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Aitken, Robert Martin. "Localizing politics : Cardenismo, the mexican state and local politics in contemporary Michoacán /." [Leiden] : [Leiden university], 1999. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb39907167d.
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Woods, Michael. "Elites in the rural local state." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1983/b11941de-ee75-4694-8f69-6d0930078cd7.
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Halford, Susan Janine. "Local politics, feminism and the local state : women's initiatives in British local government in the 1980s." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.303870.
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Das, Raju J. "Local politics, the state and uneven development : the case of India /." The Ohio State University, 1996. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487935958844656.
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Jones, Benjamin. "Local-level politics in Uganda : institutional landscapes at the margins of the state." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2005. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/662/.
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Uganda has been considered one of Africa's few "success stories" over the past decade, an example of how a country can be transformed through a committed state bureaucracy. The thesis questions this view by looking at the experiences of development and change in a subparish in eastern Uganda. From this more local-level perspective, the thesis discusses the weakness of the state in the countryside, and incorporates the importance of religious and customary institutions. In place of a narrow view of politics, focused on reforms and policies coming from above, which rarely reach rural areas in a consistent or predictable way, the thesis describes political developments within a rural community. The thesis rests on two premises. First, that the state in rural Uganda has been too weak to support an effective bureaucratic presence in the countryside. Second, that politics at the local-level is an "open-ended" business, better understood through investigating a range of institutional spaces and activities, rather than a particular set of actions, or a single bureaucracy. Oledai sub-parish, which provides the empirical material for the thesis, was far removed from the idea of state-sponsored success described in the literature. Villagers had to contend with a history of violence, with recent impoverishment, and with the reality that the rural economy was unimportant in maintaining the structures of the government system. The thesis shows that the marginalisation of the countryside came at a time when central and local government structures had become increasingly reliant on funding from abroad. Aside from the analysing the weakness of the state bureaucracy, the thesis goes on to discuss broader changes in the life of the sub-parish, including the impact of a violent insurgency in the late 1980s. The thesis also looks at the role of churches and burial societies, institutions which have been largely ignored by the literature on political developments in Uganda. Religious and customary institutions, as well as the village court, provided spaces where political goals, such as settling disputes, building a career, or acquiring wealth, could be pursued.
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Foster, John M. "Voter Ideology, Tax Exporting, and State and Local Tax Structure." UKnowledge, 2012. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/msppa_etds/2.
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State and local governments play an important role in financing and delivering public services in the United States. In 2008, state and local governments collected 57 percent of total federal, state, and local revenue (Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, Tax Policy Center, 2009). The decentralization of fiscal responsibility has enabled a high degree of variation in state and local tax structures to emerge. This dissertation presents two empirical studies that extend the positive literature on state and local tax policy.
The extant literature contains evidence of a direct relationship between voter ideology and state and local tax progressivity. However, the measures of voter ideology that were used either did not capture differences in the intensity of voter liberalism across states, did not vary over time, or were beset with other limitations. This study uses the measure of average voter liberalism developed by Berry et al (1998). I find that average voter liberalism is significantly and positively-related to progressivity. However, the effect is small in magnitude. The ethnic congruence between the poor and the non-poor is positively-related to progressivity and the effects are economically significant. The degree of tension between ethnic groups, measured with an index of ethnic residential segregation, is significantly and inversely-related to progressivity. Both variables are statistically significant even with average voter liberalism held constant. It is possible that the ethnic demographic context reflects aspects of voters’ redistributive preferences that are not captured by measures of ideology.
Researchers have found relationships between states’ tax exporting capacities and the tax structures they adopt. Chapter 4 is the first study to examine the relationship between state tax exporting capacities and the business sales taxes. I find that the effective sales tax rate that governments impose on business purchases is not significantly influenced by a state’s capacity to export business taxes. It is, however, significantly and positively affected by a state’s ability to export taxes on households through the deductibility of state and local taxes under the federal income tax. A decrease in this offset is predicted to lead to an increase in the effective business sales tax rate, ceteris paribus.
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Westman, Philip. "The State of St Petersburg’s Municipalities : Conditions for Local Governance in Russia." Thesis, Södertörn University College, School of Life Sciences, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-404.
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The study’s focus is put on the lowest level of Russian local politics, empirically represented by two municipalities in St Petersburg. It aims at identifying factors that influence the work of municipal councils. Municipal organs are since their establishment in 1998 officially self-governing and responsible for a wide array of activities within their territories. They are perceived as administrative domains in this paper, parts of a hierarchic domain-structure. The municipal domains are both fiscally and politically restricted by upper political levels – mainly the regional authorities – that heavily reduce the capabilities of the municipal councils’ activities. Besides being dependent on resources from the regional and federal level, the municipal councils’ budgets are reliant on taxing of commercial retailing within its boundaries. Joint with the basic social and demographic circumstances of a municipality, this factor is likely to shape the extent of the council’s activity. The field study conducted specifies that while a geographically central municipality is engaged in infrastructure-maintenance and cultural activities, a peripheral ditto is mainly concerned with social help. Deputies in both districts perceive the current prospects of local government as being limited by outer influence, most of the people involved in the councils are unpaid and the resources needed to communicate with the inhabitants do not exist. The general and actual weakness of local governments is mirrored in the public attitudes, influenced by state-controlled media and revealed in participatory election turnouts. The election in December 2004 produced turnouts exceeding the legitimate limit of 20 % in almost all municipalities. However, the figures are to some extent the results of administrative pressure and liberals claim that plain frauds determined many outcomes. Tendencies point towards a politicization of municipal organs, whereas presently many perceive them as simply administrative. The municipal domain is characterized merely by responsibility instead of actual authority, ownership and substantial spatial impact. It is reliant on higher-level domains while competing for resources with neighboring domains.
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Warrington, F. "State policies for development and local level politics : A case study in Chicontepec, Ver., Mexico." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.375845.
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Hermanns, Heike Dorothee. "The state of democratic consolidation in Korea decentralisation and participation in local politics 1988-1998 /." Thesis, Boston Spa, U.K. : British Library Document Supply Centre, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.311169.
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Ormerod, Emma. "The local state of housing : deepening entrepreneurial governance and the place of politics and publics." Thesis, Durham University, 2017. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12388/.
