Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Governmental'

Recent discussions on corporate citizenship (CC) highlight the new political role of corporations in society by arguing that corporations increasingly act as quasi-governmental actors and take on what hitherto had originally been governmental tasks. By examining political and sociological citizenship theories, the authors show that such a corporate engagement can be explained by a changing (self-)conception of corporate citizens from corporate bourgeois to corporate citoyen. As an intermediate actor in society, the corporate citoyen assumes co-responsibilities for social and civic affairs and actively collaborates with fellow citizens beyond governmental regulation. This change raises the question of how such corporate civic engagement can be aligned with public policy regulations and how corporate activities can be integrated into the democratic regime. To clarify the mode of CC contributions to society, the authors will apply the tenet of subsidiarity as a governing principle which allows for specifying corporations’ tasks as intermediate actors in society. By referring to the renewed European Union strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility, the authors show how such a subsidiary corporate-governmental task-sharing can be organized.

This study used a content analysis and a rhetorical analysis to examine the strategies the Chinese government utilized for handling post-crisis issues of the 2003 SARS epidemic. The content of several media outlets â Chinese Version of Xinhua News Agency, English Version of Xinhua News Agency, The Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Times (London) â were examined on the same issue in the post-crisis period from June 25, 2003 to September 9, 2003. Chinese media and Western media were examined to test the frame correlation between media and Chinese government discourses. The use of Chinese government as information sources in media coverage was explored. Chinese post-crisis management performance was evaluated through analysis of the use of Chinese government frames by mass media and the use of the Chinese government as a trusted information source. The results showed that the Chinese government used a renewal post-crisis communication theme through communication strategies of bolstering and transcendence. The content of Chinese media had a substantial relationship with frames of Chinese government. Chinese government was used as a believable source for Chinese media. The content of Western media had no relationship with frames of Chinese government. Chinese government was employed as a skeptical information source in coverage of Western media.
Master of Arts

This dissertation extends the literature on the crowd-out theory to international nonprofits based in the United States. The dissertation measures the simultaneous impact of government grants on private contributions and fundraising activities of INGOs. Understanding the relationship of the major players (government, donors and nonprofit managers) in revenue collection of INGOs is important in understanding international charity and its implications. Six major sub-categories of international organizations have been identified for this research. These are based on a review of the literature on international organizations and those already coded as international according to the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE). An overview of the INGO sub-categories, their description and coding can be seen in table A5 in appendix A. The major sub-categories include (1) International, Foreign Affairs and National Security (ifans), (2) Promotion of International Understanding (piu), (3) International Development (id), (4) International Peace and Security (ips), (5) International Human Rights (ihr), and (6) International, Foreign Affairs and National Security N.E.C. (ifansNEC). We will employ a panel dataset of INGOs between the years 1998 and 2003 to test for crowding-out effect of government grants on private contributions and fundraising activities. We have a total of 2,169 INGOs in our data set and a total of 6,239 observations.

The thesis argues that the relations between culture and government are best viewed through an analysis of the programmatic and institutional contexts for the use of culture as an interface in the relations between citizenship and government. Discussion takes place through an analysis of the history of art programmes which, in seeking to target a 'general' population, have attempted to equip this population with various particular capacities. We aim to provide a history of rationalities of art administration. This will provide us with an approach through which we might understand some of the seemingly irreconcilable policy discourses which characterise contemporary discussion of government arts funding. Research for this thesis aims to make a contribution to historical research on arts institutions in Australia and provide a base from which to think about the role of government in culture in contemporary Australia. In order to reflect on the relations between government and culture the thesis discusses the key rationales for the conjunction of art, citizenship and government in post-World War Two (WWII) Australia to the present day. Thus, the thesis aims to contribute an overview of the discursive origins of the main contemporary rationales framing arts subvention in post-WWII Australia. The relations involved in the government of culture in late eighteenth-century France, nineteenth-century Britain, America in the 1930s and Britain during WWII are examined by way of arguing that the discursive influences on government cultural policy in Australia have been diverse. It is suggested in relation to present day Australian cultural policy that more effective terms of engagement with policy imperatives might be found in a history of the funding of culture which emphasises the plurality of relations between governmental programmes and the self-shaping activities of citizens. During this century there has been a shift in the political rationality which organises government in modern Western liberal democracies. The historical case studies which form section two of the thesis enable us to argue that, since WWII, cultural programmes have been increasingly deployed on the basis of a governmental rationality that can be described as advanced or neo-liberal. This is both in relation to the forms these programmes have taken and in relation to the character of the forms of conduct such programmes have sought to shape in the populations they act upon. Mechanisms characteristic of such neo-liberal forms of government are those associated with the welfare state and include cultural programmes. Analysis of governmental programmes using such conceptual tools allows us to interpret problems of modern social democratic government less in terms of oppositions between structure and agency and more in terms of the strategies and techniques of government which shape the activities of citizens. Thus, the thesis will approach the field of cultural management not as a field of monolithic decision making but as a domain in which there are a multiplicity of power effects, knowledges, and tactics, which react to, or are based upon, the management of the population through culture. The thesis consists of two sections. Section one serves primarily to establish a set of historical and theoretical co-ordinates on which the more detailed historical work of the thesis in section two will be based. We conclude by emphasising the necessity for the continuation of a mix of policy frameworks in the construction of the relations between art, government and citizenship which will encompass a focus on diverse and sometimes competing policy goals.

