Attitudes towards asylum seekers: Understanding differences between rural and urban areas

This paper examines spatial differences in the attitudes of the public towards asylum seekers using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Initial analysis reveals some statistically significant variations across geographical areas, with people living in London, the South East of England and Scotland displaying the most tolerant views. The spatial variations are then further investigated by considering differences between rural and different types of urban areas. The estimation of regression models enables a range of socio-demographic influences on attitudes to be examined including whether an individual is a foreign national, belongs to ethnic minority group and possesses a higher education qualification. Members of each of these groups are more concentrated in urban areas, especially London, thus accounting for part of the observed differentials. However, even after controlling for these and other factors, some significant differences remain between rural and some urban areas, especially large cities. We discuss potential explanations and conclude that having opportunities for meaningful social contact with asylum seekers and other immigrants is a key factor underlying some of the unexplained rural-urban differences in attitudes. Given increasing diversity in rural areas, it is recommended that policy makers and civil society organisations concerned about the impacts of negative attitudes on social and community cohesion should invest resources in creating opportunities for meaningful social contact between different groups

PERAN ORANG TUA DALAM MEMBINA NILAI KARAKTER ANAK DI KECAMATAN SIMPANG TIGA ACEH BESAR

ABSTRAKRahmayanti KS, Sri. 2016. Peran Orang Tua Dalam Membina Nilai Karakter Anak di Kecamatan Simpang Tiga Kabupaten Aceh Besar. Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Kesejahteraan Keluarga, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Syiah Kuala. Pembimbing:(1)Dr. Anizar Ahmad, M.Pd., (2). Dra. Fitriana, M.SI.Kata Kunci: Nilai Karakter Anak, Peran Orang TuaPeran orang tua adalah partisipasi atau kesadaran jiwa orang tua untuk memperdulikan anaknya, terutama dalam hal memberikan dan memenuhi kebutuhan hidup anaknya baik dari segi sosial maupun material. Penelitian ini untuk mengetahui usaha orang tua dalam membina nilai karakter anak di Kecamatan Simpang Tiga Kabupaten Aceh Besar. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk (1) mengetahui usaha yang dilakukan orang tua dalam membina nilai karakter anak dan (2) mengetahui sistem pengawasan yang diterapkan oleh orang tua terhadap anak. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif kuantitatif. Data penelitian ini bersumber dari orang tua yang memiliki anak usia 4 sampai 10 tahun berjumlah 28 keluarga, pengumpulan data menggunakan kuisioner. Pengolahan data penelitian ini menggunakan rumus persentase. Simpulan penelitian ini berpengaruh pada usaha orang tua dalam membina nilai karakter anak, walau sebagian kecil yang mengetahui nilai-nilai karakter, tetapi sebagian besar sudah berusaha menanamkan nilai karakter tersebut. Lebih dari setengah responden menanamkan nilai religius kepada anak dengan tujuan agar anak mempunyai akhlak yang mulia kedepannya. Sedangkan yang berperan dalam membina nilai karakter anak adalah suami dan istri. Sistem pengawasan yang diterapkan orang tua berpengaruh terhadap pembentukkan nilai karakter anak. Seluruh anak termasuk kedalam katagori anak yang mudah bersahabat. Penanaman nilai karakter pada anak di mulai pada awal masa kanak-kanak ketika berumur 2-6 tahun. Responden juga menerapkan perilaku disiplin kepada anak karena usia awal kanak-kanak merupakan usia yang masih rentan, dan akan meniru semua yang dikerjakan oleh orang tuanya. Saran untuk orang tua agar dapat mendidik anaknya dengan baik, tidak mengedepankan emosi, dapat meluangkan waktu, adanya komunikasi yang dibina orang tua dengan anak, dan jangan bersikap apatis terhadap apa yang dikerjakan sianak

Turkey and the EU after the first year of negotiations: Reconciling internal and external policy challenges

The EU's commencement of accession negotiations with Turkey in October 2005 represents a watershed in Turkish-EU relations. However, even in the area of straightforward technicalities, the negotiations are linked to a wider set of unresolved and highly sensitive political issues, of which the Cyprus question is the most significant. Unresolved Aegean disputes with Greece and the Armenian issue form another set of wider external issues that affect the day-to-day framework of the negotiations. Internal issues that can have repercussions on the negotiations include Kurdish minority rights and the decision of the European Court of Human Rights calling for a retrial of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The EU accession process has left Turkey with the dilemma of how to reconcile its internal and external policy challenges. Traditionally, Turkey has separated its internal security challenges, such as Kurdish separatism and Islamic fundamentalism, from its external security relations, which are based on state-centric security relationships. This situation is being superseded by an emergent discourse on Turkish foreign policy, as Euro-sceptics who frame Turkey's national security within a traditionalist military-dominant perspective are challenged by pro-EU actors who view economic instability as more significant than traditional military threats. While Turkey's uniqueness - such as the special place of its military within the state and society - is difficult for the EU to grasp, the very speciality of the Turkish case does not in itself warrant an alternative to full membership, such as privileged partnership. All previous accession negotiations have ended in full membership. If Turkey were to become an exception after it has made headway in implementing EU criteria, this would have wider repercussions for Turkey's relations with the West and the EU's image in the Islamic world at large. Thus, the Turkish case probably constitutes the greatest challenge the EU has had to face in dealing with an accession country

Sovereign Debt and Governance Failures: Portuguese Democracy and the Financial Crisis

International economic crises are critical periods for any political regime. The 2008 global financial crisis brought to the surface several weak spots in the institutional performance of various southern European democracies. Portugal was no exception. Government attempts to tackle its negative externalities through a series of austerity measures did not prove successful on various grounds. Poor scoring in the economy generated social unrest. This article tries to assess the reaction of the Portuguese citizenry to the symptoms of failure in economic governance, particularly in what concerns their attitudes vis-à-vis the political realm by using different survey data sets. The analysis reveals that the decline in economic performance and in quality of governance is clearly reflected in citizens’ rising discontent with the performance of democracy and suggests even negative spillover effects for regime support. The available data also suggest that any expectations that the economic crisis might have ignited in citizens’ engagement in political issues seem only partially fulfilled

New administration, new immigration regime: do parties matter after all? A UK case study

Research on the impact of parties on public policy, and on immigration policy in particular, often finds limited evidence of partisan influence. In this paper, we examine immigration policy-making in the UK coalition government. Our case provides evidence that parties in government can have more of an impact on policy than previous studies acknowledge, but this only becomes apparent when we open up the ‘black box’ between election outcomes and policy outputs. By examining how, when and why election pledges are turned into government policies, we show that partisan influence depends not only on dynamics between the coalition partners, but how these dynamics interact with interdepartmental conflicts and lobbying by organised interests. In-depth process tracing allows us to see these complex dynamics, which easily get lost in large-n comparisons of pledges and outputs, let alone outcomes