The introductory chapter to the volume by Mossig, Windzio, Seitzer and Besche-Truthe defines the core concepts, such as diffusion and contagion, and gives an example of an application diffusion and contagion in epidemiology. The most important underlying functions, namely the logistic density and cumulative logistic density function, are explained, followed by a very brief introduction to the core concepts of event history analysis. In the network diffusion model, contagion, or, in other words, the adoption of information or innovation, is based on the concept of exposure which will be elaborated in this chapter. Finally, after describing and visualizing the four different networks and their correlations, exponential random graph models are used to analyze structural and substantive properties of these networks. The introduction concludes with a brief overview of the chapters.
Compulsory education is closely related to the reproduction and change of a country’s culture. As we know from international comparative cultural research, however, there are different pathways into modernity, and so the particular role of education for a nation-state’s cultural basis might differ as well. At the same time, different relations between countries, such as cultural similarity or trade, can function as channels of diffusion of welfare policies. Our empirical analysis tests which dimensions of global networks structure the diffusion of introduction of compulsory education. We find a positive effect of exposure to other countries in a network of cultural similarity. Policy diffusion does not proceed via economic ties and colonial histories, but does through spatial proximity.
This study investigates the diffusion of compulsory education in a global perspective. Compulsory education closely relates to the reproduction and change of culture and moderates the process of modernisation. We analyse the diffusion of compulsory education by focusing on the effect of a country’s membership in different "cultural spheres". Global cultural clusters of countries do not have rigid, clear-cut "fault lines". We capture the fuzzy-set nature of "cultural spheres" by using a relational approach. In the resulting network countries increasingly connect with a higher amount of cultural characteristics they share. We test the impact of cultural spheres on diffusion controlling for indicators of economic development. Exposure in terms of close cultural ties to other countries with compulsory education, significantly and substantially increases the rate of adoption.
In Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-78885-8_3, Fabian Besche-Truthe looks at the global trajectories of compulsory education. A plethora of studies exist that examine fundamental policy changes at a national level from a global perspective. In comparison, the global policy trend of expanding the duration of compulsory education has been less explored. Besche-Truthe draws on the concepts of trajectories and ‘pathways’ in order to reveal the various development paths that account for the expansion of compulsory education. A sequence analysis (SQA) lends itself as a method of inquiry because it enables the researcher to regard the whole trajectory of policy development as a single unit of analysis. The chapter yields the first exploration into different trajectories and how these trajectories can be subsumed and clustered into specific development paths.
All websites referenced were accessible in November 2020. This edition of the Digest covers the period from June 2020 to September 2020. COVID-19 and its containment measuresWhile the effects of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its COVID-19 disease continue to be felt by all, new and pre-existing inequities continue to be exacerbated amid efforts to cope with and contain the pandemic. In September 2020, Richard Horton, Editor of The Lancet, argued that COVID-19 is not only a pandemic, but in many places, a syndemic, 'characterized by biological and social interactions between conditions and states, interactions that increase a person's susceptibility to harm or worsen their health outcomes'. 1 Containing and mitigating the negative effects of COVID-19 is a political choice, and recognizing this crisis as a syndemic in places where containment and mitigation efforts have failed 'allows us to recognize how political and social factors drive, perpetuate, or worsen the emergence and clustering of disease'. 2 As discussed throughout the current and preceding issue of the GSP Digest, promoting an equitable and sustainable transition and recovery from COVID-19 will require 'a larger vision, one encompassing education, employment, housing, food, and environment'. 3 As of 30 September 2020, a total of 33.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported globally since 30 December 2019 according to the World Health Organization (WHO), resulting in over 1 million deaths. 4,5 From June 2020 to September 2020, the Americas were the epicenter of COVID-19, with signs of a second wave threatening in Europe by the end of September 2020. The WHO transitioned from daily to weekly epidemiological reporting in August 2020 and began providing a weekly operational update as well. 6 For a list of relevant databases tracking COVID-19 policy responses across countries, please see GSP Digest 20.3.
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