Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Political professionalisation'

Australian political parties and election campaigns are often said to have become professionalised, yet the term lacks clear definition and the nature of professionalisation as a process of institutional change is poorly articulated. This thesis elaborates the nature, the timing and the drivers of the changes in Australian elections and political parties, principally through depth interviews with present and former officials of the two major Australian political parties, who occupy the important but long neglected third face in Katz and Mair’s model of political parties. The interview data reveal the distinctive identity of party officials as ‘campaign professionals’, and provide a robust definition of professionalism in a party context: the officials are paid, they have high levels of technical competence, and they are devoted as partisans to the electoral interests of their client, the party. The interviews also provide new evidence about professionalisation as a process of institutional change. The national party officials are central to this process, creating a professional campaign model through centralising campaign authority in their own hands at the expense of state branches and, at times, of the party leaders; through taking responsibility for developing and implementing campaign strategies; and through acquiring the financial and other resources necessary to sustain this new style of campaigning. Over a three-phase process of professionalisation – identified as an emergent phase (from 1945 to 1972), an intensification phase (1973 – 2000) and a phase of diversification and deadlock (from 2001) - this model has come to dominate Australian party campaigning. Political parties are in some senses increasingly embattled, with radically declining party membership, a weakened linkage role, and increased electoral volatility. But in other respects as this thesis demonstrates, their campaigning capacities, with their campaig n professionals as central agents, continue to become better! resourc ed and they remain strongly entrenched and empowered in Australian elections.

This thesis investigates the nature of political marketing practice and identifies factors affecting adoption and utilisation of political marketing and professionalisation of campaigns in a Southern African context. It applies Sriramesh and Vercic (2009) framework to the study of political marketing in emerging international markets, Malawi and South Africa, two countries in Southern Afric Development Community (SADC). These countries share in common their geographical, cultural and democratic foci, but differ in terms of economic and media development.

This thesis focuses on a political economy analysis of the relationship between the professional identity and professional development practices of instructors in the postsecondary educational sector of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). My study brings together the concept of the dual-professional identity of postsecondary TVET instructors, the practice of professional development in TVET, and a political economy approach. The research methods adapted for this postgraduate research study were from a qualitative perspective using a case study approach. The case study involved eight culinary instructors, the supervisor of the professional cooking programme, and the director of the hospitality and culinary careers school at a postsecondary polytechnic in Canada, selected using a non-probability sampling technique. My research explored what a political economy analysis would reveal about the relationship between the professional identity and the professional development practices of the culinary instructors/chefs. Throughout this thesis, I use the term, TVET professionalisation, to denote this relationship This case study contributes to knowledge and the TVET community in three intersecting ways. Its first contribution is in context - the research took place in the Canadian postsecondary TVET sector, for purposes of analysing the professional identity/professional development relationship in consideration of the historical, structural, and socio-cultural contexts of the institution. The case study's second contribution is in extending the literature of the political economy of skills. The findings demonstrate that analysing the professionalisation of the TVET culinary instructors, in consideration of the inter-relationship among the cultural, economic, political, and social contexts of the TVET system, is a suitable extension of the literature on the political economy of skills. From another perspective, the study also adds to the literature on the professionalisation of TVET instructors by considering professionalisation as an extension of the TVET workforce development imperative, which I note in this study as the discourse promoting employability and the axiomatic assumptions of TVET as 'training-for-growth' and 'skills-for work' (Anderson 2008). Thus, the study contributes to wider debates about the applicability of a political economy analysis beyond skill formation systems. Lastly, the case study contributes a conceptual framework for TVET professionalisation by interpreting the relationship between TVET professional identity and professional development through a political economy lens. The findings demonstrate that both the professional identity and the professional development practices of the culinary instructors in the case study were shaped by various contextual factors within the field of practice: namely, the instructor's personal history and sense of agency, the socio-cultural conventions of the culinary trade under investigation, the social and structural setting of the postsecondary TVET institution, and the workforce development imperative of TVET. The conceptual framework for TVET professionalisation also contributes another perspective toward the dual-professional identity of TVET instructors. Dual-professional identity formation within this study, and drawing upon the language of the research participants, refers to the process where the 'recipe' for the chefs' base identity was written in the professional trade of culinary arts. Once they joined the polytechnic, though, the chefs used the institution as 'stage' to 'go beyond the recipe' and elevate their identities by adding the ingredient of 'becoming an educator'. Based on an interpretation of the case study's findings, through a political economy lens of analysis, I suggest that the 'skilled-educator' identity of the culinary instructors is bound by the structural and socio-economic contexts of the postsecondary polytechnic, whereas the 'skilled-tradesperson' identity of the culinary instructors reflects the historical and socio-cultural contexts of the instructors' lived experience as chefs. Further, I posit that each instructor's perception of meaningful professional development reflects the individual's personal sense of agency; what constitutes both a personal and shared sense of legitimacy concerning the value of professional development; and, an allegiance to one of the dual-professional identities over the other.

