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Aim. The aim of our study was to continue a comparative analysis of availability and access to cardiovascular medicines in 2017 and 2018 in the city of Kazan according to the original WHO/HAI methodology to assess the effectiveness of government interventions to ensure access to medicines.Material and methods. We performed a comparative analysis of prices of cardiovascular medicines in 2017 and 2018 in Kazan using the World Health Organization and Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology, to assess medicines' availability and affordability to ensure their rational use. We studied availability and prices of 71 cardiovascular medicines in public and private pharmacies in the city of Kazan and analyzed procurement prices of these medicines in hospitals. Also we studied the affordability of medicines, as well as performed pharmacoeconomic cost-minimization analysis for arterial hypertension pharmacotherapy in 2018. For each name, we studied the prices for the original brand and its lowest-priced generic. We compared medicine prices with international reference, delivered by the Management Sciences for Health and by expressing them as median price ratio (MPR).Results. In the public sector, prices of generic medicines were at the level of reference prices with the indicators of MPR 1.14 [0.41-1.84] and 1.17 [0.49-2.21], in 2017 and 2018 respectively. In the private sector, prices of generics reduced 2 times in 2018 compared to 2017, with the decrease in MPR from 2.22 [1.12-3.91] to 1.25 [0.44-2.32], (p0.05). In 2018, depending on the choice of the medicine the annual course of therapy of hypertension varied from 149 to 28835 rubles.Conclusions. In 2018, the prices of generic cardiovascular medicines, but not of originator brands, reached the level of reference prices in both the public and private sectors of Kazan. According to the WHO/HAI methodology, generic cardiovascular medicines became affordable. In the private sector, there was a reduction in the prices of generic medicines, but not of originator brands, with an improvement of affordability of generics in 2018 compared to 2017. ; Цель. Провести сравнительный анализ фактической и ценовой доступности кардиоваскулярных препаратов в 2017 и 2018 гг. в городе Казань по оригинальной методологии Всемирной организации здравоохранения (ВОЗ) и Международной неправительственной организации «Программа действий за здоровье и здравоохранение» (Health Action International, HAI) для оценки эффективности государственных мер по обеспечению доступности лекарств.Материал и методы. Проведен сравнительный анализ цен на лекарства для лечения сердечно-сосудистых заболеваний в 2017 и 2018 гг. в городе Казань с использованием методологии ВОЗ/HAI для оценки доступности лекарств и обеспечения их рационального использования. Изучены наличие и цены 71 наименования лекарств в государственных и частных аптеках Казани и закупочные цены на эти же лекарства в стационарах. Изучена ценовая доступность лекарств, а также фармакоэкономическая оценка прямых затрат пациентов на лекарства для лечения артериальной гипертензии в 2018 г. Для каждого наименования изучены цены на оригинальный брендовый препарат и его дженерик по наименьшей цене. Цены на препараты сравнивали с международными референтными ценами из Международного указателя цен на лекарства организации «Науки управления для здравоохранения» (Management Sciences for Health) и выражали в медианах отношение цен к референтным (МОЦР).Результаты. В государственном секторе цены на дженерические препараты были на уровне референтных с показателями МОЦР 1,14 [0,41-1,84] и 1,17 [0,49-2,21], в 2017 и 2018 гг., соответственно. В частном секторе цены на дженерики в 2018 г. снизились в два раза в сравнении с 2017 г. с уменьшением показателя МОЦР с 2,22 [1,12-3,91] до 1,25 [0,44-2,32], (p0,05). В 2018 г. в зависимости от выбора препарата стоимость годового курса монотерапии артериальной гипертензии варьировала от 149 до 28835 рублей.Заключение. В 2018 г. цены на дженерические кардиоваскулярные препараты, но не на оригинальные бренды, достигли уровня референтных как в государственном, так и в частном секторах здравоохранения Казани. В соответствии с методологией ВОЗ/HAI сердечно-сосудистые дженерические лекарства стали доступными. В частном секторе произошло снижение цен на дженерические препараты, но не на оригинальные бренды, с повышением ценовой доступности дженериков в 2018 г. по сравнению с 2017 г.

У статті викладено узагальнені результати досліджень із питання формування збалансованих агроекосистем з урахуванням інтегрованого захисту рослин. Перед більшістю країн світу залишається актуальним збільшення виробництва продукції рослинництва з одиниці площі для забезпечення продовольчої безпеки за одночасного мінімального впливу на екологічний стан довкілля. Єдиним способом вирішення цього питання є формування збалансованих агроекосистем через впровадження інноваційних агротехнологій, які ґрунтуються на екологічних принципах. Тому низкою міжнародних конвенцій, угод і ініціатив, а також у межах законодавства більшості розвинених країн окреслено зміни моделей аграрного виробництва та напрями переходу на екосистемний підхід. Визнано, що вибір правильної стратегії контролю шкідливих організмів в агроценозі дає змогу до 80% знизити втрати врожаю, а захист рослин розглядають як визначальний чинник у реалізації продуктивного потенціалу культур. Cучасні агроекосистеми є нестабільними з низькою здатністю протистояти шкодочинній дії шкідливих організмів, а агроценозам характерна висока ймовірність погіршення їх фітосанітарного стану. З позиції екологічної безпеки агроекосистем та забезпечення якості агропродукції сучасні агротехнології повинні ґрунтуватись на інтегрованих методах захисту рослин, зокрема з урахуванням змін клімату. Поєднання науково обґрунтованих агрозаходів, спрямованих на поліпшення здоров'я ґрунту і рослин, зокрема методів агроекологічного поводження зі шкідниками, дасть змогу зменшити негативний вплив на екологічний стан агроекосистем, підвищити безпеку навколишнього природного середовища та рівень рентабельності агровиробництва завдяки ефективнішому використанню матеріальних і природних ресурсів, забезпечити якість і безпечність агропродукції тощо. Стале виробництво продукції рослинництва потребує цілісного підходу та запровадження технологій і заходів, розроблених за екологічними принципами, які відповідають цілям інтегрованого захисту рослин і спрямовані на раціональне використання природних ресурсів, поліпшення стану ґрунту, зменшення використання хімічних речовин, збільшення біорізноманіття та природних середовищ існування, зменшення викидів парникових газів тощо, що у комплексі забезпечує здоров'я рослин і ґрунту. Впровадження інтегрованого захисту рослин та мінімізація використання синтетичних пестицидів дає змогу покращити здоров'я рослин і ґрунту, екологічний стан агроценозу загалом та забезпечити формування збалансованих агроекосистем. ; The article presents the generalized results of research on the formation of balanced agroecosystems taking into account integrated plant protection. In most countries of the world it is important to increase crop production per unit area to ensure food security while minimizing the impact on the environment. The only way to solve this problem is to form balanced agroecosystems through the introduction of new innovative agrotechnologies based on ecological principles. Therefore, a number of international conventions, agreements and initiatives, as well as within the legislation of most developed countries outlined changes in agricultural production patterns and directions for the transition to an ecosystem approach. It is recognized that the choice of the correct strategy of pest control in the agrocenosis allows to reduce crop losses by up to 80%, and plant protection is considered as a determining factor in realizing the productive potential of crops. But modern agroecosystems are unstable with a low ability to resist the harmful effects of pests, and agrocenoses are characterized by a high probability of deterioration of phytosanitary conditions. From the standpoint of ecological safety of agroecosystems and ensuring the quality of agricultural products, modern agricultural technologies should be based on integrated methods of plant protection, in particular, taking into account climate change. The combination of scientifically based agricultural measures aimed at improving soil and plant health, in particular methods of agroecological pest management, will reduce the negative impact on the ecological state of agro-ecosystems, increase environmental safety and profitability of agricultural production through more efficient use of natural resources. quality and safety of agricultural products, etc. Sustainable crop production requires a holistic approach and the introduction of technologies and measures developed on environmental principles that meet the goals of integrated plant protection and aimed at rational use of natural resources, improving soil conditions, reducing the use of chemicals, increasing biodiversity and habitats, reducing emissions greenhouse gases, etc., which in the complex ensures the health of plants and soil. The introduction of integrated plant protection and the minimization of the use of synthetic pesticides makes it possible to improve plant and soil health, the ecological condition of the agrocenosis in general and to ensure the formation of balanced agroecosystems.

