Amir Hetsroni
GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE HIERARCHY THROUGH THE EYES OF A QUIZ SHOW
A Cross-cultural analysis of Who Wants to be a Millionaire in North America, West Europe, East Europe and the Middle East
Abstract
The study compares the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire in seven countries – America, Germany, Italy, Russia, Poland, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Through content analysis of 1,888 questions that were collected from 65 programs, this work aims to ascertain the extent of globalization and the structure of knowledge hierarchy, as they find expression in a successful international television format. Three cultural profiles emerge: American, western European and eastern European, which also characterizes the Arab world. The American model features a high percentage of questions on light entertainment and a low amount of language questions. Quizzes from west Europe offer a high proportion of language questions and a medium amount of questions on light entertainment. The Arab quiz and quizzes from east Europe are noted for keeping a higher amount of questions on history and language and a low proportion of questions on light entertainment. In terms of knowledge hierarchy, in all the countries, academic knowledge yields higher prizes than everyday knowledge.
Liana Giorgi and Ronald J. Pohoryles
CHALLENGES TO EU POLITICAL INTEGRATION AND THE ROLE OF DEMOCRATIZATION
Abstract
The European Union project of political integration faces three main challenges. The first concerns the constitutional make-up of the European Union as a political system. Key here is the role of subsidiarity and the question of statehood. The second challenge has to do with the opportunity structures for participation in a multilevel and supra-national context of governance. The third challenge is that of political identity. In the contemporary political debate, the first of the above challenges is discussed almost exclusively in terms of institutional mechanisms, the third in terms of symbolic identification based on culture and language. Opportunity structures for participation are thought to matter as a means of legitimacy or, alternatively, in terms of political acceptability. The underlying assumption is that policy is mainly a matter of technocratic management and politics a question of identity. This is the key problem of the contemporary discourse regarding European integration and the EU democratic deficit.
Gianni Betti , Achille Lemmi , Vijay Verma
A comparative analysis of school-to-work transitions in the European Union
Abstract
The present paper describes some aspects of ‘school-to-work’ transition by analyzing the employment situation of individuals as a function of the time elapsed since the completion of education or training. Our perspective is interdisciplinary, comparative and dynamic, with special focus on the patterns in southern European countries. In the literature, most of the studies have had the basic approach of constructing indicators based on retrospective information on the time of first leaving continuous education, and current information on status and characteristics of the person's economic activity – expressing the status of activity as a function of the time elapsed since leaving continuous education. In this approach, essentially cross-sectional (though in part retrospective) information is interpreted as if it pertains to real cohorts. Much of this comparative analysis of school-to-work transitions in EU countries has been based on the EU Labour Force Survey, the 2000 round of which incorporated a special module to collect information on the subject. Our basic approach is to use the longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel to identify, at the time of each wave, the person's most recently completed education and training, and study this in relation to the person's current employment situation and other characteristics as a function of the time elapsed since that completion. Hence, in form at least, our approach is similar to that of earlier studies based on the LFS, though there are considerable differences in substantive content and statistical methodology resulting from the use of different types of data. We also demonstrate how data from a panel survey may be cumulated over time to obtain a more adequate sample size.
Dominic Stead and Harry Geerlings
INTEGRATING TRANSPORT, LAND USE PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT POLICY
Views of practitioners from Denmark, England and Germany
Abstract
Various recent policy documents stress the need for the integration of sectoral policies. In practice, policy-makers recognize the need for policy-integration but often do not have a complete picture of what it entails or how to put theory into practice. This paper reports on a research project that examines attitudes and approaches to integrating transport, land use and environment policies in three local authority case studies in Denmark, Germany and England.1 The paper reflects on how different institutional and political factors can affect policy integration, focusing particularly on the integration of transport, land use and environment policies. The institutional and political factors covered in this paper include the division of roles and responsibilities within an organisation, the nature of inter-departmental and inter-agency relationships, the diversity of professional skills and education of the workforce, and the role of political and public support.
Les Mayhew
ACTIVE AGEING IN THE UK-ISSUES, BARRIERS, POLICY DIRECTIONS
Abstract
Active ageing is defined as allowing people to remain independent and achieve their potential regardless of age. However, age is also a device used widely in society for assigning or taking away responsibilities, allocating resources or determining access to services on age grounds, or as a proxy for mental and physical well being. This paper is one of several prepared by the Active Age consortium funded by the European Union to undertake a review of the institutional framework in each participant country and how this shapes policies towards older people, including the barriers and opportunities affecting active ageing1. The expected outcome of this phase of research is a comprehensive overview of active ageing strategies in Europe, including barriers to active ageing, as well as a map of the socio-institutional and political landscape in which active ageing policies operate. This paper argues that the UK is quite well advanced in preparing and defining policies, but that some of the high public profile is as a result not of ageing as such, but issues arising in specific areas such as employment, education, pensions, health and health care.
