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Problematic Usage of Social Media and Social Anxiety  A study on a sample of grade repeaters in the Kurdistan Region

The question that we would like to propose an answer to is this one; what is the role of the intellectual in awakening society? With what does the intellectual awaken society, how can he influence change among the people, and for what purpose? The answer that we propose is the following; the intellectual awakens society to ideals, and he creates change through direct communication with people, and his purpose is the proposition of improved conditions and a more valuable and worthy life than the life that he critiques and wishes to surpass. That implies that the intellectual sees the undesirable conditions and envisions the desired conditions; in thinking of the future, the intellectual wishes that what is to come is better than present conditions. Before beginning this discussion, We must mention who the intellectual is. The intellectual is a person familiar with ideals and values. He is a person in touch with society and ideals. The level of his scientific awareness is perceivably cultivated and his reading of societal conditions is objective, he looks at society with a critical lens and his goal is to to pinpoint grievances and propose solutions, the intellectual predicts events in advance - to an extent, it is possible that in terms of intellect, he is ahead of his time. Here we refer to an intellectual that wishes to have impact and is not separate from his purpose, an active and visible actor. As such, this topic touches on one of the roles of the intellectual, one of which includes awakening society.&nbsp;In this essay, we briefly take note of the role of the intellectual in awakening society and creating an awakened class. The role of the intellectual in society makes him a property of the public, because the purpose of the intellectual is public, he ponders social grievances, grievances that touch people at large, whether they be economic, cultural, religious, scientific or political. the roles of the intellectual are not singular or uni-form; the intellectual may be a nationalist who takes on a nationalist path in his working role, the intellectual may be a nationalist for whom a geographic location is where he executes his role, the intellectual may have a religious role and he may constantly prioritize a religion as his purpose and direction. Or, he could be a humanist and talk about humanity at large; he could be a universalist who holds a lifelong fascination with scientific universal facts. Their fields may differ, but the one distinctive characteristic which unites all intellectuals is this; consolidating human values, those values that require people and society (even if it is a scientific finding, they want the people to be awakened to this scientific revelation). One point that we would like to stress in this piece is that an intellectual is not necessarily just an academic person, just as someone with a high academic ranking does not become an intellectual by virtue of his academic pedigree alone. it is plausible that all the characteristics that render one an intellectual are present in someone who is not academic, being academic is one characteristic of the intellectual, but it is not a prerequisite to being an intellectual.The intellectual, in thinking about any concept, relates it to society and the people. For example, if he speaks of justice, he conceptualizes justice within a social framework, whether his own society or another one, and he is not neutral in his discussions. He reaches a certain conclusion and discusses his conceptions and perceptions about it. His thinking is clear on whether or not justice has been applied and consolidated, or whether justice is absent - and he puts forth his opinion on how society should reflect on injustice. He is the first to clarify his stance and becomes a catalyst for the people; he acts on what he says. Put differently, the intellectual feels a sense of responsibility toward public matters, that sense is so strong in the intellectual that he becomes the embodiment of the social awakening and becomes the living consciousness of the people; the intellectual cannot stay silent on matters that harm the public, and likewise he cannot stay silent on how societal conditions could be improved. In both conditions, the intellectual is connected to the people and does not separate himself from public matters. There is one foundational principle in the intellectuals' role in awakening society and creating a positive impact, a principle to which we will later return. To which ideals does the intellectual awaken society to? Which are the values that shape the desired societal conditions for individuals? Three values are the pillars of any society worth living in; freedom, equality, and justice.The intellectual takes on a complex mission and a great responsibility; on one hand, he must educate society on the meaning of each ideal and define their antithesis/opposite in turn. For example, the intellectual explicates the contrast between life in a free society, compared to a society that violates personal liberties. Or, he explains life in a society in which individuals are equal in terms of their humanity and rights, in contrast with a society wherein a minority violates the rights of the majority. That is only the beginning of the intellectual's work; it is not sufficient to show these contrasting images of different societies. the intellectual also must convey in his message an explanation of which foundations equality, personal freedoms, and justice are based on and how they are guaranteed and protected. For example, the intellectual delivers the following truth; for individuals to experience their individual and social freedoms, they need laws that regulate relations, and these laws require an authority that enforces them, an authority that embodies the rule of law to the extent permitted by the law. In matters concerning power and the people, the intellectual always tips the scale in favor of the people. Even if the intellectual is close to the authorities, he still aims to make authority a means that serves the people and fulfills their demands. What is clear to the intellectual is that the rule of law is the basis for any society and that the rule of law is an end, and the means to that end is authority. Because in making the law sovereign (the rule of law), in enabling the law to put limits to power, individuals can exercise their obligations, rights, and liberties in society. But what is the solidity of the rule of law based on? What undermines it? or rather, through which means can power consolidate the rule of law? Certainly through several institutions that are independent in their executive duties. Which duties? the duty to guarantee rights, delegate functions, and protect the property and life of individuals. So, insofar as liberty, justice, and equality rely upon the rule of law and institutions, to that same extent, the rule of law and institutions are ideals to which the intellectual must awaken society.