The thesis argues that the relations between culture and government are best viewed through an analysis of the programmatic and institutional contexts for the use of culture as an interface in the relations between citizenship and government. Discussion takes place through an analysis of the history of art programmes which, in seeking to target a 'general' population, have attempted to equip this population with various particular capacities. We aim to provide a history of rationalities of art administration. This will provide us with an approach through which we might understand some of the seemingly irreconcilable policy discourses which characterise contemporary discussion of government arts funding. Research for this thesis aims to make a contribution to historical research on arts institutions in Australia and provide a base from which to think about the role of government in culture in contemporary Australia. In order to reflect on the relations between government and culture the thesis discusses the key rationales for the conjunction of art, citizenship and government in post-World War Two (WWII) Australia to the present day. Thus, the thesis aims to contribute an overview of the discursive origins of the main contemporary rationales framing arts subvention in post-WWII Australia. The relations involved in the government of culture in late eighteenth-century France, nineteenth-century Britain, America in the 1930s and Britain during WWII are examined by way of arguing that the discursive influences on government cultural policy in Australia have been diverse. It is suggested in relation to present day Australian cultural policy that more effective terms of engagement with policy imperatives might be found in a history of the funding of culture which emphasises the plurality of relations between governmental programmes and the self-shaping activities of citizens. During this century there has been a shift in the political rationality which organises government in modern Western liberal democracies. The historical case studies which form section two of the thesis enable us to argue that, since WWII, cultural programmes have been increasingly deployed on the basis of a governmental rationality that can be described as advanced or neo-liberal. This is both in relation to the forms these programmes have taken and in relation to the character of the forms of conduct such programmes have sought to shape in the populations they act upon. Mechanisms characteristic of such neo-liberal forms of government are those associated with the welfare state and include cultural programmes. Analysis of governmental programmes using such conceptual tools allows us to interpret problems of modern social democratic government less in terms of oppositions between structure and agency and more in terms of the strategies and techniques of government which shape the activities of citizens. Thus, the thesis will approach the field of cultural management not as a field of monolithic decision making but as a domain in which there are a multiplicity of power effects, knowledges, and tactics, which react to, or are based upon, the management of the population through culture. The thesis consists of two sections. Section one serves primarily to establish a set of historical and theoretical co-ordinates on which the more detailed historical work of the thesis in section two will be based. We conclude by emphasising the necessity for the continuation of a mix of policy frameworks in the construction of the relations between art, government and citizenship which will encompass a focus on diverse and sometimes competing policy goals.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Film, Media and Cultural Studies
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

There is widespread recognition of the central role played by non-governmental organisations in a modern pluralistic society, together with a growing realisation that the participation of NGOs an enhance the democratic process, as well as provide many services more effectively than governmental bodies. However, such a model of NGO role tends to be based on western, first world experience; its uncritical application to a third world context may entail unforeseen problems if local cultural, political and economic factors are inadequately understood. The lack of research on Jordanian NGOs makes it desirable to start by analysing their present status and exploring their relationship with the government. This research has reviewed the mainly western literature on NGOs, as well as literature on NGOs in the Arab world, and then has gone on to describe the political, economic and social context in which Jordanian NGOs have to operate. The results of a survey conducted on a stratified random sample of 76 NGOs in Jordan are presented in addition to in-depth interviews with policy makers, NGO representatives and experts in the field. The rational for a combination of both qualitative and quantitative investigative methods as deemed appropriate to the Jordanian context and to the topic of the research are presented. The research reveals that several factors affect the relationship between the public and NGO sectors; these include political, managerial, structural, financial and legal issues. The main findings of the research show that NGOs in Jordan rely mainly on a relief and service delivery approach, which is understandable in the light of the political and economic situation in the country since its establishment. This thrust negates an active advocacy role for NGOs. Both NGOs and the government believe it is necessary to amend the current law governing the establishment and existence of NGOs, reflecting a general tendency that appears often in the research in which both NGO and governmental representatives express their wish for an improvement on the present NGO-government relationship, without necessarily changing it.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2006.
Thesis Advisor(s): Peter Gustaitis. "December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-83). Also available in print.

This dissertation investigates how specific design choices or procedural rules that govern the contracting environment between government and non-governmental organizations affect organizational behaviour and contractual outcomes. Chapter 1 studies government procurement of a public good or service when only nonprofits compete. Theoretically, I find that the intensity of the ideological divide between government and nonprofits jointly impact the degree to which compromises are made in terms of both the public's and nonprofit's missions, as well as the ability on the part of government to reap double (cost-saving and strategic) financial gains. Chapter 2 analyses government procurement of specific development aid services via competitive scoring auctions, open to nonprofits and for-profits alike. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, I find robust empirical evidence that ex post renegotiation costs as well as initial price offers will tend to be higher when the agent is a for-profit compared to when the agent is a nonprofit; at the same time, the initial offers of for-profits will on average adhere better to the government's service delivery instructions compared to those of nonprofits. Furthermore, because nonprofits intrinsically value project outcomes, they will at times be able to offer government a better deal; at the same time, this distinct feature of nonprofits also gives them a competitive disadvantage when government holds strong views about how the services should be provided and finds it important that the agent does what it says. Finally, Chapter 3 shifts attention to the actual grant contracting procedures used by government (and other grant-making institutions) to finance nonprofits' initiatives to provide a public good or service. I focus on how asymmetric information impacts nonprofits' behaviour in markets for individual grant contracts. Theoretically, I make explicit the argument that hidden types may be associated with excessive grant requesting, and demonstrate how a collective contracting mechanism can essentially alleviate grant market failures due to adverse selection.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
The present research investigates the influence of type of organization on type of Psychological Contract. Additionally, this study seeks to examine if the relational type of Psychological Contract is prevalent in Non-governmental organizations. In the research were involved 63 employees from Private, 64 from Public and 44 from Non-Governmental Organizations. Participants were asked to evaluate what they believe were their own, employer´s and organization´s obligations. As a result, it was found a positive relationship between types of organization and types of Psychological Contract. Additionally, it was found that in Non-governmental organizations predominant types of contract are balanced and relational.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become major stakeholders in global conservation efforts, particularly in establishing protected areas and proposing and testing new conservation models for their management. Since the 1990s, NGOs have used ecotourism as one rationale for advocating the maintenance of protected areas worldwide. Ecotourism aims to use revenues from visitors to support conservation. In particular, community-based ecotourism aims to support conservation commonly through economic and social development of local communities. Despite the widespread involvement of NGOs in conservation through ecotourism, their precise roles and decision-making processes have not previously been studied using systematic or comparative approaches at global or national scale. There are numerous case studies of single ecotourism projects assisted by NGOs, and some of these highlight significant shortcomings with actual or potential negative effects on both biodiversity and local communities. These studies, however, have not analysed how NGOs select and define which initiatives to support, nor the factors which determine effective strategies for development of ecotourism enterprises in protected areas. Given the global scale of NGO involvement, this lack of information on NGO dynamics represents a significant gap in our current understanding of ecotourism practices. This thesis aims to address this gap.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Grifffith School of Environment
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Full Text