This thesis investigates the promotion of intercultural dialogue (ICD) in the framework of EU external action on the Mediterranean between 1990 and 2014. ICD is understood as a cultural foreign policy instrument that the EU has promoted in a changing, vague and contradictory manner to engage the civil societies of Europe and of the Mediterranean into a common effort to attenuate the tensions that derive from the socio-cultural divergences among the people and governments of this whole area. With the goal of shedding light on this obscure aspect of EU policy-making in the Mediterranean, this thesis aims primarily to analyse why the approach of the EU to ICD has changed during the time frame in reference, and how the EU has modified the formulation, implementation and role of this policy instrument. Guided by the conceptual lens of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), the research examines ICD within a broader analysis of the evolution of EU foreign policy in the area. It argues that the EU commitment to advance ICD within its Mediterranean policies can be divided into three distinct phases: a ‘phase of emergence’ (1990-2001), a ‘phase of consolidation’ (2001-2010) and a ‘phase of professionalisation’ (2010-2014). The main factor that shaped this three-phase evolution is identified in how EU policy-makers assessed the potential contribution of ICD to address the changing socio-cultural divide in the Euro-Mediterranean space following three major events: a) the conclusion of the Cold War in 1990; b) the terror attacks of 9/11 2001; and c) the outbreak of the Arab uprisings in December 2010.

This study seeks to examine how Ugandan journalists’ and politicians’ views on journalism professionalisation in Uganda relate to the broad theoretical arguments about professionalism within sociology and media studies. It also seeks to examine how such views impact on the democratic role of the media. The study finds out that there are two sets of distinct ideas on journalism professionalisation. The idea espoused by politicians is statutory professionalisation in which the state plays a major role through regulation and control, hence professionalisation is seen primarily as a control system. On the other hand, journalists perceive professionalisation as nurtured by voluntarily and socially inculcated professional values, hence as a value system. The study however, finds that both sets of understandings have their own complexities. While the statutory approach has complexities like how core elements of professionalism such as professional values can be imposed through legislation, the voluntary approach to professionalism also exhibits tensions within, especially stemming from the relationship between the professional and the news organisation regarding what constitutes professionalism. The study concludes that both sets of ideas have implications for the democratic role of the media, with both perceptions of professionalism curtailing this role. Statutory professionalisation in the Ugandan political context where the state is the dominant institution brings media institutions within its control, which leads to suppression of content of democratic value through a number of means. On the other hand, the self-regulatory perception does not protect media professionalism from the assault of commercial imperatives, especially when fused with state patronage in regard to broadcasting licences and placement of advertising.