The role of the intellectual in the awakening of society

Birkar is a Kurd born during the Iran-Iraq War in Mariwan County, Kurdistan Province, Iran, in 1978. He had five siblings, and during his early years of school, his brothers taught him a lot of maths. Birkar studied mathematics at the University of Tehran after finishing high school, where he earned a bachelor's degree. He won third place in the 2000 International Mathematics Competition for University Students before moving to the UK as a refugee and requesting political asylum while still a student at the university. Birkar studied for a PhD at the University of Nottingham from 2001 to 2004. As the most promising PhD candidate, he received the Cecil King Travel Scholarship from the London Mathematical Society in 2003. His name was changed to Caucher Birkar when he immigrated to the UK; this name means "migrant mathematician" in Kurdish.Birkar became interested in mathematics at school. "I had a sensation. Nothing major, just a passing thought that I'm brilliant at mathematics, he remarked. His brother served as his primary mentor in his formative years and taught him mathematics' foundational ideas. He was left to learn mathematics on his own in high school, borrowing books from the neighbourhood library. "After finishing all these books, I got the impression that reading isn't enough. I also wanted to make my own things and come up with something fresh," he added. The UK government sent Birkar to Nottingham, where he enrolled in the University of Nottingham. There, he met mathematician Vyacheslav Shokurov, who ignited his interest in birational geometry, a sparsely studied branch of algebraic geometry. Birkar received the Cecil King Travel Scholarship while pursuing his PhD from the London Mathematical Society for being the most promising candidate.&nbsp;More recently, Birkar has contributed significantly to the modernization of ideas in the area through his work at Cambridge, particularly through his proof of the boundedness of Fano varieties, which was published in 2016 and for which he was awarded the Fields Medal in 2018. His groundbreaking work on minimal model theory was also mentioned in the citation for the award. When Birkar's Fields Medal was regrettably stolen after the ceremony in Rio, news of the theft spread throughout the world. Thankfully, a few days later the committee gave him a replacement medal. At the time, Birkar stated, "This has received significant media attention, making me more renowned than I would have been... And far more individuals than last week are aware of what a Fields Medal is. "I just couldn't imagine that this would come true," he said after receiving the medal. "To go from the point that I didn't imagine meeting these people to the point where someday I hold a medal myself — I just couldn't imagine that this would come true." Birkar has won various honours throughout his career, including the Philip Leverhulme Prize (2010), the Moore Research Article Prize from the American Mathematical Society (2016), and the Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society (2018). Two images of the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck are on display at Birkar's office at the University of Cambridge. Like Birkar, Grothendieck was a Fields medalist and a refugee who left Nazi Germany. He is also usually acknowledged as the mathematician who had the greatest single impact throughout the second half of the 20th century. In one of the images, Grothendieck is seated alongside a diverse collection of activists who were active in the early 1970s French environmental movement. Birkar, a Kurd who was raised in England and is now wed to a Thai woman, admires Grothendieck's mathematical vision as well as the ease with which he interacted with various social groups.<blockquote>“All these cultures make things more interesting to me. All these cultures give you a sense of pleasure,” he said. His four-year-old son Zanko is a living example of this diversity because he is fluent in English, his mother's native Thai language, and his father's native Kurdish.</blockquote>A mingling of civilizations can also be seen in algebraic geometry. Algebra, the study of equations, is on one side, and geometry, the study of shapes, is on the other. The two present various angles on the same issues. Consider the mathematical formula y = 2x - 3. If you plot the solutions, you get a straight line, which is a geometric shape. The two viewpoints work well together. You may use mathematics to determine the answer or you could graph the two equations to see where they overlap if you wanted to find a solution that was shared by two equations, such as y = 2x - 3 and y = 3x + 5. János Kollár, a mathematician at Princeton University, stated that "sometimes an algebraic question can be solved by geometric methods and sometimes a geometric question can be solved by algebraic methods." You can travel between these two sides and benefit them both. The simplest algebraic equations are linear ones. There are a lot more varieties. They may contain additional variables, and those additional variables may be increased to various levels. You might also consider the set of solutions that a collection of equations shares. This collection is referred to as an "algebraic variety." An infinite number of algebraic varieties exist; each has a unique geometric representation.