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Housing is political, and its relation to the local state is undergoing a monumental transition. This research charts the journey of a neighbourhood in Gateshead, North East England through housing regeneration. It focuses on a joint venture partnership that has grown from a mired central state regeneration initiative, Housing Market Renewal. In doing so, it grounds and develops Bob Jessop’s (2016) most recent and flexible state theory, to posit the local state as an increasingly relevant conceptual and analytical frame through which to reveal contemporary transformations in local governance. Through an in-depth examination of the relations between new and old state actors, local politics and multiple publics, we can see who is governing and who matters. In positioning housing as central to a contemporary capitalist political economy, housing therefore becomes a key optic through which to understand the deepening of entrepreneurial governance under austerity localism. The local state in Gateshead is reconstructing the housing market and harnessing private finance. It has become a housing developer in its own right through a complex and opaque process of financialization. Despite an entrenched marketized logic, however, the local state is not simply a unified or monolithic structure. It consists of both structures and relations that are in constant struggle as it tentatively negotiates the current and unstable mode of local governance. Seeing the state as a fragmented, malleable and permeable set of relations reveals the various forms of power and sources of pressure within and beyond it. Through examples of both conflict and consensus building, a local struggle over representation and legitimacy opens up conceptual questions about politics and the political. As the local state moves increasingly away from previous processes of public engagement and actively conceals its role in housing development, this new governing arrangement is dislocating politicians from the publics they represent. The channeling of political power into the hands of new state actors is undoubtedly de-democratising. However, there remains the potential to disrupt, or re‐politicise such processes, which can offer hope to the place of politics and publics.
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Tewari, Meenu. "The distributive intent of the state and the politics of implementation at the local level." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78085.
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Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1988.Title as it appeared in MIT Graduate List, June 1988: Beyond dualism in urban development: the role of the informal sector as a mode of production in the urban economy--concepts, the Indian evidence and policy implications.
Includes bibliographical references.
by Meenu Tewari.
M.S.
M.C.P.
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Dougherty, Daniel Joseph. "The Political Future of Cities: Camden, New Jersey and the Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act of 2002." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2012. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/160643.
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Political SciencePh.D.
Since the mid-20th century demographic and economic changes have left older post-industrial American cities located amidst fragmented metropolitan areas and has resulted in the loss of political power accompanied by loss of economic wealth. This has left urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest United States in various states of decline. Located within the sixth largest metropolitan area in the country, the City of Camden, New Jersey is one of America's most distressed cities. During the longest period of decline and de-industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s, Camden lost nearly half of its industrial job base, more than other de-industrializing American cities and over one-third of its population. Currently, Camden's circumstances related to concentrated poverty, unemployment, failing schools and a crumbling infrastructure typify the worst consequences of urban decline. The Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act ("Camden Recovery Act") passed in 2002 was state-level legislation designed to intervene in Camden's municipal operations and re-structure economic development in the city in a way not seen since the Great Depression. Through the Camden Recovery Act, New Jersey's state government pumped tens of millions of dollars in additional spending into Camden for the purpose of re-positioning the city in the region through large-scale comprehensive redevelopment plans. In the process they took over virtually the entire decision-making apparatus and excluded Camden's municipal government from all but basic day-to-day governing decisions. Largely, the approach was in response to the various agendas and interests that influenced the Recovery Act: state legislators with regional agendas, county public officials seeking to bring more public investment to the city, and institutions in Camden working to revitalize the city. The politics of economic recovery in Camden lends to the discussion around the political future of older postindustrial cities in several ways. Primarily it illustrates political solutions to urban decline found at the state level with the support of a regional political coalition of urban and suburban lawmakers. Indeed, as the national economy in the United States has worsened in recent years, the fiscal health of cities has brought a renewed focus on the relationship between state and local governments. The case of Camden makes several points of comparison with state takeovers in similarly sized and situated cities. Critics of state takeovers point out that they are unconstitutional and call into question the imposition of state-appointed managers to take over control from democratically elected public officials, while proponents say it is the only way to get local government's fiscal house in order. However similar, Camden's takeover was more comprehensive than recent municipal bankruptcies and its redevelopment plans underscore the challenges faced in urban revitalization between the goals of efficiency and the values of democratic accountability.
Temple University--Theses
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Hussin, Iza R. "The politics of Islamic law : local elites, colonial authority, and the making of the Muslim state /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/10783.
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Grant, Patrick J. "All Politics is Local: Examining Afghanistan's Central Government's Role in State-Building at the Provincial Level." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1333061472.
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Jaros, Kyle Alan. "The Politics of Metropolitan Bias in China." Thesis, Harvard University, 2014. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:13064986.
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Policymakers in China and other developing countries grapple with a metropolitan dilemma. Building on the existing advantages of leading cities makes it easier to achieve fast, visible progress in economic development. But further concentrating resources in top urban centers can marginalize other areas, worsen urban congestion, and increase inequality. The degree to which governments favor key metropolitan centers relative to other cities and outlying areas in the distribution of policy support and resources is thus a consequential issue in development politics. Yet, scholars lack a systematic understanding of "metropolitan bias," and existing theories have difficulty explaining wide variation in development approaches over time and across regions in countries like China.
This project analyzes variation in development strategies across China's provinces during the 1990s and 2000s to shed light on the nature and sources of metropolitan bias. Existing research generally views favoritism toward large cities as an unintended consequence of rapid industrialization and rent-seeking dynamics. In contrast, I highlight more strategic efforts by higher-level governments to shape the growth of cities and regions, and probe the politics surrounding spatial development policies. First, I argue that metropolitan bias tends to be greater in provinces that have experienced lagging economic performance, where policymakers build up top cities as a means of enhancing regional competitiveness. Second, I argue that metropolitan-oriented development has been driven in large part by provincial governments, and that there is greater metropolitan bias where the provincial level is strong relative to other government tiers.
To develop and test these claims, I employ a mixed-method research design and draw on Chinese- and English-language written sources, interview material, and statistical data. Through comparative case studies of Jiangsu, Hunan, and Jiangxi provinces and analysis of China's policy institutions, I explore how different explanatory factors influence the formulation and implementation of development strategies. Meanwhile, I use statistical analysis to test how well key claims generalize to a larger sample of units. Beyond contributing in a timely way to our knowledge of the politics behind China's urban boom, the study advances our theoretical understanding of the politics of state-led development and multilevel governance more broadly.Government
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Schünwälder, Gerd. "Urban popular movements, political parties, and the state in post-authoritarian Peru : the local government nexus." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=28912.
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This dissertation examines the possible impact of direct political participation by urban popular movements at the level of local government. It is argued that these movements harbour a democratic potential, which is contained in their social, cultural, and political practices, as well as in the collective identities of their participants. The relevance of this democratic potential derives from the fact that it could serve to democratize other political actors, particularly political parties, and to render local political institutions more democratic and efficient, depending on three conditions. First, effective political decentralization has to result in the creation of institutional openings for popular participation at the local level. Second, in order to overcome their various limitations and to project their potential for change into the political arena, urban popular movements have to form alliances with other actors, particularly political parties. Third, since such alliances often result in cooptive pressures, urban popular movements should strive to form multiple alliances with more than one actor in order to better preserve their autonomy. In the second part of the dissertation, this theoretical framework is applied to a study of popular participation at different levels of local government in Lima, Peru. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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Park, Bae-Gyoon. "The territorial politics of regulation under State Capitalism : uneven regional development, regional parties, and the politics of local economic development in South Korea /." The Ohio State University, 2001. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/51972233.html.
