Even though the e-book market is increasing, little research has been done on readers who are late adopters of e-books, and their resistance and scepticism to e-book adoption. The Swedish and Japanese e-book market have had similar adoption rates since 2010. However, even though their adoption rates resemble each other, how readers gain access to e-books differ in Sweden and Japan. Swedish readers use the library, and subscription services, while Japanese readers mostly use mobile apps that specializes in certain genres, such as manga or special mobile novels called keitai shousetsu.This study investigates the similarities and differences between late adopters of e-books in Sweden and Japan, with the use of the diffusion of innovation-theory by Everett Rogers (2003). Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in spring 2017 with five Swedish and five Japanese respondents, all readers who had yet to adopt e-books. The analysis found that the main factors for the respondents’ choice to reject or resist e-book adoption are an emotional bond to the print format, and the reading experience. The factors were related to trust issues, and an uncertainty in how e-books would affect their personal lives as well as their social systems. There were few differences between the Swedish and Japanese respondents. The main difference was that the Swedish respondents would talk about books with people outside of their immediate family to a larger extent than the Japanese respondents.

Low graduation rates in many Tennessee high schools present a significant problem. Many students are not prepared to graduate. Parent involvement advocates contend that the more involved parents are in their children’s education, from preschool through the secondary schooling levels, the better the probability their children will graduate from high school (Blendinger and Jones, 2003). The purpose of this investigation focusing on “best practices” literature in the area of parent involvement was to develop a strategic parent involvement model having potential for improving graduate rates among Tennessee’s high schools. The study explored the published works of Joyce Epstein, Jack Blendinger, and Linda T. Jones in the field of parental involvement for the purpose of developing a parent involvement model for implementation in Tennessee high schools confronted with low graduation rates. The model produced holds significant potential for increasing graduation rates. A qualitative research design, referred to as archival research, was used in this investigation. Data were collected for more than a 25-year period (1987-2015). Textual criticism provided an analytical method for determining practical applications regarding what educational researchers attempted to communicate in their published works. Blendinger and Adams (2015) developed a technique for data analysis involving published works that they called the majority text method. The technique employs close (critical) reading strategies for the purpose of examining similarities and differences occurring in the content provided in research reports, books, journal articles, and so forth produced by the same author or authors over a substantial period of time. Insight gained from examining the documents were transcribed in the form of notes. The notes were then carefully reviewed and analyzed. Reoccurring themes, patterns, and phrases that emerged were recorded. Themes and patterns were separated into categories to make connections between the archival data and the research question driving the study. Findings based on the published works of Epstein, Blendinger, and Jones led to the development of a strategic parental involvement model known as The Nifty Nine. The Nifty Nine consists of 9 parent involvement strategies designed to improve the partnership between home and high school.

