Comparative administrative reform: The rhetoric and reality of the Civil Service reform programs in Uganda and Tanzania

Administrative reform is a challenging endeavor for both developed and developing countries alike. For developing countries, the challenge is greater because numerous reforms are implemented concurrently sometimes under conditions of resource scarcity and political instability. So far there is no consensus as to what makes some reforms succeed and others fail. The current study seeks to fill that gap by offering an empirical comparative analysis of the administrative reforms initiated in Uganda and Tanzania since the early 1990s. The purpose of the study is to explain the similarities and differences, and give reasons for the successes and failures of the reform programs in the two countries. It focuses on four major areas; the size of the civil service, pay reform, capacity building, and ethics and accountability. Data were collected via in-depth face to face interviews with 35 key government officials and the content analysis of various documents. The results indicate that the reforms generated initial substantial reduction in the size of the public services in both countries. In Uganda, the traditional civil service was reduced from 140,500 in 1990 to 41,730 in 2004; while in Tanzania Ministries, Departments, and Agencies were reduced by 25%. Pay reform has generated substantial increases in civil servants' salaries in both countries but in Uganda, the government has not been able to abide by the pay strategy while in Tanzania the strategy guides the increments. Civil Service capacity building efforts have focused on enhancing the skills of the personnel. Training needs assessments were undertaken in all ministries in Uganda and a training policy was formulated. In Tanzania, the training needs assessments are still under way and a training policy has not yet been developed. Ethics and accountability are great challenges in both countries, but in Tanzania, there is more political will and commitment to improve the integrity of the civil service. The findings reveal that although Uganda started the reform with much more rigor and initial success, Tanzania has surpassed it and has a more stable, consistent, and promising reform record. This is because Uganda's leadership lacks political legitimacy. The country has since the late 1990s experienced a civil war in the northern and western parts of the country while Tanzania has benefitted from relative peace and high level political legitimacy.

Latin America and the Caribbean in 2011 and Beyond: A conversation among Latin America and Caribbean Specialists.

