Article - "Pelham's New Councillor A Woman of Many 'Firsts'", 1963

An article in the St. Catharines Standard announcing Dorothy Rungeling as a new member of council for Pelham Township. The article states, "She is the first woman to be nominated and elected to Pelham township council since it was formed in 1850,"

Swinburne District councillor's handbook, being a summary of their powers and duties in matters other than the administration of the poor law.

Mode of access: Internet.

The life of Sir Halliday Macartney, K. C. M. G., commander of Li Hung Chang's trained force in the Taeping rebellion, founder of the first Chinese arsenals, for thirty years councillor and secretary to the Chinese legation in London,

Mode of access: Internet.

Anotação, numa perspectiva de Direito Penal e de Criminologia, de alguns dos aspectos do Acórdão do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (português), de 28 de Setembro de 2011 - os problemas do direito ao silêncio e do dever em o arguido se sujeitar a aplicações de prova no processo penal

Resumo: 1 – Sumário do Acórdão do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, de 28 de Setembro de 2011; 2 – Texto completo do Acórdão do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, de 28 de Setembro de 2011, Juiz Conselheiro Raul BORGES (Relator), Juiz Conselheiro Armindo MONTEIRO cfr. http://www.dgsi.pt , 20 de Janeiro de 2012; 3 – Anotação; 3.1 – Introdução à anotação; 3.2 – Algumas das referências, por parte do Acórdão do Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, de 28 de Setembro de 2011, aos problemas do direito ao silêncio e do dever em o arguido se sujeitar a aplicações de prova no processo penal; 3.3 – «Teoria geral» dos problemas do direito ao silêncio em contraste com o dever de sujeição do arguido a diligências de prova no contexto do direito processual penal lusitano; 4 - Conclusão. § Abstract: 1 - Summary of the Judgement of the Supreme Court of Justice of 28 September 2011 2 - Full text of the Judgement of the Supreme Court of Justice of 28 September 2011, Councillor Judge Raul Borges (Reporter), Councillor Judge Armindo Monteiro cf. . http://www.dgsi.pt, January 20, 2012, 3 - Note: 3.1 - Introduction to the annotation; 3.2 - Some of the references, by the Judgement of the Supreme Court of Justice of 28 September 2011, the problems the right to silence and the duty in the defendant be subject to applications of proof in criminal proceedings; 3.3 - "general Theory" of the problems the right to silence in contrast to the duty of subjection of the accused to proof steps in the right context criminal procedure Lusitanian 4 - Conclusion. P.S.: este é o "abstract" tal qual como surge no artigo.

O aluno com deficiência motora e a acessibilidade arquitectónica no Ensino Básico : um estudo de caso : o concelho de Guimarães

RESUMO:Para que o sucesso educativo se verifique, a escola tem de ajustar a sua prática educativa a todos os alunos, incluindo os que apresentam necessidades educativas especiais (NEE). Portugal dispõe de legislação que assegura o direito à educação e à igualdade de oportunidades, consignados na Constituição da República Portuguesa (artigos 71º, 73º e 74º), em consonância com a Declaração Universal dos Direitos do Homem e na Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo (artigos 2º, 7º, 17º e 18º). O nosso país subscreveu também a Declaração de Salamanca, a qual reuniu, em 1994, o consenso de noventa e dois governos e de vinte e cinco organizações internacionais, reafirmando o direito à educação para todos. A construção da escola inclusiva passa pela responsabilização da escola por todos os alunos, na perspectiva de educação para todos, exigindo a sua concretização novas estratégias e resposta a novos desafios. Há que alterar práticas para atender à diversidade. Assim, as escolas precisam de estar arquitectonicamente adaptadas às necessidades dos alunos que utilizam a cadeira de rodas como forma de mobilidade, respeitando o direito à diferença e possibilitando, em igualdade de oportunidades, o sucesso escolar e educativo. Levar à prática as medidas previstas na lei portuguesa e implementar, em cada escola, a inclusão do aluno com mobilidade condicionada, implica equipar as escolas com adaptações, meios e recursos educativos facilitadores do seu processo ensino/aprendizagem. A constatação do que efectivamente acontece no terreno educativo no que concerne aos alunos com deficiência motora que usam a cadeira de rodas para se movimentarem assume toda a centralidade da nossa investigação, que tem o cariz de um estudo de caso. Incide sobre a compreensão mais aprofundada de como se processa o acesso arquitectónico nas escolas do Ensino Básico da Zona Norte e mais concretamente do Concelho de Guimarães. Recolhemos dados através de questionários dirigidos aos professores de apoio educativo e coordenadores de escola; ouvimos os alunos com deficiência motora pronunciar-se sobre as dificuldades que sentiam; observámos o seu quotidiano escolar e, finalmente, escutámos as entidades locais, através de uma entrevista realizada à Vereadora da Cultura do Concelho de Guimarães. Os resultados obtidos serão, como foi acordado, divulgados aos intervenientes com responsabilidades directas no campo da educação que se prontificaram a partilhar connosco a sua informação e saber, no sentido de os sensibilizar para a necessidade de rever o aspecto das acessibilidades arquitectónicas nas instituições educativas que servem o seu concelho, pois, como verificámos, muito há ainda a fazer para que o Ensino Básico, universal e obrigatório, se traduza numa igualdade de oportunidades de acesso e sucesso educativo para os alunos que utilizam a cadeira de rodas para se movimentarem no espaço escolar. ABSTRACT: For the educational success of a school it has to adjust its educational practice so that it includes those with special needs. According to the Portuguese law, disabled people have the right to education and equal opportunities, well expressed in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (articles 71st, 73rd, and 74th), in consonance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the main law the educational system (articles 2nd, 7th, 17th and 18th). Our country has also subscribed the Declaration of Salamanca, which was written in 1994 with the agreement of Representatives from ninety-two governments and twenty-five International Organizations, where was reaffirmed the right of education for all. It is necessary that school increases its responsibility in what concerns the education of all its students. Educating all and every student demands new strategies to face new challenges and so some practices have to be changed to respond to diversity. Schools must be architecturally adapted to give the disabled students, who use a wheel chair, equal opportunities to achieve educational success. Taking the measures foreseen in Portuguese law into practice, and implementing in each school the inclusion of students with conditioned mobility, involves equipping schools with adaptations, equipment and educational resources that facilitate the teaching / learning process. The observation of what actually happens on educative ground, regarding to pupils with motor disabilities who use a wheelchair to move, assumes the centrality of our research, which is a case study. It focuses on the deeper understanding of the way the architectonic access in primary schools of the North, and more specifically the Municipality of Guimarães, is processed. We collected data through questionnaires addressed to educational support teachers and school coordinators; heard students with motor disabilities to comment on the difficulties they felt; observed their daily school life, and finally heard the local authorities, through an interview the Councillor of Culture of the Municipality of Guimarães. As agreed, the results will be communicated to intervenients with direct responsibilities in the field of education who were willing to share with us their information and knowledge in order to raise awareness of the need of looking over the aspect of architectural accessibility in educational institutions that serve their county, because, as noted, much remains to be done so that the basic education, universal and compulsory, will result in equality of educational opportunities in access and success for students who use a wheelchair to move in school space.

