Suchergebnisse

The agrarian reform dynamics in southern Africa have to be understood within the framework of colonial land policies and legislation that were designed essentially to expropriate land and natural resource property rights from the indigenous people in favour of the white settlers. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequity with regard to land although conditions are not homogeneous there are broad themes that cut across the southern Africa region. Colonialism dispossessed and impoverished the people by taking away the most productive lands. Neoliberal globalization has undermined the people's well-being through direct influences on agriculture and rural economies in conjunction with policies promoted by national governments and international agencies. Another shared feature is to be found in the high rates of unemployment, poor returns to small-scale agriculture, lack of access to social services such as health and education all of which serve to erode existing livelihood activities and perpetuate relative and absolute poverty in rural areas. This comparative study on Zimbabwe's agrarian reforms may provide countries such as South Africa and Namibia with valuable lessons, as they attempt their own land reforms. Conflicts between colonialists and the indigenous people in the then Rhodesia centred mainly on the land question. This inequitable distribution of land resulted in Africans waging liberation struggles in order to reclaim their land from the colonialists. In most post-colonial countries, calls have been made for land redistribution as a way of redressing colonial injustices in land tenure systems. The process of reclamation of land and redistributing it to the indigenous people is fraught with problems and has resulted in the present-day land crisis in many parts of Africa and other continents. These are some of the issues this book examines, attempts to understand and explain from a gender perspective. Gender relations are viewed in terms of land use and ownership in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. These socially constructed roles have been found to be unequal in terms of power and decision making. It is argued that lessening of social inequalities between men and women reduces poverty, raises farm efficiency and improves natural resource management. The book emphasises that once women are empowered, the quality of life of their households improves

The agrarian reform dynamics in southern Africa have to be understood within the framework of colonial land policies and legislation that were designed essentially to expropriate land and natural resource property rights from the Indigenous people in favour of the white settlers. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequity with regard to land although conditions are not homogeneous there are broad themes that cut across the southern Africa region. Colonialism dispossessed and impoverished the people by taking away the most productive lands. Neoliberal globalization has undermined the people's well-being through direct influences on agriculture and rural economies in conjunction with policies promoted by national governments and international agencies. Another shared feature is to be found in the high rates of unemployment, poor returns to small-scale agriculture, lack of access to social services such as health and education all of which serve to erode existing livelihood activities and perpetuate relative and absolute poverty in rural areas. This comparative study on Zimbabwe's agrarian reforms may provide countries such as South Africa and Namibia with valuable lessons, as they attempt their own land reforms. Conflicts between colonialists and the Indigenous people in the then Rhodesia centred mainly on the land question. This inequitable distribution of land resulted in Africans waging liberation struggles in order to reclaim their land from the colonialists. In most post-colonial countries, calls have been made for land redistribution as a way of redressing colonial injustices in land tenure systems. The process of reclamation of land and redistributing it to the Indigenous people is fraught with problems and has resulted in the present-day land crisis in many parts of Africa and other continents. These are some of the issues this book examines, attempts to understand and explain from a gender perspective. Gender relations are viewed in terms of land use and ownership in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. These socially constructed roles have been found to be unequal in terms of power and decision making. It is argued that lessening of social inequalities between men and women reduces poverty, raises farm efficiency and improves natural resource management. The book emphasises that once women are empowered, the quality of life of their households improves.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the determinants of cabinet termination in parliamentary systems. A preliminary study will raise a fundamental question: do voters punish incumbents for calling anticipated elections? The scarce evidence available reached contradictory conclusions. For the first time in the literature I will link cabinet termination with valence theories of party competition, and I will individuate the determinants of this popularity cost. My valece theory will provide a solution to the existing debate, showing that all the findings provided up to now represent specific cases of a more general phenomenon. The core of my thesis is represented by a coalition bargaining model. In each stage of the game, incumbents observe their electoral expectations and choose between negotiating on public policies, forming a new cabinet with the opposition, and calling elections. My game will show a series of improvements: first, it will introduce time and account for its effects on the outcome of the negotiation; second, it will introduce spatial considerations, such as the ideological location of the players and their coalition opportunities; third, it will encompass a theoretical account of the popularity cost of opportunistic election calling. Its fundamental assumptions will then be tested. Its asumptions will be tested using voting intention trends from four European democracies, covering more than fifty years of parliamentary politics. Results will show that variations in the exit option for the governing parties efficiently explain the likelihood of cabinet termination. On consensual democracies, this kind of test had never been conducted before. A corollary research concludes the dissertation: if voting intention data can be used to explain cabinet termination, then the same data can be used to account for ministerial tenure. The dismissal of ministers, or alterations in their prerogatives, can be described as a currency in the power game among coalition partners. Such an hypothesis had never been tested before. Using duration analysis I will show how imbalances in incumbent parties' popularity are associated with more frequent redistributions of power withing the goverment coalition. Even in this case, my empirical models will include time-varying covariates, producing an empirical contribution to the literature.

Résumé La plus grande part des études de l'état, qu'elles soient socio-historiques, logiques ou philosophiques, partent d'un essai de définition et décrivent et expliquent ses transformations actuelles en utilisant un modèle à deux étapes (avant/après). Plutôt que de suivre ce chemin je commence par trois des grandes sous-disciplines de la science politique, la sociologie politique et économique, l'analyse des politiques publiques et la théorie politique, et tire de leurs approches leurs visions de l'état, un produit de conflits, un ensemble d'aires et de secteurs de policy-making , un centre institutionnel doté de valeur symbolique. Les hybridations des trois perspectives sont alors esquissées et quelques conclusions sont tirées en ce qui concerne l'analyse comparative et la distinction entre gouvernement et gouvernance.

This research explores the role of politics in the construction of a capable bureaucracy. The dominant discourse deals with the structural attributes of a developmental state, and eschews the inherent politics of the construction or emergence of bureaucracy in a state. The focus of the research is about how capable bureaucracies emerge out of an abidingly complex and messy political reality. This research endeavours to unravel the complex, dynamic, often messy inherent intersection of politics and bureaucracy. It is argued that politics are an inherent ingredient of the fermentation of a capable bureaucracy, in which the agency of political actors is critical and that public reforms often spawn from particular critical junctures. This research undertakes a comparative study of South Korea, Unites States of America and South Africa, and juxtaposing the first two comparators with South Africa in order to draw important lessons for the latter. The endeavour looks at the pre-history, critical junctures, and the moment of consolidation to demonstrate how history shapes and influences the institutional realities of different countries; examine the proximate events or driving forces that contribute to or precipitated the emergence of capable bureaucracies in the successful comparators and distill lessons for South Africa. In the United States of America public service reforms fostered by broad coalitions in collaboration with political actors eradicated patronage and ensured economic progress. In South Korea the symbiotic relationship of meritocratic bureaucracy with an uncorrupt political elite ensured high speed growth. The research strives to demonstrate that building a capable bureaucracy is not a straightforward affair - exposing the nature of challenges and complexities of setting up a capable bureaucracy, thus contributing to the discourse - grappling with constructing a capable bureaucracy in South Africa.

Part One - Frameworks of Comparison for Public Service Media -- Chapter 1 - The Latin American media system -- Media and democracy in Latin America: setting out a debate -- Introductory approaches -- Media democratization across borders -- Defining an intellectual framework for comparative analysis -- Latin America: from underdevelopment to globalization -- Latin America and global inequality -- From underdevelopment and colonization to globalization -- Methodological Issues -- Empirical work and theoretical frameworks -- Survey methods -- Chapter 2 - Public communications and regulation in Latin America -- The role of the state and broadcasting in the UK and the US -- Regulation in the US and UK: from FCC to Ofcom -- Latin America media systems: a history of neglect of public communications -- Broadcasting policy and the public media in Brazil -- Government's policies for the communication sector -- Conclusion -- Part Two - Public sphere and the public interest: the role of the state in public service media -- Chapter 3 - European public service broadcasting revisited -- Defining PSB and the public interest -- European public service broadcasting dilemmas -- History and development of PSB -- Towards a framework for examining PSBs -- BBC: from a history of tensions with government to funding challenges -- PSBs and its relationship to governments -- PSB at a crossroads: challenges in a digital age -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4 - Journalism for the public interest and the crisis of civic communications in the UK and Brazil -- The role of the media and the public interest -- Classic liberal media theory -- The conservative perspective -- The public sphere liberalism model -- The radical democrats' critique -- The crisis of public communications and quality journalism in the US and UK -- Journalism cultures in Latin America and the public interest -- Contemporary Brazilian journalism -- Conclusion -- Part Three - Television, entertainment and the public interest -- Chapter 5 - Audience perceptions of quality programming and the public media -- Global and local television cultures -- TV as a site of resistance -- TV news and the public sphere -- Television and globalization -- BBC and the quality journalism tradition -- Audiences' interpretations of the media in the UK and Brazil -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6 - Television, popular culture and Latin American and Brazilian identity -- International television flows: from the global media to Latin American broadcasting -- Brazilian and Latin American culture as hybridity: the national identity controversy -- Challenges for Latin American integration -- Television and popular Brazilian culture: the aesthetic of consumerism -- TV Globo and the history of Brazilian commercial television -- Brazilian television, national identity and audience responses -- Public (television) journalism formats: from TV Cultura to TV Brasil -- Conclusion -- Part Four - The Internet for the public interest: the limits and uses of the Web in Latin America -- Chapter 7 - Media and politics in Latin America: political cynicism and the digital divide -- Representative democracy and the political functions of the media -- Media and politics: from media effects to political cynicism -- Media effects theories -- Political cynicism or realism?: the state of politics worldwide -- The digital divide in Latin America and the challenges for information knowledge -- Conclusion -- Chapter 8 - Mediated politics in the 2010 Brazilian elections -- Political campaigning and modernization practices in the UK and Latin America -- Political trends and scandals in Brazil -- The media and the 2006 presidential race -- The role of the Internet and gender politics in the 2010 campaign -- The benefits of networked politics -- Gender politics, blogging and the presidential dispute -- Conclusion -- Part Five - Media democratization in Latin America: towards a politics for national development and 'alternative' globalization -- General perspectives -- Cosmopolitan democra.

'Die Demokratiezufriedenheit der Deutschen ist in den vergangenen Jahren messbar zurückgegangen. Nachdem das Niveau jahrzehntelang über dem jeweiligen EU-Durchschnitt lag, fällt es nun darunter. Angesichts von Wirtschaftskrise, Arbeitslosigkeit und Einschnitten bei den Sozialsystemen entsteht eine Unzufriedenheit mit dem Funktionieren der Demokratie, die sich insbesondere in Ostdeutschland in Protesten und der Wahl rechtsextremer Parteien niederschlägt. Um die Entwicklung der Demokratiezufriedenheit in Deutschland besser beurteilen zu können, wird sie im europäischen Kontext betrachtet: Handelt es sich um einen allgemeinen Trend oder eine spezifisch deutsche Entwicklung? Nachgegangen wird weiterhin der Frage, ob die wachsende Unzufriedenheit mit der Demokratie in Deutschland in verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen unterschiedlich stark ausgeprägt ist und welche Ursachen dafür verantwortlich gemacht werden können. Als Datenbasis für die Analysen dienen Eurobarometer-Umfragen von Herbst 2002 bis Frühjahr 2004.' (Autorenreferat)

"European Union (EU) macro-regional strategies, such as the ones composed for the Adriatic Ionian, Alpine, Baltic Sea and Danube regions, aim to improve transnational cooperation and coordination in a 'territorially defined' setting. These strategies propose an integrated framework for cooperation involving a wide range of EU member states, regional organisations, sub-national authorities, civil society organisations as well as non-EU partner countries. The contributors question whether macro-regional strategies are helpful instruments for improving actor-policy linkages at the European, member/partner countries, and sub-national levels, and whether the objective of social, economic and territorial cohesion can be fulfilled through these strategies"--

Comparative analysis of Ukrainian and Russian Parliamentary Political Parties Communicative Activity is conducted in the paper. Emotionality and negativity indicators are interpreted. Computer analysis is used for the indicators calculation. News items from official sites of the parties are studied ("Servant of the People", "Opposition Platform for Life", "Bat'kivschyna", "Eurosolidarity", "United Russia", "KPRF", "LDPR", "A Just Russia"). Is was discovered, that Ukrainian political parties demonstrates higher average indicators of emotionality (18,7%) and negativity (29,7%), that Russian ones (14,5% and 16% respectively). It was concluded, that the results point out to the differences between the political systems: a competitive one (Ukraine) and a controlled one (Russia). As far as Russian parties aren't demand the government party control, the government itself and other ruling institutions, it's influence their communication. On the contrary on the Ukrainian parties sites content incudes emotion statements and negativity. Only one Ukrainian party ("Servant of the People", which formed the majority in the Parliament) had low indicators of emotionality and negativism. It was defined, that the main reason is low need of competition with other party and to criticize the modern government, police and secret services. The research demonstrated a significant attention towards political interactions imitation and leading forms of the imitation. The forms were defined with the more popular political intentions analysis. For the Ukrainian parties the prominent intention is "demand" (with "Servant of the People" as an exception). This is the result of high political struggle and political institutions active interactions. Meanwhile in Russia the intention was used to show the parties members work in the regions, the federal organs weren't addressed. The same results were achieved with other intentions observation ("decide", "support"). In majority of cases Russian parties were concentrated on their activity (or "struggle") promotion in regions or unaddressed demands about social policy. Whereas for Ukrainian parties the current government critics, and (for two parties) Euro Atlantic integration of Ukraine support are significant. ; У статті здійснено компаративний аналіз комунікативної активності українських та російських партій та інтерпретовано показники емоційності та негативізму, які будуть отримані в результаті комп'ютерного аналізу. Для розгляду взято новини за пів року 2012 із офіційних сайтів партій «Слуга народу», «ОПЗЖ», «Батьківщина», «Євросолідарність», «Єдина Росія», «КПРФ», «ЛДПР», «Справедлива Росія». Встановлено, що українські політичні партії демонструють вищі середні показники емоційності 18,7% та негативізму 29,7%, ніж російські: 14,5% та 16% відповідно. Зазначено, що це вказує на відмінності між партійними системами: конкурентну – українську, контрольовану – російську. Оскільки російські партії не ставлять перед собою мети контролю «партії влади», уряду та інших правлячих інституцій, відтак, це впливає на те, як вони комунікують. Натомість контент на сайтах українських партій часто містить емоційні заклики та негатив. Лише одна із українських партій – СН, яка сформувала більшість у Парламенті – продемонструвала низькі показники емоційності та негативізму. Визначено, основна причина цього у низькій потребі конкурувати з іншими партіями та критикувати сучасний уряд, президента, силові структури тощо. Це дослідження також показало і значну увагу до імітування політичної взаємодії, а також провідні форми цього імітування. Встановити ці форми вдалося завдяки аналізу найбільш популярних політичних інтенцій. Так, для українських партій (окрім «СН») однією із провідних є інтенція «вимагати», що свідчить про гостру боротьбу та активну взаємодію політичних інститутів. Натомість дві російські партії використовували цю інтенцію для того, щоб продемонструвати роботу членів партій в регіонах, а федеральним органам влади свої вимоги не адресували. Схожі результати продемонстрував і аналіз решти політичних інтенцій («вирішити», «підтримати»). В основному російські партії зосереджені на просуванні результатів своєї діяльності (або ж боротьби) у регіонах або ж на безадресних вимогах, що стосуються соціальної політики. Натомість для українських партій важливішою є критика чинної влади, а також (у випадку двох партій) підтримка євроатлантичної інтеграції України.

Comparative analysis of Ukrainian and Russian Parliamentary Political Parties Communicative Activity is conducted in the paper. Emotionality and negativity indicators are interpreted. Computer analysis is used for the indicators calculation. News items from official sites of the parties are studied ("Servant of the People", "Opposition Platform for Life", "Bat'kivschyna", "Eurosolidarity", "United Russia", "KPRF", "LDPR", "A Just Russia"). Is was discovered, that Ukrainian political parties demonstrates higher average indicators of emotionality (18,7%) and negativity (29,7%), that Russian ones (14,5% and 16% respectively). It was concluded, that the results point out to the differences between the political systems: a competitive one (Ukraine) and a controlled one (Russia). As far as Russian parties aren't demand the government party control, the government itself and other ruling institutions, it's influence their communication. On the contrary on the Ukrainian parties sites content incudes emotion statements and negativity. Only one Ukrainian party ("Servant of the People", which formed the majority in the Parliament) had low indicators of emotionality and negativism. It was defined, that the main reason is low need of competition with other party and to criticize the modern government, police and secret services. The research demonstrated a significant attention towards political interactions imitation and leading forms of the imitation. The forms were defined with the more popular political intentions analysis. For the Ukrainian parties the prominent intention is "demand" (with "Servant of the People" as an exception). This is the result of high political struggle and political institutions active interactions. Meanwhile in Russia the intention was used to show the parties members work in the regions, the federal organs weren't addressed. The same results were achieved with other intentions observation ("decide", "support"). In majority of cases Russian parties were concentrated on their activity (or "struggle") promotion in regions or unaddressed demands about social policy. Whereas for Ukrainian parties the current government critics, and (for two parties) Euro Atlantic integration of Ukraine support are significant. ; У статті здійснено компаративний аналіз комунікативної активності українських та російських партій та інтерпретовано показники емоційності та негативізму, які будуть отримані в результаті комп'ютерного аналізу. Для розгляду взято новини за пів року 2012 із офіційних сайтів партій «Слуга народу», «ОПЗЖ», «Батьківщина», «Євросолідарність», «Єдина Росія», «КПРФ», «ЛДПР», «Справедлива Росія». Встановлено, що українські політичні партії демонструють вищі середні показники емоційності 18,7% та негативізму 29,7%, ніж російські: 14,5% та 16% відповідно. Зазначено, що це вказує на відмінності між партійними системами: конкурентну – українську, контрольовану – російську. Оскільки російські партії не ставлять перед собою мети контролю «партії влади», уряду та інших правлячих інституцій, відтак, це впливає на те, як вони комунікують. Натомість контент на сайтах українських партій часто містить емоційні заклики та негатив. Лише одна із українських партій – СН, яка сформувала більшість у Парламенті – продемонструвала низькі показники емоційності та негативізму. Визначено, основна причина цього у низькій потребі конкурувати з іншими партіями та критикувати сучасний уряд, президента, силові структури тощо. Це дослідження також показало і значну увагу до імітування політичної взаємодії, а також провідні форми цього імітування. Встановити ці форми вдалося завдяки аналізу найбільш популярних політичних інтенцій. Так, для українських партій (окрім «СН») однією із провідних є інтенція «вимагати», що свідчить про гостру боротьбу та активну взаємодію політичних інститутів. Натомість дві російські партії використовували цю інтенцію для того, щоб продемонструвати роботу членів партій в регіонах, а федеральним органам влади свої вимоги не адресували. Схожі результати продемонстрував і аналіз решти політичних інтенцій («вирішити», «підтримати»). В основному російські партії зосереджені на просуванні результатів своєї діяльності (або ж боротьби) у регіонах або ж на безадресних вимогах, що стосуються соціальної політики. Натомість для українських партій важливішою є критика чинної влади, а також (у випадку двох партій) підтримка євроатлантичної інтеграції України.

With this study we aim to develop a theoretical understanding and to assess policy implications of cluster development in the context of a knowledge-driven, globalizing Asian economy. We will examine both the strengths and the limitations of recent biotechnology cluster policies in South Korea and Singapore. We argue that the two states share similar experiences in terms of the state's proactive role as a cluster creator, but that they have promoted biotechnology industry clusters in contrasting ways due to different national politics and political institutions. South Korea places more emphasis on endogenous capabilities, while Singapore highlights the importance of exogenous capabilities in biotechnology cluster development. By analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of these contrasting cluster policies, we evaluate the long-standing debate between endogenism and exogenism in the study of regional development. Instead of these dualistic approaches, we employ a global production network analytical lens for understanding the dynamic interactions between localized growth factors (endogenous) and globalizing external factors (exogenous) in the context of Asian biotechnology cluster development. We adopt a multipart strategy that includes archives, surveys, in-depth interviews, and secondary source data collection in order to enhance the validity and reliability of the data.