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Boshoff, Willem Hendrik. "Political reality of local government service provision in the Free State Province." Thesis, Bloemfontein : Central University of Technology, Free State, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/133.
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Thesis (D. Tech.(Public Management)) -- Central University of Technology, free State, 2011The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, No. 108 of 1996 (SA, 1996) brought about a new system of government comprised of the national, provincial and local government spheres. In terms of the Constitution, these spheres of government must establish effective, transparent and accountable government. Local government is specifically responsible for the provision of democratic and accountable government to local communities, and for ensuring that municipal services are rendered to the community. As in the case of the national and provincial spheres of government, local government has a distinctive political nature and character. Councillors are elected to represent the voters who participate in municipal elections, as well as the relevant political parties, on municipal councils. The decisions of municipal councils are influenced by political considerations, as well as by the policy directives of the ruling party. The Constitution also establishes and describes the various governmental bodies that exercise the powers of the state. These governmental bodies represent the state and can be classified in terms of three primary groups, namely legislative, executive and legal structures. In a bona fide democracy, the doctrine of separation of powers, also known as the trias politica, is of fundamental importance in order to prevent autocracy and ensure civil liberty. The provision of viable municipal services is the most crucial reason for the existence of local government. The community has a legitimate expectation with regard to the provision of appropriate municipal services; and in terms of the Municipal Systems Act, No. 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000c) municipalities must supply basic municipal services in order to ensure an acceptable quality of life. However, inadequate levels of municipal service provision are encountered in South Africa in general, and in the Free State in particular. Such inadequate service provision has led to several violent community-protest actions in the country. These protests are an indication that municipal service provision does not meet the expectations of the communities. Various factors tend to have a negative effect on local government in the Free State, including capacity shortages, such as the lack of professional and experienced staff; financial shortages; and the extensive quantity and complexity of local government legislation. Political challenges that influence local government service provision include factors such as the absence of the political will to provide services, political in-fighting within the ruling party, the selection criteria for the appointment of municipal employees, and political interference in municipal administration. It is also essential that the ruling party should put acceptable mechanisms in place to ensure that the public sector becomes an effective instrument for carrying out the ruling party‟s mandate, rather than allowing political interference to affect the day-to-day activities of government. In order to meet the needs of the community with regard to service provision, it is essential that the three spheres of government should function as a coherent unit. Intergovernmental relations therefore play a central role in ensuring that the joint functions of government are effectively carried out. The national and provincial departments have a specific responsibility to support and strengthen local government capacity, and also to ensure the effective execution of municipal functions. However, various intergovernmental challenges need to be dealt with, namely ineffective co-ordination and integration, as well as the absence of the political will to promote intergovernmental relations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify specific actions and strategies that can be implemented by the government in order to address the challenges that have a negative influence on local government service provision, with specific reference to the political challenges.
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Steinbeiss, Meghan. "THE EFFECT OF STATES OF EMERGENCY ON GUBERNATORIAL APPROVAL RATINGS." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/polysci_etds/29.
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To what extent do unexpected, apolitical events affect governors’ popularity? Individuals’ attitudes towards government are often random, and executives at both the state-level and national-level are held accountable for events that they have little control over. In this study, I seek to understand how these unplanned events affect support for elected officials. Specifically, I examine the effect of the declaration of a State of Emergency on gubernatorial approval. I use an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and data from FEMA as well as the United States Officials Job Approval Ratings dataset to answer such questions. The results indicate that not only do natural and manmade disasters NOT have a negative effect on governors’ popularity, there is actually no correlation between the two variables at all. Instead, I find that relative to one another, major disaster declarations have a stronger negative effect on a governor’s approval ratings than emergency declarations. Though surprising, I suggest that these disasters simply do not affect enough individuals for a long enough time to have an impact on gubernatorial popularity.
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Martin, Kirsty School of Sociology UNSW. "The state, local communities and women : a study of women???s organisations in Malang, East Java." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Sociology, 2004. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20637.
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This thesis is an ethnographic study of five women???s organisations in Malang, Indonesia. The contemporary significance of local women???s organisations in the lives of kampung women in Indonesia is revealed through an investigation of the relationship between the Indonesian state, local communities and women. This study sets contemporary women???s organisations in the context of their changing historical role and relationship with the state. Women???s organisations have been a part of the Indonesian political and social landscape since the early twentieth century. They played an important role in mobilising women during the struggle for independence. Under Sukarno???s policy of Guided Democracy, restrictions were placed on the political mobilising role of all organisations, including those for women. These restrictions were taken much further under Suharto???s New Order government when many were proscribed. Only state-approved and controlled organisations were accepted. The New Order era essentially undermined the credibility of women???s organisations as vehicles for promoting women???s interests, instead they were generally regarded as ???tools of the state???. Indonesianists and feminists have been especially critical of state-run women???s organisations arguing they have offered Indonesian women ???no path to female power???. This perception of state-sponsored women???s organisations has continued in the post-Suharto era even though their links to the state have changed radically. They now exist alongside a range of NGOs, religious and social women???s organisations. The crucial question that this thesis addresses is why these state-sponsored organisations continue to exist and what motivates women???s participation in these organisations? Through membership in local women???s organisations women enter into a complex relationship with the state, local society and the socio-religious and political institutions within the wider society. The membership status women enjoy provides them with opportunities to engage in a social bargain. Through this bargaining process, local women make social, religious, personal and romantic gains for themselves. The results of the social bargaining process depend largely on the particular organisation to which women belong but they remain strongly oriented towards their local kampung worlds. The thesis provides an alternative way of thinking about the complex role that women???s organisations play in Indonesian society and what function they may continue to have within Indonesia???s post-Suharto future.
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Masson, Dominique. "With and despite the state, doing women's movement politics in local service groups in the 1980s in Québec." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ37074.pdf.
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Carnoy, Juliet M. "Proposition 14 and its Affect on Local Democracy in California State Assembly Districts: An Explanatory Study of Voter Turnout in California State Assembly Districts in the 2012 Primary and General Election." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/281.
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Elections are a core element in democracy, and a number of analysts have identified electoral participation of eligible voters as an important indicator of how well democracy is functioning at a particular time in a particular place (see, for example, Burnham, Elections as Democratic Institutions, 1987). In such studies, a major lament about U.S. democracy has been the decline in citizens’ participation in elections.
In 2010, California voters passed Proposition 14. Proposition 14 enforces an open primary in which the top two candidates who garner the highest vote totals proceed to the general election, regardless of party. Supporters of Proposition 14 believe that a Top-Two primary will create more moderate candidates, which will appeal to a larger cross section of the electorate and increase competition and voter turnout. Opponents of Proposition 14 claimed the opposite, and believe that the constitutional amendment will decrease voter turnout due to lack of plurality, as write-ins will be eliminated and only two candidates will contend in the general election.