For the first time in more than fifty years, the domestic and external conflicts in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are not primarily ideological in nature. Democracy continues to thrive and its promise still inspires hope. In contrast, the illegal production, consumption, and trading of drugs – and its links to criminal gangs and organizations – represent major challenges to the region, undermining several States’ already weak capacity to govern. While LAC macroeconomic stability has remained resilient, illegal economies fill the region, often offering what some States have not historically been able to provide – elements of human security, opportunities for social mobility, and basic survival. Areas controlled by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) are now found in Central America, Mexico, and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, reflecting their competition for land routes and production areas. Cartels such as La Familia, Los Zetas, and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC-Brazil), among others, operate like trade and financial enterprises that manage millions of dollars and resources, demonstrating significant business skills in adapting to changing circumstances. They are also merciless in their application of violence to preserve their lucrative enterprises. The El Salvador-Guatemala-Honduras triangle in Central America is now the most violent region in the world, surpassing regions in Africa that have been torn by civil strife for years. In Brazil’s favelas and Guatemala’s Petén region, the military is leaving the barracks again; not to rule, however, but to supplement and even replace the law enforcement capacity of weak and discredited police forces. This will challenge the military to apply lessons learned during the course of their experience in government, or from the civil wars that plagued the region for nearly 50 years during the Cold War. Will they be able to conduct themselves according to the professional ethics that have been inculcated over the past 20 years without incurring violations of human rights? Belief in their potential to do good is high according to many polls as the Armed Forces still enjoy a favorable perception in most societies, despite frequent involvement in corruption. Calling them to fight DTOs, however, may bring them too close to the illegal activities they are being asked to resist, or even rekindle the view that only a “strong hand” can resolve national troubles. The challenge of governance is occurring as contrasts within the region are becoming sharper. There is an increasing gap between nations positioned to surpass their “developing nation” status and those that are practically imploding as the judicial, political and enforcement institutions fall further into the quagmire of illicit activities. Several South American nations are advancing their political and economic development. Brazil in particular has realized macro-economic stability, made impressive gains in poverty reduction, and is on track to potentially become a significant oil producer. It is also an increasingly influential power, much closer to the heralded “emerging power” category that it aspired to for most of the 20th century. In contrast, several Central American States have become so structurally deficient, and have garnered such limited legitimacy, that their countries have devolved into patches of State controlled and non-State-controlled territory, becoming increasingly vulnerable to DTO entrenchment. In the Caribbean, the drug and human trafficking business also thrives. Small and larger countries are experiencing the growing impact of illicit economies and accompanying crime and violence. Among these, Guyana and Suriname face greater uncertainty, as they juggle both their internal affairs and their relations with Brazil and Venezuela. Cuba also faces new challenges as it continues focusing on internal rather than external affairs and attempts to ensure a stable leadership succession while simultaneously trying to reform its economy. Loosening the regime’s tight grip on the economy while continuing to curtail citizen’s civil rights will test the leadership’s ability to manage change and prevent a potential socio-economic crisis from turning into an existential threat. Cuba’s past ideological zest is now in the hands of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, who continues his attempts to bring the region together under Venezuelan leadership ideologically based on a “Bolivarian” anti-U.S. banner, without much success. The environment and natural disasters will merit more attention in the coming years. Natural events will produce increasing scales of destruction as the States in the region fail to maintain and expand existing infrastructure to withstand such calamities and respond to their effects. Prospects for earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes are high, particularly in the Caribbean. In addition, there are growing rates of deforestation in nearly every country, along with a potential increase in cross-sector competition for resources. The losers might be small farmers, due to their inability to produce quantities commensurate to larger conglomerates. Regulations that could mitigate these types of situations are lacking or openly violated with near impunity. Indigenous and other vulnerable populations, including African descendants, in several Andean countries, are particularly affected by the increasing extraction of natural resources taking place amongst their terrain. This has led to protests against extraction activities that negatively affect their livelihoods, and in the process, these historically underprivileged groups have transitioned from agenda-based organization to one that is bringing its claims and grievances to the national political agenda, becoming more politically engaged. Symptomatic of these social issues is the region’s chronically poor quality of education that has consistently failed to reduce inequality and prepare new generations for jobs in the competitive global economy, particularly the more vulnerable populations. Simultaneously, the educational deficit is also exacerbated by the erosion of access to information and freedom of the press. The international panorama is also in flux. New security entities are challenging the old establishment. The Union of South American Nations, The South American Defense Council, the socialist Bolivarian Alliance, and other entities seem to be defying the Organization of American States and its own defense mechanisms, and excluding the U.S. And the U.S.’s attention to areas in conflict, namely Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – rather than to the more stable Latin America and Caribbean – has left ample room for other actors to elbow in. China is now the top trading partner for Brazil. Russian and Iran are also finding new partnerships in the region, yet their links appear more politically inclined than those of China. Finally, the aforementioned increasing commercial ties by LAC States with China have accelerated a return to the preponderance of commodities as sources of income for their economies. The increased extraction of raw material for export will produce greater concern over the environmental impact that is created by the exploitation of natural resources. These expanded trade opportunities may prove counterproductive economically for countries in the region, particularly for Brazil and Chile, two countries whose economic policies have long sought diversification from dependence on commodities to the development of service and technology based industries.

Strategic positioning of Taiwan in the outsourcing market: Evidence from information technology services and electronic manufacturing outsourcing to China

