The Politics of Decentralizing National Parks Management in the Philippines

International donors and state bureaucrats in the developing world have promoted decentralization reform as the primary means to achieve equitable, efficient and sustainable natural resource management. Relatively few studies, however, consider the power interests at stake. Why do state agencies decentralize power, what political patterns unfold, and how do outcomes affect the responses of resource users? This paper explores decentralization reform by investigating the political processes behind the Philippine state's decisions to transfer authority over national parks management to local government units. Drawing on a case of devolved management at Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Palawan Island, we examine how political motives situated at different institutional scales affect the broader process of decentralization, the structure of management institutions, and overall livelihood security. We demonstrate how power struggles between the Philippine state and City Government of Palawan over the right to manage the national park have impacted the livelihood support offered by community-based conservation. We conclude that decentralization may offer empowering resu

The problematic metagovernance of networks: Water reform in New South Wales

This paper argues that we need to bring government back into discussions about network governance, via the concept of metagovernance which uses water reform in an Australian state as an example. Metagovernance is defined as the government of governance, and is a vital but under researched and under theorised problem because it is difficult and contentious. The paper identifies a range of metagovernance failures in this case and suggests that the lessons learnt by the Australian authorities from the experience have led to some rethinking about the benefits and desirable scope of network governance.

Social impact assessment of a sewerage project in Barbados

This report investigates why a nationally important and internationally funded infrastructural project within the Caribbean island of Barbados — The South Coast Sewerage Project — spurned a substantial level of negative socio-economic externalities. Primary and secondary research evaluated the presence or effectiveness of social impact assessment as a mitigation tool. The mitigation measures suggested within the appraisal report appear to have been considered by the Project Execution Unit (PEU) of Government of Barbados. The primary obstacle seems to have been the implementation of the mitigation process by the contractor. This highlights the need to foster an interconnected and symbiotic relationship between appraisal and implementation, if an initiative is to be conducted efficiently and effectively. Additionally, the South Coast Sewerage Project exemplifies the importance of establishing and sustaining a monitoring/control mechanism as an integral part of project construction.

The campaign to save Croxteth comprehensive: an ethnographic study of a protest movement

This thesis is based on ethnographic research carried out on a Liverpool protest movement which occurred between November, 1980 and July,1983. The protest movement was waged by residents of the working class community of Croxteth Liverpool who wished to retain their state secondary school, Croxteth Comprehensive. The Liverpool City Council voted in favour of closing Croxteth Comprehensive in January, 1981 because of its declining roles. Residents began theIr campaign as soon as they became aware of intentions to close the school at the end of the previous year. The campaIgn itself went through a number of different phases, distinguishable accordIng to the groups of people involved, the strategy and tactics they employed, the ways in which they justified their campaign, and the goals they pursued. In July of 1982 the organisation which led the protest, the Croxteth Community Action Committee, took illegal possession of the school buildings and ran a pilot summer school project. In September of 1982 they opened the school doors for all secondary pupils on the council estate and began running classes, with the help of volunteer teachers. The school was run successfully in this way for the entire 1982/83 school year. By the end of this period the school was officially reinstated by a new Labour Party majorIty on the city council. This thesis presents a comprehensive account of the entire campaign, from its beginning to end. The campaign is analysed in a number of ways: by situating the closure itself in the economic and political conditions of Liverpool in the 1980s, by examining the relation of Croxteth Comprehensive to its community, by describing the conditions in which different groups of people contributed to the campaign and the changes it went through in its use of tactics, and through a close examination of the activities which took place inside the school during its year of occupation. A number of levels of analysis are used in the study. To explain the closure and the early forms of resistance which developed to oppose it, the structural location of the local government of Liverpool in the late 1970s and early 1980s is described. To explain the relationship of the school to its community, the formation of a group of activists and their leaders, and the resources available to the protestors for pursuing their aims, a single-group model of social action is used. To analyse the establishment of social routines and schooling practices within the school during its occupation, action-theoretica1 models are drawn upon., The chapters of literature review and concept analysis with which this thesis begins link these different levels theoretIcalIy through a model of actIon and its conditions. The theoretical framework employed is reviewed in the last chapter. It is one which could be used to study any social movement, and has applications to other social phenomena as well. Lastly various issues within the sociology of education are examined in light of the events which took place in Croxteth Comprehensive, especially the theory of community education.

