The field of Bioregional Planning is a relatively new approach to the study and management of land and the built environment. It addresses natural resources, human systems, environmental conditions, hazards, threats, and opportunities as they relate to public health, safety, and welfare on a regional scale. The Master's program at Utah State University integrates the fields of Economics, Planning, Sociology, Political Science, Landscape Ecology, and Natural Resources in order to address the multifaceted threats facing communities, ecosystems, and economies within an interdisciplinary graduate program.
Nous cherchons à évaluer quantitativement l'importance relative du régionalisme et des classes sociales pour expliquer la culture politique canadienne. Notre analyse repose sur un sondage national fait en 1977 auprès de quelque 3,300 personnes. Les recherches jusqu'à maintenant démontrent que les différences régionales sont plus importantes que les différences de classe. Une telle conclusion repose, selon nous, sur une base empirique insuffisante. La plupart de ces recherches utilise une définition inappropriée des classes sociales et a recours à une conception trop étroite de la culture politique, celle-ci est, en effet, réduite au comportement électoral, au sentiment de compétence, à la confiance et à la participation. Cette conception de la culture politique ne tient pas compte, par exemple, des attitudes relatives aux mesures sociales, aux syndicats et à la répartition des revenus. Au surplus la nation québécoise est traitée tout simplement comme l'une des cinq régions du Canada.Notre recherche repose et sur les « indices » traditionnels des classes sociales (profession, instruction et revenu), et sur une typologie marxiste tirée de l'ouvrage de Wright. Elle analyse plusieurs aspects de la culture politique dont l'orientation partisane et les attitudes à l'égard des institutions politiques. Nos données nous apportent trois conclusions: (a) les différences entre les classes sociales sont plus grandes que les différences régionales quant au sentiment de compétence, quant à la participation et quant aux attitudes face à une série de mesures politiques; (b) par ailleurs le régionalisme marque l'orientation partisane et l'attachement au régime; (c) la culture politique québécoise est différente de la culture politique canadienne. Nous pensons donc qu'il y a lieu de réévaluer le rôle des classes sociales et du régionalisme dans l'analyse de la culture politique canadienne.
In recent years, policy makers have given much credence to the role of entrepreneurship in the transformation of regions. As a result, a new set of policy responses have emerged that focus on the support of new venture creation, small business growth and idea generation and commercialization. While there is a wealth of research about entrepreneurship in general, less attention has been given to the development of new tools and programs in support of entrepreneurial activities, and to the ways in which the emergence, the character and the types of entrepreneurship policies might diffe.
As popular demonstrations swept across the Arab world in 2011, many U.S. policymakers and analysts were hopeful that the movements would usher in a new era for the region. The initial results of the tumult were indeed inspiring. Broad-based uprisings removed Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, and Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi from power. Since the toppling of these dictators, all three countries have conducted elections that international observers deemed competitive and fair, and millions of people across the region can now freely express their political opinions. The prospects for further democratization, however, have dimmed. Most countries in the Arab world have not jumped political tracks, and those that did begin to liberalize are now struggling to maintain order, lock in their gains, and continue moving forward. The demise of Middle Eastern authoritarianism may come eventually. But there is little reason to think that day is near, and even less reason to think that the United States can significantly increase its chances of happening. Any effort by Washington to bring democracy to the region will fail if local social and economic conditions are not ripe and if vested interests in the countries oppose political reforms. Adapted from the source document.
Government wage bills have been growing across the world, but are exceptionally high in the MENA region relative to countries' state of development, whether measured as a share of GDP, or of government revenue and spending (World Bank, 2004). Across the region government wage bills threaten fiscal sustainability. There are many drivers behind the large wage bills, whether of central government alone or of general government. Government employment numbers also seem to grow inexorably, in many areas faster than required to deliver services in line with population growth. Other factors have been weak staff control systems, the authorization of new recruitment outside budget frameworks, and laxly applied staff performance assessment systems, in addition to absenteeism, and the difficulty under public service rules of disciplining and ultimately terminating poorly performing staff. This paper takes a look at government wage bill growth, alongside current approaches to recruitment, staff performance assessments and promotions, with particular emphasis on Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. These country examples are complemented by a broader regional analysis to illustrate overarching trends in public sector employment.The objective is to identify the various forces at work, how they interact, and thereby document and understand better the dynamic of public sector wage bill expansion in the Middle East as well as potential linkages to public sector performance. The paper also looks at reform efforts, extracts lessons and identify potential reform options to better control wage bill growth and the unbalancing effects it has had on the efficiency and effectiveness of government spending generally. Furthermore, while the paper does not present a comprehensive overview of the nature of public employment in MENA, it aims to identify potential areas for further research in this domain.