<blockquote>“The most important thing is the shape, the form, the structure of the set of solutions,” Birkar said. “The set of solutions is what we call roughly an algebraic variety.”</blockquote>Variety in algebra is a wild horde. Mathematicians want to put some kind of order on them. This tendency is similar to the urge to categorise biological life in that it makes the living world seem more manageable to our thoughts and more significant in its structure when we consider phyla and families rather than each individual organism separately. Algebraic varieties can be transformed using birational geometry in order to be categorised. It's similar to surgery in that you start with an algebraic variety that has a unique shape and then remove some of its lumps and creases to get a more general shape. There are rigorous restrictions on what you can chop, ensuring that you don't completely eliminate the variety you started with. Following surgery, many formerly distinct varieties would resemble one another; this group is referred to as the "birational equivalence class." Christopher Hacon, a prominent figure in birational geometry and a mathematician at the University of Utah, will speak on Birkar's work at the Fields Medal ceremony in Rio. "We're focusing on the big picture and not worrying about varieties disagreeing on some small subset of points," he said. Fano varieties, Calabi-Yau variations, and varieties of general type are the three major birational equivalence classes. Like the name "insect" is relative to the distinct species that belong under that heading, the three classes are generic forms. Each class has a distinct uniform curvature, which can be uniformly flat, uniformly positive, or uniformly negative. Through the process of birational transformation, mathematicians hope to be able to demonstrate how every algebraic variety may be reduced to one of these three categories of generic shapes. Kollár stated, "We are aiming to locate objects that have the same type of curvature everywhere. "We don't want anything that occasionally resembles a saddle, occasionally like a sphere, and occasionally has flat areas. That is too intricate.Birkar has completed most of his significant mathematical work alone in his dining room. He usually works at the table, standing up occasionally to pace and contemplate, prepare tea, or play music, frequently classical or modern Kurdish tunes. "A lot of it is going through my head. Sometimes I might only write one page all day," he remarked. He enjoys taking a bike ride along the trails that wind through his neighbourhood after spending a few hours pondering. It could be difficult to discern from a distance how humming with intellectual activity Birkar's days are. He visited his wife's family in Thailand a few years ago. Her grandfather asked her one afternoon," What kind of profession does your spouse have? He was lounging around in the lawn, gazing at a mango tree. However, Birkar is renowned among mathematicians for the ferocity with which he approaches issues. He is quite successful at mastering the technical details of the current challenge. Algebraic variety research by Birkar is a component of an ongoing project called the minimum model programme. The objective is to demonstrate that all algebraic varieties can be binary transformed into one of the three fundamental types. The minimal model programme dates back more than a century to the classification of two-dimensional algebraic varieties (varieties with three variables) by a team of Italian mathematicians. Shigefumi Mori demonstrated that all three-dimensional algebraic varieties—varieties with four variables—reduce to one of these three types more recently, in the 1980s. The Fields Medal for this work was awarded in 1990 to Mori, a mathematician at Kyoto University and the current president of the International Mathematical Union. However, after Mori's finding, there was a lull in the birational geometry community. The extension of this to higher dimensions presented enormous hurdles, according to Birkar. One of the few who remained in the field throughout the 1990s was Shokurov. He was largely responsible for the revival of birational geometry in the early 2000s. Since then, the classification of algebraic varieties in every dimension has advanced significantly, and Birkar is one of the few mathematicians at the forefront of this work. He co-authored a paper in 2006 with Hacon, James McKernan of the University of California, San Diego, and Paolo Cascini of the Imperial College London that examined the classification scheme for