Le thème des conseillers est quasiment absent des études de l’échiquier politique en Pologne, bien que la présence de ces acteurs sélectionnés et non élus dans la configuration de gouvernance s’ajoute à la complexité des questions de légitimité et de représentation. Cette thèse vise à combler ce vide, en explorant l’ancrage institutionnel, les traits sociodémographiques, les carrières et les rôles des conseillers des premiers ministres polonais de 1989 à 2014. Elle propose également un recadrage de la problématique du conseil, en l’intégrant dans le contexte des processus de délimitation de champs et de professions. L’analyse est orientée par les concepts de professionnalisation, trajectoire et boundary work, et repose sur la mobilisation de méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives. Les résultats montrent que l’institutionnalisation de l’informel au sein des cabinets politiques devenus dispositifs de conseil, les irrégularités dans les parcours professionnels et la liquidité du rôle façonné par des préférences contingentes rendent les frontières entre les conseillers et les autres catégories d’acteurs floues et négociables. Dans le même temps, la consolidation des cabinets politiques dans le paysage institutionnel, les convergences de profils de conseillers, l’adaptabilité de leur rôle et leur auto-identification comme conseillers suggèrent que plusieurs composantes de professionnalisation sont présentes. Le conseil politique apparaît comme un ensemble des pratiques variées, différemment placées sur les axes du formel et de l’informel, de l’expertise et de la confiance, de la science et de la politique, dont l’opposition est aussi discutée et contestée dans ce travail
The theme of advisers is virtually absent from analyses of the Polish political system, although the presence of these selected and non-elected actors in the configuration of governance adds to the complexity of questions of legitimacy and representation. This thesis aims to fill the gap by exploring the institutional affiliation, sociodemographic features, careers and roles of advisers to the prime ministers of Poland active between 1989 and 2014. It also suggests a reframing of the question of political counsel by embedding it in the context of delimitation of fields and professions. The analysis is oriented by the concepts of professionalisation, trajectory and boundary work, and it relies on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results indicate that the institutionalisation of informality within advisory units, the irregularities in professional trajectories and the liquidity of the role shaped by changing preferences blur the boundaries between advisers and other categories of actors. At the same time, the consolidation of political cabinets in the institutional landscape, the convergences in advisers’ profiles, the adaptability of their role, and their self-identification as advisers suggest that multiple components of professionalisation are present. Political counsel appears thus as a set of diversified practices positioned in a variety of ways on the axes of the formal versus the informal, trust and expertise, science and politics, whose contradictory nature is also discussed and contested in this work

This study aims to shed light on the relationship between the commercial advertising model AIDA (Awareness/Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) and political television advertising, with a historical perspective being of extra interest. In order to do so, the study made use of theories concerning the AIDA-model, representation, rhetoric (with focus on ethos, pathos, and logos), and the professionalisation of political communication. The methodology involved qualitative analyses of 18 official political campaign advertisements from nine United States presidential elections between the years 1952-2016. One issue-ad from each candidate (Republicans and Democrats only) from every other election was strategically chosen for examination. Each advertisement was then analysed both as it relates to its rhetorical content as well as its structure with the defined four stages of the AIDA-model in mind, with any potential patterns between the rhetoric and the structure being taken into account. The results of the study suggest that while the AIDA-model can be recognised in political television advertisements in the United States since the inception in the 1950s, the advertisements from the post-modern phase of the professionalisation of political communication (1985-) seem to place more emphasis, compared to the modern phase (1950s-1985), on the desire stage of the AIDA-model. Furthermore, no distinct differences could be found between the parties from a pure rhetorical and structural standpoint, and both appear to be on practically identical evolutionary paths. An explanation to this could be the escalating reliance on hiring independent experts and specialist to manage the various areas involved with running a political campaign, which is a characteristic of the ever-increasingly professional environment of political communication.