Appropriate wage rate and estimate of labour availability for a public works based safety net in Cambodia

Employment generating public works (EGPW) are an important part of Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC’s) strategy being developed through Council for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) to develop a comprehensive social safety net (SSN) to provide a measure of protection from shocks for the poor and vulnerable and to contribute to poverty alleviation through short-term unskilled employment.

Resource enclavity and corporate social responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa:the case of oil production in Ghana

Why has Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) yielded such disappointing outcomes in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa? Over the past decades, a sizable body of literature has emerged which draws attention to the shortcomings of oil-related development and complementary CSR exercises in the region. Most critiques on the topic, however, assess specific interventions and/or policies but fail to evaluate the complex decision-making processes, dictated heavily by setting, which produce such actions altogether. This thesis attributes CSR outcomes in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa to the unique context in which the decisions underpinning actions take place. In doing so, the analysis borrows ideas from a diverse body of literature spanning the international development, accounting, management and political science disciplines. To explore these ideas further, the thesis focuses on the case of Ghana. The most recent “addition” to sub-Saharan Africa’s oil club, Ghana provides a rare glimpse of how decisions underpinning CSR have been identified, evolved and reshaped from the outset. To provide a comprehensive picture of CSR in the sector and its impacts at the local level, interviews and focus groups were conducted with a range of stakeholder groups. As is the case throughout sub-Saharan Africa, in Ghana, oil production occurs in offshore “enclaves”, which are disconnected geographically from local communities. This thesis argues that these dynamics have important implications for CSR. Findings point to companies also being disconnected ideologically from local development needs, which, in part explains the questionable CSR that has become such a contentious issue in the debate on oil and development in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. The enclave-type setting in which oil production occurs appears to have stifled creativity and innovation in the area of CSR. This, along with institutional weaknesses, regulatory deficiencies and the Government of Ghana’s failure to adequately respond to local-level concerns, has produced these outcomes.

Applications of the Owa-Srivastava Operator to the Class of K-Uniformly Convex Functions

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 30C45, 26A33; Secondary 33C15

The devil is in the detail:tobacco industry political influence in the Dutch implementation of the 2001 EU Tobacco Products Directive

Introduction - The Dutch implementation of the black border provision in the 2001 European Union Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is studied to examine the implications of tobacco industry involvement in the implementation phase of the policy process. Methods - A qualitative analysis was conducted of Dutch government documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, triangulated with in-depth interviews with key informants and secondary data sources (publicly available government documents, scientific literature, and news articles). Results - Tobacco manufacturers’ associations were given the opportunity to set implementation specifications via a fast-track deal with the government. The offer of early implementation of the labelling section of the TPD was used as political leverage by the industry, and underpinned by threats of litigation and arguments highlighting the risks of additional public costs and the benefits to the government of expediency and speed. Ultimately, the government agreed to the industry's interpretation, against the advice of the European Commission. Conclusions - The findings highlight the policy risks associated with corporate actors’ ability to use interactions over technical product specifications to influence the implementation of health policy and illustrate the difficulties in limiting industry interference in accordance with Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The implementation phase is particularly vulnerable to industry influence, where negotiation with industry actors may be unavoidable and the practical implications of relatively technical considerations are not always apparent to policymakers. During the implementation of the new TPD 2014/40/EU, government officials are advised to take a proactive role in stipulating technical specifications.

The possibilities and limits of contestation in times of 'urban austerity'

This paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework in which to examine the social practices of contemporary austerity programmes in urban areas, including how these relate to different conceptions of crisis. Of current theoretical interest is the apparent ease with which these austerity measures have been accepted by urban governing agents. In order to advance these understandings we follow the recent post-structuralist discourse theory ‘logics’ approach of Glynos and Howarth (2007), focusing on the relationship between hegemony, political and social logics, and the subject whose identificatory practices are key to understanding the form, nature and stability of discursive settlements. In such thinking it is not only the formation of discourses and the mobilisation of rhetoric that are of interest, but also the manner in which the subjects of austerity identify with these. Through such an approach we examine the case of the regeneration/economic development and planning policy area in the city government of Birmingham (UK). In conclusion, we argue that the logics approach is a useful framework through which to examine how austerity has been uncontested in a city government, and the dynamics of acquiescence in relation to broader hegemonic discursive formations.