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-83).
The current study examines the Contractor Development Model (CDM) as used by Working for Water. The overarching goal of the WfW programme is to alleviate poverty by creating short to medium term jobs for unskilled workers through clearing alien vegetation. WfW aims to appoint contractors based on targets from the Expanded Public Works Programme which are 60% women, 20% youth (18 - 36 years) and 2% disabled people. The CDM’s main objectives can be seen as: the employment of youth, women and people with disabilities; skills development through training. The programme aims to to develop contractors so that they become less dependent on WfW. It aims to develop contractors’ alien clearing and business skills to such an extent that contractors eventually exit the CDM in order to pursue more lucrative opportunities outside of WfW.

The notion of Strategic Fit has been and remains to be one of the most important arguements in the fields of business strategy and strategic management. This research study examines the key concept of ‘strategic fit’ and its associated theories and seeks to investigate the causes that have created ‘strategic drift’ in Abu Dhabi’s governmental agencies in the infrastructure sector with the aim of improving their performance. However, for organisations, public or private, it still remains to be the most important notion and one that cannot be ignored because it is about the success of the organisation in its external environment where all competitive activity takes place. Thus, there are many underlying factors such as organisational culture, structure and organisational history that impact, or influence, the level of fit that organisations achieve. Therefore it is imperative that research is further undertaken on a deeper and wider level to fully understand the concept and importance of strategic fit and how it can be achieved. Hence, a research study in this area, especially in developing cities such as Abu Dhabi, is well justified and needed. The lack of strategic fit that has been witnessed in the Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure sector over the past few years continues to be, and it is a clear indication of a developing mismatch between the government and its policies and the agencies that implement them. However, this is clearly a major issue for the government going forward, if polices are developed with no clear understanding of the available resources and capabilities. Similarly, the study also seeks to determine why a strategic fit has not been achievable by the Abu Dhabi government. Though the government has developed policies to better serve its people, it continuously faces issues of policies not being implemented, or being implemented too late and targets not been met according to the original brief. It has been identified that there are numerous deficiencies between the various government agencies in the infrastructure sector in terms of keeping pace with governmental policies - consequently, resulting in strategic gaps with an increasing possibility of a possible strategic drift, if these issues are not addressed effectively and in a timely manner. The study further wishes to explore if strategic gaps have occurred as a result of inherent cultural, historical, political and/or structural aspects of the Abu Dhabi government and its numerous agencies – simply because these issues can be seen as preventative to change and progress which, in turn, can lead to strategic gaps and strategic drift in the long term. The research paradigm selected for this research study is that of the pragmatist approach and subsequently the key methodology employed throughout this research is that of the mixed methods. That mixed methods research is an intellectual and practical synthesis based on qualitative and quantitative research. Also, This research provides a summary of the important findings, proved hypotheses, achieved aim and objectives, and significant contribution to the knowledge of strategic management through the development of the “Community Innovation Scheme”, the “3-Spectrums of Change”, the “4Ms Change Model”; and the resulting framework model; the “Government Strategy Model”.

The thesis examines Canadian and Japanese human security assemblages. It aims to delve below stereotypical imageries 'representing' these human security articulations. The concept of 'human security' is not a starting point, but a result of elements, processes, structures and mechanisms which need to be investigated in order to reveal insights about a given articulation of human security. Each human security assemblage is composed of messy discourses and practices which are loosely related and sometimes even disconnected. Academics have frequently avoided studying the messiness of political discourses and practices and their mutual dependencies or their lack thereof. By contrast, this thesis ascertains what has lain beneath Canadian and Japanese spatio-temporal articulation of human security and establishes the kinds of structural terrain which have enabled, shaped, or blocked the unfolding of certain versions of human security. The pivotal contention of the thesis is that Canadian and Japanese articulations of human security have been different because they have grown from completely different domestic economies of power governing the relationship between the state apparatus and the non-profit and voluntary sector. While the Canadian human security assemblage has been shaped by transformations in the country's advanced liberal model of government, the Japanese has been shaped by the continuities of Japan's bureaucratic authoritarianism. A novel approach is employed for the related process-tracing: a general series linking structural conditions with actual articulations of the human security projects, and their further development, including analysis of their unintended consequences.

This thesis assesses four governmental responses to terrorism: conciliation, denial, legal restriction, and violence, each of which may be focused on an organization or its leaders. The theory makes predictions on the resulting frequency and severity of terrorism. Unless responses reduce an organization's capacity or desire to attack, the frequency of attacks may be reduced, while the severity continues to increase. The theory is tested using a time series regression analysis of the effects of government action on terrorism in Algeria and the Philippines. In general, the results show that conciliation may led to increases in terrorism in the short term while suggesting potential reductions in the long term. Denial and legal restriction often led to increases in terrorism, while the effects of violence often depended upon whether the response was applied to organizations or their leaders.
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences
Political Science; International Studies

The main objective of my thesis paper is to determine which organizations from a wide range of NGOs, including their donor relationships, are susceptible to funding manipulation and why. Through review of a focused selection of literature and case studies, I seek to identify a pattern of characteristics or variables among the weaker organizations which increases vulnerability to such practices. I will review the organizations' size, market competition, funding strategies, and supply-led contracts. I intend to conclude with the various ways in which NGO's can protect against funding manipulation.

