Suchergebnisse

Given the influence of two trends (a transitional character and the influence of a knowledge-based economy), it is of interest to study what demands places the current labour market on higher education graduates. The main objective of our study is, therefore, to shed light on the two key questions: In the context of transitional economy influenced by the global move towards a knowledge-based society what demands face graduates while entering and operating on the labour market and what competencies are they required to possess? To what extent does Russian higher education prepare young people to face these demands? We will first describe global trends on graduate labour markets in Europe, aiming at to reveal what competencies European graduates are required to possess. Afterwards, we will focus on the economic situation and particularities of the Russian labour market. The economic crises, political and ideological changes, occurred in the 90th, modified the society in its integrity. In order to understand the context in which young specialists live in at present, it is inevitable to make an analysis of the recent economic and social transformations. This is what we do in the second chapter. The third chapter deals with transformations and evolution in the system of higher education. In the fifth chapter, we describe the current graduate labour market in Russia. The sixth chapter aims at providing empirical evidence on competencies demanded on the labour market through the analysis of data obtained by a survey of 3,500 Russian higher education graduates in the capital and province regions of the country. In this part of our work we seek to found out what competencies are demanded and how they are rewarded on the Russian transitional labour market. We also seek to find out to what extent higher education studies contribute to development of these competencies. Further, we study what competencies are required on the labour market and how they are rewarded. We will also examine what factors on the side of labour supply, labour demand and job match appear to have an impact on graduate current income. It is of interest to consider in more details how professional mismatch influences graduate income. The phenomenon of professional mismatch has appeared on the Russian labour market in the yearly 90s and till now, no thorough research concerned the impact of professional mismatch on graduates' success on the labour market. In this chapter we also considerer differences between the private and the public sectors in terms of competencies required. We end up the last chapter by exploring the role of higher education in developing the required skills. We suppose that Russian higher education does manage to provide deep knowledge in a particular field and analytical thinking abilities, but it does not contribute to a sufficient extent to producing other essential qualities, like computer and Internet literacy, capacity to work in group and others. ; L'auteur s'interroge sur la nature des compétences demandées dans un pays en transition économique, comme la Russie. La question est de savoir : « Est-ce qu'en Russie, les défis auxquels doivent faire face les diplômés sont les mêmes que dans les autres pays de l'Europe ? Est-ce que les diplômés russes ont véritablement besoin de se procurer d'un éventail plus large des compétences afin de mieux réussir sur le marché du travail? ». Nous cherchons à savoir également si l'enseignement universitaire permet d'acquérir toutes les compétences demandées par les employeurs ? Nous avons mené une recherche visant à vérifier notre hypothèse qu'en Russie, actuellement, il ne suffit plus de posséder des bonnes connaissances dans un domaine particulier, mais il devient indispensable d'acquérir des compétences plus larges et variés, comme la capacité de gérer le stress, de travailler en équipe, de coordonner les activités des autres, etc. Afin de répondre à ces questions, nous avons mené une enquête auprès 3500 diplômés des 4 établissements d'enseignement supérieur, dans les deux régions de Russie: dans la région de Moscou et à Volgograd. Nous avons obtenue environ 300 réponses à Volgograd et 180 dans la région de Moscou. Cette enquête a été réalisée grâce à la participation financière de nombreux acteurs en Russie et à l'étranger, comme la Mairie de Dijon, le Ministère des affaires étrangères de France, l'Université de Volgograd, l'Académie de management social de Moscou, et également grâce au soutient méthodologique de l'IREDU et du projet européen « REFLEX » (« Flexible Professional in the Knowledge Society »). Dans en premier temps, nous avons procédé à une analyse générale de la situation des diplômés sur le marché du travail. Nous remarquons que les diplômés bénéficient d'une situation assez favorable sur le marché du travail. Le taux de chômage est très bas (2% à Volgograd, 4 fois inférieur au taux moyen de chômage dans la région ; 3% dans la région de Moscou, la moyenne régional étant de 4,2%). 60 % des diplômés à Volgograd, ainsi que dans la région de Moscou, n'ont jamais été au chômage depuis la fin de leurs études (depuis 2000 - 2001). La durée moyenne du chômage, pour ceux qui ont eu cette expérience, est de 2 mois. 65% des diplômés dans les deux échantillons sont satisfaits de leur emploi actuel. Les revenues des diplômés (après le contrôle de l'inflation) ont pratiquement doublés en 5 ans, entre 2000 (sortie des études) et 2005 (emploi actuel). Dans en deuxième temps, nous nous sommes focalisés sur les compétences avec un zoom sur les deux questions particulières: quelles compétences sont demandées sur le marché du travail et quel rendement salarial apportent-elles aux diplômés. Notre analyse est basée sur l'autoévaluation des compétences par les diplômés. Dans un troisième temps, nous avons examiné le rôle de l'enseignement supérieur dans le développement des compétences requises sur le marché. L'analyse des données montre que l'enseignement supérieur remplie bien sa fonction principale : apprendre les connaissances techniques dans un domaine particulier. En outre, il permet de développer la capacité d'analyse et la capacité d'apprendre rapidement des nouveaux savoirs. Cependant, on observe qu'il n'est pas suffisamment efficace pour aider à développer un certain nombre d'autres compétences requises par les employeurs, comme la capacité de manager le personnel, la maîtrise des outils informatiques (ordinateur, Internet), la maîtrise des langues étrangères, etc.