Development of a technological innovation capability assessment model:a case study of manufacturing SMEs in Sialkot, Pakistan

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play an important part in the economy of any country. Initially, a flat management hierarchy, quick response to market changes and cost competitiveness were seen as the competitive characteristics of an SME. Recently, in developed economies, technological capabilities (TCs) management- managing existing and developing or assimilating new technological capabilities for continuous process and product innovations, has become important for both large organisations and SMEs to achieve sustained competitiveness. Therefore, various technological innovation capability (TIC) models have been developed at firm level to assess firms‘ innovation capability level. These models output help policy makers and firm managers to devise policies for deepening a firm‘s technical knowledge generation, acquisition and exploitation capabilities for sustained technological competitive edge. However, in developing countries TCs management is more of TCs upgrading: acquisitions of TCs from abroad, and then assimilating, innovating and exploiting them. Most of the TIC models for developing countries delineate the level of TIC required as firms move from the acquisition to innovative level. However, these models do not provide tools for assessing the existing level of TIC of a firm and various factors affecting TIC, to help practical interventions for TCs upgrading of firms for improved or new processes and products. Recently, the Government of Pakistan (GOP) has realised the importance of TCs upgrading in SMEs-especially export-oriented, for their sustained competitiveness. The GOP has launched various initiatives with local and foreign assistance to identify ways and means of upgrading local SMEs capabilities. This research targets this gap and developed a TICs assessment model for identifying the existing level of TIC of manufacturing SMEs existing in clusters in Sialkot, Pakistan. SME executives in three different export-oriented clusters at Sialkot were interviewed to analyse technological capabilities development initiatives (CDIs) taken by them to develop and upgrade their firms‘ TCs. Data analysed at CDI, firm, cluster and cross-cluster level first helped classify interviewed firms as leader, follower and reactor, with leader firms claiming to introduce mostly new CDIs to their cluster. Second, the data analysis displayed that mostly interviewed leader firms exhibited ‗learning by interacting‘ and ‗learning by training‘ capabilities for expertise acquisition from customers and international consultants. However, these leader firms did not show much evidence of learning by using, reverse engineering and R&D capabilities, which according to the extant literature are necessary for upgrading existing TIC level and thus TCs of firm for better value-added processes and products. The research results are supported by extant literature on Sialkot clusters. Thus, in sum, a TIC assessment model was developed in this research which qualitatively identified interviewed firms‘ TIC levels, the factors affecting them, and is validated by existing literature on interviewed Sialkot clusters. Further, the research gives policy level recommendations for TIC and thus TCs upgrading at firm and cluster level for targeting better value-added markets.

A history of the presidency of National Taiwan University: The relationship between the university and an evolving democratic nation

Higher education always plays an important role in the development of a nation. Taiwan is no exception. Graduates of the National Taiwan University have occupied most of the important positions in this country and today many devote themselves to the development of Taiwan since the central government of the Republic of China (ROC) withdrew from Mainland China and re-located to Taiwan in the winter of 1949. The higher education system in Taiwan, including university and junior colleges, received special attention from the government except from 1945 to 1949 during the transitional period; the time of the early restoration year and the central government's retreating period from Mainland China.^ The five presidents of National Taiwan University who served from 1949 to 1993, Fu Szu-nien, Chien Seu-liang, Yen Chen-Hsing, Yu Chao-chung, and Sun Chen, are the subject of this research. All of the presidents were appointed by the government which established a direct connection between the government and the university leadership. The purpose of this study is to understand how each president balanced politically assigned roles and expectations with personal visionary academic responsiveness to the principles which define the university.^ Each president and his tenure were analyzed using historical research, a developed leadership model, an integration of role theory, Locke's leadership model, Wiles and Bondi curriculum leader tasks, and Burn's leadership style. Results of analyses of documents showed that all presidents of the National Taiwan University were highly respected due to their academic background, personal characteristics, and contribution to the university as a leader. Meanwhile, implementation and achievement of the presidents led to the conclusion that appointed university presidents had significant relationships with government policy. Their leadership style was affected strongly by their personal traits and knowledge and the social and political climate of the time. ^