У статті викладено узагальнені результати досліджень із питання формування збалансованих агроекосистем з урахуванням інтегрованого захисту рослин. Перед більшістю країн світу залишається актуальним збільшення виробництва продукції рослинництва з одиниці площі для забезпечення продовольчої безпеки за одночасного мінімального впливу на екологічний стан довкілля. Єдиним способом вирішення цього питання є формування збалансованих агроекосистем через впровадження інноваційних агротехнологій, які ґрунтуються на екологічних принципах. Тому низкою міжнародних конвенцій, угод і ініціатив, а також у межах законодавства більшості розвинених країн окреслено зміни моделей аграрного виробництва та напрями переходу на екосистемний підхід. Визнано, що вибір правильної стратегії контролю шкідливих організмів в агроценозі дає змогу до 80% знизити втрати врожаю, а захист рослин розглядають як визначальний чинник у реалізації продуктивного потенціалу культур. Cучасні агроекосистеми є нестабільними з низькою здатністю протистояти шкодочинній дії шкідливих організмів, а агроценозам характерна висока ймовірність погіршення їх фітосанітарного стану. З позиції екологічної безпеки агроекосистем та забезпечення якості агропродукції сучасні агротехнології повинні ґрунтуватись на інтегрованих методах захисту рослин, зокрема з урахуванням змін клімату. Поєднання науково обґрунтованих агрозаходів, спрямованих на поліпшення здоров'я ґрунту і рослин, зокрема методів агроекологічного поводження зі шкідниками, дасть змогу зменшити негативний вплив на екологічний стан агроекосистем, підвищити безпеку навколишнього природного середовища та рівень рентабельності агровиробництва завдяки ефективнішому використанню матеріальних і природних ресурсів, забезпечити якість і безпечність агропродукції тощо. Стале виробництво продукції рослинництва потребує цілісного підходу та запровадження технологій і заходів, розроблених за екологічними принципами, які відповідають цілям інтегрованого захисту рослин і спрямовані на раціональне використання природних ресурсів, поліпшення стану ґрунту, зменшення використання хімічних речовин, збільшення біорізноманіття та природних середовищ існування, зменшення викидів парникових газів тощо, що у комплексі забезпечує здоров'я рослин і ґрунту. Впровадження інтегрованого захисту рослин та мінімізація використання синтетичних пестицидів дає змогу покращити здоров'я рослин і ґрунту, екологічний стан агроценозу загалом та забезпечити формування збалансованих агроекосистем. ; The article presents the generalized results of research on the formation of balanced agroecosystems taking into account integrated plant protection. In most countries of the world it is important to increase crop production per unit area to ensure food security while minimizing the impact on the environment. The only way to solve this problem is to form balanced agroecosystems through the introduction of new innovative agrotechnologies based on ecological principles. Therefore, a number of international conventions, agreements and initiatives, as well as within the legislation of most developed countries outlined changes in agricultural production patterns and directions for the transition to an ecosystem approach. It is recognized that the choice of the correct strategy of pest control in the agrocenosis allows to reduce crop losses by up to 80%, and plant protection is considered as a determining factor in realizing the productive potential of crops. But modern agroecosystems are unstable with a low ability to resist the harmful effects of pests, and agrocenoses are characterized by a high probability of deterioration of phytosanitary conditions. From the standpoint of ecological safety of agroecosystems and ensuring the quality of agricultural products, modern agricultural technologies should be based on integrated methods of plant protection, in particular, taking into account climate change. The combination of scientifically based agricultural measures aimed at improving soil and plant health, in particular methods of agroecological pest management, will reduce the negative impact on the ecological state of agro-ecosystems, increase environmental safety and profitability of agricultural production through more efficient use of natural resources. quality and safety of agricultural products, etc. Sustainable crop production requires a holistic approach and the introduction of technologies and measures developed on environmental principles that meet the goals of integrated plant protection and aimed at rational use of natural resources, improving soil conditions, reducing the use of chemicals, increasing biodiversity and habitats, reducing emissions greenhouse gases, etc., which in the complex ensures the health of plants and soil. The introduction of integrated plant protection and the minimization of the use of synthetic pesticides makes it possible to improve plant and soil health, the ecological condition of the agrocenosis in general and to ensure the formation of balanced agroecosystems.

