The Political Participation and Government Size

Abstract: This paper analyzes the effect of political participation on government size. First, the paper extends the model proposed by Mueller and Stratmann, which considers relation of political participation and government size. Second, we estimate this model with another index like democracy, voice and accountability, and Civil liberties index as political participation index. This model points that any increase in political participation is generally found to raise government size; however this increasing effect is low. Also, other considered indicators have a significant effect on government size. Our case study is the Asia and Pacific Ocean countries in during 2000 to 2008. Findings showed that when participation rate, democracy index, and voice and accountability index increase one percent, government size increases 0.065, 1.30, and 3.19 percent, respectively. Additionally, when civil liberties increases one percent, government size declines 1.29 percent. The paper provides a small expansion of Mueller and Stratmann model that considers the effect of the overall concept of political participation on government size by using indexes like democracy, voice and accountability, and Civil liberties index. Key words: Government Size; Political participation; Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) Résumé: Cet article analyse l'effet de la participation politique sur la taille du gouvernement. Tout d'abord, l'article étend le modèle concernant la participation politique et la taille du gouvernement proposé par Mueller et Stratmann. Ensuite, il évalue ce modèle avec d’autres indices comme la démocratie, le droit de parler et la responsabilité, et des indices de libertés civiles en tant que l'indice de la participation politique. Ce modèle indique que toute augmentation de la participation politique contribue généralement à élargir la taille du gouvernement, mais cet effet est faible. En outre, d'autres indicateurs estimés ont un effet significatif sur la taille du gouvernement. Notre étude de cas est menée sur les pays en Asie et dans l’océan pacifique au cours de 2000 à 2008. Les résultats ont montré que lorsque le taux de participation, l'indice de démocratie et l’indice du droit de parler et de la responsabilité augmente de 1%, la taille du gouvernement élargit de 0.065%, 1.30%, et 3.19%t, respectivement. Par contre, lorsque les libertés civiles augmente de 1%, la taille du gouvernement baisse de 1,291%. L’article fait une légère expansion du modèle de Mueller et Stratmann qui évalue l'effet de la notion globale de la participation politique sur la taille du gouvernement à l'aide des indices comme la démocratie, le droit de parler et la responsabilité, et des indices de libertés civiles. Mots clés: Taille du gouvernement; Participation politique; Méthode des Moments Généralisée (MMG

Neo-orientalism? : a critical appraisal of changing Western perspectives : Bernard Lewis, John Esposito and Gilles Kepel

In order to justify and naturalise domination and exploitation of ‘others,’ some ideologies that theorise ‘they are less human’ have been invented and employed throughout history. Among these ideologies is the ‘West‐and‐Islam’ dualism, which has been comprehensively and critically studied by Edward Said in Orientalism. Since Orientalism was published in 1978, however, the world seems to have become much more interdependent and political interrelations between the West and Islam have changed dramatically. Consequently this dualism, though more or less in place, has been influenced by escalating waves of globalisation and redistributed and reshaped in a different form. To critically appraise this dualism in this new era, three prominent contemporary Western Islamologists, Bernard Lewis, John Esposito and Gilles Kepel, have been selected and different aspects of their perspectives, their methodologies, their views on Islam and modernity, their political propositions and Islamic belief and law in their vision, are closely compared and critically examined. These three scholars are used to describe parts of the fabric of what I call neo‐Orientalism; they are exemplars suggesting the existence of a larger whole. This dissertation aims to present the genealogy of some lingering traces of the West‐and‐Islam dualism in order to know how they were originated and how they can be replaced by an egalitarian perspective. This is particularly important in this new interdependent world, where we are very close to each other and any crisis anywhere can affect human beings everywhere. This thesis also aims to criticise the often unquestioned assumptions of Western works on Islam and to show through a comparative examination that there can be very different routes with healthier outcomes to look at other cultures. In addition to methods used by Said and to avoid his shortcomings, this research is informed by a Popperian methodology, relying on his theory of the growth of knowledge, his situational analysis and his views on framework and ideology. In conclusion, this thesis suggests that if the West‐and‐Islam dualism is considered as a spectrum of views on Islam, Lewis is the most dualist, perfectly following all principles of dualism, Esposito is the least, and Kepel is (so to say) in between. Moreover, some promising changes in neo‐Orientalism as well as some additional dualistic tendencies that can define neo‐Orientalism are found in this new era. To portray a better future for our interdependent world some new approaches to identity, global ethics and global civil society are suggested. Eradicating the roots of Orientalism and Occidentalism alike and accepting, protecting and even promoting diversity are first steps towards countering devastating threats that endanger humankind as a whole.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Impact of Branding on Customers’ Attitudes toward Banking Services (The Case of Iran’s Melli Bank)