general type variety types. In part because of their work, Hacon and McKernan later received the $3 million Breakthrough Prize. In 2016, Birkar contributed the most to mathematics as an individual. He released two papers that year that resolved one of the most crucial questions surrounding the characteristics of particular Fano kinds. The studies demonstrated how the birational transformation of Fano variants results in a tidy family that can be identified by just a few traits. Consider the flat plane to begin understanding what this entails. Imagine all the lines that cross a plane point at this moment. There are an endless number of such lines. Next, make a circle with that point in the centre. The circle is crossed by each line at two different locations. This means that any line can be defined, or "parameterized," by any one of these points. The fact that every line can be parameterized by points on the same tidy geometric object—the circle—indicates that your family of lines is organised. You couldn't make any type of neat remark about all the lines if they were instead scattered over the plane.Birkar developed a similar type of parameterization in the 2016 publications for particular Fano varieties (those of fixed dimension with "mild singularities"). He demonstrated how, after birational transformation, Fano varieties resemble lines that pass through a point in that they are in a sufficiently organised relationship to one another to be parameterized by the same tidy geometric object. Birkar demonstrated that any dimension's Fano varieties may be described by a finite set of parameters. Infinitely many algebraic varieties share a fundamental trait when it is claimed that they may all be reduced to a small number of features. Create an organism category, but if you need an unlimited number of traits to describe every organism in that category, your category is worthless. However, you've made some strides if you can characterise a seemingly disparate collection of things using a limited number of traits.<blockquote>"When you can parameterize things with finitely many parameters, this means the family shares many properties," explained Birkar. Due to the fact that you can sort of talk about all of them at once, finiteness is significant.</blockquote>Although Birkar has demonstrated that there are a finite set of properties that characterise Fano varieties, there is still a great deal he would like to learn about this enormous family of algebraic equations. He will start working on investigating more particular aspects of their geometry. He will do it knowing how unusual a person he is to have attained his newfound reputation among mathematics. At the same time, he continues to be inspired by the same drive that led him to mathematics when he first encountered the subject in Mariwan decades ago. <blockquote>“You get ideas from someone, somewhere, and you create something new,” he said. “You contribute something new and create more beautiful things.”</blockquote>

From a Refugee to a Fields Medalist: The Remarkable Journey of Caucher Birkar in Mathematics

IntroductionRoad accidents are widely recognized as the primary cause of death, disability, and property damage around the world. This is particularly pronounced in low and middle-income countries where traffic accidents have become a significant contributor to human and economic losses in urban communities (Bhavan, 2019). With increasing rates of transportation and movement through various means such as cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, trains etc., the occurrence of accidents is facilitated leading to loss of life and additionally, economic consequences (Mohamed, 2015).&nbsp; As road safety varies across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq the possibility of being seriously hurt or killed in a collision is substantially higher on highways and in certain regions in comparison to the other parts of Iraq. According to Leidman et al. (2016), the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) had the greatest number of casualties in Iraq when compared to the rest of the nation between the years 2010 and 2013. Erbil had the highest rate of road traffic related fatalities and severe injuries (Ibid). The rate of traffic-related deaths is significantly elevated when compared to that of other nations. To promote public safety on the road, police officers impose traffic penalties that discourage traffic law offenses and negligent driving behaviors. According to Shinar (2017), the implementation of enforcement as the final option to influence driver behavior indicates the importance of reasons other than safety and suggests that there could potentially be shortcomings in driver training, awareness, and licensing mechanisms. Estimating the economic implications of accidents is a challenging issue but crucial to investigate, therefore, this research attempts to examine the financial implications of road accidents in the KRI and the obstacles