The electoral processes in Mexico during the 21st century have been characterized by a high level of uncertainty regarding the motivations and conditions in which citizens cast their vote. The role played by emotions when casting the vote that will determine the direction of an election day is becoming more evident. The purpose of this research was to identify the role of emotions in the political-electoral definition for the 2018 Mexican elections, in order to demonstrate that it is an emotional choice, rather than a rational one, what shapes Mexico's emotional public space and its governance. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative methodological approach was used, because the discursive strategies used by one of the candidates competing for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was leading the polls and eventually won the elections, was analyzed. Among the most significant findings of the investigation, it was found that Andrés Manuel López Obrador has known how to take advantage of an emotional public space of irritation and social anger, in order to give rise to a kind of emotional governance. Recent studies in the field of neuroscience show that the decisions made by human beings are not only a product of reason, but that emotions triggered by the media and social networks, among others, have a defining role in them. ; Los procesos electorales en México durante el siglo XXI se han caracterizado por un alto nivel de incertidumbre con respecto a las motivaciones y condiciones en las que los ciudadanos emiten su voto. Cada vez resulta más evidente el papel que juegan las emociones para definir el voto que decidirá el rumbo de una jornada electoral. El objeto de la investigación es identificar el papel de las emociones en la definición políticoelectoral de los mexicanos para las elecciones de 2018, a fin de demostrar que es una elección emocional más que racional que configura el espacio público emocional de México y su gobernanza. Para lograr este propósito se decidió aplicar el enfoque metodológico cualitativo, porque se analizan las estrategias discursivas empleadas por uno de los candidatos contendientes a la presidencia de la república mexicana, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, quien estaba a la cabeza de todas las encuestas realizadas y resultó ganador. Entre los hallazgos más desatacados de la investigación, se encuentra que el candidato Andrés Manuel López Obrador ha sabido aprovechar un espacio público emocional de enojo e ira social, para dar lugar a una suerte de gobernanza emocional. Estudios recientemente realizados en el campo de las neurociencias, muestran que las decisiones tomadas por los seres humanos no son únicamente producto de la razón, sino que intervienen de manera determinante las emociones que son detonadas, entre otros actores, por los medios de comunicación y las redes sociales. ; Os processos eleitorais no México durante o século XXI foram caracterizados por um alto nível de incerteza com respeito às motivações e condições nas quais os cidadãos emitem seu voto. Cada vez se torna mais evidente o papel das emoções para definir o voto que decidirá o rumo de uma jornada eleitoral. O objetivo da pesquisa é identificar o papel das emoções na definição político-eleitoral dos mexicanos para as eleições de 2018, a fim de demonstrar que é uma eleição emocional mais do que racional que configura o espaço público emocional do México e sua governança. Para alcançar esse propósito, decidiu-se aplicar a abordagem metodológica qualitativa, porque são analisadas as estratégias discursivas empregadas por um dos candidatos concorrentes à presidência da república mexicana, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, que liderou todas as enquetes realizadas e acabou sendo o ganhador. Entre as descobertas de maior destaque da pesquisa, nota-se que o candidato Andrés Manuel López Obrador soube aproveitar um espaço público emocional de raiva e ira social para dar lugar a uma espécie de governança emocional. Estudos realizados recentemente no campo das neurociências mostram que as decisões tomadas pelos seres humanos não são unicamente produto da razão, mas que as emoções que são detonadas, entre outros atores, pelos meios de comunicação e pelas redes sociais intervêm de maneira determinante.

The electoral processes in Mexico during the 21st century have been characterized by a high level of uncertainty regarding the motivations and conditions in which citizens cast their vote. The role played by emotions when casting the vote that will determine the direction of an election day is becoming more evident. The purpose of this research was to identify the role of emotions in the political-electoral definition for the 2018 Mexican elections, in order to demonstrate that it is an emotional choice, rather than a rational one, what shapes Mexico's emotional public space and its governance. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative methodological approach was used, because the discursive strategies used by one of the candidates competing for the presidency of the Mexican Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was leading the polls and eventually won the elections, was analyzed. Among the most significant findings of the investigation, it was found that Andrés Manuel López Obrador has known how to take advantage of an emotional public space of irritation and social anger, in order to give rise to a kind of emotional governance. Recent studies in the field of neuroscience show that the decisions made by human beings are not only a product of reason, but that emotions triggered by the media and social networks, among others, have a defining role in them. ; Os processos eleitorais no México durante o século XXI foram caracterizados por um alto nível de incerteza com respeito às motivações e condições nas quais os cidadãos emitem seu voto. Cada vez se torna mais evidente o papel das emoções para definir o voto que decidirá o rumo de uma jornada eleitoral. O objetivo da pesquisa é identificar o papel das emoções na definição político-eleitoral dos mexicanos para as eleições de 2018, a fim de demonstrar que é uma eleição emocional mais do que racional que configura o espaço público emocional do México e sua governança. Para alcançar esse propósito, decidiu-se aplicar a abordagem metodológica qualitativa, porque são analisadas as estratégias discursivas empregadas por um dos candidatos concorrentes à presidência da república mexicana, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, que liderou todas as enquetes realizadas e acabou sendo o ganhador. Entre as descobertas de maior destaque da pesquisa, nota-se que o candidato Andrés Manuel López Obrador soube aproveitar um espaço público emocional de raiva e ira social para dar lugar a uma espécie de governança emocional. Estudos realizados recentemente no campo das neurociências mostram que as decisões tomadas pelos seres humanos não são unicamente produto da razão, mas que as emoções que são detonadas, entre outros atores, pelos meios de comunicação e pelas redes sociais intervêm de maneira determinante. ; Los procesos electorales en México durante el siglo XXI se han caracterizado por un alto nivel de incertidumbre con respecto a las motivaciones y condiciones en las que los ciudadanos emiten su voto. Cada vez resulta más evidente el papel que juegan las emociones para definir el voto que decidirá el rumbo de una jornada electoral. El objeto de la investigación es identificar el papel de las emociones en la definición políticoelectoral de los mexicanos para las elecciones de 2018, a fin de demostrar que es una elección emocional más que racional que configura el espacio público emocional de México y su gobernanza. Para lograr este propósito se decidió aplicar el enfoque metodológico cualitativo, porque se analizan las estrategias discursivas empleadas por uno de los candidatos contendientes a la presidencia de la república mexicana, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, quien estaba a la cabeza de todas las encuestas realizadas y resultó ganador. Entre los hallazgos más desatacados de la investigación, se encuentra que el candidato Andrés Manuel López Obrador ha sabido aprovechar un espacio público emocional de enojo e ira social, para dar lugar a una suerte de gobernanza emocional. Estudios recientemente realizados en el campo de las neurociencias, muestran que las decisiones tomadas por los seres humanos no son únicamente producto de la razón, sino que intervienen de manera determinante las emociones que son detonadas, entre otros actores, por los medios de comunicación y las redes sociales. ; https://revistas.udem.edu.co/index.php/anagramas/article/view/2447

International audience ; Considering the burden of financial assistance from the central government and the effect of tax transfers on the central government's budget position, local finances are an important part of the interrelated set of public finances. Therefore, expenditure containment by local government is a necessary contribution to reducing public account deficits and complying with France's EU commitments. In this constrained context, specialist literature seems to indicate two major pathways for containing local spending. Firstly, it is possible to strengthen expenditure control, for example by making sharp cuts to current operating costs, deferring or cancelling investments, decreasing public subsidies and aid, raising local taxes, putting more pressure on suppliers, or increasing the prices of services rendered. Secondly, it is possible to increase local steering capacity by selectively intervening on government action and expenditure in a differentiated manner, by analysing the social value created for users at the lowest cost, by implementing deliberate choices, by deciding on the implementation of budgetary processes, or by restructuring the local service offering thanks to better knowledge of users' needs and level of satisfaction. The results of our research show that a very wide majority of French local authorities have been aware of the importance of looking for savings solutions for the past decade, due to the deterioration of their financial situations. It also turns out that the tools and devices used are mainly guided by a resource control rationale. Thus, our findings highlight the weakness of the steering paradigm, which is characterised by tools and actions that have a strategic and political dimension. The solutions currently being implemented are focused on the short term and are more oriented towards control. Thus, these actions could ultimately have a negative impact on the local services offering without proper prior control. ; Compte tenu du poids des concours financiers de l'État et de l'effet des transferts de fiscalité sur l'équilibre bud-gétaire de l'État, les finances locales forment une partie importante de l'ensemble interdépendant des finances publiques. Dès lors, la maîtrise des dépenses s'impose comme une nécessaire contribution des collectivités territoriales au redressement des comptes publics et au respect des engagements européens de la France. Dans ce contexte contraint, deux voies principales semblent exister, dans la littérature dédiée, pour maîtriser les dépenses locales. Tout d'abord, il apparaît possible de renforcer le contrôle des dé penses, par exemple en diminuant de manière significative les dépenses ac-tuelles de fonc tion nement, en re por tant ou annulant des investissements, en diminuant les subventions et aides publiques, en augmentant les impôts locaux, en mettant plus de pression sur les fournisseurs, ou en-core en augmentant les tarifs des prestations délivrées. Ensuite, il est aussi possible d'accroître les capacités locales de pilotage, en agissant sé lec ti vement sur l'ac-tion publique et sur les dé penses de façon différenciée en analysant la valeur sociale créée pour l'usager au coût le plus faible, en réalisant des choix assumés, en produisant des arbitrages dans la mise en œuvre des processus budgétaires, ou en restructurant l'offre de service locale en connaissant mieux les satisfactions et besoins des usagers.Les résultats de notre recherche démontrent que les collectivités territoriales françaises, dans leur grande majorité, sont sensibilisées à la recherche de solutions d'économies, depuis une dizaine d'années, en raison de la dégradation de leurs situations financières. Il s'avère également que les outils et dispositifs mo bi­li sés sont majoritairement guidés par une logique de contrôle des ressources. Aussi, les résultats mettent en évidence la faiblesse de la logique de pilotage, ca­rac té ri sée, elle, par des outils et des actions ayant une dimension stratégique et politique. Focalisées sur une logique court­termiste, les solutions actuellement en-gagées, plus orientées contrôle, pourraient ainsi, à terme, impacter négativement l'offre de services lo-caux sans réelle maîtrise préalable.

