Crafting a democratic enclave on the cyberspace: case studies of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore

As an antithesis of “authoritarian enclave” which has been well-established in the comparative politics literature, “democratic enclave” points to the institution of a state or the unambiguous regulatory space in society “where the authoritarian regime’s writ is substantively limited and is replaced by an adherence to recognizably democratic norms and procedures” (Gilley 2010). In this sense, the Internet space, embodied by information and communication technologies, has great potential to play such a role, since its “inherited” properties of decentralization and anonymity would inevitably breach the authoritarian rules. However, a closer look at three Southeast Asian states, Malaysia, Singapore and the “New Order” Indonesia whose regimes were characterized by authoritarianism when Internet was initially developed, reveals different trajectories. In the “New Order” Indonesia and Malaysia, the governments consciously left the Internet space uncontrolled; the online media developed independently, vibrantly, and professionally, especially in the Malaysian case; and there were strong connections between online and offline contentious politics. These elements made the Internet space in Indonesia and Malaysia a successful case of democratic enclave. Based on these criteria, however, the Internet space in Singapore has not achieved similar status. This paper analyses the different outcomes of enclave creation on the cyberspace among these countries. It argues that elite conflict and the strength of civil society are the two major factors that shape the differences. In this sense, the political contexts are of great importance for the understanding of Internet’s political impacts

Crafting a Democratic Enclave on the Cyberspace: Case Studies of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore

As an antithesis of “authoritarian enclave” which has been well-established in the comparative politics literature, “democratic enclave” points to the institution of a state or the unambiguous regulatory space in society “where the authoritarian regime’s writ is substantively limited and is replaced by an adherence to recognizably democratic norms and procedures” (Gilley 2010). In this sense, the Internet space, embodied by information and communication technologies, has great potential to play such a role, since its “inherited” properties of decentralization and anonymity would inevitably breach the authoritarian rules. However, a closer look at three Southeast Asian states, Malaysia, Singapore and the “New Order” Indonesia whose regimes were characterized by authoritarianism when Internet was initially developed, reveals different trajectories. In the “New Order” Indonesia and Malaysia, the governments consciously left the Internet space uncontrolled; the online media developed independently, vibrantly, and professionally, especially in the Malaysian case; and there were strong connections between online and offline contentious politics. These elements made the Internet space in Indonesia and Malaysia a successful case of democratic enclave. Based on these criteria, however, the Internet space in Singapore has not achieved similar status. This paper analyses the different outcomes of enclave creation on the cyberspace among these countries. It argues that elite conflict and the strength of civil society are the two major factors that shape the differences. In this sense, the political contexts are of great importance for the understanding of Internet’s political impacts

Bio-enhanced contact oxidation process using a heterotrophic nitrifying-aerobic denitrifying strain

AbstractThe intention of this study was to explore whether it is feasible to use a heterotrophic nitrifying-aerobic denitrifying strain to bio-enhance the biological contact oxidation process. In this experiment, Acinetobacter sp. RW, a highly efficient heterotrophic nitrifying-aerobic denitrifying strain isolated in the laboratory, was used as the functional strain. The results show that part of the NH4+-N (ammonia nitrogen), TN (total nitrogen) and CODCr (dichromate oxidizability) of the sewage could be effectively removed via the biological contact oxidation process performed in the laboratory. Average removal ratios of NH4+-N, TN and CODCr increased by 32.8%, 4.33% and 11.13%, respectively, after biological enhancement of RW. According to the biodiversity information, Acinetobacter exhibited the greatest change at the genus level in both the water and biofilm after adding the strain RW. In the 12 days without RW addition, the treatment efficiency of the device was only 1.01% different from that during daily dosing. The results demonstrate that the treatment efficiency of the process can be improved by adding RW. RW can effectively adhere to the biofilm and become one of the dominant strains. Therefore, we conclude that the biological contact oxidation process bio-enhanced by RW was successful and has practical potential

Understanding bike-sharing users’ willingness to participate in repairing damaged bicycles: Evidence from China

Zhao, X ORCiD: 0000-0003-0153-5173In the past three years, many studies have been conducted on dockless bike sharing (DBS) around the world. However, these studies have focused minimally on the problem of damaged bicycles, which is critical to a DBS system’s operating efficiency, user satisfaction and platform sustainability. The objectives of this study are to develop an integrated theoretical framework based on the normative activation model and examining the impact mechanism of users’ willingness to participate in repairing damaged bicycles. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was undertaken with a total of 633 DBS users from 27 provinces and municipalities in Mainland China. Empirical results confirm that the theoretical framework can provide a strong rationale for the investigation into DBS users’ willingness to participate in repairing damaged bicycles. Furthermore, internal psychological factors (i.e., personal norms, awareness of consequences, and perceived consumer effectiveness) and external intervention factors (i.e., platform incentives and service response efficiency) had positive effects on users’ participation willingness. Nevertheless, information publicity did not play a significantly direct role but indirectly affected the participation willingness through personal norms. Service response efficiency tended to moderate the impacts of personal norms and awareness of consequences on participation willingness. Eventually, some practical approaches to motivating users to participate in repairing damaged bicycles are proposed. This study extends the theory of normative activation model to better understand the behaviors of DBS users who participate in repairing damaged bicycles, and contributes significant theoretical and practical insights to the sustainability of DBS systems

Assessment and Decomposition of Regional Land Use Efficiency of the Service Sector in China

High land use efficiency is the key to improving total factor productivity, and also an important force behind achieving sustained economic growth. Existing studies have mainly focused on the land use efficiency of the industry sector. Yet, the issue of land use efficiency of the service sector (SLUE) has been largely overlooked. This study examines regional differences and efficiency decomposition by using a slack based model (SBM) of undesirable output, and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) under a data envelopment analysis framework. The results reveal that: (1) In China, the land use efficiency of the service sector is unbalanced, showing an inverted growth law of “low in developed areas and high in backward areas”. (2) The land use efficiency of the service sector can be decomposed into technical progress, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency. From the decomposition results, the growth rate of pure technical efficiency presents a trend of “low in the east and high in the west”; the scale efficiency also falls into the situation of weak group growth. Technological progress has maintained steady improvement. (3) The coordinated improvement of land use efficiency of the service sector needs to focus on resolving the “beggar-thy-neighbor” issue caused by existing large regional differences. In this article, the puzzle of land use efficiency differences in the service industry is well solved, and thus provides valuable enlightenment for the benign growth of service industries in countries and regions around the world