Despite recent calls in support of cash transfers, there is little rigorous evidence of the relative impacts of cash versus in-kind transfers, especially in humanitarian contexts, where a majority of such programs take place. This paper uses data from a randomized experiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess the relative impacts and costs of equivalently valued cash and voucher transfers. The voucher program distorted households' purchases along both the extensive and intensive margin as compared with unconstrained cash households. Yet there were no differences in food consumption or other measures of well-being, in part due to the fact that voucher households were able to resell part of what they purchased. As there were no significant benefits to vouchers, cash transfers were the more cost effective modality for both the implementing agency and program recipients in this context.

The findings from the study suggest that international pressure for more effective Right to Information (RTI) implementation only goes so far. The development of RTI laws with the encouragement, assistance, or insistence of the international community was a prominent theme throughout the case studies, particularly for EU countries during their accession process. But implementation is a less straightforward task, with many interlocking, moving parts, and international support comes in ad hoc fashion as the process unfolds. A strong implication from these findings is that a national coordinating strategy may be valuable for implementation. This kind of strategy document should take the interdependence of the drivers of effectiveness into account when drafting policies and rules for practice, and can serve as a guiding document when deciding on foreign funding priorities.

Indonesia has experienced strong economic growth over the last forty years. At the same time, the proportion of Indonesians living below the poverty line has fallen dramatically. Nonetheless, around 12 percent of Indonesians remain in poverty and another 30 percent remain highly vulnerable to falling into poverty in any given year. In addition, Indonesia has experienced a number of crises in the last two decades, and such shocks are likely to continue in the future in an increasingly integrated global economy. Over the last fifteen years the Government has been developing social assistance programs designed to promote the poor out of poverty and protect poor and vulnerable households from both individual and more widespread shocks. The coverage, design and implementation of these programs continue to be improved as social protection in Indonesia matures, but a number of issues remain. One of the most important, and difficult, is how these programs can accurately target households who need those most. The challenge is to develop a targeting approach which includes most of the poor and vulnerable while minimizing leakage to the rich. At the same time, the system must be feasible, affordable, and accepted and used by all. Furthermore, identifying which households are poor is a difficult task in any developing country, but is particularly so in Indonesia, which has a very large population, a high degree of geographic dispersion, decentralization of much budgetary and operational governance, and frequent entry and exit of households into and from poverty. This evidence-based report builds in part on innovative research done collaboratively with the Government of Indonesia. In this respect Indonesia is contributing to the frontier of global knowledge on targeting, while also drawing on the experience of other countries. Moving from a thorough assessment of the current effectiveness of targeting in Indonesia, the report contains practical and detailed recommendations for the future. In particular, a National Targeting System is proposed, which envisages developing a single registry of potential beneficiaries to target social assistance to the right households, resulting in more accurate and cost-effective targeting outcomes, and ultimately stronger program impacts.