This study explores the marketisation and professionalisation of campaigning of political parties. More specifically, it attempts to provide a systematic understanding of the structural conditions and factors that determine such developments in a new democracy. The following propositions commence this study. In new democracies that are indicated by a set of conditions postulated by Strömbäck (2007: 63), Strömbäck (2010: 28-29) and Strömbäck et al. (2012: 86), political parties are likely to adopt marketing principles, procedures and techniques to advance not only market-orientation, but also campaign structure and strategies. However, none of these parties is likely to turn into either market-oriented or the professional-electoral/sales-oriented parties. To evaluate such propositions, this study selected the new democracy of Indonesia as a case study, adopted critical realism as a research philosophy, formulated a holistic conceptual framework and applied a pure-mix of qualitative and the quantitative research methodology. Survey data were collected from marketers/campaigners of 10 Indonesian political parties during the 2014 parliamentary and presidential elections. The in-depth interview data were derived from these parties’ leaders/secretaries, senior editors of the Indonesian media and political consultants and pollsters. These data were combined with reports released by these media and pollsters, the Indonesian research centres and the Indonesian General Election and Broadcasting Commissions. This study reveals that there were ‘structural conditions’, which stimulated the Indonesian political parties Post-Soeharto New Order to develop such practices. In facing these elections, these parties realized the importance of political market arenas and political sub-markets and advanced such practices strategically. None of these parties however, turned into either market-oriented or the professional-electoral/sales-oriented parties. The main finding of this study is that in the emerging democratic countries, which have been ruled under the presidential government system and indicated by the candidate-centred system, such as Indonesia, the party orientations related to such practices seem to be matters of mode and degree rather than of type. The following factors determined such orientations. They include: a) perceptions of the party leaders, candidates and marketers/campaigners regarding the relative importance of the internal party, the media and electoral arenas; b) the party-specific factors, especially, party ideology, size, campaign resources and position in the government and experiences with internal and external shocks; c) the party’s competitive chances to fulfil the minimum number of the presidential election threshold, assemble a political coalition and nominate a pair of presidential candidates; and d) the party presidential candidate-specific factors. This study offers the following novelty theoretical and prescriptive models. The first theoretical model conceptualises the structural conditions and factors that determine developments of marketisation and professionalisation of campaigning of political parties in such countries within and across the parliamentary and presidential elections. The second theoretical model underpins formation of the party presidential candidate-specific factors and theorises its impacts on such developments systematically; while the third theoretical model provides a baseline framework to explore the effects of these aforementioned factors on such developments holistically. The second and the third theoretical models could be transformed into the prescriptive models to help these parties to achieve their goals in these elections effectively. The mainstream centre-right or centre- left parties in the Western democracy could adopt these models, as they want to tactically confront the rises of the radical-right wing populist parties and movements and strategically manage the sustainability of the liberal democratic system and society.