In outsourcing relationships with China, the Electronic Manufacturing (EM) and Information Technology Services (ITS) industry in Taiwan may possess such advantages as the continuing growth of its production value, complete manufacturing supply chain, low production cost and a large-scale Chinese market, and language and culture similarity compared to outsourcing to other countries. Nevertheless, the Council for Economic Planning and Development of Executive Yuan (CEPD) found that Taiwan's IT services outsourcing to China is subject to certain constraints and might not be as successful as the EM outsourcing (Aggarwal, 2003; CEPD, 2004a; CIER, 2003; Einhorn and Kriplani, 2003; Kumar and Zhu, 2006; Li and Gao, 2003; MIC, 2006). Some studies examined this issue, but failed to (1) provide statistical evidence about lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing, and (2) clearly explain the lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing by identifying similarities and differences between both types of outsourcing contexts. This research seeks to fill that gap and possibly provide potential strategic guidelines to ITS firms in Taiwan. This study adopts Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) as the theoretical basis. The basic premise is that different types of outsourcing activities may incur differing transaction costs and realize varying degrees of outsourcing success due to differential attributes of the transactions in the outsourcing process. Using primary data gathered from questionnaire surveys of ninety two firms, the results from exploratory analysis and binary logistic regression indicated that (1) when outsourcing to China, Taiwanese firms' ITS outsourcing tends to have higher level of asset specificity, uncertainty and technical skills relative to EM outsourcing, and these features indirectly reduce firms' outsourcing prevalence rates via their direct positive impacts on transaction costs; (2) Taiwanese firms' ITS outsourcing tends to have lower level of transaction structurability relative to EM outsourcing, and this feature indirectly increases firms' outsourcing prevalence rates via its direct negative impacts on transaction costs; (3) frequency does influence firms' transaction costs in ITS outsourcing positively, but does not bring impacts into their outsourcing prevalence rates, (4) relatedness does influence firms' transaction costs positively and prevalence rates negatively in ITS outsourcing, but its impacts on the prevalence rates are not caused by the mediation effects of transaction costs, and (5) firm size of outsourcing provider does not affect firms' transaction costs, but does affect their outsourcing prevalence rates in ITS outsourcing directly and positively. Using primary data gathered from face-to-face interviews of executives from seven firms, the results from inductive analysis indicated that (1) IT services outsourcing has lower prevalence rates than EM outsourcing, and (2) this result is mainly attributed to Taiwan's core competence in manufacturing and management and higher overall transaction costs of IT services outsourcing. Specifically, there is not much difference between both types of outsourcing context in the transaction characteristics of reputation and most aspects of overall comparison. Although there are some differences in the feature of firm size of the outsourcing provider, the difference doesn't cause apparent impacts on firms' overall transaction costs. The medium or above medium difference in the transaction characteristics of asset specificity, uncertainty, frequency, technical skills, transaction structurability, and relatedness has caused higher overall transaction costs for IT services outsourcing. This higher cost might cause lower prevalence rates for ITS outsourcing relative to EM outsourcing. Overall, the interview results are consistent with the statistical analyses and provide support to my expectation that in outsourcing to China, Taiwan's electronic manufacturing firms do have lower prevalence rates of IT services outsourcing relative to EM outsourcing due to higher transaction costs caused by certain attributes. To solve this problem, firms' management should aim at identifying alternative strategies and strive to reduce their overall transaction costs of IT services outsourcing by initiating appropriate strategies which fit their environment and needs.

The (Un)Folding of Multidomain Proteins Through the Lens of Single-molecule Force-spectroscopy and Computer Simulation

Proteins are specialized molecules that catalyze most of the reactions that can sustain life, and they become functional by folding into a specific 3D structure. Despite their importance, the question, "how do proteins fold?" - first pondered in in the 1930's - is still listed as one of the top unanswered scientific questions as of 2005, according to the journal Science. Answering this question would provide a foundation for understanding protein function and would enable improved drug targeting, efficient biofuel production, and stronger biomaterials. Much of what we currently know about protein folding comes from studies on small, single-domain proteins, which may be quite different from the folding of large, multidomain proteins that predominate the proteomes of all organisms.

In this thesis I will discuss my work to fill this gap in understanding by studying the unfolding and refolding of large, multidomain proteins using the powerful combination of single-molecule force-spectroscopy experiments and molecular dynamic simulations.

The three model proteins studied - Luciferase, Protein S, and Streptavidin - lend insight into the inter-domain dependence for unfolding and the subdomain stabilization of binding ligands, and ultimately provide new insight into atomistic details of the intermediate states along the folding pathway.

The many voices of Piedmont: language, identity and alterity in the works of modern and contemporary Piedmontese writers

The aim of this project is to carry out a linguistic analysis of a group of modern and contemporary narratives written by authors from the same Italian region: Piedmont. The novels and short stories examined stand out for the intriguing ways in which they move between a variety of idioms – Italian, Piedmontese dialects, English and pastiches, with some rare excursions into French. A sociolinguistic study and an overview of political changes that Piedmont underwent from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries are provided, with the purpose of outlining the region’s sociogeographical and historical background which can be seen to have fostered multilingualism in a group of writers. With the support of linguistic studies and philosophical theories on the relation between identity, alterity and language (such as Edwards’s Language and Identity and Bakhtin’s reflections on language), I then elucidate the presence of diverse linguistic varieties in selected narratives by Cesare Pavese, Beppe Fenoglio, Primo Levi, Nanni Balestrini, Fruttero & Lucentini, Benito Mazzi and Younis Tawfik. In other words, my purpose is to explain the reasons for multilingualism in each writer, as well as to underscore the ideological positions which lie behind the linguistic strategies of the authors. With this study I attempt to fill a gap and cast new light on Piedmontese literature. Although some critical studies on the use of dialect or English exist on individual authors and works (e.g. Meddemmem on Fenoglio’s use of English and Beccaria on Pavese’s inclusion of Piedmontese dialect), and some important contributions to the history of Piedmontese literature have appeared in print, to date no current, systematic study that compares different Piedmontese writers under the language/identity theme has been published. The study concludes with a summary of the evolution of plurilingualism in Piedmont and highlights the common trends in the use of multiple linguistic varieties as tools for both social demarcation and an opening up to alternative, marginalised andforeign cultures.

