Volume 16, Issue 3

Research on representation and responsiveness is based on the idea that voters have concerns about certain policy problems and that representatives respond to these concerns with concrete policy outputs, such as laws. In addition, once adopted, this policy output can feed back on voters’ concerns which are then satisfied. Consequently, citizens do not demand more of the respective policy (negative feedback, thermostatic model (Soroka & Wlezien 2010)) or are, in contrast, incited toward demanding even more of the policy (positive feedback, policy overreaction (Maor 2014, Jones et al 2014)). In this research note, I argue that by focussing mainly on such preference-policy linkages, existing research has underestimated the role emotions play in this “chain of responsiveness” (Powell 2004), especially when it comes to protective policies, that is policies that are presented as providing protection to citizens. I propose an amended concept of responsiveness which adds an emotional layer to the existing framework and present an empirical exploration on the emotion-policy link on the micro level using data from the European Social Survey which indicates the fruitfulness to bring in emotions more plainly into the literature on responsiveness.

The need for safety is one of the basic human needs. States implement different protective policies to fulfil the task of granting safety to their citizens. Aim of the present study conducted online on a representative sample of Polish citizens ( N  = 1,124), was to explore emotions potentially evoked by seven protective policies in the areas of: the economy, social welfare, health, personal security from crime and terrorism, one’s own way of life, tradition and culture of the country, as well as climate and environment. It also examined the relationship between emotional responses to protective policies across these different policy areas and the political orientation of participants, together with their socio-demographic characteristics. The results showed that emotions evoked by protective policies vary across areas of protection. Only four emotions (discouragement, anxiety, disappointment, and dissatisfaction) were indicated by more than 10 % of adult Poles in all areas of protection. Age of respondents was the most systematic predictor for all policies. Although there were general trends in emotional reactions to all policies, there were also area-specific emotions and their predictors. These include policy-specific emotions such as grief in the area of economy, despair in the area of healthcare (with gender and political orientation as predictors), and pride in the area of protecting traditions and culture in Poland (with political orientation as a predictor). Protective policy regarding climate was the only one that evoked only negative emotions. The area of economy was the one with the largest number of different emotions indicated.

This study examined GDP per Capita, military expenditure, trade openness capital formation, inflation and unemployment as determinants of political instability in ECOWAS from 1991 to 2022. Four countries in ECOWAS that have experienced military coup/political instability (Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger) and another four countries that have not had military coup (Cote dÍvore, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo) were used for the study. The article modeled the independent equations for each country to show how the various countries’ cross-sectional indicators/variables affect political instability. Findings show that the major determinants of political instability in ECOWAS are GDP per Capita, military expenditure, and trade openness. GDP per Capita is negatively related to political instability in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger. A 1 %, increase in GDP leads to a, 0.067 %. 0.002 %, 0.001 % and 0.041 % in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger respectively. Military expenditure has a negative influence on political instability in Burkina Faso, and Niger but positively influences in Mali. A 1 %, increase in military expenditure in Burkina Faso and Niger reduces political instability by 0.196 % and 0.045 % respectively. Trade openness positively impacts on political instability in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. The statistics illustrate that a % increase in trade openness leads to about 0.0925 %, 0.029 % and 0.625 % in Burkina Faso in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali respectively. Hence, GDP per Capita, military expenditure, trade openness, and unemployment are the main drivers of political instability in the region. The results from the four countries that did not experience democratic reversal during the study period reveal that GDP per capita, military expenditure and unemployment are significant and inversely related to political instability. The results from the aggregate analysis of the countries without military coups show that military expenditure (0.155 %), unemployment (0.164 %) and GDPC (0.00045 %) are significant and inversely related to political instability in these countries. This suggests that these countries are susceptible to political instability. Thus, the study recommends that governments in the ECOWAS region should invest in people-oriented projects to lift citizens out of poverty, cater adequately for security agencies and minimize undue interference in their economy’s economic, political and social structure by foreign actors.

Remittances from Kerala’s migrant workers and professionals constitute a vital financial inflow, surpassing their relative significance in most other Indian states. With public debt nearing 60 % of NSDP, these transfers offer a potential buffer for debt sustainability. Applying Oates’ theory within Bohn’s debt-sustainability framework using an FMOLS model, and validated through Johansen testing, this study examines the remittance–debt nexus from 1980 to 2023. FMOLS results indicate a deterioration of debt sustainability despite substantial remittance inflows. The findings emphasize the need to reduce market borrowings, enhance the fiscal role of remittances, and promote policies supporting formal transfer channels, source diversification, remittance-linked investment, and financial literacy among migrant households to strengthen Kerala’s long-term fiscal resilience and enable more productive use of remittances.

Tuberculosis (TB) represents a major threat to global health security and is currently the world most deadly infectious disease. TB is noted to affect people of all age groups and exposure to the disease has been shown to exhibit variation in the risk of infection across different factors. This study was therefore carried out to identify possible disease associations of some risk factors in relation to time until onset of TB among TB infected individuals in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. To this end, secondary data on time until onset of TB was obtained from the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital of the Upper East Region of Ghana and used for statistical analysis. In order to obtain appropriate underlying disease associations, the Bayesian approach to the modelling of survival time was employed in the statistical analyses. Thus, different parametric models including; skew normal, lognormal, shifted lognormal, exponential, Weibull and Fréchet models were fitted to the TB data within the Bayesian framework. The Weibull was the overall best fitted model. Based on the estimation results of the Bayesian Weibull regression model; individuals with no education, individuals with diabetes and males were identified as high-risk groups with shorter time frame for the onset of TB in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study was concluded by indicating the need for Ghana Health Service to institute targeted interventions aimed at preventing and controlling the TB with special emphasis to the high-risk groups in the Bolgatanga Municipality.