International audience ; Considering the burden of financial assistance from the central government and the effect of tax transfers on the central government's budget position, local finances are an important part of the interrelated set of public finances. Therefore, expenditure containment by local government is a necessary contribution to reducing public account deficits and complying with France's EU commitments. In this constrained context, specialist literature seems to indicate two major pathways for containing local spending. Firstly, it is possible to strengthen expenditure control, for example by making sharp cuts to current operating costs, deferring or cancelling investments, decreasing public subsidies and aid, raising local taxes, putting more pressure on suppliers, or increasing the prices of services rendered. Secondly, it is possible to increase local steering capacity by selectively intervening on government action and expenditure in a differentiated manner, by analysing the social value created for users at the lowest cost, by implementing deliberate choices, by deciding on the implementation of budgetary processes, or by restructuring the local service offering thanks to better knowledge of users' needs and level of satisfaction. The results of our research show that a very wide majority of French local authorities have been aware of the importance of looking for savings solutions for the past decade, due to the deterioration of their financial situations. It also turns out that the tools and devices used are mainly guided by a resource control rationale. Thus, our findings highlight the weakness of the steering paradigm, which is characterised by tools and actions that have a strategic and political dimension. The solutions currently being implemented are focused on the short term and are more oriented towards control. Thus, these actions could ultimately have a negative impact on the local services offering without proper prior control. ; Compte tenu du poids des concours financiers de l'État et de l'effet des transferts de fiscalité sur l'équilibre bud-gétaire de l'État, les finances locales forment une partie importante de l'ensemble interdépendant des finances publiques. Dès lors, la maîtrise des dépenses s'impose comme une nécessaire contribution des collectivités territoriales au redressement des comptes publics et au respect des engagements européens de la France. Dans ce contexte contraint, deux voies principales semblent exister, dans la littérature dédiée, pour maîtriser les dépenses locales. Tout d'abord, il apparaît possible de renforcer le contrôle des dé penses, par exemple en diminuant de manière significative les dépenses ac-tuelles de fonc tion nement, en re por tant ou annulant des investissements, en diminuant les subventions et aides publiques, en augmentant les impôts locaux, en mettant plus de pression sur les fournisseurs, ou en-core en augmentant les tarifs des prestations délivrées. Ensuite, il est aussi possible d'accroître les capacités locales de pilotage, en agissant sé lec ti vement sur l'ac-tion publique et sur les dé penses de façon différenciée en analysant la valeur sociale créée pour l'usager au coût le plus faible, en réalisant des choix assumés, en produisant des arbitrages dans la mise en œuvre des processus budgétaires, ou en restructurant l'offre de service locale en connaissant mieux les satisfactions et besoins des usagers.Les résultats de notre recherche démontrent que les collectivités territoriales françaises, dans leur grande majorité, sont sensibilisées à la recherche de solutions d'économies, depuis une dizaine d'années, en raison de la dégradation de leurs situations financières. Il s'avère également que les outils et dispositifs mo bi­li sés sont majoritairement guidés par une logique de contrôle des ressources. Aussi, les résultats mettent en évidence la faiblesse de la logique de pilotage, ca­rac té ri sée, elle, par des outils et des actions ayant une dimension stratégique et politique. Focalisées sur une logique court­termiste, les solutions actuellement en-gagées, plus orientées contrôle, pourraient ainsi, à terme, impacter négativement l'offre de services lo-caux sans réelle maîtrise préalable.

International audience ; Considering the burden of financial assistance from the central government and the effect of tax transfers on the central government's budget position, local finances are an important part of the interrelated set of public finances. Therefore, expenditure containment by local government is a necessary contribution to reducing public account deficits and complying with France's EU commitments. In this constrained context, specialist literature seems to indicate two major pathways for containing local spending. Firstly, it is possible to strengthen expenditure control, for example by making sharp cuts to current operating costs, deferring or cancelling investments, decreasing public subsidies and aid, raising local taxes, putting more pressure on suppliers, or increasing the prices of services rendered. Secondly, it is possible to increase local steering capacity by selectively intervening on government action and expenditure in a differentiated manner, by analysing the social value created for users at the lowest cost, by implementing deliberate choices, by deciding on the implementation of budgetary processes, or by restructuring the local service offering thanks to better knowledge of users' needs and level of satisfaction. The results of our research show that a very wide majority of French local authorities have been aware of the importance of looking for savings solutions for the past decade, due to the deterioration of their financial situations. It also turns out that the tools and devices used are mainly guided by a resource control rationale. Thus, our findings highlight the weakness of the steering paradigm, which is characterised by tools and actions that have a strategic and political dimension. The solutions currently being implemented are focused on the short term and are more oriented towards control. Thus, these actions could ultimately have a negative impact on the local services offering without proper prior control. ; Compte tenu du poids des concours financiers de l'État et de l'effet des transferts de fiscalité sur l'équilibre bud-gétaire de l'État, les finances locales forment une partie importante de l'ensemble interdépendant des finances publiques. Dès lors, la maîtrise des dépenses s'impose comme une nécessaire contribution des collectivités territoriales au redressement des comptes publics et au respect des engagements européens de la France. Dans ce contexte contraint, deux voies principales semblent exister, dans la littérature dédiée, pour maîtriser les dépenses locales. Tout d'abord, il apparaît possible de renforcer le contrôle des dé penses, par exemple en diminuant de manière significative les dépenses ac-tuelles de fonc tion nement, en re por tant ou annulant des investissements, en diminuant les subventions et aides publiques, en augmentant les impôts locaux, en mettant plus de pression sur les fournisseurs, ou en-core en augmentant les tarifs des prestations délivrées. Ensuite, il est aussi possible d'accroître les capacités locales de pilotage, en agissant sé lec ti vement sur l'ac-tion publique et sur les dé penses de façon différenciée en analysant la valeur sociale créée pour l'usager au coût le plus faible, en réalisant des choix assumés, en produisant des arbitrages dans la mise en œuvre des processus budgétaires, ou en restructurant l'offre de service locale en connaissant mieux les satisfactions et besoins des usagers.Les résultats de notre recherche démontrent que les collectivités territoriales françaises, dans leur grande majorité, sont sensibilisées à la recherche de solutions d'économies, depuis une dizaine d'années, en raison de la dégradation de leurs situations financières. Il s'avère également que les outils et dispositifs mo bi­li sés sont majoritairement guidés par une logique de contrôle des ressources. Aussi, les résultats mettent en évidence la faiblesse de la logique de pilotage, ca­rac té ri sée, elle, par des outils et des actions ayant une dimension stratégique et politique. Focalisées sur une logique court­termiste, les solutions actuellement en-gagées, plus orientées contrôle, pourraient ainsi, à terme, impacter négativement l'offre de services lo-caux sans réelle maîtrise préalable.