Comparative Administrative Reform: The Rhetoric and Reality of the Civil Service Reform Programs in Uganda and Tanzania

Administrative reform is a challenging endeavor for both developed and developing countries alike. For developing countries, the challenge is greater because numerous reforms are implemented concurrently sometimes under conditions of resource scarcity and political instability. So far there is no consensus as to what makes some reforms succeed and others fail. The current study seeks to fill that gap by offering an empirical comparative analysis of the administrative reforms initiated in Uganda and Tanzania since the early 1990s. The purpose of the study is to explain the similarities and differences, and give reasons for the successes and failures of the reform programs in the two countries. It focuses on four major areas; the size of the civil service, pay reform, capacity building, and ethics and accountability. Data were collected via in-depth face to face interviews with 35 key government officials and the content analysis of various documents. The results indicate that the reforms generated initial substantial reduction in the size of the public services in both countries. In Uganda, the traditional civil service was reduced from 140,500 in 1990 to 41,730 in 2004; while in Tanzania Ministries, Departments, and Agencies were reduced by 25%. Pay reform has generated substantial increases in civil servants’ salaries in both countries but in Uganda, the government has not been able to abide by the pay strategy while in Tanzania the strategy guides the increments. Civil Service capacity building efforts have focused on enhancing the skills of the personnel. Training needs assessments were undertaken in all ministries in Uganda and a training policy was formulated. In Tanzania, the training needs assessments are still under way and a training policy has not yet been developed. Ethics and accountability are great challenges in both countries, but in Tanzania, there is more political will and commitment to improve the integrity of the civil service. The findings reveal that although Uganda started the reform with much more rigor and initial success, Tanzania has surpassed it and has a more stable, consistent, and promising reform record. This is because Uganda’s leadership lacks political legitimacy. The country has since the late 1990s experienced a civil war in the northern and western parts of the country while Tanzania has benefitted from relative peace and high level political legitimacy.

(Table 1) Average sea surface temperature, average sea surface salinity, C37 concentration, palmitic acid concentration, Uk'37, C37/C38 ratio, dD of water, dD of C37 and dD of palmitic acid of water samples from a transect across the Amazon Plume

The stable hydrogen isotope composition of lipid biomarkers, such as alkenones, is a promising new tool for the improvement of palaeosalinity reconstructions. Laboratory studies confirmed the correlation between lipid biomarker dD composition (dDLipid), water dD composition (dDH2O) and salinity; yet there is limited insight into the applicability of this proxy in oceanic environments. To fill this gap, we test the use of the dD composition of alkenones (dDC37) and palmitic acid (dDPA) as salinity proxies using samples of surface suspended material along the distinct salinity gradient induced by the Amazon Plume. Our results indicate a positive correlation between salinity and dDH2O, while the relationship between dDH2O and dDLipid is more complex: dDPAM correlates strongly with dDH2O (r2 = 0.81) and shows a salinity-dependent isotopic fractionation factor. dDC37 only correlates with dDH2O in a small number (n = 8) of samples with alkenone concentrations > 10 ng L**-1, while there is no correlation if all samples are taken into account. These findings are mirrored by alkenone-based temperature reconstructions, which are inaccurate for samples with low alkenone concentrations. Deviations in dDC37 and temperature are likely to be caused by limited haptophyte algae growth due to low salinity and light limitation imposed by the Amazon Plume. Our study confirms the applicability of dDLipid as a salinity proxy in oceanic environments. But it raises a note of caution concerning regions where low alkenone production can be expected due to low salinity and light limitation, for instance, under strong riverine discharge.

