Mahayana Buddhism and Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

In 1972, the fourth King of Bhutan announced that Gross National Happiness was more important than Gross Domestic Product. In this paper, the basic conceptual features of Mahayana Buddhism are discussed particularly as they relate to the Mahayana Buddhist view of happiness. The primary purpose of Mahayana Buddhism is to spread happiness and compassion to everyone in the world. This includes that by awakening to the Ultimate Truth, one obtains greater clarity and insight about the true nature of the universe, leading to internal peace and happiness. As this paper shows, the goal of modern Gross National Happiness is also based on Mahayana Buddhist principles to increase happiness for everyone. This occurs through governmental policies and programs that promote material needs balanced with becoming enlightened

The Paradox of Explosive and Gradual Policy Change in Political Revolutionary Times

Many political revolutionary theorists have argued that political revolutionary activity occurs in a dramatic fashion resulting in explosive change in the orientation of established policy regimes resulting in radically new public policy outputs and governmental organizational structures. This research, quantitatively analyzing political revolutions that culminated in the 20th century, confirms that short-term political revolutionary activity and the establishment of new policy regimes were few in number. Most successful political revolutionary activities along with new policy regimes were long-term while some political revolutions were not successful. The process of political revolutionary activity to overthrow established policy regimes is a complex phenomenon with political and policy change occurring across widely varying time frames

Researching State Tobacco Policymaking: Issues, Data Sources, and Methods

In recent years, scholars of applied public policy have published a growing number of studies regarding state tobacco policymaking. This article analyzes the research findings, data sources, and methodological approaches of this applied and theoretical policy research, including numerous comprehensive state tobacco policymaking studies analyzing issues such as youth access enforcement, tobacco taxes, anti-tobacco education efforts, and clean indoor air programs. Other studies have focused on individual policymaking instruments designed to address state tobacco control issues, including tort reform, tobacco listed as a cause of death on death certifcates, tobacco sampling, promotion and advertising restrictions, and fire-safe cigarettes. This wealth of research into tobacco policymaking has contributed significantly to our understanding of federalism, policy diffusion, and iron triangles and issue networks.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Punctuating “Happiness”: Punctuated equilibrium theory and the agenda-setting of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) policy in Bhutan

Gross National Happiness (GNH), a concept first intro- duced by Bhutan, has gained immense traction as an al- ternate development paradigm to GDP toward achieving wholesome global progress. In this paper, we investigate the origins of the policy of GNH, through the theoreti- cal lens of the punctuated equilibrium theory (PET), and when and how GNH came to the national agenda. By focusing on the year 2008, that is, when Bhutan's Government transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a democratic constitutional monarchy, this paper analy- ses the key events that serve as policy windows and the policy entrepreneurs responsible for agenda-setting the policy of GNH. We argue there is a major change, such as, the government changing its form from monarchy to democracy, it is a definitive benchmark as to what punctuation means. In addition to providing a defini- tive meaning of “punctuation” in public policy, we also identify and discuss the key methodological issues in relation PET and offer explanations through Bhutan's policy of GNH to determine policy punctuation and measuring policy change

Chronicles of Oklahoma

Article depicts how Norman used extralegal means to maintain its status as a "sundown town," a place where African Americans were not welcome after dark, well into the mid-twentieth century

Growth regulation and co-stimulation of human colorectal cancer cell lines by insulin-like growth factor I, II and transforming growth factor alpha.

We have tested growth factor responsiveness of a panel of eight human colorectal carcinoma cell lines. Insulin-like growth factors I and II (IGF-I and IGF-II) stimulated growth of five lines (HT-29, LS411N, LS513, SW480, WiDr). At 30 ng ml-1 both factors enhanced growth up to 3-fold. They induced half-maximal stimulation at 1.9-6.51 ng ml-1. Even after delayed addition IGF-I and II significantly enhanced growth in a short-term proliferation assay. They exerted maximal effects under limiting serum conditions (0.5% FCS) and at low cell density (1.25-5 x 10(4) ml-1). Using these conditions transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) enhanced proliferation of all IGF-responsive cell lines, except SW480. 1.11-3.31 ng ml-1 were required to obtain a half-maximal response. With 10-20 ng ml-1 maximal stimulation occurred at plateau values different from those for IGF-I/II. Proliferation of all cell lines responsive to both IGF-I and TGF alpha was further enhanced by combining both factors, resulting a synergistic response of LS513, while the effects on HT-29, LS411N and WiDr were additive. With HT-29 and LS411N a 24 h exposure to TGF alpha was sufficient to obtain a full response in the co-stimulatory assay. Our results illustrate the importance of IGF-I/II and TGF alpha as stimulators of growth of colorectal carcinomas