that hinder traffic safety advancement. Literature ReviewEconomic Implications and Repercussions on HealthAccording to Hughes et al, (2015), road traffic accidents claim the lives of over 1.2 million individuals every year globally, while approximately 50 million sustain injuries. In the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, traffic accidents rank as the second most common cause of mortality (Jrew et al., 2017). This underscores the critical importance of prioritizing road safety for sustainable societal development. As the analysis of the infrastructural aspect of road accidents continues to expand, there remains a dearth of published works discussing the financial implications on an economic system resulting from fatalities caused by these accidents. Research findings have revealed that road accidents impose a significant economic burden on nations, accounting for approximately 1-3% of their gross national product&nbsp; (Kohale et al, 2014). Moreover, the financial consequences experienced by individual households because of these crashes include heightened reliance on borrowing and debt accumulation, which can subsequently lead to reduced expenditure on essential items such as food (Kohale et al, 2014). These incidents may occur due to the driver's insufficient discipline, excessive hesitation to adhere to traffic laws, or inadequate infrastructure, causing these accidents to end in severe injuries or even mortality (Ibid).&nbsp;The monetary effects of road-related injuries and collisions can be assessed by taking into consideration a broad range of elements, such as medical bills, expenses arising from legal, administrative, and law enforcement actions, damages to property along with car expenses for repair associated with repercussions of the accident, and potential revenue loss as a result of absence from work or disability/death. Beyond that, individuals who survive accidents tend to experience a worsening standard of living simply because of experiencing discomfort, pain, or long lasting effects caused by the accident (Kohale et al, 2014). There are different methods used to assess and tackle the economic consequences of road accidents, with a focus on quantifying the financial impacts and gauging how they affect a country's overall productivity. Indicators such as human capital losses or declines are often utilized as approximations for understanding the extent to which these accidents impede economic development. Additionally, costs associated with road accidents can be further broken down into direct and indirect expenses. The former refers to expenditures incurred by public health services, while the latter reflects a broader range of costs that negatively impact the national economy through various channels (Bhavan, 2019). The losses incurred by indirect costs lead to a decrease in national income as a result of decreased productivity and the reduced number of labor hours contributed by the human capital (Jagnoor et al., 2015).Despite the numerous factors that contribute to road accidents, the absence of reliable traffic data poses challenges for professionals and researchers who seek to analyze these issues using scientific methods and make informed decisions based on statistical evidence. Even with the advancements in policies, guidelines, and highway designs, there continues to be difficulty in comprehending the pattern of accidents and driver actions for the purpose of preventing traffic crashes. The acquisition of a dependable database specifically dedicated to traffic accidents is essential in order to gain this understanding. The data gathered by traffic authorities is derived from written reports issued by officials immediately following an accident. These reports include information on the individuals that are involved: driver information, vehicle traits, and the specifics of the setting of the incident. Yet, like in other developing countries, the information incorporated in these police-generated crash reports tend to be limited in comparison to that obtainable in more advanced countries. This lack of complexity can be traced mostly to the crash report form's basic layout (Mohammed et al, 2019). The absence of a comprehensive healthcare system or effective coordination between victims and medical facilities to monitor their well-being has also contributed to the complexity of accurately documenting conditions relating to road accidents. DiscussionUpon the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921 under British oversight, a government body known as the General Directorate of Police was created by the Ministry of Interior. This organization was assigned various responsibilities including traffic management, formulation and enforcement of driver licensing regulations, vehicle registration processes, adherence to safety standards, implementation of speed limits, as well as issuance and enforcement of fines and penalties for those who violated regulations (Al-Tahafi, 2016).