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Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, state and federal lawmakers made a number of unprecedented changes to the minimum age laws that define the legal boundaries between childhood and adulthood in the United States. By altering the voting age and the legal age of majority during the early 1970s, legislators effectively lowered the legal age of adulthood from twenty-one to eighteen, and launched a broader, more wide-ranging debate over other minimum age laws that would preoccupy legislators for much of the decade that followed. These reforms can be grouped into two distinct stages. Early 1970s reforms to the voting age and age of majority placed a great deal of faith in eighteen- to twenty-year-old Americans’ ability to make mature, responsible decisions for themselves, and marked a significant departure from the traditional practice of treating young people as legal adults at the age of twenty-one. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, a second set of reforms revoked much of the faith that legislators had placed in the nation’s young people, raising some key minimum age limits – such as the drinking age – and expanding adults’ ability to supervise and control teenaged youth. This dissertation analyzes political and public debates over the legal boundaries between childhood and adulthood during the 1970s, focusing in particular on reforms to the voting age, the age of majority, the drinking age, and the minimum age laws that regulate teenagers’ sexuality. It seeks to explain how and why American lawmakers chose to alter these minimum age laws during the 1970s, and how they decided which age should be the threshold for granting young people specific adult rights and responsibilities. The dissertation suggests that legislators often had difficulty accessing information and expertise that they could use to make well-informed, authoritative decisions on the subject of minimum age laws. Instead, they often based their choices on broader public images and perceptions of the nation’s young people, and on their subjective experiences of interacting with American youth. Throughout the 1970s, a wide range of lawmakers, activists, and interest groups – including many young people – sought to control the legal boundaries between childhood and adulthood, both by lobbying lawmakers directly and by trying to alter public images and perceptions of the nation’s youth. During the early 1970s, some young activists, liberal lawmakers, and interest groups met with considerable success in their attempts to grant young people greater adult rights and responsibilities at earlier ages, successfully framing eighteen- to twenty-year-old youth as mature, responsible young people who were quite capable of shouldering adult rights and duties. But these positive perceptions of young people were short-lived. By the mid-1970s, they were being supplanted by much more negative and unsettling images of young people who were thought to be exhibiting “adult” behaviors too soon, and were portrayed as being both in danger and a danger to American society. As a result, lawmakers became increasingly focused on protecting and controlling young people in their late teens and early twenties, and on drawing clear, firm boundaries between childhood and adulthood. These shifts demonstrate that images and perceptions of American youth played a key role in shaping 1970s reforms to the legal boundaries between childhood and adulthood. Rather than the product of a sober, careful evaluation of young Americans’ capacity to make responsible decisions for themselves, these reforms were often the product of adult Americans’ visceral, emotional responses to shifting public perceptions of the nation’s youth. / History

Residential childcare has had an image which, at the very least, is not a positive one. It has been blamed for weakening family links and leading to poor educational and health outcomes for children (Biehal et al. 1995; Mendes and Moslehuddin 2004; Stein 2002). However, children and young people enter residential care institutions for a variety of reasons, and by examining the experiences of children and young people in Bangladesh, we can see that residential childcare has the potential to offer a positive option for many disadvantaged children and young people. UNICEF estimates that there are more than 49,000 children in residential care in Bangladesh (UNICEF 2008), but this figure fails to include thousands of children who live in madrasahs. There is neither a uniform childcare policy nor formal aftercare support provision in Bangladesh; instead, the government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and madrasahs all have their own approaches and methods and there has been no research conducted on young people in and after care. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of residential care from the perspectives of a group of young people who had lived in residential childcare institutions in Bangladesh with a view to making improvements in residential childcare in the future. Qualitative methods were employed for data collection, using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 33 young people (aged between 12 and 26) who had left the care system and observation of the four institutions where they had lived: one run by an NGO, two run by the government and one madrasah run by the religious community. All of the fieldwork was conducted and transcribed in Bangla. The findings of this study show that young people had mixed feelings about their lives in care, preparation for leaving care, and aftercare support; moreover, their experiences were diverse. Overall, most said that they had benefited from being in care and the institution had had a largely positive impact on their lives. However, the experience for those who had been evicted was much less favourable; these young people suffered a range of hardships after leaving care. The findings also show that there was a connection between the in-care experience and the success of a young person in the outside world. The type of institution, its culture, systems and practices, the amount of care received and socio-cultural-religious influences all played a part. The research further indicated that although some young people developed a measure of resilience to face the problems of their everyday lives, they were not fully able to overcome them due to societal discrimination. Those who did best where those who had developed positive attachments with at least one trusted adult, who acted as a mentor and strengthened their commitment and self-motivation. The findings demonstrate that aftercare support varied from institution to institution, but overall, was informal in nature. The study concludes by setting out implications for building better residential childcare policy and practice in Bangladesh. It identifies a number of avenues for further research, suggesting that lessons for the minority world may be learned from this study, namely the notion that the whole community should take responsibility for its children; and attention should be paid to faith and religious beliefs in children’s upbringing. The study has also demonstrated that improving financial resources may not necessarily lead to better outcomes from children and young people. Instead, building relationships with adults, peer groups, parents, and community offer the best chance for good outcomes.