The study of Non-Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs’) accountability has lagged behind that in the private sector in the areas of empirical details and theoretical foundation. This thesis analyses the research question: How do NGOs practice accountability and what is the theoretical basis for this practice? To answer this question, the study develops a descriptive framework that classifies accountability practices along two broad dimensions: one based on the form of giving accounts (which could be process or performance) and the other based on the form of holding to account (which could be contractual or communal). The resulting four possibilities were built into a framework around which a theory was developed and used to guide the empirical investigation in 6 NGOs, 3 in the UK and 3 in Africa. The study rejects the rigidly structured research approach of the rationalist school and the completely unstructured approach of the phenomenological school. In regard to the exploratory nature of the research question, it adopts a ‘middle range thinking’ approach proceeding with a partly structured process and a prior theory in ‘skeletal’ form ‘fleshed out’ with the findings as the study progressed. The research finds that the bulk of the resources utilised by NGOs are derived from the global north while the bulk of the needs for NGOs’ services are in the global south, and that this influences accountability practices across both sides of the hemisphere. Because of the nature of NGO’s objectives and activities, it is argued traditional accounting’s capability to provide a full account of NGOs’ performance is severely limited. This, coupled with the involvement of multiple stakeholders with varied needs, has resulted in the use of multiple systems of accountability. In total eight practices were identified, spread across the four possible approaches in the theoretical framework with practices aimed at the needs of the statutory authorities and the Institutional donors dominating in the UK NGOs. Where southern NGOs have a large part of their income supplied by northern hemisphere Institutional donors only the accountability needs of these donors dominates as the local regulatory frameworks are weak. The insights from the thesis raise a range of policy issues about the form and regulation of accountability by NGOs and the role of the Institutional donors in it.

The Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) progressively expand and assume a relevant role in contemporary society. With NGOs expansion in Brazil and the rest of the world, also increases people interest to enter this universe, motivated by a strong sense of dedication to social causes, as well as to achieve personal and professional recognition through the exercise of a labor that could make sense to him or her. On the other hand, NGOs expansion brings some challenges, among them the adoption of managerial practices and procedures aiming to attract, develop and retain competent and dedicated professionals, in order to achieve effective results in its actions, especially in a context of intensive competition for financial resources. This study aims to investigate whether NGOs represent opportunity for professional investment, and was based on theoretical analysis of concepts such as people hiring, keeping and resigning, in the perspective of people employed with them and in NGOs own perspective, through a critical-reflexive approach of human management subsystems, eventually adopted. This is an explanatory and descriptive research, managed through a multiple case study, subsided by 12 (twelve) interviews and 19 (nineteen) questionnaires answered by managers and collaborators of 3 (three) most prominent NGO in Brazilian state of CearÃ. Data were treated qualitatively employing quantitative instruments. The research allowed to evidence that surveyed organizations assign importance to human management, nevertheless not adopting structured practices in order to promote the collaborators permanence, discerning that hiring and permanence of them proceeds from the desire of professional qualification, of joining in these organizations an space of identification with the social causes that he/she protect and believe, and by the work environment (organizational climate) provided.
As organizaÃÃes nÃo governamentais - ONGs cada vez mais se expandem e assumem papel relevante na sociedade contemporÃnea. Com o crescimento das ONGs no contexto brasileiro e mundial aumenta tambÃm o interesses das pessoas de ingressarem no universo de trabalho das ONGs, pressupÃe-se, movidas por um forte senso de dedicaÃÃo a causas sociais, mas tambÃm de obter reconhecimento pessoal e profissional pelo exercÃcio de um trabalho que lhes faÃa sentido. Por outro lado, a expansÃo das ONGs traz alguns desafios, dentre esses, a necessidade de adotarem prÃticas e procedimentos de gestÃo que visem a atrair, desenvolver e reter profissionais competentes e mobilizados, com fins a obter resultados efetivos em suas aÃÃes, sobretudo num contexto de intensa concorrÃncia por recursos financeiros. O presente estudo tem por objetivo investigar se as ONGs constituem espaÃo de investimento profissional, partindo-se da anÃlise teÃrica na perspectiva das pessoas que atuam nas ONGs e das organizaÃÃes, na qual se englobam conceitos sobre ingresso, permanÃncia e evasÃo de pessoas, mediante a anÃlise dos subsistemas de gestÃo de pessoas eventualmente adotados. Esta pesquisa se caracteriza como exploratÃria e descritiva, por meio de estudo de caso mÃltiplo, e valeu-se da aplicaÃÃo de 12 (doze) entrevistas e 19 (dezenove)questionÃrios, aplicados junto aos gestores e colaboradores, respectivamente, de 3 (trÃs) das maiores ONGs do Estado do CearÃ. As informaÃÃes foram tratadas qualitativamente com emprego de instrumentos quantitativos. A pesquisa permitiu constatar que as organizaÃÃes estudadas atribuem importÃncia à gestÃo de pessoas, entretanto nÃo adotam prÃticas estruturadas que visem a promover a permanÃncia de seus colaboradores, percebendo-se que o ingresso e permanÃncia desses colaboradores ocorrem a partir do desejo de se capacitarem profissionalmente, de encontrarem nessas organizaÃÃes um espaÃo de identificaÃÃo com as causas sociais que defendem e nos quais acreditam, e pelo ambiente de trabalho (clima organizacional) proporcionado.