Comment se fabriquent les vocations agrobiologiques ? Si l’émergence, l’institutionnalisation et la transformation de l’agriculture biologique en objet d’action publique laissent à penser qu’un segment professionnel s’autonomise, notre enquête montre que les agriculteurs biologiques ne peuvent entièrement échapper à l’action de la profession et de l’encadrement agricoles ainsi qu’aux systèmes de classement produits par leurs pairs. Derrière l’enjeu technique qui consiste à produire sans intrants de synthèse se jouent en effet des luttes pour définir et contrôler le titre d’agriculteur. Ces luttes se jouent à un niveau institutionnel et interpersonnel et ont pour effet de délimiter les frontières du territoire professionnel. De ce point de vue, la figure de « l’agriculteur professionnel » (pratiquant une agriculture à temps complet, intensive et spécialisée) continue à structurer l’économie morale du groupe professionnel et son segment agrobiologique : la sélection et la hiérarchisation des représentants, des encadrants et des producteurs s’opèrent alors en fonction de leur plus ou moins grand ajustement à cette forme d’agriculture. Dès les années 1950, la sélection des dirigeants agrobiologiques s’opère sur leur acceptation de la division de plus en plus réglée des tâches de représentation, de conception, d’encadrement et de production. C’est ce que nous montrons dans un premier temps à partir de l’analyse des archives de la société Lemaire-Boucher et des archives personnelles de Raoul Lemaire, à la fois producteur, boulanger, entrepreneur, sélectionneur et homme politique. L’homme échoue dans sa croisade morale en faveur de l’agriculture biologique précisément parce qu’il se situe à l’intersection d’espaces occupés par des agents de plus en plus spécialisés. À partir d’entretiens semi-directifs, d’observations directes et d’un questionnaire auprès du personnel scientifique et technique participant au contrôle des vocations agrobiologiques, nous analysons ensuite ce contrôle, qui s’opère à bas bruit et de manière indirecte depuis les années 1980. La focale portée sur le processus d’institutionnalisation du segment et sur les logiques de recrutement et de travail des agents d’encadrement permet de montrer que la sélection des agriculteurs biologiques s’opère d’abord par la sélection de ceux qui les sélectionnent. De ce point de vue, l’émergence d’une nouvelle forme d’agriculture n’entraîne pas mécaniquement l’émergence d’un espace d’encadrement autonome : d’un côté, la construction de l’agriculture biologique comme objet de recherche légitime contribue à isoler les chercheurs des agriculteurs — et donc à renforcer les effets du processus de professionnalisation — ; d’un autre côté, l’institutionnalisation de l’agriculture biologique contribue à la naissance d’un appareil d’encadrement dual reposant sur une division morale du travail, entre des organisations et agents d’encadrement favorisant la reproduction de la figure de l’agriculteur professionnel et d’autres dont l’action consiste à ménager des espaces où l’hétérodoxie reste possible.Le contrôle des vocations agrobiologiques s’opère aussi entre agriculteurs, comme l’analyse la troisième partie, basée sur une enquête à dominante ethnographique en Midi-Pyrénées. Nous y montrons que les coûts d’entrée, de sortie et de maintien en agriculture biologique sont différenciés selon l’origine et la trajectoire sociales des agriculteurs, mais également selon la valeur de leur patrimoine de ressources au sein du groupe professionnel agricole. Tant leurs choix professionnels que leur style de vie sont évalués à l’aune de l’idéal modernisateur et professionnel de l’après-guerre. Dès lors, l’origine agricole, le capital symbolique procuré par le diplôme d’agronome, les ressources d’autochtonie, le capital économique et le patrimoine sont autant de ressources qui permettent à certains agriculteurs biologiques d’être considérés comme de « bons professionnels »
How does one get into organic farming? Even though it has gained its autonomy as a segment, organic farming is not free from the structural constraints imposed to farmers as an occupational group. To produce food without any pesticides is not only a technical matter. Behind that lies a struggle to define and control who is licensed to be a farmer. This struggle takes place both at an institutional and interpersonal level and revolves around the definition of farming. In that matter, the definition inherited from the “modernisation” period (from the 1950s onwards) still has consequences on the way farmers are selected, on the way extension services work and on the way farmers are represented by professional organisations. Our main aim is therefore to understand the effects of “professional farming” on the way people come to organic farming, practice it and talk about it, and on how it creates social and professional differentiation between organic farmers. First, we consider the effects of this new moral economy on the way organic farmers are represented. By analysing the archives of Raoul Lemaire, one of the first advocate of organic farming in France, we show that his moral crusade to represent small scale farmers – and organic farmers in particular – doesn’t succeed because the personal domination he wants to build his power on tends to be replaced by a less personal and more bureaucratic domination embodied by “la profession” : therefore, organic farming lacks visibility from the very beginning of its existence in France in the end of the 1950s. Then, relying on semi-structured interviews and on a survey, we emphasize that the institutional control of who is allowed to be an organic farmer doesn’t depend entirely on organic organisations. By focusing on the way people are recruited and work in specialised and non-specialised research and extension organisations, we show that the selection of the people who select farmers is paramount in reproducing the definition of the occupational territory inherited from the “modernisers”. Finally, relying on qualitative material (observations and semi-structured interviews mainly), we show that there are multiple ways to get into organic farming but also unequal means to resist to the modernisers’ moral economy: thus, being from a farmer’s background and/or being trained as an agronomist and/or having local social capital tend to differentiate some organic farmers form others. Therefore, the technical and symbolic unification of the farming occupational group that took place after 1945, still has important effects on the way the group, the organic segment and rural areas more generally are socially stratified