Given the shared interests in security, economics and trade, and the wider Asia-Pacific region, Australia's fortunes cannot be separated from those of Indonesia. The presence of these shared interests leave Indonesia and Australia no choice but to engage with each other. Australia's quality of engagement with Indonesia is determined by its ability to communicate with, and understand, Indonesia. These qualities are, in turn, a function of the level and quality of Indonesia-knowledge' in Australia. Australia cannot develop a high quality level of engagement with Indonesia without a large body of ' Indonesiasavvy' Australians. However, in the last ten years, there has been a significant decline in the number of school and university students studying Indonesian. This threatens the viability of a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between Australia and Indonesia. Indonesian's status in the Australian education system primarily revolves around its economic utility. During the 1990s, the number of students studying Indonesian increased dramatically. However, since 2000, there has been a marked decline in the total number of students studying Indonesian in Australia, particularly at the Year 12 and tertiary level. This decline must be placed within a wider context of a general negative trend in the number of students studying a Language other than English in the past 10 years. The reasons for the sharp decline in student numbers are quite clear. First, the narrowing of career prospects in Indonesia since the Asian Financial Crisis convinced many students that Indonesian was no longer an economically relevant language. Second, the Australian Government's Travel Advisory for Indonesian has made it impossible for school groups to make educational trips to Indonesia. This inability to experience Indonesian culture firsthand has had a deleterious impact on the motivation of students to study Indonesian. Third, the Australian media has presented a series of negative and simplistic images of Indonesia to the Australian community. The tractions of these negative images in the wider community mean that few parents want their children to learn Indonesian. Finally, the termination of the 'National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools' funding, which provided $208 million for the study of Asian languages between 1994 and 2002, had an immediate impact on Indonesian school enrolments. There are a number of possible strategies that could be undertaken to increase the number of students studying Indonesian. The rationale presented for the study of Indonesian must be expanded. The current sole focus on the economic utility of Indonesian degrades the educational and social value of the study of Indonesian. Further, the very validity of the thesis that Indonesian language skills will result in increased export success is highly questionable. The fact that an Australian speaker of Indonesian has significant career opportunities outside the field of business must be highlighted. The issue of accessibility can be circumvented through private exchanges, encouraging travel to other Indonesian speaking regions such as Brunei and Malaysia, and a more comprehensive cultural outreach program in Australia that brings Indonesian culture to Australian students. Practical strategies, such as continued Government funding, different incentive structures to study Indonesian, and increased study opportunities at the tertiary level all offer avenues with which to increase student numbers. Unfortunately, the impact of negative images of Indonesia in the Australian community is not susceptible to an easy remedy. It is impossible to stop the media presenting negative images of Indonesia, however it is extremely easy to increase the number of positive images of Indonesia presented to the Australian community. These strategies all offer viable avenues to increase the number of students studying Indonesia. However, their potential success is a function of several factors. First, there needs to be widespread recognition of the need to increase the number of Indonesian language learners. Second, the exact goals of these strategies should be both clear and realistic. Third, those parties interested in the revival of Indonesian language learning must become articulate advocates on behalf of Indonesian language learning. Further, they must seek a sustained engagement with the mainstream Australian community. Given the fulfilment of these conditions, a strong concerted effort to increase the number of students studying Indonesian in Australia has every chance of success.

The aim of this study was to investigate expert meetings and groups as a distinctive approach to promoting the participation of children and young people within the context of the children's ombudsman in Norway. To achieve this broad objective, specific questions revolving around the rationale, character, significance and bottlenecks of expert meetings and groups were formulated. Premised on the findings of this investigation, the study would then draw implications for policy and practice within the field. A qualitative approach, in particular case study design was selected to facilitate collection of data and analysis of the resulting findings. This included collecting data about the case using in-depth / qualitative interviews and analyzing relevant documents. Coding and analysis of primary data drew inspiration from a constructivist grounded theory approach, while in analyzing secondary data, this approach was complemented with qualitative content analysis. The entire coding and analysis procedure was facilitated by NVivo's powerful analytical tools. In general, the choice of a qualitative approaches for this study was informed by their ability to deliver a thick understanding of the research phenomena, and describe the findings giving due consideration to the relevance of the context The findings of this investigation have revealed that expert meetings and groups have a clear premise; essentially as a fulfillment of children's fundamental and democratic right to actively participate in society as competent citizens, in accordance with evolving capacities. At the same time, these initiatives are intended to provide a powerful empowerment force through which to underscore the plight of children, so that predominantly adult run systems can take conscious child sensitive precautions, both those required to alleviate present indignity, and prevent future reoccurrences. The study observes that the character of expert meetings and groups celebrates a firm grounding in the basic principles required for achieving an effective and ethical participatory ethos. The findings further point to an array of individual, organizational and wider system benefits accruing from these initiatives. Outstanding benefits include; providing a platform for the realization of children's rights, propelling active empowerment for participants, and learning outcomes for adults; while consciously challenging the system to effect quality and more child friendly services. Amidst such gains, the ombudsman acknowledges that the promise of participation lies in the power to inculcate within society an all-round value system; that both celebrates children's competency, and demonstrates genuine commitment to engage with them respectfully as equals. Such a model of participation should not be restrictively interpreted in view of tokenistic information giving and collaborative engagement; when the fundamental premises for according children and young people an equal opportunity to influence the agenda for consultation or other forms of participation largely remain an adult monopoly. Even more pertinent is that participation should not be constructed as a magic wand wielded by adults to exterminate problems in particular situations where the wellbeing of children is threatened. To the contrary, participation must be visibly seen, felt and robustly encouraged in natural settings within which both adults and children are in constant interaction. It must be a norm which all children everywhere can experience for a right, anytime, anywhere. Nevertheless, practical realization of a participatory ethos of this nature in many contexts presents real, conflicting and daunting dilemmas with which both children and adults must collaboratively grapple. In conclusion, this study draws on the pool of benefits reported, to argue the case for establishing independent national human rights institutions for children; and for concerted efforts among duty bearers to develop pragmatic solutions for realizing their participation rights within the diversity of natural settings. This study raises the question on possible mechanisms and responsibility centres to follow-up on the uptake and redress of recommendations by the ombudsman, ensuing from expert meetings and groups. A complementary question is how to achieve a participatory culture described above. Satisfying these dilemmas lay outside the scope of this study, but will nevertheless be important for maintaining the institution's relevance as a credible voice and watchdog for children's rights. More importantly, it is a question to which children everywhere merit valid, honest, quick, respectful and uncensored accountability from across civilizations world over.