The aim of applying branding is to differentiate a product or service from others and creating a unique brand image of a certain product or service in the minds of target market. Furthermore, customers’ attitudes have been shown to influence and predict behavior. This research integrates consumer-based brand equity and the theory of planned behavior in evaluating the performance of Iran’s Melli bank in branding and measures the impact of branding on customers’ attitudes. A field survey was conducted on Iran’s Melli bank in Isfahan, the biggest national bank in Iran. Data are collected and analyzed from 314 prospective customers. Findings indicate that Iran’s Melli bank has performed unsatisfactorily in presenting a desired image to the target market. As a result, Melli bank needs to strengthen its brand loyalty by improving its quality of banking services and marketing communications. Key words: Branding; Brand equity; Attitude; Banking services; Ira

Effects of Intracanal Curcumin and Aloe vera on pH Changes in Simulated Root Surface Resorption Defects: An In vitro Study

Introduction: Commonly used medicaments in the treatment of external inflammatory root resorption (EIRR) have shown adverse effects; resulting in an increasing tendency to employ natural and/or herbal medication. The present in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effects of curcumin and aloe vera, as two natural medicaments, on the changes of pH in external root surface defects; and compare their outcomes with the results obtained from the application of calcium hydroxide, as a conventional medicament used in endodontic treatments. Materials and Methods: In the current investigation, 92 permanent teeth, with a single root canal, were randomly divided into four groups. Similar cavities were created on the buccal surfaces of roots, 5 mm from their apices. The root canals in each of the study groups were filled with curcumin, aloe vera, calcium hydroxide or normal saline. The pH was measured after 20 min (i.e. the baseline), 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days using a digital pH meter. The data were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA and the statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: At the baseline, day 1 and day 7, the mean pH of both curcumin and aloe vera groups was higher than the mean pH of calcium hydroxide and normal saline groups (P<0.05). On day 14, the mean pH of aloe vera group was higher than that of calcium hydroxide and normal saline groups (P<0.05). On days 21 and 28, the mean pH of aloe vera group was higher than the mean pH of all the other groups (P<0.05). All other intergroup differences were not statistically significant at each time point (P>0.05). Conclusion: The current in vitro study demonstrated that aloe vera was more alkaline than curcumin; nevertheless, both groups exhibited more alkalinity than calcium hydroxide

Predicting potential sites of nine drought-tolerant native plant species in urban regions

Drought and water scarcity are serious limiting factors for plant growth and can thus present an obstacle to development of the urban green areas in the cities in particular under climate change. Using native plants is a high-priority option to increase vegetation cover in areas facing global warming and water scarcity. In order to evaluate whether urban areas cover suitable habitats for nine native species in the east of Iran, species distribution models were developed and binary maps were generated. The model output indicated a relatively good performance. Most of the suitable habitats for the plant species are located in north, west and center of the study area. Cercis griffithii had the highest (46.63%) and Acantholimon erinaceum had the lowest (6.29%) proportion of suitable habitats among all studied species in the Khorasan region. Annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, and mean temperature of warmest quarter were the most important environmental variables in determining the potential geographic distribution for these species. Due to similar climateconditions, such as low rainfall, high temperature, low relative humidity and high solar radiation particularly in the summers, our findings showed that Cercis griffithii, Iris songarica and Tamarix ramosissima can be utilized in the development of green areas in the studied regions. According to the output of the species distribution models, planting of Acantholimon erinaceum, Salvia abrotanoides and Rosa canina is not advisable in the South and Razavi Khorasan provinces

The Effect of Brand Equity Components on Purchase Intention: An Application of Aaker’s Model in the Automobile Industry

Abstract: The paper aims to investigate the effect of brand equity dimensions on purchase intention, based on Aaker’s well-known conceptual framework in the automobile industry. Building on extensive literature, a model of consumers’ purchase intention that includes the major determinants of brand equity model is proposed. Based on a sample of 242 consumers, structural equation modeling is used to test hypotheses. The research reveals that brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty, and perceived quality have a significant impact on consumers’ intention to purchase products. The paper suggests that marketers should carefully consider the brand equity components when designing their branding strategies. Marketers are also called on to adapt their branding approaches to fit each marketing environment and enhance brand loyalty to reduce the switching behavior of consumers. The paper clarifies the interrelation between the four brand equity model components and purchase intention. Key words: Brand equity; Purchase intention; Structural equation modelling; Consumer behavio

Identifying the Content Production Risk Components in Digital Libraries: A Qualitative Study

Risk management is a preventive activity that identifies project risks and technical and non-technical problems for key managers and stakeholders by identifying project risks. The introduction of new digital forms of information not only has created rich and extraordinary opportunities for libraries to expand community access to information and create a positive relationship between libraries and users but poses some degree of risk. The present study employs a qualitative research approach with The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM). For data collection, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to identify the risks of content production in digital libraries. The FDM was employed for complete analysis using 20 IT experts on a 5-point Likert scale. The study identified 61 sub-components under nine main content production risk components: human, environmental, infrastructure, conservation and maintenance, technical, copyright, integration, evaluations of resource content, and information security risks. The present study addresses the content production risk components so that authorities can assist in planning and decision-making to prevent and resolve content production issues in digital libraries. https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.20088302.2022.20.1.4.