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Boshoff, Willem Hendrik. "Policy-making for local government excellence in the Free State province." Thesis, Bloemfontein : Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/101.
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Thesis (M. Tech) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008In terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), local government in South Africa is obliged to ensure that sustainable services are provided to communities. Without any doubt, the effective and efficient execution of this responsibility would bring about an environment conducive to service excellence on local government level. However, South African municipalities are characterised by poor service provision; and the various incidents arising from dissatisfaction on the part of residents in respect of the services rendered are daily becoming a greater challenge to municipalities in the Free State Province. In order to meet the service provision standards, as stipulated in the Constitution, the development and implementation of municipal policies is essential. Policy is defined, inter alia, as the setting out of basic principles that must be pursued in order to achieve specific objectives. Local government has the legislative and executive competency to develop and implement policies. As a result of the diversity and complexity of policy-making, a conceptual framework for the policy-making process at local government level is an essential requirement. This process is described in the dissertation as a sequential pattern consisting of the following phases: policy agenda-setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation and execution and policy evaluation. However, municipalities do not have the institutional capacity, skills and experience necessary for the development and implementation of municipal policies. A further aspect that complicates the creation and implementation of policies is the large amount of legislation that regulates local government in South Africa. This legislation also requires municipalities to develop and implement various policies. There are several factors that influence policy-making at local government level. Aspects such as the political environment, the financial environment and community needs have a direct and significant effect on policy-making at this level of government. Capacity shortages probably comprise the factor that has the most detrimental effect on policy-making at local government level; and therefore the necessity for the relevant skills and knowledge relating to policymaking is indisputable. It is just as essential, however, that the other two spheres of government, namely national and provincial government, should carry out their constitutional obligation to support municipalities and strengthen their capacity. Therefore, the aim of this study is, firstly, to identify specific actions that could be implemented by local and district municipalities to improve the policy-making process. Secondly, to determine the reasons for the inadequate formulation, adoption and implementation of the municipal policies. Thirdly, to determine the specific role of national and provincial government, as well as that of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), in supporting municipalities in the policy-making process. In addition, strategies that could be implemented in order to improve the institutional capacity, skills and experience at local government level, with a view to developing and implementing appropriate policies, have also been identified.
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Turkmen, Hade. "Radicalisation Of Politics At The Local Level: The Case Of Fatsa During The Late 1970s." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12608106/index.pdf.
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Urban space is an arena of conficting interests. Seldomly dominated has the opportunity to express its identity on and through urban space as the exploited and oppressed groups lose their voice within the insitititonalised channels of representation. On the other hand, the localised voices do not have the chance to change the urban meaning and the power structure. In the 1970s, urban social movements were seen as an alternative form of interest representation which could challenge the dominant power relations and create a new urban meaning. Yet, such movements were largely failed to mount such a challenge to the dominant urban system partly due to their localised forms.
In Turkey, 1970s witnessed to a radicalisation of political life including the urban areas. The mobilisations such as the New Municipalism and Squatter Movements supported by radical youth movements were the examples of emerging radicalism of that period.
In the late 1970s, a relatively small Black Sea town, namely, Fatsa underwent a radical transformation when one of the radical left wing movement took control of the municipality in the byelections. After a long period of domination of mainstream parties upon the municipality, a self decleared revolutionary movement won the local elections with their independent candidate and came to power in Fatsa Municipality. If this was possible it was largely due to active involvement of the prestigous local actors in this process. In other words, a sucessful articulation of a national revolutionary group with influencial local actors created a unique situation by bringing them to power in this particular municipality. This change was followed by the rise of new and novel forms of municipal policies and of participatory mechanisms. In the identification of problems and their solutions the participation of local population is seen as the key element by the new administration.
This thesis examines the rise and decline of Fatsa experience as one of the example of radicalisation of urban politics by linking the experience to the contextual features of local politics. It is claimed that to explain the Fatsa experience it is not enough to look at either to the (national) contextual features or the local specificities such as the status of those local actors etc. A satisfactory approach has to take both local specificities and national contextual features into account within a syntetic framework.
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Boyle, Mark. "The cultural politics of Glasgow, European City of Culture : making sense of the role of the local state in urban regeneration." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/20204.
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This thesis takes its inspiration from the recent 'cultural turn' in Social Theory. The 'cultural turn' calls upon researcher to 'de-naturalise' many of the 'taken for granted' assumptions which sustain institutional practices as legitimate. Instead of studying social institutions within particular interpretative communities, the 'cultural turn' encourages researchers to make the deconstruction of interpretative communities itself the raison d'^etre of research. The project focusses upon the role of the Local state in areas undergoing urban regeneration. Urban regeneration has led the Local State into policy areas it previously had no interest in. This has been accompanied by much debate over what the proper role of this institution ought to be. By deconstructing these debates, one can gain insight into the different interpretative communities which support the Local State. The empirical study examines the debates which took place in Glasgow during 1990 over the city's role as European City of Culture. Four areas of conflict are examined; the cultural substance of the event, the emphasis placed upon cultural as opposed to housing policy, the morality of image building projects, and the financial competence of officials. The thesis advanced is that these four areas of conflict represent attempts by Glaswegians to make sense of a transition from a managerialist Local State to an entrepreneurial one. The managerialist interpretative community operates with a reified concept of wealth redistribution and the provision of items of collective consumption. The entrepreneurial interpretive community, in contrast, operates with a reified concept of capitalism. The conflict generated between both communities is tantamount to a new cultural politics within which the 'proper' role of the Local state is being shaped. Given the pervasiveness of conflict in Glasgow during 1990, it is concluded that entrepreneurialism did not necessarily secure hegemonic status in the city.
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Randzio, Kassia C. "The Wild Sky Wilderness Proposal: Politics, Process, and Participation in Wilderness Designation." Connect to this title, 2008. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/142/.
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Chen, Chun-Fung. "The politics of renewable energy in China : towards a new model of environmental governance?" Thesis, University of Bath, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665423.