Pour Max Weber, le professionnel de la politique c’est celui qui vit de et pour la politique. Autrement dit, c’est celui qui parvient à en tirer des ressources suffisantes pour en faire son activité à temps plein, mais également celui qui en fait une vocation. Au regard de son apport, dans la problématique plus générale de la modernisation politique, on peut s’interroger sur l’opérationnalité de cette approche Wébérienne sur différents terrains, notamment les Afriques, sur lesquelles porte cette thèse. C’est autour de cette question que repose cette recherche doctorale. Elle s’appuie sur le cas du personnel politique des petites communes au Cameroun que nous désignons comme « rurales », sur leurs caractéristiques socio-démographiques et sur leurs pratiques. Elle vise à explorer les voies spécifiques de la professionnalisation de ces élus et ce qu’elle peut dire de la « modernisation politique » et du mode de gouvernance locale dans ce pays. Outre l’aspect socio-historique, différentes communes ont été sélectionnées à partir de 2018 dans cinq régions du Cameroun. Pour cela, nous avons fait le choix de diverses méthodes d’enquête dont les entretiens, les observations, mais également l’analyse d’archives. Nous avons combiné cela avec des méthodes quantitatives (qui s’appuient principalement sur de l’analyse de données primaires et secondaires récoltées tout le long de la thèse)
For Max Weber, a professional politician is someone who not only lives off politics but also lives for politics. In other words, it refers to an individual who secures enough resources from politics to make it a full-time occupation, while also regarding it as a vocation. Considering Weber’s contribution to the broader issue of political modernization, one might question how applicable this Weberian approach is to various contexts, particularly those in Africa, which are the focus of this thesis. This doctoral research centers around that question. It examines the political personnel from small, 'rural' communities in Cameroon, focusing on their socio-demographic characteristics and practices. The objective is to explore the specific paths toward the professionalization of these elected officials and what this reveals about 'political modernization' and local governance in the country. In addition to the socio-historical aspect, various communities were selected from 2018 onward in five regions of Cameroon. To achieve this, we employed a variety of research methods, including interviews, observations, and archival analysis. These were complemented by quantitative methods, primarily based on the analysis of primary and secondary data collected throughout the thesis

Set against a changing backdrop of reforms in higher education and English language teaching (ELT), the thesis explores the notion of professionalism for university English teachers in Vietnam: What is defined as professionalism in this particular period of time? How is professionalism constructed in this context? The research approaches professionalism as a critical concept: A list of aspired traits and features are always value-laden and concern the question of power. From this premise, the thesis discusses a “kaleidoscope” relationship between different actors in the making of professionalism. Using Freidson’s (2001) ideas on the contingencies of professionalism, the study views the notion as a process rather than a product. Professionalism has its own logic that needs to be respected, but this logic is also incidental to other logics for its establishment and development. The study uses embedded case study to address its research questions. Defining the case as professionalism for university ELT teachers in contemporary Vietnam higher education, the thesis studies the notion as articulated at national, institutional, and individual levels. The primary data sources include five national policies, institutional policies and management practices at a university and its foreign languages department, and interviews with six academic managers and eleven ELT lecturers. The data were analysed using thematic analysis approach within constructivist, interpretive traditions. The results show that professionalism for ELT lecturers in Vietnam can largely be characterised as a professionalism of entrepreneurship, measurability and functionality. ELT is largely considered as a tool for international integration. Each type of professionalism project involves several actors (the state, expert groups, the institution, and ELT academics) with their own logic, but they interrelate in responding to the imperatives of the knowledge-based economy and globalisation. How the meaning of professionalism is established and argued for by the different actors in this study reveals that it is not easy to conceptualise the notion in a binary system of “from above” professionalism versus “from within” professionalism; and “organisational” professionalism versus “occupational” professionalism. The complexities of the logics of professionalism – with an ”s”, affect whether a professionalisation project can be perceived as being positive or negative – Is it professionalisation or is it deprofessionalisation? The relativity of “from above” and “from within” reflects the contingencies of professionalism, and also suggests authority power is plural, shifting, and fluid, rather than single, normative, and static. Meanwhile, it means human’s individual power is not of an ultimate freedom but dependent on external conditions. With these considerations, the study proposes interpreting professionalism as a ”social contract”. This helps not only recognise a mutual relationship between the state, the institution, and academics, but also illuminate how each party enables, maintains, and contributes to this relationship.