Злоупотребление алкоголем и алкоголизм относятся к ведущим причинам ухудшения здоровья и повышения смертности населения. Чрезмерное употребление алкоголя служит третьей ведущей причиной глобального бремени болезней и относится к ведущим факторам уменьшения продолжительности жизни и повышения смертности населения. Злоупотребление алкоголем снижает трудоспособность и производительность труда, требует повышенных расходов на лечение расстройств, вызванных алкоголем, что влечет за собой серьезные экономические потери. Неблагоприятные медицинские и социальные последствия неумеренного употребления алкоголя определяют значимость эффективного лечения алкоголизма. Рациональная фармакотерапия алкогольной зависимости включает такие направления, как усиление нейротрансмиссии ГАМК, подавление нейротрансмиссии глутамата, воздействие на нейротрансмиссию серотонина, коррекция водно-электролитного баланса и восполнение дефицита тиамина. Лечение алкоголизма состоит из двух этапов: 1) предупреждение и лечение синдрома отмены алкоголя и его осложнений абстинентных судорог и алкогольного делирия; 2) противорецидивная (поддерживающая) терапия. Средствами выбора в смягчении состояния отмены алкоголя и предупреждении похмельных судорожных припадков и алкогольного делирия служат бензодиазепины. Наиболее часто с этой целью применяются диазепам и хлордиазепоксид, а пожилым и пациентам с тяжелыми формами поражения печени назначаются более безопасные оксазепам и лоразепам. Определенную альтернативу бензодиазепинам представляют противосудорожные средства, обладающие нормотимическими свойствами, карбамазепин, препараты вальпроевой кислоты, топирамат и ламотриджин. Традиционная для российской клинической практики клиренсовая детоксикация не имеет научного обоснования и не оказывает существенного влияния на состояния, связанные с отменой алкоголя у зависимоых лиц. Предупреждение рецидивов алкоголизма и поддерживающая терапия алкогольной зависимости осуществляются с помощью дисульфирама, акампросата и налтрексона; кроме этих препаратов, в странах Европейского союза с 2013 г. применяется налмефен, в настоящее время проходящий регистрацию в России. Способностью уменьшать потребность в алкоголе и смягчать проявления алкогольной зависимости обладают мемантин и ряд других лекарственных средств, в том числе баклофен, габапентин, прегабалин, ондансетрон, модафинил и арипипразол. Принятое в российской наркологии применение антипсихотиков с целью подавления влечения к алкоголю (равно как и к другим психоактивным веществам) противоречит принципам доказательной медицины и не имеет научного обоснования. ; Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are the leading causes of worse health and increased mortality rates. Excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of the global burden of diseases and a leading factor for lower lifespan and higher mortality. Alcohol abuse decreases working capacity and efficiency and requires the increased cost of the treatment of alcohol-induced disorders, which entails serious economic losses. The unfavorable medical and social consequences of excessive alcohol use determine the importance of effective treatment for alcoholism. The goals of rational pharmacotherapy of alcohol dependence are to enhance GABA neurotransmission, to suppress glutamate neurotransmission, to act on serotonin neurotransmission, to correct water-electrolyte balance, and to compensate for thiamine deficiency. Alcoholism treatment consists of two steps: 1) the prevention and treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and its complications (withdrawal convulsions and delirium alcoholicum); 2) antirecurrent (maintenance) therapy. Benzodiazepines are the drugs of choice in alleviating alcohol withdrawal and preventing its convulsive attacks and delirium alcoholicum. Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide are most commonly used for this purpose; the safer drugs oxazepam and lorazepam are given to the elderly and patients with severe liver lesions. Anticonvulsants having normothymic properties, such as carbamazepine, valproic acid, topiramate, and lamotrigine, are a definite alternative to benzodiazepines. The traditional Russian clinical practice (clearance detoxification) has not a scientific base or significant impact on alcohol withdrawal-related states in addicts. Relapse prevention and maintenance therapy for alcohol dependence are performed using disulfiram, acamprosate, and naltrexone; since 2013 the European Union member countries have been using, besides these agents, nalmefene that is being registered in Russia. Memantine and a number of other medications, including baclofen, gabapentin, pregabalin, ondansetron, modafinil, and aripiprazole, are able to decrease alcoholic needs and to alleviate the manifestations of alcohol dependence. The Russian narcological practice in using antipsychotics to suppress a craving for alcohol (as well as other psychoactive substances) contradicts the principles of evidence-based medicine and has no scientific base.

Siekiant padidinti skaitmeninimo veiklų valdymo efektyvumą, Lietuvos kultūros paveldo skaitmeninimo, skaitmeninio turinio saugojimo ir prieigos strategijoje (2009–2013) buvo numatyta sukurti kultūros paveldo skaitmeninimo stebėsenos sistemą ir nuolat vykdyti Lietuvos kultūros paveldo skaitmeninio stebėsenąbei vertinimą. Straipsnyje supažindinama su skaitmeninimo stebėsenos sistemos koncepciniu modeliu, grindžiamu pagrindiniais sistemų teorijos principais bei sisteminiu požiūriu paremta vertinimo teorija. Koncepcinis modelis integruoja skaitmeninimo stebėsenos sistemos apibrėžties ir jos paskirties aprašymą, modelio kūrimo principus ir metodologiją, stebėsenos rodiklių pasirinkimą bei jų aprobavimo rezultatus.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: koncepcinis modelis, metodologija, stebėsenos rodikliai, skaitmeninimas, skaitmeninimo stebėsenos sistema.A conceptual model of the digitization monitoring system: the Lithuanian experienceRegina Varnienė-Janssen, Jonas Juškys, Neringa Račkauskaitė
Summary The article presents a conceptual model for a digi­tization monitoring system, which will be used as the basis for implementing a digitization monitor­ing system in Lithuania. The conceptual model, which is based on the systems theory and evalu­ation theory principles, involves the description of the digitization monitoring system and its scope, principles for the creation of the model, and the choice of the monitoring indicators and their ap­probation results. The key factor influencing the creation of such a system is digitization performed by numerous independent institutions subordinate to different ministries. The creation of a system for monitoring the digitization of cultural heritage objects aims at preventing the duplication of digitization activities, ensuring an effective use of technical equipment and software for performing the digitization of cul­tural heritage objects, applying the best practice of coordinated digitization activities and appropriate standards and formats, as well as a convenient and prompt access to information and statistical data on the results of the activities being performed. The digitization monitoring system is created in line with recommendations of the Feasibility Study for the Creation of a Digitization Monitoring Sys­tem, prepared on demand of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and requirements of the Specification for the Creation of Software for a Digitization Monitoring System in which, as one of its main requirements, was the creation of a manual of digitization monitoring. The article builds on the above-mentioned feasibility study. The rationale for the creation of a digitization monitoring system conforms with this system's the­ory principles which require that the modelling of a system activities should involve an analysis of the input, process, and output, as well as feedback evalu­ation. The conceptual model of digitization monitor­ing is based on the following principles:
• the system's activity is shaped and organized by a holistic evaluation of the existing ap­proaches to the creation of such systems; real­ization that a system aggregates multiple ele­ments (interacting institutions and their units) which interact among themselves and with the environment; and abstraction of all elements and their interactions and merging them into a conceptual model.
