Suchergebnisse

This article draws on a study of cross-border cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe to examine the ways in which common aims are derived in collaborative ventures. It identifies that a lack of clarity can emerge as aims can be variously derived, belong to a single agency or be owned by individual actors. Aims may also be externally imposed by funding bodies. Aims can be explicit and thus open to evaluation or either assumed or hidden, neither of which are likely to be subject to formal monitoring. The process of deriving outcomes and the impact of the nature of funding (to programmes rather than to collaborative partnerships) are discussed. I argue that there is a need to know what success might look like, something at odds with the ex post nature of much evaluation. The problems of evaluating collaboration are made more complex by the intangible nature of some of the outcomes such as learning, connections and capacity.

English
Borders and borderlands are traditionally seen as barriers. The enlargement of the European Union has changed the nature of borders with some internal borders becoming 'softer' and new external borders 'harder'. This article is a study of the contextual background of transnational collaboration across such changing borders in South East Europe. It identifies trends such as transnational funding programmes and the role of minority ethnic groups, which may change the nature of borders from barriers to bridges.

Support for voluntary action has become a major part of the Conservative Party's social policy. This article identifies the range of action undertaken in the 'voluntary sector' of the social services. Conservative policy is examined through the statements of leading politicians over recent years. These are related to ideological differences within the Conservative Party and an attempt is made to assess the way in which these policy statements have been reflected in practice. It is suggested that any development of policy in this field will be accompanied by increasing government control over voluntary groups. In addition ways in which the left has responded to the growth of voluntary action are examined and the conclusion highlights the dangers of both the current policy and of some of the left wing reactions to these policies.

The Balance of Payments Adjustment Process in Developing Countries.