Tesis sobre el tema "Political Science, Public Administration. Political Science, General"

This study explores the link between democracy and bureaucracy using Japan as the critical case study. The research question is whether competition by multiple principals creates opportunities for bureaucratic drift. This project hypothesizes that policy settings including multiple principals (independent variable) are more likely to manifest bureaucratic drift (dependent variable). At the same time, policy settings excluding multiple principals (independent variable) are more likely to manifest less bureaucratic drift (dependent variable). Variation in agent discretion is the critical effect of the independent variable (i.e., number of principals) on the dependent variable (bureaucratic drift).

Evaluating the exercise of discretion of administrators is feasible if one's evidence is primarily from the administrators themselves. To test these hypotheses, therefore, this project adopts a research design based on a qualitative case study methodology. The case studies include four of Japan's ministries: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Land, Industry, Transportation, and Tourism (MLITT), and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW). Likewise, the role of the National Personnel Authority (NPA) in the administrative system is also evaluated. Research participants include both participants in the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program along with NPA administrators.

This study contributes to the extant corpus of research in a number of salient respects. First, this project proposes a different dependent variable in that most studies are focused on administrative reform whereas the focus here is on bureaucratic drift. Second, this project discusses the important effect of bureaucratic discretion. Third, while relevant to the quality of the Japanese democracy in particular, these findings may be leveraged to a larger conversation about the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy in the Asian context and perhaps beyond. Finally, this project provides an explicit policy recommendation for contemporary Japanese politics proposing that greater authority be delegated to administrative agents, albeit supervised by a powerful intermediary, to minimize bureaucratic drift.

Scholars have proposed numerous explanations as to why the Department of Homeland Security has struggled to mature as an organization and effectively conduct its core mission. We propose an alternative viewpoint that the department lacks key legal authorities and necessitates key organizational transfer in order to rationalize its portfolio. We examine these points through review of legal authorities in select mission areas and through a resource analysis of activities conducted throughout the federal government to execute the homeland security mission. The analysis leads to specific recommendations for transfers and authorities and suggestions as to how the political environment might coalesce around engendering these changes.

In the last two decades, openness of public budgeting processes garnered the attention of governments, non-governmental organizations and donors, evidenced by a proliferation of budget transparency and accountability initiatives worldwide (McGee & Gaventa, 2010; De Renzio & Angemi, 2012). Designed to facilitate productive citizen-government interaction around resource allocation, open budgeting initiatives should contribute to strengthening public trust in political institutions (Sayogo & Harrison, 2012; Hakhverdian & Mayne, 2012). Using corruption perceptions as a measure of public trust, this study analyzes the relationship between the openness evident in the budgeting processes of 70 countries and corruption perceptions over a five-year period, 2006-2010. As a traditionally obtuse, closed process, public resource allocation and expenditure is an arena particularly ripe for "wealth-maximizing" civil servants to engage in corruption (Spada, 2009; Rose-Ackerman, 2004). Open budgeting processes that improve citizen awareness of, and provide opportunities for their participation in, government budgeting processes should theoretically improve, not only the incidence of actual corruption, but also citizens' perceptions regarding the level of corruption within their government (Anderson & Tverdova, 2003; Martinez-Moyano et al., 2007). It was hypothesized that citizens in countries with greater transparency, consultation and public monitoring in their budgeting processes perceive lower levels of corruption and higher levels of government anti-corruption effectiveness. OLS and fixed effects regressions found suggestive evidence to support the contention that consultation and openness were positively associated with perceived anti-corruption effectiveness. In contrast, once confounding factors were controlled for, there was no clear evidence to support the contention that openness, either as a composite or its three sub-components, was negatively correlated with perceived government corruption. Furthermore, the results imply that the cumulative effect of the components of transparency, consultation and monitoring may have a stronger impact on perceptions of anti-corruption effectiveness and government corruption than they do as stand-alone activities.