• indicators within a digitization monitoring system are determined through defining the existing state and problems of digitization ac­tivities, investigating the monitoring demands and requirements for such systems, and evalu­ating the conceptual model of this system, based on the results of a discussion.
• The main criteria for selecting the indicators of digitization monitoring are clarity, rel­evance, efficiency, and possibility to monitor. A conceptual model based on the holistic appro­ach allows designing a system able to monitor digiti­zation activity results, standards and formats of me­tadata and access, identification and distribution of tasks, and tracking implementation of goals. It also enables institutions performing digitization activities to acquire information on digitization initiatives and current and (or) intended projects, on resources held by other institutions and the characteristics of these resources, on trainings, conferences or other events related to digitization that are on the agenda, also, it enables to successfully monitor and keep under re­view the realization of initiatives, programmes, and strategies, to facilitate a quality evaluation and per­formance improvement, to assess the risks, to im­prove supervision activities, efficiency, and manage­ment processes, to prepare accounts, to substantiate resources and expenses, to increase performance im­pact, and to monitor digitization initiatives as well as current and (or) intended projects.

AbstractThe self-understanding of a national community as a culturally homogeneous and spatiotemporally delimited entity provided the model for a distinct sphere of the social. It was this new understanding of the social as a theoretical category that made sociology possible. The modern nation-state and sociology are intimately linked. But even as social science requires the resources of the nation-state, it is equally dependent on a vigorous civil culture distinct from the state. Society is the ultimate source for the state's legitimacy. Society arises out of an association of which the nation-state, however important, is but one expression.Technological and economic development is now often used as justifications for the nation-state. But in the present global context, the nation-state is no longer the primary source for knowledge or investment, at least for countries such as the Philippines. The boundaries between nation-states have become porous as center and periphery are increasingly intertwined. Under these conditions, identities no longer represent cores but rather intersections of experience.No longer grounded in a local routine of everyday life with its corresponding set of collective images, culture increasingly becomes merely representation or the domain of signifying practices rather than the arena of practical significations. Under these conditions, where culture is not necessarily collectively shared but only synchronically networked, it becomes almost a personal quest rather than a communal affair. The expression of such a diasporal and subjective identity is manifested in the rise of new forms of ethnicities. In these contexts, culture can be visualized as landscapes and experienced as representations.Cartesian space-time assumes the homogeneous nature of extension/duration, such that any point in the system of coordinates can be expressed as a value of a given function. For modernity, the social can be plotted or imagined as one such function, all of whose members are linked to one another spatio-temporally. A nation-state is a collectivity whose functional representation assumes that all its members share a simultaneous present, and hence, a commonly anticipated future. Any point on this set of spatio-temporal coordinates is functionally linked to other points through membership in a common order called the nation-state.Nation-states see themselves as culturally homogeneous to facilitate the rational negotiation of difference. This view of culture is possible (but not necessary) because modernity is based on a sense of simultaneous presentness generating a commonly anticipated future. Modern society is an association of individuals functionally coordinating their actions to this simultaneous present. However, globality is making other presents possible, resulting in a world with an excess of meaning but a lack of sense.A feature of modernity is the crucial role of knowledge for the expression, maintenance and reproduction of power. While knowledge represents a form of power in all societies, certain modes of power can only be expressed through their relationship with knowledge. Hence, the functionalization of society is a pre-condition for power to be exercised through its control of knowledge. Power requires new forms of knowledge, such as social science, for its effectiveness in modern society. A critical social science is necessary to counterbalance modern society's functional goals if social science is also to play an emancipatory role.he indigenization of social science is an attempt to formalize this distinct perspective but its insistence on unproblematically using the nation as its referent limits its usefulness. In the present condition, the nation-state is no longer the primary site for knowledge-production or identity-formation. These practices now involve personal, local, global and other choices, following their increasingly polyvalent nature. In its attempts to imagine the nation through indigenous concepts, a Philippine social science risks essentializing Filipinohood by reducing its differences. Instead, a Philippine social science should explore the rich sources of difference within civil and global society, as well as point out the contingent and narrow interests of nation-states, thereby helping to establish a universal basis for understanding. This understanding sees social science as part of the human quest for emancipation.

Different shortcomings have been attributed to both legislators (the people & the parliament) in all countries & at all times. The key shortcoming of the people as a legislator is its unability to duly solve state-level issues: the totality of citizens can easily be misled, they lack knowledge or competence on specific issues, their decisions are based on stereotypes etc. Another limitation of people is related to the possibility that anonymity of its decisions can provoke cruelty & intolerance. Despite logical validity of the above-mentioned shortcomings their practical correctness is not proven. Falseness is also not proven as the only existing example of a frequent people's participation in legislation (Switzerland) among other things proving the falseness of the above-mentioned reproaches could hardly serve as a basis for generalization. To the disadvantage of people as a legislator, a procedural argument is presented: during a referendum it is not possible to adopt a maximum best & balanced law as in every case there is a choice "either... or." There is a vote en bloc & no editorial (even most rational) amendments are possible. Besides, the legislation that involves a referendum is related to huge costs. The people's participation in legislation is beneficial because it ensures a higher legitimacy of the decisions & brings people closer to the ruling elite (thus the gap between what citizens expect from the administration & what they receive from the administration is minimized), moreover, this guarantees every citizen's right to participate in tackling his/her affairs. There is one case where the laws adopted by the people have all the strengths of the laws adopted by the parliament & the people, & avoid almost all the failings. These are ratification referenda where the parliament-approved draft laws are adopted (or rejected). The people are only a nominal legislator in Lithuania. The recent practice proves that currently the requirements for holding a referendum make it impossible to pass laws in referenda. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that the requirements for initiating a referendum are practically impossible to meet: so far nobody has managed to collect 300.000 signatures required to initiate a referendum, ie., 12 percent of the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who have the right to vote. Consequently, the Seimas is de facto the only legislator in Lithuania. The Parliament as a lawmaker also has some weaknesses. First parliament members, unlike the people, are more prone to bribing or may be subject to some other personal impact. On the other hand, in contemporary electoral system, the parliamentarians who seek to stay in office pander both certain social or territorial groups of the electorate by adopting laws beneficial to them. The people as the whole is not the only popular actor in the legislative process. Individual citizens & their groups have certain powers as well. Yet they are not legislators as such, but rather merely participants of the legislative process. As compared to foreign practice, in Lithuania the conditions & procedure exercising citizens' legislative initiative (50.000 signatures required) are subject to relatively liberal regulation. Unlike in many countries of Europe, there are no direct restrictions on exercising this initiative. There are two indirect restrictions: 1) a draft law on the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania can only be prepared & submitted to the Seimas by the Government, 2) draft laws on ratification & denouncing international treaties are submitted by the President. In practice, however, citizens' legislative initiatives are related to politicians' rather than citizens' initiatives. Citizens' legislative initiative most often is used not to promote the idea of lawmaking but to use citizens' signatures for exerting political pressure on the Seimas ruling majority by opposition & communicating a certain message to the electorate. Out of seven initiatives, one brought some results. Exercising the right of petition at the Seimas is in fact an indirect legislative initiative. It diminishes the significance of the Constitutional right of 50.000 citizens' initiative. This right does not make any practical influence: so far only two laws have been passed on the basis of the problems addressed in petitions. Adapted from the source document.