Throughout the history of the W.E.A. there have been arguments, and sometimes bitter conflicts, about the relationship between educational aims and political objectives. This thesis examines the tensions and the dilemmas generally experienced in any education involving social and political values, by taking the clash of principles between the W.E.A. (non-party, unsectarian, with its formal emphasis upon objectivity in teaching) and the N.C.L.C. (with its proclaimed Marxist partisanship) as a fundamental challenge for critical re-assessment in the light of contemporary thinking and research. The study begins with a consideration of six crucial, and even determining, individual experiences and contributions: those of Albert Mansbridge, R.H. Tawney, J.M. Mactavish, J.P.M. Millar, G.D.H. Cole and Raymond Williams. This is followed by detailed surveys of three particular areas of work - Residential Adult Education, Literature as a W.E.A. Subject, and Community Education from 1960 to 1980 - each of which illustrates how a basic tension between political commitment and academic neutrality permeates all aspects of thinking and practice in the adult education movement. The final chapter draws together the threads from the survey of particular lives, histories and thematic studies to address theoretical questions about the concepts of liberal education and academic neutrality; - about Marxist and other attitudes towards objectivity and dogmatism; about the nature of the relationship between the Labour movement and the adult education movement. The tensions are shown to be deep, enduring and seemingly irreconcilable but changes of emphasis and intensity are apparent as the general history and the wider forces and movements in society determine the ideological parameters and the 'paradigm shifts' within which, or against which, the W.E.A. operates. On the strength of eighty four years' experience, if the W.E.A. celebrates its one hundredth birthday in 2003, it will (and should) do so embodying similar fundamental tensions.

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As the cultural diversity of the United States increases, more researchers are using socio-behavioral perspectives to explain health disparities. These studies are not unwarranted; high incidence rates in conditions like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes in given populations do suggest that cultural factors influence morbidity. But rarely does research examine how political culture affects health. I investigate this relationship using four waves of the National Survey of Black Americans. I focus on factors like political partisanship, electoral and political participation, Black socio-political beliefs, and system perception. Results from several statistical analyses show that African Americans who do not participate in mainstream politics have better health than those that do participate. Findings also suggest that the adoption of Black political orientations positively affects health satisfaction. Other results on key demographic factors are consistent with the wider literature which suggests that age, socioeconomic status, coverage, marital status, and religious identity all influence health. This study is significant because it contributes to a small, but emerging body of literature that examines the connection between political factors and wellness outcomes.

Apocalypticism is the belief in an impending large-scale catastrophic event that would threaten the survival of the human race. Despite the high level of apocalypticism among American adults, there has been little empirical research conducted to determine whether this proclivity is socially consequential. Conspiracism, a related factor, is widely studied empirically and is associated with many negative societal effects. Though research suggests a possible correlation between these variables, empirical research has not examined whether apocalypticism is a robust predictor of conspiracism. I hypothesize and test whether apocalypticism is predictive of belief in conspiracy theories using data from the 2018 Chapman Survey of American Fears, a nationally representative sample of American adults. From this data a multi-item conspiracism index was created and analyzed in relation with a measure of belief in apocalypticism. Regression analyses show that apocalyptic belief is the strongest predictor of conspiracism within the model, surpassing sociodemographic, political and religious characteristics. These results demonstrate that apocalypticism is an important factor to consider when studying conspiracism, and suggests that future researchers should further investigate apocalypticism using a variety of social scientific methods.

This paper deploy the logit approach model and collect annual data from 1974 to 2004 in 22 OECD countries. It can examine that the option of exchange rate regime may cause the replacements of the governor of central banks during his tenure of office. According to prior empirical studies shows that the rightist parties favor low inflation, they may choose fixed exchange rate regime for holding monetary stability; otherwise, the leftist parties prefer low unemployment and high production, they may adopt the flexible exchange rate regime to maintain independent monetary policy and to achieve their macroeconomic objectives. Due to diverse political preferences, Does the choice of exchange rate regime disobeyed the political ideology of ruling party will cause that the central bank governors lose their job? Our results manifest that these chairmen of central banks can independently insist and defend their exchange rate regimes in OECD countries.