The US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) places citizens' rights to request and discover information in competition with the right of the government to conceal official secrets (Bathory & McWilliams, 1977; Rourke 1957). Simply put, FOI in practice pits secrecy versus transparency, with administrative discretion in the middle. Though FOIA applies to all federal government departments and agencies in the United States, the tension becomes most acute when applied to the most secretive participants in the national security enterprise, the 16 member intelligence community. Secret-keeping can exert psychological and social pressure on organizations (Simmel, 1906; Weber, 1920/2009) that have the potential to impact individual decision making and shape collective norms (Freidman, Landes & Posner, 1991; Keane, 2008; Sandfort, 2000). This effort examines how secrecy impacts transparency initiatives by researching how the US Intelligence Community FOIA programs perform compared to other federal agencies using multivariate analysis of FOIA annual report data in conjunction with an experimental methodology. The research results show that while intelligence agencies release similar information to control agencies, they differ significantly in the how and when that information is provided. In particular, intelligence agencies take longer to respond than peer agencies and offer less information with the response. These findings contribute to theory by leading to a refined model of transparency and contribute to practice by supporting recommendations for policy makers and FOIA program administrators.

Ghana?s democracy has been hailed by scholars, practitioners, and the international community in recent years as a shining example in the West African subregion as a result of the country?s record of organizing successive elections with minimal or no violence. However, the evaluation of Ghana?s democracy has predominantly focused on the elections and disproportionately captures the views of the political elite; conspicuously missing is the perspective of the ordinary Ghanaian. This presents an incomplete picture of Ghana?s democracy, given the relevance of citizens? participation in democratic societies. To address this gap in knowledge, this qualitative case study explored the practice of democracy in Ghana under the fourth republic from the perspective of the citizenry. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with purposefully sampled ordinary Ghanaian citizens (n = 15), observation, and documents review. The data were then subjected to thematic and content analysis to reveal themes, categories, and patterns. The results revealed that the participating Ghanaians had dichotomous views, opinions, and experiences of democracy. Their experiences and opinions of the electoral system were generally positive, while their experiences and opinions of governance in the intervening years were generally negative. The study?s results should inspire a paradigm shift in the responsiveness of government to citizens and how the government engages with citizens on policy formulation and implementation. This study?s results can encourage positive social change with respect to the manner in which democratic performance is evaluated in Ghana by scholars, practitioners, and the international community.

Although the subject of ethics has been widely studied, no research has addressed the dilemma faced by government procurement professionals in underdeveloped countries, especially Togo. The purpose of this case study was to analyze insiders’ views concerning ethical dilemmas in public procurement for government contracting professionals in Togo. The study was based on deontological and teleological ethics. Research questions addressed ethical issues that are likely to arise from inappropriate interference by Togo government official in the public procurement process, and perceptions of public acquisition professionals regarding Togo government officials’ influence on contracting officers’ decision making. Data collection included interviews, observations, and documents. Findings showed that even though there are regulations in place, most public procurement professionals sometimes make unethical decisions, both because they are pressured to do so and because they are neither well-remunerated nor well-trained. Togo acquisition staff regularly deal with corruption, impunity, deception, and risk of retaliation. Based on results of this study, it is recommended that ethics training be established to improve Togo’s public contracting system and that the training be sanctioned by a three-level professional certification similar to the one in the United States. Further research could involve surveying other African nations to determine the extent to which public acquisition staff see interference by government officials.

Since 2010, 2,000 U. S. leaders spent $150 billion on return on investment (ROI) training, yet questions still exist on how to measure the benefits of organizational change. The purpose of this embedded single-case study was to explore how business leaders could use ROI to characterize the benefit of intervention strategies for organizational change. Stakeholder theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A purposive sample of 20 civilian personnel managers located at a medical facility for veterans in central Texas participated in semistructured interviews. The 5 primary themes that emerged using thematic analysis were (a) training, (b) leadership, (c) communication, (d) recognition, and (e) consistency. Implications for positive social change include the possibility of organizational leaders applying these findings to develop better intervention strategies. Such interventions could improve processes for stakeholders and create an open dialogue with business leaders within the government sector.

While South Korea is ranked high in education, economies and technological development, the level of South Koreans' happiness has not grown simultaneously. This fact contradicts the common sense that improvements in living standards, such as income or education, lead to gains in happiness or individual wellbeing. In order to examine the phenomenon of decreasing perceived individual wellbeing in light of increasing income levels, I analyze the relationship between societal expectations/pressure and happiness in South Korea, using data from the World Value survey conducted in 2010. The uniquely high concentration on human capital in South Korea has played a major factor for extreme competitiveness. Since the financial crisis in 1997, the competitive job market has produced few job opportunities, which has caused a high level of social pressure. The major finding of this study is that the impact of societal expectations on unhappiness increases as people get older and it is more powerful among people of lower income. Also, social pressure has a greater negative effect on happiness for females than males in South Korea. Even when controlling for independent variables, including job security, wages, and high living costs, I show social pressure to have a first order impact on perceived well-being among Korean citizens. From a policy perspective, low levels of happiness can ultimately cause social instability and loss of human capital. Expected policy implications are increasing the number of college entrance exams and fostering work life balance initiatives. In this sense, the findings of this paper can serve as a guideline for the South Korean government not only to improve the overall economic productivity of South Korean society, but also enhance the quality of life along important societal dimensions.