An assessment of computer usage within the Bahamian public school system and recommended guidelines towards the development of a strategic national computer plan

Computers have dramatically changed the way we live, conduct business, and deliver education. They have infiltrated the Bahamian public school system to the extent that many educators now feel the need for a national plan. The development of such a plan is a challenging undertaking, especially in developing countries where physical, financial, and human resources are scarce. This study assessed the situation with regard to computers within the Bahamian public school system, and provided recommended guidelines to the Bahamian government based on the results of a survey, the body of knowledge about trends in computer usage in schools, and the country's needs. ^ This was a descriptive study for which an extensive review of literature in areas of computer hardware, software, teacher training, research, curriculum, support services and local context variables was undertaken. One objective of the study was to establish what should or could be relative to the state-of-the-art in educational computing. A survey was conducted involving 201 teachers and 51 school administrators from 60 randomly selected Bahamian public schools. A random stratified cluster sampling technique was used. ^ This study used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Quantitative methods were used to summarize the data about numbers and types of computers, categories of software available, peripheral equipment, and related topics through the use of forced-choice questions in a survey instrument. Results of these were displayed in tables and charts. Qualitative methods, data synthesis and content analysis, were used to analyze the non-numeric data obtained from open-ended questions on teachers' and school administrators' questionnaires, such as those regarding teachers' perceptions and attitudes about computers and their use in classrooms. Also, interpretative methodologies were used to analyze the qualitative results of several interviews conducted with senior public school system's officials. Content analysis was used to gather data from the literature on topics pertaining to the study. ^ Based on the literature review and the data gathered for this study a number of recommendations are presented. These recommendations may be used by the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to establish policies with regard to the use of computers within the public school system. ^

Trojan horses: On the origins of national security concerns over foreign investments in the United States from 1919 to 2008

In this thesis I sought to explain the origins of national security concerns over foreign investments in the United States from 1919 to 2008. I identified and examined 29 cases of national security concerns over foreign investments in the United States during that period, and argued that in order to understand the circumstances under which foreign investments in the United States are perceived to be threats to the U.S. security we must rely on a combination of democratic peace theory and the version of political realism known as power transition theory. Thus, I tested the argument that national security concerns over foreign investments in the United States from 1919 to 2008 resulted from: (1) perceptions of international power transition, (2) perceptions of ideological and institutional differences between the United States and the home country of the investor, (3) perceptions of the strategic importance of the sector where the investment is made, and (4) perceptions of participation or control of the foreign investor by the government of the country of origin. I found that all these hypotheses have some explanatory power.

Czechs Look Back on 1989, a Revolution Betrayed: A Reflection on the Mythology of the Velvet Revolution

Twenty-five years ago today the Velvet Revolution kicked off in what was then Czechoslovakia to bring an end to the one-party government of the Communist Party. This exclusive translation of a feature from the Czech journal A2 Cultural Bi-Weekly explains that the events of 1989 were about more than just Václav Havel, a playwright and leader in the revolution who was elected president in 1990. A generation of unfulfilled promises later, Czechs are struggling to revive the spirit of not only democracy and humanism, but also socialism. This article originally appeared in Ricochet, November 17, 2014.

An analysis of the impact of the Islamic revolution in Iran on Iranian women

This study compares the status of women under the secular government of the Pahlavi Dynasty with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It relies on Hisham Sharabi's theory of neopatriarchal society and Fatima Mernissi's psychological analysis of the dynamics of gender relations in Islam. Both the Pahlavi dynasty and the Islamic regime promoted a perception of women's rights which were conducive to the ideologies of secularism and Islamism. Both regimes, however, worked within the framework of a patriarchal society by instituting policies that were misogynous in nature. This study found that the majority of Iran's female population was not greatly affected by the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty and the subsequent implementation of the Islamic regime. The basis of this argument lies in the fact that despite the contrasting ideologies of both governments, where women's issues are concerned, the patriarchal social structure remained virtually intact.