The Role of State Mobilization for Volunteerism in China

The aim of this study is to test empirically the sociological theory of craftsmanship originally developed by C. Wright Mills, Torstein Veblen, and Howard Becker and later extended by Harper, Sennett, and Fine. We conduct a quantitative analysis based on a nationally representative sample of 10,783 Icelandic adolescents (50.2% girls). We developed a scale measuring craftsmanship that we use to test several hypotheses regarding the role of craftsmanship in sport and education. Our findings provide a consistent empirical support for the theory of craftsmanship. First, they indicate that elements of the craftsmanship theory that have been identified by prior qualitative research go together as predicted to form a coherent theoretical construct and a measurement scale that is both reliable and valid. The craftsmanship scale therefore offers good opportunities for quantitative research in an area that has been exclusively qualitative. Second, our findings indicate that, as predicted, the craftsmanship approach makes schoolwork more meaningful and reduces general feelings of meaninglessness. Third, the findings show, as predicted, that the craftsmanship approach influences school performance in a positive way. Fourth, we find that the positive relationship between sport participation and school performance is in part mediated by craftsmanship. Finally, the findings show that the influence of craftsmanship on school performance is in part mediated by meaninglessness. We discuss the implications of the findings in light of sociological theory, culture and the social context of education and sport.

This chapter examines trends in institutional confidence measured by the General Social Survey between 1973 and 2006. It begins by considering the construct of institutional confidence and describing the items and scales used to measure it. After presenting overall levels of confidence in 13 institutions during this period, it examines trends in general confidence scales and in individual institutions. Cohort analysis helps to illuminate these trends. The chapter next investigates correlates of institutional confidence, including experiences with specific institutions, party-in-power effects, education, misanthropy, opinionation, and a general demographic model. It briefly considers the relationship between institutional confidence and support for government programs and political matters. It closes by assessing the state and role of institutional confidence in contemporary society, and both general and event-driven models of trends in confidence.

A future of greater migration will put pressure on the exclusive territorial model of citizenship. In the deepest analytical sense, bundled citizenship is incoherent, and made more so by extraterritorial effects of national decision-making—by the effects on persons in other territories—and, as salient for this chapter, by the mobility of persons that makes them experience effects of governmental decisions in other territories. For most historic periods since the emergence of the modern state system and in most regional contexts this mobility of persons was not significant enough, and the role of the state in providing positive rights was not great enough, to necessitate an international regime for assigning states responsibility for positive rights, and assigning individuals duties to states. However, with greater demand for mobility, greater cooperation to divide up the components of citizenship may be desirable.

Awadh area was always the centre of power from times immemorial. This importance also had its impact on the policy towards Awadh under the British company also. The political importance was of Awadh forced the British company to keep a watch on the activities of the Nawab. For this purpose they placed a British Resident in Awadh, it was however done on the request of the Nawab. Gradually the position of Resident became an all important post in Awadh and Resident started to control almost all aspects of the administration. The expenses of the office of Resident also increased gradually from about 12000 annually to later partial share in the revenue of Awadh even the Nawab had to surrender few portion of the state to meet the expenses of the office of the Resident. Further to free the company’s regular troops for service elsewhere in India, the company also organized the forces at the ruler’s expense. Later the resident even played the role of appointing the Nawab even overlooking the legal heir for the throne. This weakened the position of Nawab to a very great extent and the Nawab could not even carry out any changes other then the direction given by the Resident. The company despite having control over almost all sections of governance disposed the Nawab on the charges of misgovernance in 1856 ending the rule of Nawab in Awadh. So the system of placing the Resident started with the purpose if liaisoning gradually took indirect control over the administration and later took the direct control over the State.

The study considers how the phenomenon of state entrepreneurship has been examined in theoretical works by world-famous researchers. It has been brought to light that a comparison of the performance of state-owned enterprises is rather difficult due to divergent views on their socio-economic and institutional framework in different countries. The characteristics of privatization processes that have taken place since the 1990s as well as their current trends are identified. The contribution of an entrepreneurial state in financing and stimulating innovations is analyzed. Bearing in mind the ever-growing role of state entrepreneurship in building business processes, it is noted that the current stage of the development of state entrepreneurship needs significant changes in the state system of economic governance. Taking into account shortcomings over the analyzed period, suggestions have been put forward on how to improve the effectiveness of state entrepreneurship seen as a tool of public administration.