[eng] The aim of this thesis is to explore how in a context of economic, political, social and environmental transitions, SMart, a cultural and artistic social enterprise (CASE), has developed a relevant model to contribute to mitigate the structural labor precariousness of artists and creators. We study SMart as a solution emanating from within the cultural sector that is also able to address other challenges related to changing notions of the role and place of artists and creators in society. Social enterprises emanating from and active in the cultural sector constitute a specific institutional arrangement that offers innovative labor arrangements for cultural workers and artists to fight against precariousness. Social enterprises are embedded in the social and solidarity economy and stand at the crossroads of markets, civil society, and the public, which places them in a critical position: depending on the logic, actors, and contexts at play, social enterprises can ensure to varying degrees the general interest through their social mission, their sustainability via the real participation of all their stakeholders and the carrying out of economic activities that are fully consistent with their mission. It is within this type of sustainability and participation that transformative social innovation can emerge. Even though they already existed under different forms and names, social enterprises began to be noticed by public administrations in Europe three decades ago and they developed firstly under the auspices of policy-makers as a result of their effectiveness in tackling the needs of disadvantaged groups. More recently, groups of citizens working for the general interest across various activity areas or within transitions-enabling initiatives have also embraced the transformational potential of social enterprises. Culture is one of the activity areas where CASE are appearing despite the difficulty of articulating innovation and culture in a way that facilitates social transformation for all citizens. The thesis is divided into seven chapters and includes four annexes. The introductory first chapter begins by setting up the context for the research, namely the challenges that 21st century transitions pose for culture and how cultural actors are articulating viable and sustainable responses in response to those challenges. The case study proposed, SMart and its expansion or geographic scaling-up process throughout Europe, is then presented. The five research objectives driving the research and the hypotheses associated to two of them are then described. The methodology used is introduced at this stage although a detailed account of the research design is included in Annex 1. The next three chapters describe the main notions and theories that frame the research: social enterprise and social innovation (chapter 2); the intricate relationship of social enterprise and (social) innovation with culture and the arts (chapter 3); and the diffusion of (social) innovation, with an emphasis of the adaptation and replication of social enterprises (chapter 4). Chapter 5 dives into the source or mother social enterprise (SMartbe) at the heart of the expansion process under study. It also summarizes the main stages involved in the launch of the European platform, SMarteu, gathering the various national SMart offices in nine countries. The chapter ends with an evaluation of the scaling up strategy based on the statistical analysis of the data. Chapter 6 opens with the set of criteria applied to select the three country cases (Austria, Spain and Hungary) and is then divided into the contextual general analysis and the description of the national SMart implementation efforts. The institutional framework analysis in the three countries describes the development of civil society, the third sector and social enterprise as well as the cultural field. Each country analysis ends with some conclusions about the context and the repercussions for the launch of SMart. Then each national SMart experience (SMartat, SMartib, and SMarthu) is described at length emphasizing its history, the functioning and services offered, and reflecting on the lessons learned and prospects for the future. The last chapter gathers the discussion and main conclusions of the research. The main research objectives and questions are reviewed and discussed and so are the specific lessons learned from the SMart case about the potential of the cultural sector for adapting possible solutions to contexts different to the ones where they originated. Then, some recommendations both for policy-makers at EU and local level and practitioners follow, including for SMart members, umbrella organization in the field of culture and social and solidarity economy organizations. Lastly, a discussion about limitations of the research and possible contributions is offered with a view on suggesting some valuable avenues for future research efforts. ; [spa] El objetivo de esta tesis es explorar cómo en un contexto de transiciones económicas, políticas, sociales y ambientales, SMart, una empresa social cultural y artística (ESCA), ha creado un modelo relevante que contribuye a mitigar la precariedad laboral estructural de artistas y creadores. Se