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The use of renewable energy as part of the solution for stabilising global warming has been promoted in industrialised countries for the past three decades. In the last ten years, China, a non-democratic and less-developed state, has implemented non-hydro alternative energy sources through top-down, technology-oriented measures and expanded its renewable energy capacity with unprecedented speed and breadth. This phenomenon seems to contradict to the principle of orthodox environmental governance, in which stakeholder participation is deemed as necessary condition for effective policy outcomes. Given that little research has been conducted on environmental politics in an authoritarian context, I first set out to explore the role of the Chinese state in enabling transformation of the renewable energy sector and to understand the ways in which policy elites seek to introduce developmental state and ecological modernisation strategy in the policy area. Second, by adopting principal-agent theory, I explicate how the governance mechanisms have been deployed and how challenges of the expansion of the sector in the governance system with a large territory have being mitigated. Based upon news reports, policy documents, and interviews with 32 provincial officials, business leaders, academic researchers, and NGO practitioners in two subnational governments, I argue that the renewable energy development in China is governed through a hybrid mode of environmental policy model that uses, upon the existing developmental state regime, ecological modernisation as a policy paradigm, which is partially incorporated in the process. Ultimately, I examine in this thesis the possibility of an alternative form of environmental governance in which renewable energy can be diffused in a less-participatory manner, with more direct controls and target-oriented state intervention measures. This thesis challenges the orthodox assumption that the inclusive mode of governance are the only capable form of environmental governance that reaches desired policy outcomes of renewable energy deployment.
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Leduka, Moliehi. "Participatory budgeting in the South African local government context : the case of the Mantsopa local municipality, Free State Province." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2835.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.This study was carried out to assess the extent of citizen participation in local government decision-making, with focus on the local government budgeting processes. A framework of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil is used to assess participation in budgeting in the Mantsopa Local Municipality in the Free State Province with a view to drawing appropriate lessons for South Africa as a whole. The research looks at three important concepts in governance. The first is the issue of good governance. The second is citizen participation and collaboration as cornerstones of good governance. The third is participatory budgeting as an aspect of citizen participation and collaborative decisionmaking. A multiple research approach was employed, which included the use of focus group discussions, and interviews to examine the level of citizen participation in local government decision-making process within the Mantsopa Municipality. Municipal documents and records were used to analyse the existing situation within the municipality. The research found out that the political and administrative elites are still holding on to power that should be in the hands of citizens. Civil society groups are still being neglected in local government decision-making. Citizens are also not being encouraged and mobilised to take part in the budget process. The issue of racial discrimination in engaging citizens in decision-making still exists. Mostly, the white business and farming community felt that they were largely excluded from these processes.
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Elfversson, Emma. "Central Politics and Local Peacemaking : The Conditions for Peace after Communal Conflict." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-324928.
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Under what conditions can peace be established after violent communal conflict? This question has received limited research attention to date, despite the fact that communal conflicts kill thousands of people each year and often severely disrupt local livelihoods. This dissertation analyzes how political dynamics affect prospects for peace after communal conflict. It does so by studying the role of the central government, local state and non-state actors, and the interactions between these actors and the communal groups that are engaged in armed conflict. A particular focus is on the role of political bias, in the sense that central government actors have ties to one side in the conflict or strategic interests in the conflict issue. The central claim is that political bias shapes government strategies in the face of conflict, and influences the conflict parties’ strategic calculations and ability to overcome mistrust and engage in conflict resolution. To assess these arguments, the dissertation strategically employs different research methods to develop and test theoretical arguments in four individual essays. Two of the essays rely on novel data to undertake the first cross-national large-N studies of government intervention in communal conflict and how it affects the risk of conflict recurrence. Essay I finds that conflicts that are located in an economically important area, revolve around land and authority, or involve groups with ethnic ties to central rulers are more likely to prompt military intervention by the government. Essay II finds that ethnic ties, in turn, condition the impact that government intervention has on the risk of conflict recurrence. The other two essays are based on systematic analysis of qualitative sources, including unique and extensive interview material collected during several field trips to Kenya. Essay III finds that government bias makes it more difficult for the conflict parties to resolve their conflict through peace agreements. Essay IV finds that by engaging in governance roles otherwise associated with the state, non-state actors can become successful local peacemakers. Taken together, the essays make important contributions by developing, assessing and refining theories concerning the prospects for communal conflict resolution.
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Koyama, Shukuko. "Security Sector Change in Georgia, 1985 - 2008 Local Dynamics, Politics of Reform and Paramilitaries." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17312.
Full textAbstract:
The literature on security sector actors in transitional societies emerging from war
and/or authoritarianism has evolved by critiquing local perspectives recently.
While the existing literature has extensively analysed transitional societies in
Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe, the thesis adds a new geographical
perspective by providing a case study of security sector change processes in the
Republic of Georgia, 1985 - 2008. More specifically, the thesis examines the local
processes and drivers of security sector change in Georgia, and their interrelationships
with donor supported programmes including SSR. The thesis
employs a political economy analysis to examine indigenous security sector
actors and their characteristics. Based on the approach, the thesis particularly
examines processes of change and reform of policing institutions. The
paramilitary is identified and examined as a key focus for analysis.
The research shows that political dynamics among a few political elites
determined the course of security sector change in Georgia. Despite ample
external assistance, domestic political dynamics remained the main driving factor
in the SSR agenda-setting process. In the politically-driven security sector
change efforts, the restoration and maintenance of regime security remained a
priority under both the Shevardnadze and Saakashvili regimes. Overall, the
security sector actors played significant role in the political developments.
Consequently, the process of changing these actors was a largely domestically
driven political process. The role of paramilitaries in relation to regime security
and the security sector change agenda-setting process in Georgia requires the
security sector research to treat paramilitary as a distinguished unit for
consideration.Akino Yutaka Eurasia Fund and the United Nations University Akino Memorial Research Fellowship.
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Chen, Zetao. "Local organizations and efficiency of state extraction in rural China: a case study of a county in Guangdong Province, 1949-1956 /Chen Zetao." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2016. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/360.
Full textAbstract:
The present study focuses on the local organizations and state extraction in rural China from 1949 to 1956. But in order to provide an understanding of context and processes the thesis at the same time examines the secular changes in local organizations and the historical experience of state extraction in rural China during a relatively long period from the fourteenth century to 1956. Specifically, the present study focuses on the relationships between local organizations and the efficiency (transaction costs) of state extraction in rural China from the fourteenth century to 1956, and finds that the actions and interactions of the state (or rulers), state agents (recorders in lijia organization and lineage leaders before the twentieth century, local bosses during the first half of the twentieth century, and heads and recorders in the collectives after 1949), and constituents (the common peasants) led to the changes of institutions in state extraction (forms of taxation, forms of contract between the state and state agents, structures of local organizations) and institutions in broader social context (informal institutions), and the changes in the efficiency (transaction costs) of state extraction, by using the historical experience of state extraction from villages in A County (a County in southeast China) from the fourteenth century to 1956 as a case study. The thesis therefore revises key aspects of the new institutionalism model (Williamson 1975; North 1981, 1991; Kiser 1994; Levi 1988), and develops a new model for understanding organizations, what might be called the process institutionalism model. In contrast to the new institutionalism model which emphasizes the efficiency properties of alternative forms of organization, and their centrality to the actions and interactions of organization participants and the other actors in broader social context, the process institutionalism model focuses on the processes whereby the organizational participants and the other actors in broader social context, having different interests and valuing various inducements, take actions and interact with each other, and emphasizes that the processes of the actions and interactions of organization participants and the other actors in broader social context are fundamentally important to the changes in organization structures and the other institutions in broader social context, and the changes in the efficiency of institutional patterns. Secondly, the present study follows the research approach opened by Schumpeter (1991) and develops a relatively complete framework to understand the changes in state institutions, and the efficiency of state extraction, not only in China, but also in the other countries after the fourteenth century (including the development of a relatively strong central representative institution in England in the seventeenth century and the establishment of bureaucratic monarchy in the major European continental countries in the eighteenth century).