"Mémoire présenté à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maîtrise en droit (LL.M.)" / Depuis l'avènement de la Loi sur la clarté, remettant expressément en cause la validité de la règle de la majorité, ainsi que la célèbre maxime « une personne, une voix », au profit d'une majorité dite « claire », dans le cas d'un référendum québécois visant à se « séparer » du reste du Canada, ce mémoire tente de faire la lumière et d'analyser la validité ainsi que les fondements de cette règle historique du 50% + 1. Ainsi, tant à l'aide des thèses contemporaines qu'historiques, il importe de faire ressortir les différents arguments avancés de part et d'autre et de les replacer dans le présent contexte du Renvoi relatif à la sécession du Québec, menant à l'adoption de la Loi sur la clarté. Finalement, grâce aux récents référendums tenus à l'échelle mondiale, il sera dès lors possible de vérifier la validité de cette règle aux· niveaux national et intemational. / Since the enactment of the Clarity Act, which repudiated the validity of the majority rule and the famous maxim "one person, one vote", for the benefit of a so-called "clear" majority, this essay attempts to bring to light the validity and the foundation of the historical 50% + 1 rule, in the event of a referendum by the province of Quebec pursuant to "secede" from Canada. Thereby, by examining either the contemporary as weil as the historical justifications in favor of the majority rule, one ought to examine the different arguments put forward by either side of the political specter and try to interpret them in the context of the Secession Reference, which lead to the adoption of the Clarity Act. Analyzing the recent referendums held around the world, 1 will thereby try to examine the validity ofthe majority rule at the national and internationallevels.

A literatura é pródiga em apontar o facciosismo como a norma do sistema partidário vigente à democracia de 46. Em função das constantes cisões verificadas no interior das legendas, a coalizão de apoio ao Executivo no parlamento seria predominantemente concebida ad hoc. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a procedência da referida tese, avaliando o comportamento dos legisladores nas votações realizadas na Câmara dos Deputados entre 1946 e 1964. As informações reunidas no estudo permitem contestar a interpretação usual, comprovando ser incomum a base governista precisar de auxílio externo para assegurar a passagem da própria agenda de trabalho. Somente nas gestões de Getúlio Vargas e Juscelino Kubistchek as contribuições de membros de oposição se fizeram capitais para a aprovação dos programas do governo. Ainda assim, seriam as metas varguistas as mais dependentes deste tipo de subsídio. No quadro geral, o êxito administrativo das presidências decorreria do uso estratégico da verificação de quorum, um procedimento regimental que permitia tanto à situação quanto as demais legendas visualizarem a divisão de forças no plenário, minimizando o efeito-informação de Riker (1962). Desta forma, o governo pôde calcular a melhor estratégia política capaz de lhe certificar a vitória em plenário, independentemente da ajuda dos opositores / The literature tells us that factionalism was the norm in the party system of the Brazils Second Republic (1946-1964). As a result of constant factions within parties, presidential coalitions in the legislature were primarily constructed ad hoc. The objective of this study was to investigate the origin of this argument by analyzing the behavior of legislators on roll call votes in the Chamber of Deputies between 1946 and 1964. The data used in this investigation challenge the conventional wisdom by showing that it was unusual for governing coalitions to need outside help to ensure the adoption of their agendas. Only in the administrations of Getúlio Vargas (1951-1954) and Juscelino Kubistchek (1956-1960) was the support of members of the opposition essential to the approval of government programs, with Vargas agenda being most dependent on this type of support. In general, presidents success arose from the strategic use of verification of quorum, a procedural rule that allowed both the government and the opposition to visualize the division of the forces in the legislature, minimizing Rikers (1962) information effect. Thus, the government could calculate the best political strategy able to ensure victory, independent of opposition support.