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about consumer empowerment through new information and communication technologies. Corporate captains of marketing, Wired Magazine's neo-libertarian techno-utopians, marketing consultants of the digital economy and many marketing academics agree that we all have more choices, more information, more entertainment, more transparency, and lower prices thanks to Amazon, Facebook, Youtube, and all the rest. We are liberated from the burdens of material ownership, free to access digital objects and services in ways that satisfy our needs in highly targeted and efficient ways. The empowerment through technology chorus is so loud and cohesive that we generally take the message for granted. And in some limited respect, consumers may feel empowered when shopping on Amazon.com or in the malls with their iPhones on hand. But let us be very clear about the idea of empowerment that is promoted by the cheerleaders of what Jodi Dean (2005) calls communicative capitalism. Real empowerment, so much should be clear, will never be "granted" to consumers by those in economic (and thus political) power. In the final analysis – and putting aside for a moment the fact that even empowered consumers are still interpellated first and foremost as subjects of consumption – the ideal of the empowered consumer (rational, enlightened, informed, restrained, un-manipulable) is completely antithetical to the needs of capital and the marketing regime within consumer capitalism. Therefore, any call for actual consumer empowerment would automatically be a radical demand and an insurgent claim aimed at undermining and replacing capital's power to dominate the consumer totally. In the end, it is important to recognize that any technology employed by marketing today becomes a technology of enclosure (even if never completely successful), which permits empowerment only in a version sanction by capital. That is why marketing (and capital more generally [see Lazzarato, 2004]) today is biopolitical. It wants to govern life completely while appearing to not govern at all. In this chapter we argue that new technologies in contemporary marketing management are best thought of as technologies of enclosure. On the one hand, marketing encloses the subject as individualized and individuated consumer. On the other, marketing aims to enclose (ie., capture, make proprietary, appropriate) what is common or collectively produced or cherished by individuals as inalienable expressions of personal identity and agency. At the same time that marketing encloses, it operates ideologically, although not in the classical Marxist sense of creating a false consciousness. Rather, the challenge for marketers is to enclose and capture the subject and the common while appearing not to do any of these things. By accepting as non-ideological terms such as choice, identity, fulfillment, empowerment, enrichment, collaboration, creativity and so on, marketers and consumers alike choose to believe, just as anyone sensible would believe, that new techniques and technologies of enclosure are really just good marketing practice aimed at value creation and delivery, not customer domination and exploitation. We should remember that an atmosphere of distrust has accompanied the development of marketing from the beginning and marketers have long been suspected of being professional manipulators, devising salacious techniques and technologies with which to incite, manipulate and exploit consumer desire and anxiety. As Packard put it fifty years ago, "[T]hese depth manipulators are in their operations beneath the surface of conscious life, starting to acquire a power of persuasion that is becoming a matter of justifiable public scrutiny and concern" (1957, pp. 9-10). More recent popular indictments of marketing include Adam Curtis's documentaries on The Century of the Self, Naomi Klein's No Logo (2000), and the BBC series The Men Who Makes Us Spend (presented by Jacques Peretti). Criticism of marketers is compounded by widespread consumer cynicism regarding the genuineness of marketing messages (see Gabriel and Lang, 1995). Interestingly, the emerging generation of online marketers– typically referred to as digital or social media marketers – see marketing's crisis of legitimacy directly tied to what it considers the corporate, top-down marketing methods devised in the 1970s and 1980s and designed to discipline and control consumers. For a new generation of tech-savvy marketers, imbued with a solid dose of techno-libertarian ideals of independence and a frontier mentality that rejects top-down authority and bureaucracy in favor of self-organizing systems, radical autonomy and freely collaborative networks, a dramatic shift in mindset was needed in the age of participatory media and Big Data. In a radical turn propagated, for example, by prominent social media marketing experts like Solis (2010) and Stratten (2010), marketing has to be 'un'-done. The term 'un-marketing' rises to prominence in the consulting literature and offers a reframing of marketing that rejects corporate-controlled top-down techniques, and favours horizontal, collaborative, and participatory customer engagement (Kutcher, 2010, Stratten, 2010, 2014). In this context, the idea of online customer communities gains popularity because it provides a fantasy of restructuring marketplace relations according to principles of co-creation, sovereignty, equality, and sharing. More recently, what we call Big Data marketing is framed according to similar registers where data magnetizes consumers and marketers to a shared ethos of the "opt-in" economy (Godin, 1999). Big Data marketers – at least in the version propagated by Google's Hal Varian, for example – pose innocuously enough as personal recommendation and consulting agents for consumers who in return for giving up personal information receive ever more relevant, valuable, and desired information, goods and services (Zuboff, 2015). Who would not like such a deal that appears to be based on liberal ideals of good intentions on all sides and the equal distribution of costs and benefits, even as companies manage communities and customer data not on behalf of consumers but on behalf of corporate profit. In sum, new marketing technologies – from blogs to communities to surveillance-based collaborative filtering and recommender systems – no matter how invasive, ever-present and insidious, have been framed by technology-driven marketers as democratizing and equalizing forces reshaping the contemporary marketplace in favor of the consumer. Customer and brand communities are happy places of collaboration and collective value creation governed by an ethos of mutual respect, sharing and dispersed control. Big Data Marketing, which aspires to intensifying consumer surveillance and control (Zuboff, 2015), is often presented as part of the contemporary ethos of collaborative 'in-this-together-ness' and collective support structures between companies and consumers. Marketers are asked to employ Big Data to better understand, assist, support and connect with customers; the technology magnetizing both exchange parties to a fantasy of better products, better choices, better experiences, better prices, better service and generally happier lives. To live in a world where companies strain to innovate and please consumers, all we need to do in return is give companies complete access to our personal information. Such a request makes sense to a generation of marketing professionals and consumers that have grown up with Google, Facebook and Amazon tracking its every move. In the next section we explore critically new marketing technologies such as online customer communities and Big Data, and possession of digital objects as consumer lock in. .We suggest that these technologies are technologies of Biopolitical Marketing. They aspire to enclose all forms of life for profit. We suggest that marketing innovation is now structured according to the imperative of biopolitical marketing: the making, valorizing and enclosing of all forms and expressions of life.