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Matlanyane, Letlatsa. "Local government in post-1993 Lesotho : an analysis of the role of traditional leaders." Thesis, Bloemfontein: Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/240.
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Thesis ( M. Tech. (Public Management )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013Traditional Leaders (Chiefs) historically served as “governors” of their communities with authority over all aspects of life, ranging from social welfare to judicial functions. The Basotho generally hold Chiefs in high esteem, continue to turn to them for assistance when conflict arises, depend on them for services, such as birth and death registration and regard them as integral and relevant role-players in local governance. Although many countries in Africa maintain a system of Traditional Leadership and many have incorporated Traditional Leaders into democratic forms of government, a concern exists in some quarters that Chieftainship in Lesotho may present a challenge to democratic governance and development. Similarly, local government structures created by the current decentralisation processes are perceived by many as deteriorating the authority of Chiefs. According to the Constitution of Lesotho, 1993 (Act 5 of 1993), the co- existence of the Chiefs and local Councils are legitimised. Under the legislation governing this process (the Local Government Act, 1997 (Act 6 of 1997), some of their powers and functions have been transferred to local government structures. The major sources of conflict between Chiefs and Councillors appear to be uncertainty and confusion around roles and functions of the various role-players created by the legislative and institutional framework and the loss of power and status that many Chiefs feel. Some of this confusion may be a deliberate form of resistance to the changes, but it is apparent that legislative clarity is required and that the roles and functions of all role- players need to be clearly defined and understood if development is to take place in a coordinated way. The inclusion of two Chiefs in each Community Council as well as two in District Municipalities would seem a genuine attempt to ensure that Chiefs are not marginalised in this modern system of local governance in Lesotho. The high proportion of Traditional Leaders (Principal Chiefs) in the Senate is a clear indication of the pre-eminence of the institution of Chieftaincy (Traditional Leadership) in Lesotho. On the other hand, the National Assembly is completely elected and consists of 120 members, elected through the so-called Mixed–Member-Proportional representation model. Although Chieftaincy is part of this organ of the state, it has limited powers in the legislative process and general decision-making processes outside Parliament. These powers are instead a jurisdiction of the elected representatives in the National Assembly. A similar set up exists at the local government level where Councillors enjoy decision-making powers with Chieftainship structures, such as the village, area and ward Chiefs role being ambiguously defined. It is very clear that the co-existence of the two institutions is a very crucial and challenging one. This co-existence has raised a number of political, developmental and conceptual problems and problems and challenges that have not been adequately addressed, let alone resolved. One of the problems is the anomalous situation in which people are simultaneously citizens of the state and subjects of the Chiefs. Other challenges include, amongst others, contradicting legislation, revenue constraints, a lack of human resource capacity, poor stakeholder management, the increasing rate of HIV/Aids in Lesotho, and so forth. Possible causes of these challenges had been investigated as well as how they can be managed or minimised in order to enable Chiefs to play an effective role in a modern democracy. With this research study an attempt was made to explore the role of Traditional Leaders in the current system of local government in Lesotho and how to improve Chieftainship as a strategy to complement governance at the grassroots level. The term “Chiefs” is used in this research study as synonymous to Traditional Leaders, because it is the term used in all legislation dealing with Traditional Leaders in Lesotho and it includes Principal Chiefs, Area Chiefs, Chiefs and Headmen, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
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Stoycheva, Rayna L. "Sustainable governance and management of defined benefit plans in the pubic sector: lessons from the turbulent decade of 2000-2009." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/41227.
Full textAbstract:
This study examined the determinants of public pension fund performance through the lens of agency theory. The study sought to answer the following questions: (1) How much of the fluctuation in the performance of pension plans is due to political interference - either directly from decisions made by legislatures or through the governance structure of the pension boards, after controlling for asset allocation, plan size, and other external factors? (2) Do pension board expertise, education and training, and information disclosure requirements improve the performance of pension plans? (3) Do pension trustees strategically determine the actuarial rate of return (discount rate) in order to reduce contributions in times of fiscal stress for the pension sponsor? Using longitudinal data of pension fund performance over the period 2000 to 2009 and instrumental variables methods to address endogeneity issues, the study found partial support for the agency theory hypotheses. The results indicate that political interference through reduced contributions was the main factor explaining pension performance. There was no direct evidence about the negative impact of politically appointed trustees on pension performance. The impact of these findings for current policy and future research are discussed.
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Stoycheva, Rayna L. "Sustainable Governance and Management of Defined Benefit Plans in the Public Sector: Lessons From the Turbulent Decade of 2000-2009." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2011. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/pmap_diss/44.
Full textAbstract:
This study examined the determinants of public pension fund performance through the lens of agency theory. The study sought to answer the following questions: (1) How much of the fluctuation in the performance of pension plans is due to political interference - either directly from decisions made by legislatures or through the governance structure of the pension boards, after controlling for asset allocation, plan size, and other external factors? (2) Do pension board expertise, education and training, and information disclosure requirements improve the performance of pension plans? (3) Do pension trustees strategically determine the actuarial rate of return (discount rate) in order to reduce contributions in times of fiscal stress for the pension sponsor? Using longitudinal data of pension fund performance over the period 2000 to 2009 and instrumental variables methods to address endogeneity issues, the study found partial support for the agency theory hypotheses. The results indicate that political interference through reduced contributions was the main factor explaining pension performance. There was no direct evidence about the negative impact of politically appointed trustees on pension performance. The impact of these findings for current policy and future research are discussed.
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Monaco, Sara. "Neighbourhood Politics in Transition : Residents' Associations and Local Government in Post-Apartheid Cape Town /." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Uppsala universitetsbibliotek [distributör], 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-8434.
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Towongo, Oba Cicilia Tito. "Examining the role of local government County legislative council in promoting service delivery in South Sudan, case of Yei River County, Central Equatoria State." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1007097.