&nbsp;The first traffic regulations were put into effect in Iraq in 1932, as reported by the United Nations (2007). However, The code underwent multiple changes and was subsequently replaced in 1971. In 2004, following the ousting of Saddam Hussein's regime in March 2003, a new traffic code was enacted by the Iraqi Parliament under the Coalition Provisional Authority. This legislation replaced all previous traffic laws that were in place at that time (Mohammed et al, 2019). With the increase in motor vehicle traffic crashes as a major cause of death in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, legislators and law enforcement agencies have implemented different legal measures to combat this issue. These include imposing more severe penalties, heightened fines, and stricter legal sanctions. However, despite these efforts being undertaken with the intention of improving safety, they have not yielded promising results so far. Inadequately developed road infrastructure, an outdated vehicle fleet, unsuitable financial and logistical support for law enforcement agencies, an insufficient number of traffic enforcement cameras, and other innovative methods aimed at preventing such incidents comprise some of the key economic factors that contribute to the occurrence of road accidents.The region currently experiences a dearth of standardized driver’s license programs that aid novice drivers in developing their driving abilities gradually, providing them with exposure to progressively challenging driving situations through phased approaches (Baker et al., 2006). The traffic agencies in Erbil and Duhok have implemented the driver’s license system utilized in South Korea, whereas Sulaymaniyah and Halabja have embraced the driver’s license system used in Denmark (Othman &amp; Carroll, 2015). In particular, the practical training section of both systems is conducted away from actual traffic conditions, especially in Erbil and Duhok. Instead, it takes place within a controlled environment devoid of other vehicles. Moreover, despite significant investments in the reconstruction, expansion, and upkeep of the road infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq during the last ten years, many roads do not meet contemporary operational and safety standards. Inadequate safety measures thus result in poor road conditions (Mohammed et al, 2019).&nbsp;The majority of economists advocate incorporating an economic assessment of the impact on quality of life in the overall costs of road accidents. However, accurately estimating this cost is extremely challenging and comes with significant uncertainty. Despite this difficulty, there is general consensus that even approximate assessments of the costs associated with lost quality of life are preferable to completely ignoring this factor (Elvik, 2000).ConclusionDuring the past decade, there has been relative stability, economic growth, and an increase in population within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. However, it is important to acknowledge that like many rapidly developing countries worldwide, there have been some unintended negative outcomes because of this growth. Recognizing the diverse economic consequences of traffic related incidents emphasizes the need for thorough road safety measures to reduce the financial burden of traffic collisions. Investments in road precautions and crash avoidance projects is vital to minimizing the monetary consequences of traffic accidents. Infrastructure improvements, including well-kept roads along with effective traffic management techniques, contribute to decreasing fatalities. Awareness campaigns and traffic enforcement actions are also critical to establishing an ethic of responsible driving, which will ultimately reduce the number and the seriousness of collisions (World Health Organization, 2018).&nbsp; References&nbsp;Al-Tahafi, A.-W., 2016. The historical development of traffic police in. Iraq Accessed June 02.<a href="http://www.itp.gov.iq/ar/article/" data-mce-href="http://www.itp.gov.iq/ar/article/"> http://www.itp.gov.iq/ar/article/</a>Baker, S.P., 2006. National evaluation of graduated driver licensing programs. US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Bhavan, T., 2019. The economic impact of road accidents: the case of Sri Lanka. South Asia Economic Journal, 20(1), pp.124-137.Elvik, R., 2000. How much do road accidents cost the national economy?. Accident Analysis &amp; Prevention, 32(6), pp.849-851Hughes, B.P., Newstead, S., Anund, A., Shu, C.C. and Falkmer, T., 2015. A review of models relevant to road safety. Accident Analysis &amp; Prevention, 74, pp.250-270.Jagnoor, J., Prinja, S., Lakshmi, P.V.M., Aggarwal, S., Gabbe, B. and Ivers, R.Q., 2015. The impact of road traffic injury in North India: a mixed-methods study protocol. BMJ open, 5(8), p.e008884Jrew, B., Msallam, M., Khaled, S. and Abojaradeh, M., 2017. Analysis and evaluation of traffic accidents for principle urban streets in Arbil city in Iraq. Diyala Journal of Engineering Sciences, pp.118-131.Kohale, N.D., Bankar, S.L. and Bagde, N.S., 2014. ROAD ACCIDENTS AND ITS SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL EFFECTS. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, 3(2), p.480.Leidman, E., Maliniak, M., Sultan, A.S.S., Hassan, A., Hussain, S.J. and Bilukha, O.O., 2016. Road traffic fatalities in selected governorates of Iraq from 2010 to 2013: prospective surveillance. Conflict and health, 10(1), pp.1-10Mohamed, H.A., 2015. Estimation of socio-economic cost of road accidents in Saudi Arabia: Willingness-to-pay approach (WTP). Advances in Management and Applied Economics, 5(3), p.43Mohammed, H., Jaff, D. and Schrock, S., 2019. The challenges impeding traffic safety improvements in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2, p.100029.Othman, S. and Carroll, J., 2015. A new strategy to enhance traffic safety in developing countries. In 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Vol. 15, p. 0059).Shinar, D., 2017. Traffic safety and human behavior. Emerald Publishing LimitedThe Revolutionary Command Council, R, 1971. Traffic Law No. 48 of 1971United Nations, 2007. Road Safety Review in Selected ESCWA Member Countries. 59. UN, New York.World Health Organization. (2018). Global status report on road safety 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565684.

The Streets of the Kurdistan Region: Obstacles Preventing Traffic Safety Advancements and The Economic Implications of Road Accidents

Introduction Political parties are the means by which political elites connect to formal institutions (formal political institutions such as governmental cabinets or parliaments); that is why understanding the nature of political parties is crucial for understanding the relation of the political elite to the public on the one hand, and, for understanding the relation of the political elite to the formal institutions on the other.In the Kurdistan region, the leaders of political parties direct their parties as ideologues and decision-makers. Thus, the political parties can direct their supporters and followers, the relationship is top-down. In none of the parties in the region are the party supporters capable of directing the political parties. <blockquote>Political parties play a central role; it is unlikely that any other type or model of social movements or social networks could replace the role and place of political parties (Huntington, 1996).&nbsp;</blockquote>In the Kurdistan Region, it is possible that the importance of political elites lies in the powers that they hold. Theoretically, the concept of elites is diffused with the concept of power. Here, power is conceptualized in two ways; Potential Power and Actual Power. Potential power refers to a state wherein the political elite in themselves are sources of power. One can picture&nbsp; a party leader who has masses of wealth or enjoys extensive intellectual capacities. However, Actual Power refers to the power that political elites receive from formal institutions, which is a legally defined and senctioned power. <blockquote>Put differently; Potential Power comes from informal institutions, including social structures, political parties, or a particular religion and worldview. But, Actual Power comes from formal institutions, such as a Parliament bestowing powers upon its Parliament Members, or the Council of Ministers bestowing power upon its Ministers.</blockquote> What is the purpose of political institutions?&nbsp;Institutions, according to Huntington (1965:388) are stable and valuable centers in which behaviors and actions are repeated (For example, parliaments and parliament members). Meaning that institutions are the accumulation of rules and organizational behaviors that persist for a certain period, and many of these institutions bring about a political order that more or less makes up a political system. Thus, political institutions shape a political structure and lay the principles and rules of political action. Institutions can be classified in a few ways, three of which include formal, semi-formal, and informal.Formal institutionsFormal institutions refer to those characteristics that define a particular political system. The organizational structure of institutions and their arrangement in relationship to one another determines the type of the political system. To illustrate, both the parliament and the government are two formal institutions; their relation to one another determines the type of the political system. If in a political system, the parliament were to exercise hegemony over the government, then the political structure would be parliamentarian. If the government were to exercise hegemony, then it would be a presidential structure. Thus, the difference between majoritarian and consensus democracy lies in their differences regarding their organizational structures and the relations of institutions to one another. These formal institutions in the region