considera SMart como una solución que emana del propio sector cultural con la capacidad de abordar también otros desafíos relacionados con nociones cambiantes sobre el papel y el lugar que deben ocupar artistas y creadores en la sociedad. Las empresas sociales que surgen del sector cultural y desarrollan su actividad en él constituyen una respuesta institucional específica capaz de ofrecer respuestas innovadoras a desafíos laborales a los que se enfrentan los trabajadores de la cultura y artistas a la hora de luchar contra la precariedad. Las empresas sociales encuentran sus raíces en la economía social y solidaria y ocupan un lugar único entre el mercado, la sociedad civil y el sector público, lo que las coloca en una posición crítica: según la lógica, los actores y los contextos en juego, las empresas sociales pueden garantizar el interés general a distintos niveles gracias a su misión social y su sostenibilidad a través de la participación real de todos sus grupos de interés, así como la realización de actividades económicas coherentes con su misión. Es en el ámbito de este tipo de sostenibilidad y participación que surge la innovación social transformadora. Aunque ya existían bajo distintas fórmulas y denominaciones, las empresas sociales comenzaron a recibir apoyo de las administraciones públicas en Europa hace tres décadas, desarrollándose en primer lugar bajo los auspicios de los responsables políticos gracias a su eficacia a la hora de abordar las necesidades de grupos sociales desfavorecidos. Más recientemente, grupos de ciudadanos interesados en promover el interés general en diversas áreas de actividad o en el marco de iniciativas que contribuyen a las transiciones anteriormente mencionadas, también han asumido este potencial de transformación que ofrecen las empresas sociales. La cultura constituye una de estas áreas de actividad y es justo ahí que surgen las ESCA, a pesar de la dificultad de articular innovación y cultura de manera que se genere transformación social extensible a todos los ciudadanos. La tesis se divide en siete capítulos e incluye cuatro anexos. El primer capítulo introductorio comienza por establecer el contexto de la investigación, es decir, los desafíos que las transiciones del siglo XXI suponen para la cultura y cómo los actores culturales están articulando respuestas viables y sostenibles en respuesta a esos desafíos. Paso seguido se presenta el caso de estudio propuesto, SMart y su proceso de expansión geográfica en toda Europa. A continuación, se describen los cinco objetivos de investigación que impulsan el estudio y las hipótesis asociadas a dos de ellos. La metodología utilizada se introduce en este capítulo, aunque se incluye una explicación detallada sobre el diseño de la investigación en el Anexo 1. Los siguientes tres capítulos describen las principales nociones y teorías que enmarcan la investigación: empresa social e innovación social (capítulo 2); la compleja relación entre empresa social e innovación (social) con la cultura y las artes (capítulo 3); y la difusión de la innovación (social), con acento en la adaptación y replicación de las empresas sociales (capítulo 4). El capítulo 5 se adentra en la fuente o empresa social madre (SMartbe) que se encuentra en el centro del proceso de expansión incluido en la investigación. También resume las principales etapas que conforman el lanzamiento de la plataforma europea, SMarteu, que reúne las diversas oficinas nacionales SMart en nueve países. El capítulo finaliza con la evaluación de la estrategia de expansión basada en el análisis estadístico de los datos. El capítulo 6 se abre con la descripción de los criterios aplicados para seleccionar los casos de tres países (Austria, España y Hungría). Después se realiza un análisis general contextual y se describen los procesos nacionales de implementación de SMart. El análisis del marco institucional en los tres países incluye el desarrollo de la sociedad civil, el tercer sector y la empresa social, así como el campo cultural. Cada análisis nacional finaliza con algunas conclusiones sobre el contexto y las repercusiones para el lanzamiento de SMart. Luego, cada experiencia nacional de SMart (SMartat, SMartib y SMarthu) se analiza en detalle enfatizando su historia, el funcionamiento y los servicios ofrecidos, y reflexionando sobre las lecciones aprendidas y las perspectivas para el futuro. El último capítulo ofrece una discusión en relación a las principales conclusiones de la investigación. Para ello, se repasan y discuten los principales objetivos, preguntas e hipótesis de partida así como las lecciones específicas aprendidas del caso SMart sobre el potencial del sector cultural para adaptar posibles soluciones a contextos diferentes a aquellos en los que se originaron. A continuación, se formulan una serie de recomendaciones destinadas a los responsables políticos a nivel europeo y local, así como a profesionales de la propia SMart, de organizaciones paraguas de la cultura y de organizaciones de la economía social y solidaria. Por último, se ofrece una discusión sobre las limitaciones de la investigación realizada y sus posibles contribuciones con el fin de sugerir algunas ideas prometedoras para futuras iniciativas de investigación.