The role and importance of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) has increased with globalisation and the growth of global institutions. Not only do INGOs play a major role in aid delivery in developing countries, they also serve as the voice of the people in the growing global governance system. Thus they have an increasing impact on the social and economic welfare of people around the world. For this reason, the performance and management of INGOs is vital. However, research on their management is lacking. INGOs possess unique characteristics including complex environments, value-based missions and no financial bottom line. Therefore, management practices, like internal communication, that are generally developed for for-profit organisations need to be evaluated for suitability within the INGO context. Strategic internal communication has been identified as driving organisational performance. Internal communication can be defined as strategic when its purpose is to align internal stakeholders with the organisation’s strategic intent. By facilitating strategic alignment, internal communication can play a critical role in organisational performance. Research on strategic internal communication is limited and virtually non-existent when considered within the INGO context. However, by considering communication management theory, strategic management theory and NGO management theory, it is possible to develop theoretical propositions on the strategic functioning of internal communication in INGOs. In particular, the theory suggests that a postmodern approach to strategic management and strategic internal communication can assist INGOs in addressing many of the challenges they face. This study explores the strategic functioning of internal communication in INGOs through exploratory, qualitative case studies. The evidence shows that internal communication in INGOs does not generally function strategically. However, the function is recognised as having potential to improve the performance of these organisations. In particular, there is support for the suitability of a postmodern approach to strategic internal communication in INGOs.
Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Communication Management
MPhil
Unrestricted

This thesis is grounded in a 16-month critical ethnography of two voluntary sector youth citizenship projects, based in the UK, which supported young people’s participation in community action and political lobbying. It is about the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as civic intermediaries for young people, in particular about the kinds of citizenship that they foster. The research focuses on thick description of organisational frameworks for youth participation to offer a contextualised account of young people’s citizenship practices, their relationship with social policy and the institutionalised promotion of citizenship ‘best practice’. This account is juxtaposed with popular representations of young people as divorced from mainstream politics, either because they are disenfranchised, or because they are presumed to be reinventing the wheel through subversive sub-cultural practices that portend wider social change. This thesis examines the meanings and practices that voluntary sector staff, volunteers and young people attach to citizen empowerment, supporting the idea that NGOs can be valued and effective civic intermediaries for young people. It also advances an unfixed understanding of youth citizenship through an approach which acknowledges ambiguity in the practice and performance of citizenship for employability and empowerment alongside the promotion of resilience. It argues that youth citizenship cannot be divorced from the pervasive influence of a neoliberal consensus in mainstream UK politics, but also that this relationship supports a continuum of possible outcomes. Katz’s (2004) theory about the relationship between acts of ‘resilience’ and ‘reworking’ with acts of ‘resistance’ is employed as a means to critically interpret NGOs’ and young people’s citizenship practices. Key themes that emerge from this analysis include: the role of NGOs in supporting ‘opportunity’ and ‘process’ aspects of citizenship; how NGOs are implicated in the social reproduction of ‘differential citizenship’ through processes of professionalisation; and the coexistence of ‘active’ and ‘activist’ forms of citizenship.

Die Doktorarbeit untersucht institutionelle Aspekte von staatlichen Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES, positive Anreizinstrumente i.F.v. Zahlungen für Ökosystemleistungen) in der EU und den USA. Die Untersuchung ist zweiteilig: Zunächst werden Design und Performance von bestehenden agrarumweltpolitischen Anreizinstrumenten analysiert, welche vermehrt als PES verstanden werden. Dann wird die Relevanz des Ecosystem Services (ES) Konzeptes für die Ausgestaltung der bestehenden Instrumente identifiziert. Die generellen Forschungsfragen werden hinsichtlich institutionellem Design, institutioneller Performance und institutionellem Interplay konkretisiert und im Rahmen von fünf individuellen Veröffentlichungen beantwortet. Hinsichtlich der Anreizinstrumente werden Regeln für eine effektive Gestaltung hervorgehoben. Ferner wird herausgearbeitet, wie Anreizinstrumente mit bestehenden institutionellen Strukturen interagieren. Hinsichtlich der Politikrelevanz des ES Konzeptes wird dargelegt, dass es bisher nicht in die Umweltgesetzgebung integriert wurde, eine Integration aber fortschreitet. Der größte zukünftige Einfluss des Konzeptes wird für die Klima- und Agrarpolitik vorausgesagt, insbesondere für bestehende Zahlungsinstrumente. Generell wird aufgezeigt, dass Zielgerichtetheit und Integration von staatlichen PES wichtig sind. Für einen funktionierenden Instrumentenmix von PES und Regularien muss die jeweilige Eigentumsrechtsituation transparent gemacht werden und verschiedene Akteure müssen auf einer gemeinsamen Basis zusammenarbeiten. Demgemäß wird diskutiert, welches Potential das ES Konzept dafür bietet, die Kommunikation zwischen den Akteuren zu verbessern und neue Impulse für eine Kooperation zu geben. Schließlich wird argumentiert, dass eine systematische ES Untersuchung und Quantifizierung bessere Möglichkeiten für Zieldefinition und Monitoring bieten könnte, der Nutzen einer ökonomische Bewertung von ES aber immer sehr sorgfältig geprüft werden sollte.
The doctoral thesis identifies and analyses institutional aspects of governmental Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in the EU and US. The analysis is twofold: First, the design and performance of existing governmental agri-environmental payment schemes that are increasingly labelled as PES have been investigated. Second, the influence of the ecosystem services (ES) concept on such payments has been identified. The general research objectives are structured in terms of institutional design, performance, and interplay. Five individual research papers shed light on the raised issues. Regarding payment schemes, findings indicate certain design rule sets that can be crucial for environmentally effective governmental payments. Furthermore, scheme interactions with other institutional arrangements have been shown. In terms of ES concept driven policies, the identified design principles have hardly been included but their integration is proceeding. The greatest future ES impact on policy design is predicted regarding climate and agricultural policies, especially on existing payment schemes. In summary, effective targeting and integration of governmental PES have been outlined as important. To create and achieve a sound mix of PES with regulations and policies, the property rights situation, the reference point for application of the ‘provider-gets’ and ‘beneficiary-pays’ principles, and any deviations therefrom should be made transparent. Furthermore, different actors must collaborate on basis of common denominators. The potential of ES to enhance communication among actors and provide new impulses for cross-sectoral and cross-level cooperation in existing governmental payments schemes implementation has been discussed. Moreover, it has been argued that regarding governmental payments, systematic ES definition and quantification may offer the opportunity to enhance targeting, and economic valuation and monetarization of ES should be very carefully considered.