Abstract The rationality of the organizing behind the Incident was one of the most notable features at Wukan. If we look back over the process by which the villagers’ organizations developed and they began to play a positive role, we find that their orientation changed so that they shifted from engaging in destroying the order to engaging in protecting the order; and shifted from being outside the state system to becoming part of it. They also eventually managed to reconstruct the relationship between government and NGO and achieve accord with government. However, it is not a foregone conclusion that organizations will operate in a rational way. Analysis of their role during the Wukan Incident shows that the involvement of an informal traditional elite; the inclusive nature and the social legitimacy of the organizations; and the attitude adopted by government in its response are all important prerequisites to the positive role of villagers’ organizations being brought into play.

Although the relationship between traditional media usage and moral evaluation has been studied in China, it is not clear what role religion plays in this relationship. The 2013 Chinese General Social Survey was used to examine the moderation role of religious identity and religious practice in this correlation. The STATA 15.1 and PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 2) was employed. This research confirms that religion has a moderating role in the correlation between traditional media usage and moral evaluation. Specifically, religious identity, no matter whether it is polytheistic or monotheistic, will strengthen the correlation between traditional media usage and moral evaluation. However, religious practice will weaken the correlation between traditional media usage and moral evaluation, except the religious practice of monotheism in China. Furthermore, our findings prove that religion is an important situational factor in the correlation between traditional media usage and moral evaluation. We should take religious identity and religious practice as independent factors to conduct a richer study in the future. Most importantly, our findings further confirm that the rationalization of society does not necessarily lead to the secularization of religion.

Communist Party membership is often associated with higher incomes in socialist regimes because it is an important credential for obtaining state-sector jobs and cadre positions. During the first two decades of marketization in China, the income returns to Communist Party membership (the party premium) clearly persisted. However, recent studies have documented an insignificant party premium in post-2000 China. Considering the persistent role of the state in resource allocation, this phenomenon is puzzling and lacks clear interpretation. Drawing on the knowledge of collider conditioning, we hypothesize that this phenomenon stems from a negative ability bias generated by conditioning on endogenous job positions. Using the China General Social Survey 2008, we re-examine the post-2000 party premiums. The results support this hypothesis and demonstrate that this negative ability bias overwhelms the usual positive ability bias and any residual party premiums. Party premiums persist after 2000 and are reflected in positions where the negative ability bias is less influential.

Environmental knowledge inequality is a barrier to address environmental issues. This study explores the role of media use in environmental knowledge gap in China, and the empirical evidence is analyzed by using the secondary data from Chinese General Social Survey. OLS regression and heterogeneity analysis revealed that internet use increases environmental knowledge gap; radio use reduces environmental knowledge gap between people with higher and lower levels of education. Newspaper and television use have limited influence on environmental knowledge acquisition. However, newspapers and television are more beneficial for people with lower levels of education, but not those with higher levels.

During the economic boom, China’s government was mainly concerned with economic development; however, numerous environmental problems have arisen. Evidence suggests that Chinese individuals’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is at a low level in Asia. However, it does not match their high-quality environmental knowledge. In this paper, the database of the Chinese General Social Survey was used to explore the correlation between environmental knowledge and PEB in a broader context. Subsequently, environmental perception and post-materialistic values (PMV) were taken as the mediator and moderator into structural equation modeling, and every variable kept robust and consistent through exploratory factor analysis. The empirical results indicated that: (i) individuals with higher environmental knowledge always show higher passion to PEB; (ii) environmental perception plays a partially mediating role between environmental knowledge and PEB; (iii) PMV moderate the formation of environmental behavior systematically; and (iv) compared with public counterpart, the relation between environmental knowledge and PEB is significantly higher in private environmental behavior. The study results could become the basis for the Chinese government and environmental NGOs to effectively spread environmental knowledge, advocate a post-materialistic lifestyle, and improve the authenticity of online media reports on environmental issues.