2 research outputs found
Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process of Local Authorities in Sri Lanka
No full textPublic participation in the local authority level is a vital factor of the context of democracy. It leads to strengthening accountability and citizen empowerment. Scholars use to argue that citizen participation has positive effects at the service-delivery mechanism both in local government level and the quality of democracy. The article focuses on the involvement of local masses in the decision making process of public officials through a combine approach identifying gaps in the existing local government system in for the well-being of general masses.The findings have indicated that the citizen participation of the decision making process is not firmly rooted within the existing organizational culture of the local government system. The mechanism set up used to serve the local community is also obstructed from pro-people initiatives. Further, these outcomes mainly depend on the political setup of the local government, capacity of stakeholders, legislature and structures connected with local governance. In spite of these, the article further argues on citizen involvement which has a positive impact on democracy, especially in the context of ‘ownership’. The local community feels that they are more responsible for their well-being, leads to greater public involvement that contributes towards a higher degree of legitimacy in the decision-making process. The article also concludes that by establishing a participatory decision-making process at the local level creates a healthy organizational culture equipped with democratic principles to strengthen relationships among key stakeholders
Media Socialization of Children on Eating Habits: A Study of How Television Content Nourish Their Lives
Get PDFSri Lankan mass media from time to time have published reports that many school children in cities are overweight or obese. How serious is the problem? Is Television viewing the most probable cause for health problems connected with children? The aim of this research was to investigate the association between assumed risk factors and Body Mass Index (BMI) in children in urban schools in Sri Lanka. Specifically, the study attempts to identify the relationship between television viewing, fast foods, physical activity, and vegetable consumption in relation to BMI. Using a multiple cluster sample, out of nine provinces of Sri Lanka six provinces were purposely chosen for this study representing urban and semi-urban districts. This study was conducted through a mix approach including all ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Our findings indicate that in both groups (male and female) there was a positive association between television viewing and BMI and there was evidence that the more television was watched the higher the BMI. We found that physical activity in both groups was negatively associated with BMI, although the effect size was small. In both groups eating vegetables (+nuts) were associated with a lower BMI, and there was a dose-effect. In girls eating fast food was positively associated with BMI, but in boys was negatively associated with BMI