A Gap with a Deficit of Large Grains in the Protoplanetary Disk around TW Hya

We report 3 au resolution imaging observations of the protoplanetary disk aroundTW Hya at 145 and 233 GHz with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array.Our observations revealed two deep gaps (~25-50 %) at 22 and 37 au and shallowergaps (a few %) at 6, 28, and 44 au, as recently reported by Andrews et al. (2016). Thecentral hole with a radius of  3 au was also marginally resolved. The most remarkablefinding is that the spectral index α(R) between bands 4 and 6 peaks at the 22 au gap.The derived power-law index of the dust opacity β(R) is  ~1.7 at the 22 au gap anddecreases toward the disk center to ~0. The most prominent gap at 22 au could becaused by the gravitational interaction between the disk and an unseen planet with amass of ≲1.5 MNeptune although other origins may be possible. The planet-induced gap is supported by the fact that β(R) is enhanced at the 22 au gap, indicating a deficitof mm-sized grains within the gap due to dust filtration by a planet.

The Effect of Wasta on Business Conduct and HRM in Jordan

Despite rapid globalisation, boom in multinational business and increasing interest in international human resource management (IHRM) generally, research on developing countries in the Middle-East is limited. A three year PhD research project seeks to begin to fill this gap by studying the effect of Jordanian culture on the transfer of western recruitment and selection (R&S) frameworks into Jordan. This paper opens up an investigation into a cultural concept at the heart of management and human resource management (HRM) in Jordan: ‘wasta’. Wasta is a concept that springs from tribalism; favouritism based on family and tribal relations. For multinational organisations this presents a challenge in balancing the western idea of fairness, equal opportunities and diversity and the local system based on favouritism. We argue that the perceived benefits of wasta cannot match the moral case for a merit based model.

“It’s the People That Drive It”: Motivating and Supporting Collaborative Data Use Practices in Three Teacher Education Programs

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Pileated Woodpecker Occupancy and the Occurrence and Recruitment of Key Habitat Attributes in a Managed Forest

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Double bass and electric bass: the case study of John Patitucci

The electric bass and double bass are two different instruments sharing a common function: they link harmony with rhythm, especially when talking about jazz music. The capacity of a bassist to fully support an ensemble is something that can be achieved individually playing electric or double bass. However there are some bassists who, despite of the technical differences between these two instruments, choose to play both. Some of these performers are true masters using and switching electric and double bass according to the different musical settings. It is possible to define similarities and differences between the electric and double bass, but is it viable to use similar approaches too? In order to investigate this field, I focus my research on one exemplar player who combines all the qualities needed to both play electric than double bass: John Patitucci, an inspiration for bassists of all generations and a musician who synthesizes all the fundamental characteristics of an ideal bass player. This dissertation is inspired by Patitucci’s example and by the urge to fill a gap in the specialized literature concerning the history and application of different left and right hand techniques on the electric and double bass. The main purpose of this study is to create the backbone of a bass program for teaching both instruments using John Patitucci as example. His technical approach on both instruments and his soloing vocabulary are points of departure of this dissertation. I begin my study with the historical origins of Patitucci’s techniques ending with the development of exercises created in order to teach his techniques and vocabulary to those who aspire to play electric and double bass; RESUMO: Baixo elétrico e contrabaixo, dois instrumentos distintos que partilham uma função comum: a possibilidade de produzir um conjunto de notas capazes de interligar uma grelha harmonia a uma base rítmica, criando uma coesão estética e musical, sobretudo na música jazz. A capacidade de um baixista de conseguir alcançar de forma eficiente esta ligação como sólido suporte para um “ensemble” musical está na base de uma sua eventual afirmação profissional. Há músicos que apesar das diferencias técnicas entre estes dois instrumentos, decidiram tocar ambos; alguns deles conseguiram destacarse, usando e trocando o baixo elétrico e o contrabaixo para servir melhor diferentes situações musicais. O contrabaixo e baixo elétrico têm características em comum mas ao mesmo tempo diferem por apresentar algumas diferenças técnica substanciais; será por isso possível abordar, explorar e aprender ambos utilizando uma mesma base metodológica? Com o intuito de explorar esta possibilidade direcionei a minha pesquisa para o estudo de um músico que no curso da sua longa carreira consegui grande destaque em quanto baixista elétrico e contrabaixista. John Patitucci é a síntese desta tipologia de músico, sendo uma fonte de inspiração para baixistas de todas as gerações. Esta dissertação é inspirada no seu exemplo e no desejo de colmatar o vazio presente na literatura musical comum aos dois instrumentos sobre a história e aplicação das técnicas da mão esquerda e direita. O foco principal é a criação de uma base sólida para o futuro desenvolvimento de um programa de ensino comum para o baixo eléctrico e o contrabaixo, utilizando o vocabulário técnico e improvisativo de Patitucci como ponto de partida. A dissertação aborda as origens históricas das técnicas utilizadas por Patitucci desenvolvendo, numa fase sucessiva, exercícios criados com a função de ensinar as suas técnicas aos que desejarem aprofundar a prática do baixo elétrico e do contrabaixo.