Full textAbstract:
This Study was conducted in Yei River County, Central Equatoria State the Republic of South Sudan from July-December/2012 under the topic: Examining the role of Local Government County Legislative Council in promoting service delivery. The Legislative Council in Yei was established since 2007 inaccordance with the provisions of the Transition Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011:166, LG Act, 2009:8-29 and Governors’ Decree dated 25/August/2007 with the mandate to enact laws and policies and supervise the Executive to implement its decisions. The study investigated into why there was under performance of Legislative Council in promoting service delivery in Yei River County (YRC) and how can service delivery be improved in YRC. The findings revealed that, the capacity of the Council is low in making appropriate decisions and supervising the Executive to implement its decisions, it lacks the necessary working requirements to facilitate its duties, some of its directives are not implemented by the Executive and negative attitudes towards the work of the Council by some members of the Executive. Despite the difficulties encountered, the Council was able to enact 31 laws, conducted some joint consultative meetings on County projects and the study recommended that, the relevant institutions of Local Government to review the irregularities in the Local Government Act of 2009 to regulate the duties of the Council and to guide the recruitment of the future Councillors, training of the Councillors to improve performance, improve the working conditions of the Council, conduct public awareness on the role of the Council and promotion of exchange programs for further learning purposes. The significance of this study is that, the topic was good according to the participants, the recommendations of the study may be adopted by the Local Government Authorities to address the identified gaps and challenges facing the Council not only in Yei River County but also in other parts of the Country and finally, the report may be used by the University of Fort Hare for further Academic purposes and/or other interested individuals/institutions or organizations of the same or similar objectives.
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Yasar, Rusen. "The institutionalization of multilevel politics in Europe." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2017. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/269685.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis addresses the question as to why multilevel politics is becoming an integral part of politics in Europe. Multilevel politics is conceptualized as a system which functions through a complex web of political relations within and across levels of decision making. The thesis argues that the rise of multilevel politics can be explained by its institutionalization in terms of the emergence, the evolution and especially the effects of relevant institutions. Based on a mixed-method research project, the influence of European institutions on subnational actors and the alignment of actor motives with institutional characteristics are empirically shown. The first chapter of the dissertation establishes the centrality of institutions for political transformation, examines the role of transnational and domestic institutions for multilevel politics, and contextualizes the research question in terms of institution-actor relations. The second chapter develops a new-institutionalist theoretical framework that explains the emergence, the evolution and the effects of the institutions, and formulates a series of hypotheses with regard to freestanding institutional influence, power distribution, material benefits and political identification. The third chapter outlines the mixed-method research design which addresses individual-level and institutional-level variations through a Europe-wide survey and a comparative case study. The fourth chapter on survey results shows generally favourable views on multilevel politics, and strong associations of these views with the independent variables under scrutiny. The fifth chapter specifies a multivariate model which includes all posited variables and confirms the majority of the hypotheses. Therefore, the new-institutionalist argument is broadly confirmed, while there is relatively weak evidence to sustain sociological explanations. The final chapter compares the Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and examines the institutional characteristics which correspond to the hypothesized variables. It is then concluded that the two institutions share several overarching similarities, and display complementarity in other aspects.
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Gaarder, Christopher. "California's Foreign Relations." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1147.
Full textAbstract:
Globalization has significantly increased the number of stakeholders in transnational issues in recent decades. The typical list of the new players in global affairs often includes non-state actors like non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and international organizations. Sub-national governments, however, have been given relatively little attention even though they, too, have a significant interest and ability to shape the increasing flow of capital, goods, services, people, and ideas that has so profoundly influenced the global political economy in recent decades. California, arguably the most significant among sub-national governments – its economy would be seventh or eighth in the world at $2.2 trillion annually, it engages in over $570 billion in merchandise trade, and has a population of nearly 40 million, out of which over 10 million are immigrants – is also one of the most active in transnational issues. The state government has opened and closed dozens trade offices abroad since the 1960s. It set up a multi-billion dollar carbon cap-and-trade system jointly with the Canadian provinces of Québec and Ontario under Assembly Bill 32, one of the most significant pieces of climate change legislation to date. California’s educational, technological, and media hubs – its public and private universities, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood – draw some of the best and brightest from around the world. California also has a long history of involvement in transnational issues. State efforts to undermine growing Chinese then Japanese “menace” immigrant populations from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries influenced United States foreign policy.
This thesis first takes a look at the federalism and international relations issues faced by California as it plays a greater role in transnational issues. Then, it examines the main actors and institutions, and the issues at play. The states have some leeway under the Constitution and contemporary political order to use their domestic powers to influence global issues, whether through climate legislation, public pension divestment, or non-binding “Memoranda of Understanding” with foreign governments. Such behavior, while less significant than national policy, can fill gaps in national policy, promote policy change, and deepen global ties, promoting a more complex interdependence among nations. California can also exert a moral, soft power influence in leading by example. The structures promoting California’s growing role in transnational issues are poorly organized. If the Golden State is to better leverage its political, economic, and moral authority internationally, it would do well to more explicitly develop a unified vision for its role in the world.
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Iyoha, Friday Ebose. "Local government and rural development in Bendel State Nigeria : constraints on local involvement and effectiveness." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.334434.
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He, Songbai. "Politics of the state and foreign capital : the case of China, 1979-1993 /." Thesis, This resource online, 1994. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02132009-172620/.
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Miller, Christopher Jan. "Public service, trade unionism and the decentralisation of the local state." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.331991.
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Melcher, Douglas C. "State and local telecommunications networks : institutional and political factors influencing government deployment strategies." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39090.
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Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).
by Douglas C. Melcher.
M.S.
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Hackett, Ursula. "Explaining inter-state variation in aid for children at private religious schools in the United States, up to 2012." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:140dbeed-db56-43d9-bf01-f2293734ac39.
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This American Political Development research explains cross-state variation in aid for children at private religious schools in the United States up to the end of 2012. Using a mixed-methods approach I examine how the institutional orderings of Federalism, Constitution, Church and Party affect policymaker decisions to instigate and sustain programmes of aid. By ‘aid’ I mean education vouchers and tax credits, transportation, textbook loans, equipment, nursing and food services, and tax exemptions for private religious school property. I conduct Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis across all fifty states, supported by interview and archival research in six case-study states – California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New York and Utah – and by statistical treatment of the constitutional amendments known as ‘No-Aid Provisions’. All of the aid policies examined here are ‘submerged’ in Mettler’s terms, in that they help private organizations to take on state functions, re-frame such functions in terms of the marketplace, and are poorly understood by the public. In this thesis I extend Mettler’s conception of submergedness to explain when institutions matter, which institutions matter, and why they matter for religious school student aid. State decentralization is necessary for high levels of aid and a high proportion of Catholics is sufficient for high levels of aid. Republican control of the state offices is a necessary condition for the passage of tax credit or voucher scholarships but not for other types of aid. No-Aid Provisions are unrelated to aid. Of the four institutional explanatory conditions, Federalism and Church have the most important effects on aid for children at private religious schools. Party explains some types of aid but not all, and Constitution is surprisingly lacking in explanatory power.
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Mattner, Mark. "Appearing like a state: oil companies and local violence in the Niger Delta." Thesis, McGill University, 2012. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=107641.