Space is a complex texture of signs, so that any landscape can be read as a history of symbols of Powers which have designed it. Many authors (Gregory, 1978; Massey and Jess, 2001) have argued that senses of space are inextricably linked to Power relations. The study of social structures could consist in analyzing the ways in which social relations accumulate on a space. Generally, there is a connection between Powers and Spaces. Powers tend to create a hierarchy of positions: the most authoritative is in the highest location, at the opposite the masses are relegated until the Lowest one. This hierarchy is naturally unstable, since the fights among different kinds of Powers and between the Power and the subjected masses are a constant in History. These fights design the landscape with the symbols of architecture so that to study a landscape actually means to read the History of Powers and also to write a Geography of Spatial Relationships of Powers. The signs of these fights are markers which can be detected in the landscapes; they reflect different positions deriving from the results of these never-ending struggles originated from democratic issues or from authoritarian decisions. Generally, who gains the decisional capacity tends to become authoritarian and occupy high positions; who is dominated is naturally relegated in a low position. Consequently, these contrasts spread out the landscape with high/low markers. It can be argued that who decides what place, actually decides who are the people that are supposed to live in it and imposes them what they should make into it and with it. A map cannot describe these political fluxes, so Geography needs new approaches to analyze both individual and collective actions shaping landscapes. There is a strict link between society and place. According to the literature of Social Geography, spatial theories are necessarily linked to social theories, because social structures (a result of the distribution of Power) derive from the accumulation of social actions. We could consider that spatiality is shaped by whole communities or by oligarchies which represent themselves and spread out their image through designed landscapes. Some of these can trigger forms of democracy if they include people, so that they can involve communities in the decision process. Other spaces can exclude them if they keep the dichotomy between rulers and dominated. In this paper we propose a new approach to grasp these different processes of landscape-making: we apply a semiotic model to several landscapes in Asia, Middle East, Europe. This model is built on two oppositions to study the high/low markers: 1- social welfare vs. oligarchic well-being; 2- democratic participation vs. authoritarian command-ship In this view, what people make of their places is closely connected to what they make of themselves as members of society and inhabitants of the Earth. We are the place-world we imagine and therefore space is the more significant dimension, structuring personal experience. Space rather tan time or history, should be studied to understand what kind of Power creates a landscape. ; El espacio es una textura compleja de signos , de modo que cualquier paisaje se puede leer como una historia de los símbolos de potencias que se hayan diseñado. Muchos autores ( Gregory , 1978 ; Massey y Jess , 2001 ) han argumentado que los sentidos del espacio están indisolublemente ligadas a las relaciones de poder . El estudio de las estructuras sociales podría consistir en el análisis de las formas en que las relaciones sociales se acumulan en un espacio . En general, existe una relación entre Poderes y Espacios . Poderes tienden a crear una jerarquía de posiciones: la más autorizada está en el lugar más alto , al frente de las masas son relegados hasta el más bajo. Esta jerarquía es naturalmente inestable , ya que las peleas entre diferentes tipos de poderes y entre el Poder y las masas sometidas son una constante en la historia . Estas peleas diseñar el paisaje con los símbolos de la arquitectura de modo que para estudiar un paisaje realmente significa leer la Historia de Poderes y también para escribir una geografía de las relaciones espaciales de las potencias . Los signos de estas peleas son marcadores que pueden ser detectado en los paisajes , sino que reflejan las diferentes posiciones que se derivan de los resultados de estas interminables luchas origen en cuestiones democráticas o de las decisiones autoritarias. Por lo general , quien gana la capacidad de decisión tiende a ser autoritaria y ocupar altos cargos , que está dominada es relegado de forma natural en una posición baja. En consecuencia, estos contrastes se extienden los paisajes con marcadores de altas / bajas. Se puede argumentar que quien decide qué lugar , en realidad decide quién es la gente que se supone que viven en ella y les impone lo que deben hacer en ella y con ella . Un mapa no puede describir los flujos políticos , así Geografía necesita nuevos enfoques para analizar tanto las acciones individuales y colectivas que conforman paisajes. Existe una relación estrecha entre la sociedad y