must be reorganized to establish a consensus parliamentary system (consensus democracy). Of the formal institutions in the region, four of them must be reorganized for the establishment of a consensus parliamentary system (consensus democracy). Firstly, the composition of the governmental cabinet must be based on political consensus. Secondly, the relationship between the government and the parliament must be a balanced relationship in which the parliament exercises hegemony. Thirdly, the political party system must be a multi-party system, not a two-party one. Fourthly, the electoral system must be proportionally representative. Meaning that the number of seats in parliament each party has must be proportional to the number of voters they have and have a proportional share in the government. This is what must take place instead of majoritarian representation, where only one or two parties make up the government.Semi-formal institutionsSemi-formal institutions refer to those preliminary agreements that exist between influential party elites that become prerequisites for the organization and functionality of formal institutions. To consolidate a consensus parliamentary system in the region, two semi-formal institutions are needed. First, all influential parties and their leaders must participate in the government. Secondly, extensive autonomy must be given to all governorates in terms of political, cultural, and economic administration.Informal institutionsThose complex social structures that give order to social relations, such as a feeling of togetherness - whether that feeling is based on faith or worldview. In the Kurdistan region, informal institutions include religions and creeds, ideologies, and supporters of political parties (supporters of a political party are united by a sense of belonging to said party). Just as formal and semi-formal institutions compose a political system, in the same way, informal institutions shape political systems and have a notable impact on the effectiveness of formal institutions. To illustrate, in the Kurdistan Region, formal institutions must consider informal institutions. The parliament is a formal institution and party supporters are informal ones; if the parliament does not take party supporters into account, then it is not unlikely that the formal institution would face impediments and suspensions. Or, the legislative branch must take into account the beliefs of the majority and not pass laws that conflict with the beliefs that the majority holds.&nbsp;<blockquote>What exists in the region can be theorized as elite-democracy.&nbsp;</blockquote>Two characteristics of democratic-elite theory include discussing democracy by highlighting both formal institutions as well as the role of political elites. The theory puts forth two hypotheses; first is that, political power lies in formal political institutions. Secondly, political elites are the catalysts of institutions and exercise hegemonic power over formal institutions in times of decision-making.There is a truth that is somewhat neglected in the Kurdistan region. That truth is that supporting political elites is one of the most important prerequisites for the establishment of democratic institutions in transitional phases - such as the one the Kurdistan Region is undergoing. The scientific conclusion here would suggest that the most preliminary step to be taken, is to transform political disagreements into consensus instead. That step must be taken to guarantee one of the most effective prerequisites for political stability and institutional rigidity; Political Consensus.When political elites are in consensus, they reach a degree of unanimity regarding the value and importance of the work of political institutions (ie: all political elites would respect the decisions of the parliament as decisions stemming from a formal institution). Reorganizing institutions in a way that prevents the rise of majoritarian democracy, but rather consolidates consensus-democracy is the only way for the political elite to reach consensus and unanimity. Following a consensus parliamentary system based the principles of public interest and common interest must be attempted.&nbsp; Works CitedC. Wright Mills. The Power Elite.1956.G. William Domhoff. Who Rules America? 1967.Grofman, Bernard, and Arend Lijphart. Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences.&nbsp; Agathon Press, 1986.Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Riverside, Simon &amp; Schuster, 1996.Mills, C. W. “COMMUNITY POWER STRUCTURE: A STUDY of DECISION MAKERS. By Floyd Hunter. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1953.&nbsp;Schumpeter, Joseph. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York, Harper &amp; Brothers, 1942.

A Brief Discussion on Political Systems: Institutions and Political Elites

Tackling Breast Cancer in Kurdistan: Epidemiology, Early Detection, and Intervention Strategies

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