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What determines the extent to which communities in the Niger Delta experience violence? The dissertation addresses this question by focusing on the role of multinational oil companies in local governance, where state institutions are weak. The available literature often overlooks this important dimension. Specifically, the dissertation evaluates whether the choice of community relation policies by oil companies accounts for variations in local violence. These policies often include community development projects and attempts at strengthening local institutions. The main hypothesis is that where projects are allocated and implemented through participatory processes, informal institutions are created which substitute for weak local governments and reduce violence. The dissertation tests this contention by comparing four cases which were selected according to differences in their levels of violence. It concludes that the hypothesis is valid only in highly specific circumstances. In most cases, levels of repression and the relationship between companies and local elites are more significant explanations for violence. This is because oil companies and the state continue to rely primarily on repression and co-optation in their relationship with local communities. Community development and corporate social responsibility are secondary concerns. The central implication of this analysis is that a solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta is unlikely to lie in self-regulation and non-binding commitments by corporate actors. More promising approaches are strengthening local governments by ensuring the integrity of local elections and more stringent regulation of oil company conduct.Qu'est ce qui détermine la mesure dans laquelle les communautés dans le Delta du Niger souffrent de la violence pétrolière? Cette thèse aborde cette question en se concentrant sur le rôle des compagnies pétrolières multinationales en matière de gouvernance locale où les institutions étatiques sont faibles. La littérature disponible néglige souvent cette dimension importante. La thèse évalue si le choix des compagnies concernant leurs techniques de relations avec les communautés locales explique les variations de la violence locale. Ces techniques comprennent souvent des projets de développement local et de soutien des institutions locales. La proposition principale est que si les projets sont planifiées et mis en œuvre de manière participative, des institutions informelles peuvent être créées et ainsi se substituer aux faibles gouvernements locaux et réduire la violence. La thèse teste cette proposition en comparant quatre communautés locales qui ont été sélectionnées en fonction de leurs différences en matière de violence. Elle conclut que la proposition n'est valable que dans des circonstances très spécifiques. Dans la plupart des cas, la relation entre les compagnies et les élites locales ainsi que le niveau de répression sont des explications plus significatives. La raison est que les compagnies pétrolières et l'Etat continuent de s'appuyer principalement sur la cooptation et la répression afin de protéger l'exploitation du pétrole. Le développement local et la responsabilité sociale sont des préoccupations secondaires. L'implication centrale de cette analyse est que les engagements d'autorégulation non contraignante par les compagnies pétrolières ne représentent pas une solution réaliste à la crise dans le Delta du Niger. Le renforcement des gouvernements locaux et la réglementation plus stricte des compagnies pétrolières sont des approches plus prometteuses.
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Ahmed, T. "Decentralisation and the local state under peripheral capitalism : a study in the political economy of local government in Bangladesh." Thesis, Swansea University, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.635859.
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Conventional social sciences literature usually presents decentralisation as a means of achieving development and democracy. The present thesis, however, argues that the significance of decentralisation and local government is rooted in the specific material conditions of a society which in turn are reflected in the nature of the state stemming out of it. In a developed capitalist society, the local state helps to reduce the variable costs of accumulation to private capital through its 'social investments' and 'social expenditures' and legitimises bourgeois institutions as humane and benevolent providers of social services. Nevertheless, in the developed capitalist societies, because of the development of the productive forces and the existence of an organised working class, the local state can also be used as an arena of class struggle against the hegemonic bourgeois class. While decentralisation and local government support the process of private accumulation and political legitimation in the peripheral capitalist societies as well, the difference in the material conditions of society there and the corresponding class nature of the state make for substantial differences in the character and functions of local government. The absence of a single hegemonic class brings different fractions of contending classes into coalition in order to control the state because control of the state is central to the whole process of accumulation. Local government in these societies provides the central state with an institutional basis on which to forge and extend the class alliance on which the state is based. As peripheral capitalist accumulation is not dependent on the indigenous production system, the provision of social investment and social expenditure is not intended to support the reproduction of labour power in general, but rather to secure the support of class alliance. State-induced development initiatives are designed as a patronage distribution system for the local power structure in order to serve their support to the central power bloc. Local government in Bangladesh since 1958 has been used by military-bonapartist regimes to create local support through a patron-client network. Because of this the potential of local government institutions to act as a viable means of progress and social change has been arrested. However, the potential still remains if progressive social and political forces could be realigned for enlarging the class consciousness of the rural majority, enabling it to participate authentically and more fully in the political process at local and national levels.
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Elkins, Alex Gregory. "How the City State Fares Under State Capitalism in the PRC: Local and State-Wide Reform." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1364384598.
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Laniado, R. N. "The formation of the Brazilian authoritarian state in relation to local society : the case of Bahia (1960-1974)." Thesis, University of Essex, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.356749.
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Crage, Suzanna M. "Refugee aid policymaking in Berlin and Munich local responses to nation-state challenges /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3380071.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2009.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 12, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4860. Adviser: Elizabeth A. Armstrong.
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Waylen, Georgina Nicola Alexandra. "British capital, local capital and the role of the state in the political economy of Jamaica 1920-1940." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.233575.
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This thesis examines the development of the Jamaican economy from 1920 to 1940. It looks at the attempts of local capital to set up independent ventures in both the agricultural and the indust ri al spheres, and considers the responses of both the imperial a nd local state, and British and foreign capital. The study attempts to exami ne , within the appropriate theoretical framework , t he proc ess of devel opme nt wi thi n a colony at a time of world depression , and t he role of the state, particularly the colonial state, in helping or hinderiug attempts to promote some form of industrialisation . This i s done t hrough a number of case studies in the agricultural and indus trial sectors. Once the British and Jamaican context has been outlined, the a na lysi s o i the agricultural sphere considers the crisis in the sugar indust ry a nd the attempts to find alternatives to it. This focuses on the establishment of Producers Associations, anal ysing t hose groups i nvol ved in them, their relationship with the Jamai can and imperia l gover nment s, and the reasons for their lack of succ ess in sol vi ng Jama i ca ' s agricul tural problems. The industrial section f ocu sse~:; on four case studies: the first considers the establ ishment of a gri c ultural processing, primarily in the form of edible oil s and s oap. The second examines the role of the state in promoting industr ia l enterpri ses through looking at two Acts passed to protect cer tain ventures particularly the match industry. The third case study a na l yses t hEattempts of a multinational to establi s h a branch plant a nd it demonstrates the changes in colonial policy which had occurred by the end of the 1930s. The fourth case study also hi g hlights these c hanges , and because it is an example of a venture whi ch did not receive offic ial sanction brings out the difficulties facing those attempting to transform themselves into an industriall y product ive bourgeoi Si e at this time.
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Littler, S. M. "The centralising paradigm in central-local government relations : The case of the State housing policy implementation in Wales 1974-1983." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.373882.
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