Anatomical, histochemical and immunohistochemical characterization of the outflow tract of ray hearts (Rajiformes; Chondrichthyes)

Recent work has shown that the cardiac outflow tract of sharks and chimaeras does not consist of a single myocardial component, the conus arteriosus, as classically accepted, but two, namely, the myocardial conus arteriosus and the non-myocardial bulbus arteriosus. However, the anatomical composition of the outflow tract of the batoid hearts remains unknown. The present study was designed to fill this gap. The material examined consisted of hearts of two species of rays, namely, the Mediterranean starry ray (Raja asterias) and sandy ray (Leucoraja circularis). They were studied using scanning electron microscopy, and histochemical and inmunohistochemical techniques. In both species, the outflow tract consists of two components, proximal and distal with regard to the ventricle. The proximal component is the conus arteriosus; it is characterized by the presence of compact myocardium in its wall and several transverse rows of pocket-shaped valves at its luminal side. Each valve consists of a leaflet and its supporting sinus. Histologically, the leaflet has two fibrosas, inner and outer, and a middle coat, the spongiosa. The distal component lacks myocardium. Its wall consists of smooth muscle cells, elastic fibers and collagen. Thus, it shows an arterial-like structure. However, it differs from the aorta because it is covered by the epicardium and crossed by coronary arteries. These findings indicate that the distal component is morphologically equivalent to the bulbus arteriosus of sharks and chimaeras. In contrast to foregoing descriptions, the valves of the first transverse row are distally anchored to the bulbus arteriosus and not to the ventral aorta. Our findings give added support to the notion that presence of a bulbus arteriosus at the arterial pole of the heart is common to all chondrichtyans, and not an apomorphy of actinopterygians as classically thought.

The qualitative research method approach (qurma) : students guide

Qualitative methods are commonly used within the area of Electronic Government as well as other fields in social science. Among students carrying out qualitative approaches in their thesis work, qualitative studies are very common but unfortunately there is often a lack of rigor when using qualitative approaches. Method books discussing qualitative studies are frequent, but they often lack some firm advices about how to actually carry out a qualitative study. There are lots of good advices about interviews and observations. Grounded theory is often mentioned although in rather general terms. The interpretive part is not very thoroughly discussed though. Below we present an outline that might fill the mentioned gap somewhat. Our aim is to give the student a guide in carrying out the qualitative/interpretive approach. By following the ten steps below, students will not only have to prepare the study, they will also find some solid reference support for the necessary steps in the process of research.

Rethinking the block. The 1970s European discourses on the city and the IBA Berlin 1979-87

The dissertation explores the relationship between projects for urban blocks and the discourses on the city between the late 1960s and the 1980s, with a particular focus on the blocks of the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Berlin 1979-87. The main research questions center on whether and how the block changed in connection with the emerging ideas of the city during this period and whether these changes had, in turn, effects on the whole city. Thus far, despite extensive research on the theories and the ideas of the city between the 1960s and 1980s, there is a lack of studies that interweave this research with insights into the block. To fill this gap, this dissertation examines how the block was thematized in the 1970s discourses on the city. It highlights projects for blocks designed between the late 1960s and the 70s in various European cities, particularly West Berlin. Then, it focuses on the blocks of the IBA Berlin 1979-87, examining them through theory, history, and drawings. The study of the examples reveals three distinctive aspects of all blocks considered in the dissertation: the overcoming of small private plots, the individualization of the buildings, and the accessibility of the courtyards from public streets. These aspects reflect the changing understandings of the city and of the urban spaces in the 1970s and 1980s, which resulted in new compositional logics of the block. When examined with critical distance, the blocks of the 1970s and 80s offer a lesson in architectural and urban composition which is still current. - The author has made every effort to contact the owners of the copyrights of the material in the dissertation. The author is available to the right holders with whom it was not possible to communicate as well as for any omissions or inaccuracies in quoting the sources.