el lugar. De acuerdo con la literatura de Geografía Social , las teorías espaciales están necesariamente vinculadas a las teorías sociales , porque las estructuras sociales (resultado de la distribución de energía ) se derivan de la acumulación de acciones sociales. Podríamos considerar que la espacialidad está conformado por comunidades enteras o por las oligarquías que representan a sí mismos y extienden su imagen a través de paisajes diseñados. Algunos de estos pueden desencadenar las formas de la democracia si se incluyen a las personas , para que puedan involucrar a las comunidades en el proceso de decisión. Otros espacios pueden excluirlos si mantienen la dicotomía entre los gobernantes y los dominados . En este trabajo se propone un nuevo enfoque para comprender los diferentes procesos de paisaje de decisiones: se aplica un modelo semiótico de varios paisajes de Asia, Oriente Medio y Europa. Este modelo se basa en dos oposiciones para estudiar las altas / bajas marcadores: 1 - el bienestar social frente oligárquico bienestar , 2 - participación democrática vs autoritaria de mando buque En este punto de vista , lo que las personas hacen de sus lugares está estrechamente relacionada con lo que hacen de sí mismos como miembros de la sociedad y de los habitantes de la Tierra . Somos el lugar en el mundo que imaginamos , por lo que el espacio es la dimensión más importante , la estructuración de la experiencia personal. Espacio más que el tiempo o la historia, debe ser estudiado para entender qué tipo de energía crea un paisaje. ; L'espace est une texture complexe de signes , de sorte que n'importe quel paysage peut être lu comme une histoire des symboles des puissances qui l'ont conçu . De nombreux auteurs ( Gregory , 1978; Massey et Jess , 2001) ont fait valoir que les sens de l'espace sont inextricablement liées aux relations de pouvoir . L'étude des structures sociales pourrait consister à analyser la façon dont les relations sociales s'accumulent sur un espace. En général, il existe un lien entre puissances et des espaces. Pouvoirs ont tendance à créer une hiérarchie des positions : le plus autorité est au plus haut lieu , à l'opposé des masses sont relégués jusqu'à ce que le plus bas. Cette hiérarchie est naturellement instable , car les combats entre les différentes sortes de pouvoirs et entre le pouvoir et les masses soumises sont une constante dans l'histoire . Ces combats concevoir le paysage avec les symboles de l'architecture ainsi que d'étudier un paysage signifie réellement pour lire l'histoire des pouvoirs et aussi d'écrire une géographie des relations spatiales des pouvoirs. Les signes de ces combats sont des marqueurs qui peuvent être détectés dans les paysages ; elles reflètent différentes positions découlant des résultats de ces luttes sans fin provenaient enjeux démocratiques ou des décisions autoritaires. En règle générale, qui gagne le pouvoir décisionnel tend à devenir autoritaire et d'occuper des postes élevés , qui est dominé est naturellement relégué dans une position basse . Par conséquent, ces contrastes répartis le paysage avec des marqueurs élevées / basses. On peut faire valoir que qui décide de ce lieu , décide réellement qui sont les gens qui sont censés vivre en elle et leur impose ce qu'ils doivent faire en elle et avec elle . Une carte ne peut pas décrire ces flux politiques , de sorte Géographie besoin de nouvelles approches pour analyser les actions individuelles et collectives qui façonnent les paysages. Il existe un lien étroit entre la société et le lieu. Selon la littérature de géographie sociale , les théories spatiales sont nécessairement liées à des théories sociales , parce que les structures sociales ( à la suite de la distribution de l'énergie ) proviennent de l' accumulation d'actions sociales . Nous pourrions considérer que la spatialité est façonnée par des communautés entières ou par des oligarchies qui se représentent et étalées leur image à travers des paysages conçus . Certains de ces éléments peuvent déclencher des formes de démocratie si elles incluent les personnes , afin qu'elles puissent impliquer les communautés dans le processus de décision. D'autres espaces peuvent les exclure s'ils gardent la dichotomie entre les gouvernants et les dominés . Dans cet article, nous proposons une nouvelle approche pour saisir ces différents processus de paysage de décision : nous appliquons un modèle sémiotique de plusieurs paysages d'Asie , du Moyen- Orient, en Europe . Ce modèle est construit sur deux oppositions pour étudier les hautes / basses marqueurs : 1 - La protection sociale contre oligarchique bien-être ; 2 - la participation démocratique vs autoritaire de commande envoie sous ce point de vue , ce que les gens font de leurs lieux est étroitement liée à ce qu'ils font d'euxmêmes en tant que membres de la société et des habitants de la Terre. Nous sommes l'endroit du monde que nous imaginons et donc l'espace est la dimension plus importante , la structuration de l'expérience personnelle. L'espace plutôt que le temps ou l'histoire, devrait être étudiée pour comprendre ce genre de pouvoir crée un paysage.