A tese tem por objeto a análise do instigante tema do abuso de minoria em direito societário, sobre o qual muitos possuem uma noção geral empírica, extraída da sua vivência profissional, mas que, no direito brasileiro, não havia sido objeto de análise sistemática por parte dos juristas pátrios, que ao tema dedicaram não mais do que algumas breves considerações, malgrado a sua inegável importância e a riquíssima experiência acumulada noutros países, em especial na França, Itália e Alemanha. Partindo das constatações inegáveis de que a minoria, ainda quando atue em face de um grupo controlador preestabelecido, exerce um verdadeiro poder e de que, onde há poder, existe sempre a possibilidade de sua degeneração, do seu desvirtuamento, procurou-se apontar quais são os pressupostos caracterizadores do abuso de minoria no direito societário brasileiro, com apoio em subsídios de direito comparado. De fato, tanto a maioria como a minoria podem exercer os seus direitos de maneira abusiva dentro de uma sociedade, de modo que o estudo do tema não pode ser entendido como um golpe à posição dos grupos minoritários, e sim o contrário: só quem conhece os limites dos seus poderes tem condições de exercê-los de forma eficaz, sem temer as reações de seus atos. Elaborado sob tal perspectiva, o estudo encontra-se dividido em cinco partes. A primeira delas, composta por dois capítulos, tem por objetivo caracterizar o abuso de minoria em direito societário analisando, para tanto, os vários institutos empregados pela doutrina nessa tarefa edefinindo os seus elementos constitutivos. Na segunda parte, procura-se apresentar a tipologia do abuso de minoria e a sua casuística, com destaque para as situações mais interessantes ou corriqueiras. A terceira parte, por sua vez, trata do delicado e intrigante problema dos meios de repressão dos abusos de minoria e as possíveis técnicas contratuais e estatutárias de auto-tutela. A quarta parte, a seu turno, traz breves considerações sobre a hipótese, também pouquíssimo explorada na doutrina, do abuso de igualdade, que pode se instalar em sociedades em que o capital votante é igualmente dividido entre dois sócios e que, assim, só consegue operar sob o signo da unanimidade. Por fim, na quinta e última parte são apresentadas as considerações finais, com o apanhado das principais conclusões construídas ao longo da tese. / The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the exciting theme of minority abuse in the corporate law, of which many legal professionals have general empirical knowledge, extracted from their professional experience, but that, in the Brazilian law system, had not been the subject matter of a systematic analysis on the part of Brazilian law experts, that dedicated no more than some brief considerations to the theme, in spite of their undeniable importance and very rich experience accumulated in other countries, especially in France, Italy and Germany. Based on undeniable verifications that the minority, even if acting against a pre-established controlling group, exercises a true power and that, where there is power, there is always a possibility for degeneration and distortion of power, we sought to point out the assumptions characterizing minority abuse in the Brazilian corporate law, supported on inputs from comparative law. Actually, both the majority and the minority may exercise their rights abusively in a society, so that the study of the theme should not be understood as an attack on the position of minority groups, much on the contrary: only those who know the limitations of their powers are in a position to exercise them effectively, without fearing any reactions to their actions. Prepared under such perspective, this study is divided into five parts. The first of them, consisting of two chapters, intends to characterize minority abuse in corporate law analyzing for such, the several institutes employed by the doctrine in that task and defining their constitutive elements. In the second part, the author seeks to present the typology of minority abuse and its casuistry, highlighting situations that are most interesting or ordinary. The third part, in turn, discusses the delicate and intriguing problem of manners to repress minority abuses and possible contractual and statutory self-protection techniques. The fourth part brings brief considerations on the hypothesis, also very little explored in the doctrine, of equality abuse, that may get settled in societies where the voting capital is equally divided among shareholders and therefore, can only operate under the sign of unanimity. Finally, the fifth part presents the final considerations, with a summary of the main conclusions developed throughout the thesis.