Since Deng Xiaoping implemented the ¡§reform and open-up¡¨ policy in 1978, the world has been greatly influenced during these 30 years. ¡§The Chinese phenomenon¡¨ is deeply affecting the international politics and economics. All those results are thought to be connected to the trend of globalization. As the development of political ideology is firmly related to the lasting of Chinese Communist Party¡¦s political power, Chinese Communist Party¡¦s political ideology is inevitably to act and transform in different ways according to whatever the situations are. By doing this way, the Chinese Communist Party can rule the country smoothly and have a successful development of it. Because it is so important that none of the ¡§China studies¡¨ academic circle can neglect it nowadays. Through ¡§A Research on the Developmental Trend of Contemporary Chinese Marxism¡¨, everyone will be able to have a better understanding in China¡¦s rising and its future. After the Hu -Wen system came to be recognized in 2003, they advocated gradually to ¡§the scientific view of development¡¨ based on humane essence, not just focused on the economic development. They also strengthened the steady stability on politics and the collective democracy. Does it imply that, from now on, the China¡¦s policy will incline gradually towards the centre-left? Or is this ¡§the third way¡¨ of the Republic of China? People in the world are all waiting to see what it will be in the future!

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Abstract / Resumé The Ontario provincial government faces the challenge of getting public support in the implementation of its RE policy. This thesis aims at investigating the effects of environmental values and political ideology on public support for renewable energy policy in Ottawa, Canada. Data was collected through open-ended interviews with fifty respondents in and around Ottawa, transcribed, coded and analysed using the NVivo software. Results indicate that environmental values and political ideology affect public support for renewable energy policy, but economic factors also play a role. The provincial government can think of ways to reduce the cost of electricity, invest on education and the creation of awareness on the benefits of renewable energy and the different initiatives that are offered by the RE policy to increase public support. Public ownership of RE projects and more democratic policy-making could also increase public support. Le gouvernement provincial de l'Ontario fait face au défi d'obtenir le soutien public dans la mise en œuvre de sa politique d'ER. Cette thèse vise à étudier les effets des valeurs environnementales et de l'idéologie politique sur le soutien public à la politique sur l'énergie renouvelable à Ottawa, au Canada. Les données ont été recueillies par les entrevues ouvertes avec une cinquantaine de répondants à Ottawa et dans les environs. Ils ont été transcrits, codées et analysées à l'aide du logiciel NVivo. Les résultats indiquent que les valeurs environnementales et l'idéologie politique affectent le soutien public à la politique d'énergie renouvelable, mais les facteurs économiques jouent également un rôle. Le gouvernement provincial peut réfléchir à des moyens de réduire le coût de l'électricité, investir dans l'éducation et sensibiliser les gens aux avantages de l'ER et aux différentes initiatives offertes par la politique sur l'ER pour accroître le soutien public. La propriété publique de projets d'ER et l'élaboration de politiques plus démocratiques pourrait également accroître le soutien public.

Previous research on investor preferences focused mainly on the relationship between socio-demographic variables and risk tolerance. This study extends the research in this area by focusing on three aspects of investor preferences: risk tolerance, time horizon, and estate intentions. The objective is to provide a more comprehensive model of investor preferences, including both psychological and attitudinal variables. This study addresses the following: Are socio-demographic variables sufficient to predict investor preferences? Is there a difference between males and females? How much additional variance is explained by including political ideology, positive psychology attitudes, and pro-social attitudes? Are these attitudinal variables simply additive or are they interactive? Data were collected from MBA students and senior undergraduate students in a major research university in South Florida. A scale was developed to measure estate intentions, a construct that has never been examined in management studies. The findings supported the expectation that psychological variables would be positively correlated with the dependent variables. However, I expected that pro-social attitudes would be a moderator variable, and this expectation was not realized. This dissertation contributes to the investor preferences field in several ways. First, it demonstrates the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in explaining investor preferences. I also found differences between males and females regarding risk tolerance. This study can provide financial advisers with a deeper understanding of the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in determining investor behavior. Finally, the results of this study augment and expand stakeholder theory. This study brings the investor into the stakeholder model, enhancing the descriptive, explanatory, and predictive capabilities of stakeholder theory. Future research could replicate this study using real investors in different locations for cultural variation, or using a panel of respondents for a longitudinal study.

Thesis advisor: David Hopkins / Over the past 20 years, there has been a trend in American politics for college graduates to identify with the Democratic party and to fall to the left on the ideology scale. College graduates of today are both more liberal than previous college graduates as well as their contemporary non-college graduate counterparts. Previous research disagrees on what mechanisms are driving this growing education gap in American politics. Some point to selection effects while others argue that college socializes students to move to the left. Using data from the Political Engagement Project (2003-2005), I argue that the process that is occurring is a mix of these two ideas, fitting an Input-Environment-Output model. While college students as a whole do come in leaning to the left, college has a mildly liberalizing effect on students, so that college graduates as a whole exit leaning more to the left than they did when they entered. I also point out some factors which predispose students to ideological change or stability during college. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.