The 2008 campaign for the presidency has provided American citizens with surprises as well as opportunities in terms of choosing a new president. The long primary season that ran from January to June resulted in nominees - - John McCain (R) and Barack Obama (D) - - who were not the likely winners of their respective parties. As far as Democrats were concerned, Hillary Clinton was the front-runner and heir apparent to the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, John McCain's faltering campaign in the early months of the primary season suggested that Republicans would end up selecting another nominee. All in all, the primary season provided Americans with a host of candidates one of whom might serve as a "first" - - the first African-American (Barack Obama) the first woman (Hillary Clinton), the first Hispanic (Bill Richardson), the first Morman (Mitt Romney) or the oldest nominee (John McCain).Both parties had a variety of candidates vying for the nomination of their party but it was the Democratic party that provided the most interest among citizens and media pundits alike. The primary contest between Obama and Clinton would test the mettle of both candidates as they crisscrossed the country in their respective attempt to capture delegates for the summer convention. In the end, Obama squeaked out a victory in one of the closest contests in party history. Two questions became inevitable at this point - - namely, would Hillary Clinton campaign for Obama and would supporters of Clinton, especially female voters, support Obama. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul were pushed aside, one by one, by a resurgent McCain campaign.Both Obama and McCain have supporters and opponents. While targeting traditional Democratic constituencies, Obama has also focused on the youthful cohort, young people 18-29 years old who have traditionally been ignored or neglected by major party candidates. Obama, however, pursued a campaign similar to that of Bill Clinton in 1992 when he too sought the support of young people. As noted in a recent article in Time Magazine (January 31, 2008), Obama is looking forward to a "youthquake" to help him win the White House. What the Clinton campaign of 1992 and the Obama campaign of 2008 have in common is the likelihood of a very close election and therefore the need to attract and recruit all segments of the American electorate. Of course, as has happened in other campaigns, young people have failed to register to vote and/or have failed to turn up on election day. Critics have argued that Obama lacks executive experience in general and in foreign policy in particular. McCain has a following among those who like his "maverick" approach to politics and willingness to buck even his own party when necessary. He was also a POW during the Vietnam War that has given him sympathy among citizens and members of the armed forces. On the other hand, McCain has been in a similar situation as George Bush (the father) - - namely conservatives who idolized Ronald Reagan were not so eager to give their support to Bush (the father) and two decades later, they have had second thoughts about the conservative credentials of McCain.Obama's and McCain's choice of running mate added excitement to the presidential contest. The junior senator from Illinois selected the longtime senator from Delaware, Joe Biden, as his running mate. By choosing Biden, Obama added a senator who had valuable experience in two very important aspects of American Politics - - namely, a legislator who had a clear understanding about the operation of the U.S. Senate and one who had foreign policy experience. In contrast, John McCain, who some thought would choose Romney to shore up his lack of expertise on economic matters, chose instead Sarah Palin, a relatively unknown governor of Alaska as his partner in the presidential contest. By choosing Palin, McCain shook up the race by attempting to bolster his support among conservatives with a very conservative running mate and to appeal to female voters by adding a woman to the Republican ticket for the first time in history. While Biden was well known among politicos and media pundits, Palin was a novelty - - unknown and therefore the likely target of media attention. Where Democrats questioned and criticized McCain's choice of Palin, Republicans, especially conservative Republicans, were very enthusiastic about her which helped to bolster the McCain-Palin ticket in the short term. Inevitably, however, both vice-presidential candidates were scrutinized since both carried "baggage" into the presidential contest. Biden has a history of verbal errors and has been criticized for "plagiarizing" comments used by other public officials. Palin has been accused of heavy-handed politics even by fellow Republicans in Alaska and with less than 50 days left in the run up to the election, she is involved in a troubling scandal involving allegations that she used her power as governor to fire the "top cop" in Alaska because he refused to fire an Alaska state trooper who divorced Palin's sister.One of the fascinating aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign is the involvement of a large number of young people - - the so-called Millenium generation - - who have been mobilized in a way not seen since young people worked to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 in the early 1970s. Although about 55% of young people voted in the 1972 presidential election, voter turnout among members of the youthful cohort has declined over the years (except for a slight upward bump in 1992) dropping to 32% during the 2000 presidential election. However, young people