the lack of explanations for it is remarkable since local autonomy is a cherished ideal for local government in liberal-democratic societies. Indeed, local autonomy is one of the constituent features of local government, perhaps the most fundamental feature. Local government is of course established by the state and serves the state both literally and in a wider sense. Yet, without some measure of autonomy from the state local democracy is meaningless — there will be no policy space for decision-makers and no choice for citizens. Arguably, local autonomy is also a driver of efficiency in local government affairs through the adaptive opportunities to local circumstances made possible by autonomous decision-makers accountable to local citizens as tax payers and consumers.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Buffel, Veerle, et al.
(författare)
-
Depressive symptoms in higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic : the role of containment measures
- 2022
-
Ingår i: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 32:3, s. 481-487
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundStudents are a vulnerable group for the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their mental health. This paper examined the cross-national variation in students’ depressive symptoms and whether this can be related to the various protective measures implemented in response to the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak.MethodsStudent data stem from the COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study, covering 26 countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-level data on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were retrieved from the Oxford COVID-19 Tracker. Multilevel analyses were performed to estimate the impact of the containment and economic support measures on students’ depressive symptoms (n = 78 312).ResultsSchool and workplace closures, and stay-at-home restrictions were positively related to students’ depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, while none of the economic support measures significantly related to depressive symptoms. Countries’ scores on the index of these containment measures explained 1.5% of the cross-national variation in students’ depressive symptoms (5.3%). This containment index’s effect was stable, even when controlling for the economic support index, students’ characteristics, and countries’ epidemiological context and economic conditions.ConclusionsOur findings raise concerns about the potential adverse effects of existing containment measures (especially the closure of schools and workplaces and stay-at-home restrictions) on students’ mental health.
|
|
