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The emergence of new technologies has resulted in the emergence of new media and subsequently, changes to traditional methods of communicating and engaging with the public. Social media, a de facto free online service, offering every individual the opportunity for self-promotion and dissemination of information globally, assumes a new and prominent role in communication. This new and powerful communication medium, with its ability to influence social change, is something that public relations experts cannot ignore. The goal of state institutions and parliaments throughout the western world and modern democratic societies, including in the Republic of Croatia, is to be open and transparent towards their citizens and to include them in decision making processes. The subject matter to be researched will focus on the use of social media by state institutions, in their communication with the general public. Particular attention will be paid to the Croatian Parliament (Sabor), as the legislative branch of government in the Republic of Croatia, and how its use of social media compares to practices in other parliaments of European Union Member States. The Croatian Parliament, as an administrative body, does not have a social media presence. However, given that most Members of the Croatian Parliament have personal or official profiles on social media platforms; social media has changed the nature of communication between the Parliament and the public. As is the case for other parliaments, the Croatian Parliament faces a dilemma in finding the most effective way of engaging with its audience and deciding how best to take advantage of the opportunities for personalization, access and interaction presented by social media, while at the same time avoiding challenges related to privacy, copyright and intellectual property. It is a true art form to achieve the open and informal presence that social media demands, while maintaining a modicum of seriousness and formality expected from state institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human trafficking has been and unfortunately in many societies continues to be one of the main issues that law enforcement institutions are being faced with. The negative sides of human trafficking are generally known, nut on the other hand building appropriate strategies to combat human trafficking has proven to be very difficult, even in developed societies. When it comes to the Republic of Macedonia, the situation is even more complex, having in mind that human trafficking is not a topic being generally discussed in the country. Besides this, one might argue that there is a lack of data in human trafficking in the Republic of Macedonia. Although the legal framework is well developed, the actual fighting of human trafficking has become increasingly difficult, especially since it is not a widely discussed and researched topic in the country. On the other hand, it should be noted that much has been achieved during the last decade, but still further improvement is needed. This paper is two dimensional by its nature. On one hand, it strives to provide an analysis of the actual situation and legal framework that deals with human trafficking in the Republic of Macedonia, whilst on the other hand the paper strives to provide insights regarding the general perceptions of citizens on the topic of human trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Last 4 years showed to Romania that is impossible to deny the national feeling of passionately activism in politics: for sure, we are Latin and we remain Latin. All this big debate was related to a person and to his position in Romanian state. However, no one was able to be totally independent in his/her analyze, and, if he/she was totally independent, the press take hundreds of attacks against every person who wrote any opinion in this special problem: what kind on republic want we? Politicians want to change this year our Constitution, but I believe they won't be able to do this. In this context, we must start a real national debate of public law specialists, about this institutional problem: we want one president and one prime-minister with powers, or a prime-minister with powers and a president like a puppet? This kind of speech appears now because in 2012 and the key-word of our politics was the legitimacy. In this case, when this political concept become too strong, it is necessary to offer a legal answer. Our text tries to be one of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today governance involves multiple stakeholders, interdependent resources and actions, shared purposes and blurred boundaries between the public and private, formal and informal, state and civil society sectors, and greater need for coordination, negotiation and building consensus. The key tasks for governments therefore are coordinating an increasingly complex and fragmented governance landscape, steering interdependent activities through new institutional frameworks and bargaining processes, and integrating and managing diverse networks. A cursory look at cities and countries in Africa reveals that this is a heterogeneous continent and that many systems/arrangements to address the waste problems are in place. Only some of these systems have achieved a measure of success. This study describes, compares and appraises the solid waste management state institutions in three towns-Mwanza in Tanzania, Jinja in Uganda and Kisumu in Kenya vis a vis the governance concept with a view of recommending policy options. Interviews held with officials in the urban authorities and representatives of non-state actors; household surveys; document analysis and observation were the methods used to inform the issues covered in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we offer two explanations for how state institutions influence organizing capacity across different societies. The market supporting explanation suggests that state institutions promote cooperation by reducing transaction uncertainties, whereas the channeling explanations highlights the role that state institutions promote or restricts variation in the types of organizations supported. We argued that state institutions can influence organizing capacity in opposite directions based on complexity of organizational form. We test our predictions on a sample of nascent entrepreneurs across thirty-one countries. We find that as the size of government and quality of government services increases, individuals are more likely to start technology-related businesses. We also find that as the size of government and quality of government services decreases, individuals are more likely to start non-technology-related businesses. We suggest that our findings contribute to theories that promote the active role of the state in the emergence of organizations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]