Ce travail de thèse interroge l'application différenciée des politiques publiques et ses dynamiques. À travers l'étude de huit services publics d'assainissement non collectif, situés dans des espaces périurbains provençaux, hauts-alpins, vauclusiens et rhônalpins, la réflexion met en valeur les tensions entre des normes réglementaires et techniques d'une part et, d'autre part, des territoires disposant de ressources variables pour les appliquer. S'appuyant sur une démarche quantitative et qualitative auprès d'institutions et d'usagers, cette recherche met en évidence la grande différenciation des Spanc. Celle-ci s'explique par la difficulté, pour les Spanc, de s'imposer dans un jeu d'acteurs complexe et face à des usagers souvent récalcitrants. Notre recherche montre, au final, que la professionnalisation des agents de ces services, qui suppose le développement d'une identité, d'une culture et de pratiques communes, permet de réduire les différences d'application de la politique publique.

La tesi si prepone di analizzare il significato di design nel contesto dell’industria agro-alimentare in Italia, con particolare riferimento alle teorie dell’innovazione tramite servizi (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Precedenti studi sulla professionalizzazione di una disciplina hanno supportato una prima fase di ricerca, durante la quale si è cercato di valutare se si sta sviluppando una disciplina del design agro-alimentare (Hodgson, 2002). Successivamente, la ricerca ha analizzato come le imprese del settore abbiano sviluppato ed integrato specifiche competenze mirate a fare del design uno strumento di crescita innovativa (Jennings e Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele e Murdoch, 2002). La metodologia si basa su casi studio tratti da dati di fonte primaria e secondaria. Un primo risultato ha evidenziato l’importanza dell’innovazione di tipo organizzativo, in particolare il lavoro di progetto ed un rapporto frequente con il cliente. Lo studio enfatizza inoltre che le aziende agro-alimentari debbano considerare aspetti legati all’innovazione in concomitanza a quelli legati all’estetica. Nei casi in cui il prodotto non rappresenti l'unica interfaccia col cliente (es. settore vinicolo), la ricerca suggerisce che la funzione di servizio del design emerge come preminente.
This thesis unveils the meaning of design in the context of the agro-food industry in Italy from a service innovation perspective (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Different theoretical underpinnings have been called: previous studies on the professionalisation of a discipline have helped to assess the extent to which a discipline of agro-food design is emerging (Hodgson, 2002). Additional insight is provided by the analysis of firms and sectors that have integrated design-related expertise into their activities and, consequently, contributed to further our understanding on this matter (Jennings and Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele and Murdoch, 2002). A qualitative approach has combined both primary- and secondary-source data. The study indicates that organisational innovations are crucial for the competitiveness of Italian design firms, project-based activity and close relationship with client firms in particular. Case studies on medium and large agro-food firms point to a blurring line between design and marketing. The study emphasises that both the innovation and aesthetic components must be considered. In cases where the product is not the only interface with the client (e.g. winemaking sector), the research suggests that the service trait of the design activity is becoming increasingly relevant.

