The wicked problem of social cohesion: Moving ahead

Despite the amount of attention given to social cohesion, divisions within many societies are becoming wider due to various factors including religious and far-right extremism and economic austerity. Given its ‘wickedness’, social cohesion has been researched from various dimensions. However, in order to develop an effective solution-based programme, these multi-facets need to be brought together for a clearer way forward. This research aims to bring together multiple disciplines in order to propose a way forward in the social cohesion discourse in two ways: by developing a common conceptualisation of social cohesion and identifying an effective approach to operationalise social cohesion. This research adopted a critical qualitative research approach and used three expert discussion forums consisting of academics and practitioners from multiple disciplines. The research identifies contact theory and participatory approaches as providing an effective way forward for social cohesion. Social cohesion is conceptualised in the form of factors needed to build a cohesive society as well as outcomes of a cohesive society. Using the social marketing approach of down- mid- and up-stream strategies and interventions, this research proposes a bottom-up approach to addressing the wicked problem of social cohesion. Social cohesion has been discussed by various academics and practitioners from multiple disciplines. This paper developed a common conceptualisation of social cohesion based on a review of multi-disciplinary literature combined with discussions with experts from academia and practice. Relating this to the down-, up- and mid-stream social marketing, this paper also identified participatory approach, based on contact theory, as an effective way in which social marketers can achieve downstream social marketing objectives

The federal government commissioner for patient issues in Germany: initial analysis of the user inquiries

BACKGROUND: The political objective in many countries worldwide is to give better consideration to the interests of patients within the health system. The establishment of a federal government commissioner for the issues of patients in the health system in Germany in 2004 is part of these endeavours. The structure and field of activities of this institution has been unique so far. This study investigates for the first time the inquiries the commissioner receives from the public. METHODS: A 33% sampling (n = 850) of the written inquiries (correspondence and e-mails) addressed to the commissioner in the first six months of the year 2005 (n = 2580) was investigated. In a procedure comprising combined qualitative and quantitative levels, the material was thematically encoded and the inquiries allocated to the resulting categories (multiple nominations). The results are presented in descriptive form and investigated especially with respect to sex and age-specific differences. The interdependences between the categorized criteria are analysed. RESULTS: The inquirers are equally spread out amongst the sexes (49% women, 51% men). Older persons outweigh the younger (69% over 60 years). In most cases the issues take the form of claims (72%, n = 609). In every fifth inquiry (n = 168) the personal financial burden for health services is considered as being too high; about equally high (n = 159) is the proportion of persons who criticize the communication with health professionals, especially hospitals and doctors' surgeries. Every third who mentions a medical practice uses terms such as "uncertainty" and "anxiety". It is conspicuous that men more often than women write that they feel unfairly treated in the health system (62% vs. 38%, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Predominantly older persons seek the assistance of the federal government commissioner for patient issues. Considerable uncertainty and anxiety with respect to services and charges within the system of the German health insurances become evident. It is not possible from the data to draw conclusions concerning the impact of the commissioner's work on the health system. Nor do we gain any knowledge about the usefulness of the service for the individual. Therefore, evaluation of the political impact and the user satisfaction should follow

The same but different: Understanding entrepreneurial behaviour in disadvantaged communities

While entrepreneurship is widely viewed as being equally accessible in all contexts, it could be questioned if potential or nascent entrepreneurs from minority and disadvantaged communities experience entrepreneurship in a similar manner to the mainstream population. This chapter examines immigrant, people with disability, youth, gay and unemployed communities to explore how their entrepreneurial behaviour might differ from the practices of mainstream entrepreneurs. What emerges is that marginalised communities can frequently find it difficult to divorce business from social living. This can have both positive and negative connotations for an entrepreneur, plus they face additional and distinctive challenges that mainstream entrepreneurs do not experience. The chapter concludes by proposing a novel ‘funnel approach’ that policymakers might adopt when seeking to introduce initiatives targeted at these disadvantaged communities

Measuring High Level Democratic Principles using the V-Dem Data

While the definition of extended conceptions of democracy has been widely discussed, the measurement of these constructs has not attracted similar attention. In this paper we present new measures of polyarchy, liberal democracy, deliberative democracy, egalitarian democracy, and participatory democracy that cover most polities in the period 1900 to 2013. These indices are based on data from a large number of indicators collected through the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. A discussion of the theoretical considerations and the concrete formula linked to our aggregation of indicators and components into high level measures is followed by an illustration of how these measures reflect variations in quality of democracy, given the respective ideals, in 2012. In the conclusion we urge scholars to make use of the rich dataset made available by V-Dem.This research project was supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Grant M13-0559:1, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; by Swedish Research Council, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden & Jan Teorell, Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden; and by Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation to Wallenberg Academy Fellow Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden