Suchergebnisse

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to required reports and other documents prepared by state agencies and institutions of higher education.

This paper compares the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the US Supreme Court to show the weakness of rights-based justifications such as those suggested by Sager and Eisgruber, Dworkin and Nussabaum, for the strict religious neutrality of the state. Justifying secularism in rights terms is likely to lead to minimialist forms of secularism and risks drawing courts into problematic assessments of the compatibility of the beliefs of particular faiths with liberal democracy. The paper closes by suggesting that rights-based litigation is a problematic vehicle through which to regulate the relationship between religion, the law and the state as fundamental rights cannot do justice either to the reasons in favour of strict separation of religion and state or to the richness of religious experience.

Thailand's national initiative on ICT usage in schools was launched in 1995 by the country's National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) under the pilot project known as the Thailand School Communication Network (more commonly referred to as 'SchoolNet'). The main objectives of SchoolNet were to network schools inside and outside Bangkok; to connect them to the Internet; and to promote the use of the Internet for teaching and learning in schools. After operating for eight years, the project was transferred from NECTEC to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and served as the foundation for the country's national educational network. Experience from SchoolNet Thailand provides useful lessons related to what can be achieved by small groups with vision and passion; how to operate without dedicated budget allocations from government in the start-up phase; the important role of support from widely respected and influential people outside the particular line ministries in starting something new; how to transition from a small and dynamic pilot initiative into a large government bureaucracy; and the importance of cooperation among related agencies across ministries.

This paper estimates the marginal returns to college for individuals induced to enroll in college by different marginal policy changes. The recent instrumental variables literature seeks to estimate this parameter, but in general it does so only under strong assumptions that are tested and found wanting. We show how to utilize economic theory and local instrumental variables estimators to estimate the effect of marginal policy changes. Our empirical analysis shows that returns are higher for individuals more likely to attend college. We contrast the returns to well-defined marginal policy changes with IV estimates of the return to schooling. Some marginal policy changes inducing students into college produce very low returns.

The contemporary city is regarded as an almost trivial affair, a weak and subordinate polity with an open economy. Though recognized as a tragic site of important events, it is esteemed to have little power to affect the lives of its inhabitants for good or ill. Its leaders are largely reduced to seeking handouts from superior governments. This low estate for the city is of long standing, commencing with the Greek city-state's loss of independence. Yet the city of the Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman Empire played a vital role. As Max Weber (1962) maintained, the modern nation-state battered down the walls of the city. But society cannot do without cities and their civilizing mission. If one agrees with Aristotle that the informing principle of the polity is its conception of the good life, that conception will be found most truly embodied in the city, which alone enables its inhabitants to live a full life.

AbstractIn this chapter, we reflect on the aims and gaps of this volume and the positionality of the co‐editors and contributors. We invite readers to consider how education and training for evaluators are or should be conceptualized and actualized, and detail future areas for consideration and attention.

Das vorliegende Kapitel rückt die Governance-Perspektive auf kommunaler und regionaler Ebene in den Mittelpunkt und bezieht sich dabei auf die in den vorausgegangenen Kapiteln analysierten fünf Handlungsfelder (vgl. Kap. 5.2 bis 5.6). Dabei wird auf die übergreifenden Fragen eingegangen, welche Rolle Planungsakteure sowie andere staatliche und nicht-staatliche Akteure für die Transformation spielen, wie besonders staatliche Akteure im Sinne eines gestaltenden Staates zur Transformation beitragen können, welcher Beitrag durch Strategien und Instrumente der Stadt- und Raumentwicklung sowie -planung geleistet wird und welche förderlichen und hinderlichen Faktoren Transformationsprozesse bzw. das diesbezügliche Wirken von Akteuren beeinflussen. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass Politik und Verwaltung eine maßgebliche Rolle zukommt, Strukturen und Bedingungen zu schaffen, die es ermöglichen, dass staatliche Akteure Veränderungen der räumlichen Entwicklung realisieren können und nicht-staatliche Akteure in öffentlichen und insbesondere Planungsstrukturen Resonanz finden, um wirksam Schritte zu einer großen Transformation zu gehen. Gleichzeitig wird aber auch deutlich, dass für die große Transformation nicht-staatliche Akteure eine besondere Rolle einnehmen, wenn sie als "Pioniere des Wandels" auftreten und Impulse einbringen. Daneben kommt einem konstruktiven Zusammenwirken der unterschiedlichen Akteure eine hohe Bedeutung zu, damit die räumliche Planung und Entwicklung mit ihren Kompetenzen, Kapazitäten und Ressourcen einen Beitrag zur großen Transformation leisten kann. Weiterführende Forschungsfragen in Bezug auf eine transformative Governance beziehen sich auf das Wechselspiel der verschiedenen Akteure, auf die spezifischen Handlungslogiken der Akteursgruppen sowie auf eine vertiefte Betrachtung der Hemmnisse und Restriktionen. Aus Akteursperspektive ist es für die große Transformation von Städten und Regionen insbesondere förderlich, Synergien zwischen möglichen Akteuren zu identifizieren, Schnittstellen für gemeinsames Handeln auszubauen und daraus Anforderungen an Institutionen, Prozesse und Instrumente einer transformativen Governance abzuleiten.