Meine Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit den institutionellen Aspekten staatlicher Zahlungen für Ökosystemleistungen (Payments for Ecosystem Services „PES“) in China. Marktbasierte Ansätze zur Steuerung von Ökosystemleistungen, insbesondere von PES, wurden in den letzten Jahrzehnten als neue und innovative Politikinstrumente angesehen. Entsprechend diesem internationalen Trend sind PES auch in China populär, werden jedoch meist mit dem inländischen Begriff der Ökokompensation beschrieben. Einen wirtschaftlichen Anreiz für Verhaltensänderungen zu schaffen, wenn das Ökokompensations-Programm nur ein Ausgleich für gesetzliche Einschränkungen ist, kann eine Herausforderung darstellen. Die Merkmale der Ökokompensation unterscheiden sich von anderen nationalen PES-Programmen, da sich das Governance-Modell, die Eigentumsrechte und die gesellschaftlichen Strukturen in China stark von anderen Staaten unterscheiden. Die Ökokompensation steht vor vielen institutionellen Herausforderungen, wenn es darum geht, ökonomische Anreize für Verhaltensänderungen zu schaffen. Zahlungen für Ökosystemleistungen, die Elemente sowohl eines freiwilligen, marktbasierten als auch eines hierarchischen Systems kombinieren, um mit den besonderen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen umzugehen, wurden bisher noch nicht ausreichend untersucht. Eine Wissenslücke besteht insbesondere hinsichtlich der Anpassung des Designs von PES an die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen in China. Die Mechanismen von Zahlungen für Ökosystemleistungen in China unterscheiden sich in wichtigen Punkten von den aus der westlichen Erfahrung bekannten Mechanismen. Die vorliegende Dissertation zielt darauf ab, die Diskrepanz zwischen der allgemein gültigen Rahmung von Zahlungen von Ökosystemleistungen und der Realität ihrer Praxis zu verringern, indem sie eine institutionelle Analyse des chinesischen staatlichen PES-Programms vornimmt. Das Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) gilt als eines der weltweit größten PES-Programme und ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Ökokompensation. Das erste Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, anhand des SLCP als empirische Fallstudie zu verstehen, wie das institutionelle Design des staatlichen PES in China verbessert werden kann. Das zweite Ziel ist in einem breiteren internationalen Kontext zu sehen und zielt darauf ab, einen methodischen Beitrag zur Analyse der Governance von Ökosystemleistungen zu leisten. Die Dissertation folgt einer kumulativen Struktur, die aus einem Rahmentext besteht, in den fünf, von Experten begutachtete, Artikel aus internationalen Fachzeitschriften integriert sind. Kapitel 1 ist eine Einführung, in der die Forschungslücken und die Forschungsziele im Hinblick auf staatliche PES beschrieben werden. Kapitel 2 liefert die theoretische Grundlage der institutionellen Ökonomie und zeigt die Bedeutung der Governance von Naturressourcen in China auf. Darauf aufbauend konkretisiert Kapitel 3 das Forschungsdesign, indem es die Forschungsziele in verschiedene Forschungsfragen untergliedert. Kapitel 4 beinhaltet den Ergebnisteil, der fünf Zeitschriftenartikel umfasst. Der erste Artikel liefert die konzeptionelle Grundlage für alle nachfolgenden Untersuchungen, die in dieser Dissertation vorgestellt werden, und gibt einen Überblick über die Wirksamkeit und die institutionellen Herausforderungen des chinesischen SLCP. Sowohl der zweite als auch der dritte Artikel sind empirische Untersuchungen. Der zweite Artikel untersucht, wie die sozioökonomischen und institutionellen Bedingungen Anreize für Haushalte in ländlichen Gebieten schaffen, um die primären Umweltziele des SLCP zu erreichen. Der dritte Artikel zeigt, wie lokale Dynamiken die Umsetzung des SLCP beeinflusst und geprägt haben. Der vierte Artikel veranschaulicht und diskutiert die im zweiten Artikel angewandte Methode im Vergleich zu einer weiteren Fallstudie in Deutschland. Der fünfte Artikel schließlich stellt die Stärken und Schwächen der im dritten Artikel angewandten Methode den Erfahrungen ähnlicher Studien in vier weiteren Ländern gegenüber. Zusammen liefern diese Artikel wichtige Beiträge für die beiden Ziele der Dissertation. Kapitel 5 beinhaltet die Synthese und Diskussion der Ergebnisse und Kapitel 6 schließt die Dissertation ab. Das wichtigste Ergebnis dieser Dissertation ist, dass die Wirksamkeit des staatlichen PES in China das Ergebnis der Interaktion der treibenden sozialen Kräfte ist, während institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen und lokale Dynamiken eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Ausgestaltung der Programmumsetzung spielen. Das SLCP hätte unter bestimmten institutionellen Bedingungen ein großes Potenzial für die Schaffung signifikanter Skaleneffekte und für die Verbesserung der Umwelteffektivität. Allerdings weicht die derzeitige Umsetzung des SLCP wegen der besonderen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen erheblich von dem von der Politik geförderten Marktansatz ab. Zwar haben die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen die breite Akzeptanz und schnelle Entwicklung des SLCP in der Anfangsphase nicht behindert, doch gibt es keine Möglichkeit, einen langfristigen Erfolg im Hinblick auf die Umwelteffektivität zu erreichen, wenn die wichtigsten PES-Elemente fehlen. Der überwiegend von oben nach unten gerichtete Ansatz des Programms und das Fehlen von echter Freiwilligkeit, Konditionalität und Eigentumsrechten werden zusammen als kritische Faktoren verstanden, die mögliche Misserfolge langfristig erklären. Ein weiterer Beitrag der Dissertation sind die methodischen Ansätze, die zum besseren Verständnis der Governance von Ökosystemleistungen beitragen. Diese Dissertation zeigt, dass Ansätze, die qualitative und quantitative Methoden kombinieren, wie z.B. Qualitative Vergleichende Analyse (Qualitative Comparative Analysis „QCA“) und Soziale Netzwerkanalyse (SNA), ein großes Potenzial für die institutionelle Analyse und partizipative Forschung von PES haben. Bei beiden Methoden wurde besonderes Augenmerk auf die detaillierte Beschreibung ihrer Anwendung sowie die damit verbundenen Vor- und Nachteile gelegt.
My dissertation focuses on institutional aspects of governmental payments for ecosystem services (PES) in China. Market-based approaches for ecosystem service governance, particular the PES, have been considered new and innovative policy instruments over the past decades. Corresponding to this international trend, PES schemes in China are mostly described by the domestic term eco-compensation. However, the characteristics of eco-compensation are distinct from other national PES programs, as governance model, property rights and societal structures in China are different to the PES theory. Eco-compensation faces many institutional challenges in creating economic incentives for behavioral change. However, PES that combines elements of both a voluntary market and hierarchy-based system in dealing with incomplete institutional settings has not yet been sufficiently addressed. In particular, there is a knowledge gap regarding fitting the design of PES and institutional settings in China together. The mechanisms of PES in China differ in important ways from mechanisms familiar from the western experience. This dissertation aims to reduce the divergence between the common framing of PES and the reality of its practice by presenting the institutional analysis of China’s governmental PES program. As a major component of eco-compensation, the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) is considered one of the world’s largest PES programmes. By taking SLCP as an empirical case, the first objective of this dissertation is to understand how to improve the institutional design of governmental PES. The second lies in a broad international context, aiming at methodologically contributing to the analysis of ecosystem services governance. This dissertation follows a cumulative structure, integrating the framework text and five papers. Chapter 1 is an introduction, outlining the research gaps and objectives of governmental PES. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical foundation to the institutional economic schools, their respective theories and the relevance of nature resource governance in China. Based on this, Chapter 3 confirms the research design by deconstructing the research objectives into different research questions. Chapter 4 is the results section, which comprises five papers. The first paper provides the conceptual basis for all subsequent studies presented in this dissertation, as it is an overview of the effectiveness and institutional challenges of China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). Both the second and third papers are empirical works. The second paper explores how socioeconomic and institutional conditions encourage rural households to reach the primary environmental goals of SLCP. The third paper shows how local dynamics derived and shaped the SLCP’s implementation. The fourth paper illustrates and discusses the method used in paper 2, comparing it with another case study in Germany. Finally, the fifth paper present the strengths and weaknesses of the method used in paper 3 based on the experiences of four different countries. Together, these papers deliver important contributions to both objectives. Chapter 5 is the synthesis and discussion, and Chapter 6 concludes the dissertation. The key finding of this dissertation is that the effectiveness of governmental PES is a result of interacting driving forces, whereas institutional settings and local dynamics play key roles in shaping program implementation. The SLCP could achieve its potential in creating significant economies of scale and environmental effectiveness under certain institutional conditions. However, against incomplete institutional settings, the current implementation of SLCP has deviated substantially from the market approach promoted by policy makers. While the incomplete institutional settings did not prevent SLCP’s wide acceptance and fast development in its first phases, there is no by-pass to reach the long term success in terms of environmental effectiveness in the absence of key PES elements. The program’s predominantly top-down approach and lack of genuinely voluntary characteristics, conditionality and property rights are jointly understood to be critical factors that explain possible failures in the long-term. Another contribution which this dissertation makes is in methodological approaches of ecosystem service governance. This dissertation has shown that mixed approaches combining qualitative and quantitative methods, such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and social network analysis (SNA), could have great potential for institutional analysis and participatory research for PES. The two methods were given particular emphasis in the detailed description of application, as well as in the inherent merits and limitations.

Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing global crime, which finally gained its due attention in the late 1990s. This thesis provides a critique of governmental anti-human trafficking efforts, in particular the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report. Additionally, this thesis focuses on Argentina and its federal capital, as a case study of the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of governmental reports on human trafficking, as well as the contributions made by non-governmental anti-human trafficking efforts. This thesis argues that due to many factors, government corruption being one of the main ones, it is important to be critical of state power and the knowledge it produces surrounding the issue of human trafficking. It is also crucial that governmental anti-human trafficking efforts strengthen coordination and increase collaboration with regional and local NGOs and other non-governmental anti-human trafficking efforts, in order to more effectively fight to eliminate this transnational and international crime.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between NGOs and the democratization process in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The conditions shaping both the civil society and political development are analysed in the light of findings obtained through in-depth interviews with NGO leaders in Kyrgyzstan. Despite relative freedom for NGOs, civil society in Kyrgyzstan is still in its infancy. Soviet era conception of roles attributed to state and society still persist especially among the governmental officials and general population. Despite the problems of building a democratic regime in Kyrgyzstan, NGOs have achieved a certain level of development. Through building functioning state institutions together with a lively political society primarily including political parties, the potential of NGOs for democratic development can be more fully utilized.

碩士
國立中正大學
社會福利所
94
Abstract This research aims to investigate the development of “government-instituted, privately operated” welfare institutions. In addition, this research tries to have more understanding about governmental responsibility and its ability for the public service, and to know if the government can protect the rights of those who take governmental welfare service, even under the tendency of privatization. In this descriptive study, data were collected by document analysis, an interview and participant observation. There are two issues to be discussed in this research. The first issue is about the establishment of the ‘government-instituted, privately operated’ institutions in certain counties. The other issue is to analyze the relation between the malfunction of the supervision mechanism and the difficulty the government encounters. The findings and suggestions are as following: 1. The public interest is the priority when evaluating the privatization of welfare institutions. 2. It is necessary to reconsider “government-instituted, privately operated” welfare institutions as service procurement in governmental procurement law. 3. The more explicit outsourcing contract can improve the function of contract supervision. 4. The mechanism of supervision and management should focus on its effectiveness. 5. The definition of the “quasi-public sector” may reinforce the supervision when distributing state resources for non-profit organizations. 6. To establish and keep effective complaint channels can strengthen the supervision. Key Words: “government-instituted, privately operated”、state responsibility、 public sector、supervision and management、non-profit organization、 welfare institution

碩士
東吳大學
會計學系
87
This study intended to discuss the functions of financial reports in Taipei City Government. Firstly, the author try to collect and review the literatures of government fund accounting and financial operations of our government and other countries, then to interview the accounting officer of Taipei City Government and arrange a questionnaire survey. Through questionnaire survey, we can understand how governmental information users and providers perceive the usefulness and problems of governmental financial information, directions of future improvements, and format of financial statement presentations. The questionnaires were mailed to 52 legislators, 195 accountants, and 27 external auditors, with the response rates of 21.15%, 39.49%, and 51.85% respectively. The total response rate is 37.23%. The results of the empirical study are summarized as follows: (1) Users agree with annual financial report is useful. (2) The functions of governmental accounting information should be enhanced. (3) Providers tend to agree that information of long (short)-term liabilities should be enhanced. (4) In terms of monthly accounting report basis, 40.66% of respondent agree with current situation. The suggestions of this study include : (1) The governmental accounting information system is usefulness. (2) To enact governmental accounting principles, governmental accounting and reporting issues are so diverse and complex that it takes much time and great efforts to analyze the conceptual issues and to develop a broad understanding of governmental entities. (3) The Service efforts and Accomplishment standard is necessary to develop. (4) Function of internal government management is enhanced.

碩士
國立宜蘭大學
經營管理研究所碩士班
96
The purpose of the study is to understand the leisure participation situation of governmental workers and the relations between leisure participation and the work achievements, and the leisure participation also feeds back to the work. It means that how important the leisure is. According to the purpose above, we confirm the questionnaire through literature review and the expert interview. Then we take a northern county government as an object of study to conduct the survey that how the leisure participation influences work performance. The effective samples are 256. First, we use factor analysis and reliability analysis to construct validity. Then, after the t-test, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Scheffe Method, we try to understand how the demographics influence the governmental worker’s leisure participation. In addition, we use the multiple regression analysis to confirm the influence between leisure participation on the work achievements influence. The finding of this research can be described as follows: (1) the leisure participation type influenced by gender, marital status, seniority, individual leisure demand, individual leisure participation quality, whether leisure activity places specifically provided by institution/unit and whether the institution/unit conducts leisure activity or competition. (2) The leisure participation time influenced by individual leisure demand, whether the institution/unit conducts leisure activity or competition and the National Travel Card factors. (3) The leisure participation partner influenced by different gender, age, marital status, seniority, individual leisure demand, individual leisure participation quality, whether leisure activity places specifically provided by institution/unit and the National Travel Card factors. (4) The county governmental organization governmental officer’s work performance, work attitude and working ability distributed equilibrium. (5) The leisure participation type is the sport type, knowledge type, skill type and public relations service type has the positive influence on the work performance. (6) The leisure participation time in the diurnally off-hour, the special platoon rests, arrange by each department has the positive influence on the work performance. And the special platoon rests has the highest positive influence. (7) The leisure participation partner is work-related friends, family has the positive influence on the work performance. Finally, the study make suggestions for individual, the county governmental organization and the society to establish one healthy and high quality working environment for high working performance.

碩士
世新大學
行政管理學研究所(含博、碩專班)
91
The Internet has emerged as one of the most prevalent forms of communication media. Gathering and sharing of Electronic information are becoming essential elements of modern life. Access to the Internet largely decides whether of not one can survive the increasingly turbulent and networked world. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to benefit from the Web sites, especially those of the governments. While there is an increasing portion of people with disabilities in the society due to the demographic trends long documented by many research, the government leaders have paid little attention to their needs when planning and implementing Web projects. If the ignorance continues, people with disabilities will be even more disadvantaged since acquiring knowledge is much easier now for the other people. This study is intended to provide an in-depth evaluation on the Web sites of Taiwan's central government based on the Web Accessibility Guidelines (WAI) provided by W3C. Based on the WAI indicators, the authors carefully studied and coded each individual Web site of the central governmental agencies. The coding results indicate that the government Web sites in general have made many of the mistakes as predicted. Among the most problematic are, the tags, the use of frames, and the writing of Web page titles et. In light of these research findings, this paper provides a number of strategies to improve the Web design practices in the public organizations.