During the last four decades, precisely from the early 1970s, U.S. foreign policy has played a dominant role in the U.S. political landscape. The current political discourse is predominantly marked by divided government, polarized politics and gridlock. Such a contentious political environment has proved to be detrimental for efficient and effective policy-making in foreign policy. There are significant factors that profoundly complicate the process of decision making and congressional-presidential relations. Partisan and ideological differences under the conditions of divided government are dominant in the current political process and in turn affect the prospects of legislative-executive consensus and dissension. Other factors such as media salience, public opinion, and electoral imperatives also complicate the dynamics of legislative-executive relations. In an era in which heightened political brinkmanship has enveloped Washington politics, continuum of consensus and dissension between Congress and the president on strategic foreign policy issues has virtually become a norm. This dissertation examines the dynamics of legislative-executive relations in two high politics U.S. foreign policy issue areas of treaty process and war powers. It appears that in contemporary U.S. foreign policymaking the trajectory of a continuum of legislative-executive consensus and dissension is a new normal and potentially irreversible, as Congress and the president try ardently to preserve their respective constitutional prerogatives.

Empirical investigation across these two issue areas demonstrates a new era of a resurgent Congress marked by its greater assertive role and acting as a consequential player in the foreign policy domain. The passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973 by Congress, overriding a presidential veto, has profound implications in the modern political landscape. It was a pivotal moment that permanently transformed the future road map of congressional-presidential relations. Since then the U.S. political system has been relentlessly experiencing an institutional power struggle in the foreign policy domain. Findings suggest that when Congress determines to confront the president and exercise its constitutional responsibilities it becomes very difficult for the president to overcome such congressional resistance. Interbranch competition has virtually created a consistent trajectory of a continuum of legislative-executive consensus and dissension in the foreign policy decision-making process.

The thesis takes as its point of departure the "long-run monetary union" between France and fifteen French-speaking African countries to provide insights into how the rules, mechanisms and practices underlying the monetary dependence of these African states operate. The main objective of the study is to contribute towards a better understanding of the institutions and principles governing the CFA franc zone with the intention of helping policy-makers to take optimal decisions.

A well-designed monetary policy could generate employment and pro-poor growth. But designing and administering a good policy will depend on the objective of policy designers. In principle, monetary authorities could choose between a fixed exchange regime and a flexible exchange regime. Of this, the above African countries adopted a managed regime with France since 1945. In this study, I examine the relationship between monetary autonomy and poverty reduction in the Franc Zone. The discussion focused on the impact of monetary independence on poverty incidence and poverty gap in the fifteen African nations.

I utilized two OLS model equations. The functions were estimated using data from a panel of 14 countries (the exception being Equatorial Guinea because insufficient data were available) in the CFA franc zone and covering the 1984-2011 period. Seven predictor variables were forced into the models. With regard to the findings, only four of them such as inflation and, more importantly, credit to private sector, centralization rate, exchange rate and gross national savings are important to headcount index and the depth of poverty reduction in the CFA franc zone.The results therefore suggest that monetary sovereignty measured by the specified variables is a driving force for poverty reduction in the CFA franc zone.

People in refuge face states with a dilemma. This dilemma consists of a wish (or obligation) to help those who need a refuge, and at the same time consider domestic issues such as financial costs and security problems. Thus, there are two perspectives which are important to consider when refugee policies are made. The aim of this paper is to see which perspective the EU had when making their migration policies. The question asked is: which perspective is behind the making of European refugee policy?

The theories realism and idealism are used to describe the conflicts in the making of European refugee policies. The method used is called qualitative text analyses in which you take out the most relevant information in the different parts of a text.

The results showed that it has been difficult for the European states to agree on a common European migration law. The agreements that have been made have made it more difficult for refugees to enter the European Union, that is, a protective politics have been made. This leads to the conclusion that EU: s refugee policies at large have been formed from a realist perspective to protect the interests of the national states.

Key words: European refugee politics, realism and idealism, Geneva Convention.