Volume 16, Issue 2

Having long been largely ignored in political science, emotions have become increasingly acknowledged as integral to human life, making them the subject of academic interest for political and social psychologists, political scientists and policy scholars alike. Challenging an understanding of reason and affect as one of opposition, empirical as well as theoretical work analysing the effects of emotions in political communication, voting behaviour, populism and public policymaking is continuously growing. There is therefore an increased need to take stock of these recent scientific advances on the role of emotions in the political sphere, and more importantly, with regards to public policymaking. This two-fold literature review provides such a state-of-the-art in a systematic and critical manner, showing that whereas knowledge on emotions in the broader realm of politics is already extensive, there is far less on public policies. In fact, from a policy studies perspective, it is policy preferences and policy-related communication which have enjoyed most of scholarly attention, thereby neglecting the concrete role of emotion in the process of public policymaking. Future studies should focus more on the effects of emotions on the actual making of policies.

While extensive scholarship has examined determinants of voter turnout, spatial dimensions of turnout – particularly during crises – remain understudied. This article investigates the rise in voter turnout during the 2020 mayoral election in Surabaya, Indonesia, one of the largest elections held amid the peak periods of Covid-19 infection. Utilizing spatial econometric models, it analyzes how geographical proximity to Covid-19 cases and electoral adjustments to reduce polling station crowding shaped voter behavior. The findings indicate that spatial effects, approximated via spatial autoregressive models, contributed to higher turnout during the pandemic. Moreover, electoral adjustments – specifically reductions in polling site population size – significantly influenced turnout. Although spatial effects were also observed in pre-pandemic elections, their magnitude increased during the pandemic. These results suggest that simple administrative interventions can reshape voters’ calculus during a public health crisis, offering insight into how turnout may evolve under exceptional circumstances.

Despite the disparity in unemployment rates across gender, race and provinces, no study has captured the influence of military spending on unemployment rates among these groups in South Africa (SA). Thus, this study investigated the effects of military spending on total, gender, racial and provincial unemployment in SA over 2008Q1 to 2023Q4. The study applied Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), Dynamic ARDL and Kernel-based Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), to predict the counterfactual shocks of unemployment rates based on a ±1 % change in military spending. From the ARDL, a rise in military spending reduced total, male, female, black race, and Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga Kwazulu Natal and Northwest provinces’ unemployment rates, in the short- and long run, but increased it among the Coloured, White and the Indian/Asian races and the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State provinces, in the short and long run. The DARDL simulation and the KRLS showed that a 1 % decrease (increase) in military spending increased (reduced) total, male, female, Black and North West, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo unemployment rates in the short run before flattening in the long run. Conversely, a 1 % decrease (increase) in military spending reduced (increased) the unemployment rates in the Coloured, White and Indian/Asian Races, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State Provinces, in the short run while flattening it in the long run. The effect of military spending in SA are not homogeneous among the Races and Provinces. Therefore, government policies aimed at curbing unemployment should recognise the peculiarities of the races and provinces.

This study examines investment optimization strategies for insurance company portfolios in Indonesia, focusing on the quantitative impacts of Financial Services Authority (OJK) Regulation No. 5 of 2023. The research evaluates how this regulation influences insurers’ asset allocation decisions and portfolio construction. Through financial modeling and statistical analysis, the study assesses changes in allowable assets, investment limits, and risk management requirements introduced by the regulation. Key areas of analysis include modifications to permitted investments, adjustments to maximum allocation limits, new requirements for investments in corporate bonds and medium-term notes, and revised affiliated party investment rules. The research aims to identify optimal portfolio compositions that maximize returns while adhering to the regulatory framework. Findings provide insights into effective investment strategies for Indonesian insurance companies operating under the current regulatory environment, with recommendations for optimizing portfolios to balance risk and return in compliance with OJK regulations. This paper is among the first to incorporate the latest OJK regulatory limits into a CVaR-based optimization framework, offering a practical approach for compliance-oriented asset management in the Indonesian insurance sector.