once again began to show interest in the electoral process and their participation increased in the 2004 and 2006 elections to about 42%. What makes this demographic important is that young people 18-29 make up approximately 44 million potential voters - - about 20% of the American electorate. Both issues and technology have played a role in energizing young people. The economy and jobs, along with terrorism and the war in Iraq, constitute the major issues identified by them in recent polls, the same issues of concern to older voters. Where younger and older voters diverge is found in the types of technology used by young voters and employed by the Obama campaign, in particular, to reach out to them. This form of communication includes Facebook and YouTube among others. It is interesting to note that young people are not a solid block with about a third identifying as Democrats, a third identifying as Republicans and a third identifying as Independents. If the youthful cohort is paying more attention to this election and has demonstrated an upward turn in participation as shown by increased turnout in the 2008 primary season, young people have the potential to play an important role in the 2008 presidential election. In fact, three out of four young people, 18-29, feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction, an indicator not good for the legacy of the Bush administration or the prospects of the McCain campaign, at least among this youthful constituency.Eight years ago, the Bush Administration inherited a balanced budget, a budget surplus and a country at peace. However, life in the U.S. changed on 9/11 but more importantly in March 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. Moreover, the economy has deteriorated with huge budget and trade deficits, home foreclosures, infrastructure needs and the collapse of financial institutions. Against a backdrop of a very unpopular Republican president, a country at war and economic deterioration, the McCain-Obama presidential contest has taken on added importance making the 2008 presidential election very consequential for the American electorate.As the McCain and Obama campaigns are engaged in the race for the presidency, each candidate will have the opportunity to speak directly to the American people in three debates. It is very likely that the first debate on September 26 in Oxford, Mississippi will draw a large audience tuning in to watch and compare the candidates. Moreover, the one and only debate taking place in St. Louis, Missouri on October 2 between vice presidential candidates, Biden and Palin, will also draw a large audience in an effort to better understand and evaluate the candidates who might be only a heart beat away from becoming president.By September 2008 the race between Obama and McCain is considered very close as reflected by national polls and the electoral college map of states. While national polls are interesting they are not helpful since the U.S. does not select its president by the popular vote. Instead, we need to look at each state and where it falls in terms of its electoral vote allotment. In short, the country is still divided in terms of red and blue states although each campaign is trying to flip some states to their side.By mid-September, according to Cable News Network (CNN), Obama has 223 electoral votes from states that are strongly on his side or leaning toward him while McCain has 200 electoral votes from states that are strongly on his side or leaning toward him. With 538 electoral votes in play, Obama or McCain will need to secure 270 of these votes to win the election.Although there are some states where there is the possibility of reversal from one party to the other, the real focus of attention is on the handful of competitive or "battleground" states that include mid-Atlantic Virginia that hasn't voted Democratic since supporting Lyndon Johnson in 1964 but now finds itself with the McCain and Obama camps currently locked in a tight race. Large electoral states in play include Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Western states that are important to both Obama and McCain are Colorado and Nevada. Small but not to be ignored is New Hampshire in the New England region of the U.S. The important point is that, taken together, these states have 115 electoral votes that are important to winning the White House.As the 2008 presidential campaign unfolds, the results will be important not only for American citizens but also for the international community. Professor of Political Science Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia USA

This report is based on a field study of two large settlements, Satghara (a census town) and Bhagwatipur (a rural cluster with 10,000 plus population) in the Madhubani district of Bihar. The study explores the social dynamics of the rural non-farm economy by empirically mapping non-farm occupations in both the settlements. It examines the dynamics of caste, community, and gender within the social organization of the non-farm economy in terms of their economic and social hierarchies and the differential incomes and status they provide. The study also looks at the relationship of the local non-farm economy with patterns of outmigration. It further attempts to understand the manner in which the changes in the regional structures of power and domination have influenced the local economic processes and are being influenced by them with a specific focus on the non-farm economy in the two setting. The study also attempts an assessment of the possible development and urbanizing effects of the rather rapid growth of nonfarm economy in rural Madhubani.