La tesi si prepone di analizzare il significato di design nel contesto dell’industria agro-alimentare in Italia, con particolare riferimento alle teorie dell’innovazione tramite servizi (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Precedenti studi sulla professionalizzazione di una disciplina hanno supportato una prima fase di ricerca, durante la quale si è cercato di valutare se si sta sviluppando una disciplina del design agro-alimentare (Hodgson, 2002). Successivamente, la ricerca ha analizzato come le imprese del settore abbiano sviluppato ed integrato specifiche competenze mirate a fare del design uno strumento di crescita innovativa (Jennings e Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele e Murdoch, 2002). La metodologia si basa su casi studio tratti da dati di fonte primaria e secondaria. Un primo risultato ha evidenziato l’importanza dell’innovazione di tipo organizzativo, in particolare il lavoro di progetto ed un rapporto frequente con il cliente. Lo studio enfatizza inoltre che le aziende agro-alimentari debbano considerare aspetti legati all’innovazione in concomitanza a quelli legati all’estetica. Nei casi in cui il prodotto non rappresenti l'unica interfaccia col cliente (es. settore vinicolo), la ricerca suggerisce che la funzione di servizio del design emerge come preminente.
This thesis unveils the meaning of design in the context of the agro-food industry in Italy from a service innovation perspective (Miles et al., 1995; Tether et al., 2001). Different theoretical underpinnings have been called: previous studies on the professionalisation of a discipline have helped to assess the extent to which a discipline of agro-food design is emerging (Hodgson, 2002). Additional insight is provided by the analysis of firms and sectors that have integrated design-related expertise into their activities and, consequently, contributed to further our understanding on this matter (Jennings and Wood, 1994, Meroni, 2000, Miele and Murdoch, 2002). A qualitative approach has combined both primary- and secondary-source data. The study indicates that organisational innovations are crucial for the competitiveness of Italian design firms, project-based activity and close relationship with client firms in particular. Case studies on medium and large agro-food firms point to a blurring line between design and marketing. The study emphasises that both the innovation and aesthetic components must be considered. In cases where the product is not the only interface with the client (e.g. winemaking sector), the research suggests that the service trait of the design activity is becoming increasingly relevant.

This thesis argues that opposition is an opportunity to study our major political parties in the ‘raw’. Parties without the support of government departments and the resources of incumbency must rely on their own internal structures and the skill set of their Senators and Members of Parliament. It is in opposition that we can truly examine and assess how well party processes function and their capabilities. The Liberal Party of Australia (LPA) represents an interesting case study for parties in opposition because its inexperience at opposition offer political scientists a rare opportunity to observe a party attempting to learn new skill sets. Through an historical comparative study this thesis examines the LPA (and to some extent its coalition partner) in opposition between 1983-1996 and 2007-2013. It examines how, over time, the LPA attempted to prepare itself for government by examining its approach parliament, internal party management, its policy-making processes and political communication strategies. The study draws on several methodological approaches in order to triangulate results — interviews with key actors, private papers maintained by leading Liberal party actors, as well as publicly available documentation and media reports. This study finds that the practice of opposition in intensely political, contrary to most common conceptualisations in the literature. It argues for a more complex understanding of the LPA’s leadership ethos — one that recognises the expectations of shadow ministers and the backbench and the reciprocal nature of the leadership in the LPA. The study also finds evidence of increasing professionalism in the LPA’s use of media since 1983 and the mediatisation of politics. It explores why political parties become mediatised, arguing that the reason lies in party actors’ assumptions about what will help them capture office. The study argues that for most of the 1980s, the LPA aspired to be a credible alternative government and a constructive opposition with thought-out policy proposals. Policy was central to political actors’ assumptions about effective political communication, even if it struggled to achieve this and its resources often proved inadequate to the task. Not until losing the ‘unlosable election’ in 1993 did the LPA abandon policy advocacy as its idealised key strategy for attempting to win office. By contrast, the opposition between 2007 and 2013 (and particularly 2010 to 2013) pursued an overwhelmingly negative approach to opposition designed to destroy the Gillard government’s credibility rather than build up its own.Political actors’ assumptions about the purpose of policy had dramatically altered. Policy was no longer a vital tool to build-up credibility and win office. Instead, actors believed that strategically managing issues in the media was more important. As a result of the hung parliament and the lessons learned from the 1980s, the emphasis of the post-2007 Opposition had shifted to capturing office, because this was considered the most effective way to make political change. Thus, the study demonstrates how the party became increasingly mediatised between 1983 and 1996 and argues that between 2007 and 2013 that the party had internalised ‘media logics’ to the extent where the opposition invested only minimally in policy development during this period and political success was used as a justification for limiting the amount of information given to voters about their intentions for government. This study raises important implications about whether or not parties are adequately preparing for government in opposition.