Whole-person care: from rhetoric to reality. Achieving parity between mental and physical health.

The report presents evidence on a range of factors affecting disparity between mental and physical health, and includes case studies and examples of good practice to illustrate some of the key issues and solutions. It should be seen as the first stage of an on-going process over the next 5"10 years that will deliver parity for mental health and make whole-person care a reality. It builds on the Implementation Framework for the Mental Health Strategy in providing further analysis of why parity does not currently exist, and the actions required to bring it about. A parity approach should enable NHS and local authority health and social care services to provide a holistic, whole person response to each individual, whatever their needs, and should ensure that all publicly funded services, including those provided by private organisations, give people's mental health equal status to their physical health needs. Central to this approach is the fact that there is a strong relationship between mental health and physical health, and that this influence works in both directions. Poor mental health is associated with a greater risk of physical health problems, and poor physical health is associated with a greater risk of mental health problems. Mental health affects physical health and vice versa. The report makes a series of key recommendations for the UK government, policy-makers and health professionals. Recommendations include: The government and the NHS Commissioning Board should work together to give people equivalent levels of access to treatment for mental health problems as for physical health problems, agreed standards for waiting times, and agreed standards for emergency/crisis mental healthcare. Action to promote good mental health and to address mental health problems needs to start at the earliest stage of a person's life and continue throughout the life course. Preventing premature mortality " there must be a major focus on improving the physical health of people with mental health problems. Public health programmes must include a focus on the mental health dimension of issues commonly considered as physical health concerns, such as smoking, obesity and substance misuse. Commissioners need to regard liaison doctors (who work across physical and mental healthcare) as an absolute necessity rather than an optional luxury. NHS and social care commissioners should commission liaison psychiatry and liaison physician services to drive a whole-person, integrated approach to healthcare in acute, secure, primary care and community settings, for all ages. Mental health services and mental health research must receive funding that reflects the prevalence of mental health problems and their cost to society. Mental illness is responsible for the largest proportion of the disease burden in the UK (22.8%), larger than that of cardiovascular disease (16.2%) or cancer (15.9%). However, only 11% of the NHS budget was spent on NHS services to treat mental health problems for all ages during 2010/11. Culture, attitudes and stigma " zero-tolerance policies in relation to discriminatory attitudes or behaviours should be introduced in all health settings to help combat the stigma that is still attached to mental illness within medicine. Political and managerial leadership is required at all levels. There should be a mechanism at national level for driving a parity approach to relevant policy areas across government; all local councils should have a lead councillor for mental health; all providers of specialist mental health services should have a board-level lead for physical health and all providers of physical healthcare services should have a board-level lead for mental health. The General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) should consider how medical and nursing study and training could give greater emphasis to mental health. Mental and physical health should be integrated within undergraduate medical education.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

China's 'Assertive’ South China Sea Policy And Rhetoric: Proactive, Reactive Or Myth?

In March 2010, Chinese State Councillor, Dai Bingguo, in a private meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State, James Steinberg, allegedly referred to the South China Sea (SCS) as one of the country’s ‘core interests’, a term normally only used to refer to regions like Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang upon whose sovereignty Beijing will make no compromises. This alleged wording by Mr Dai caused a strong global reaction, with many countries around the world expressing a fear that China, on the back of its rise to the status of the world's second largest economic power, was now about to implement a more assertive foreign policy more in keeping with its new status of global superpower. As the use of the term ‘core interest’ took place in a private meeting and appears to have been subsequently leaked, it is impossible to prove what was said or meant, yet in 2011, with China and the US continuing to eye each other with suspicion, the adverse repercussions of people trying to deduce what was meant are undeniable. By analysing the views of experts and the evolution or otherwise of Chinese rhetoric and policy towards the SCS, this thesis will show how the alleged use of a term in a private meeting can have consequences that far exceed what was originally intended. It will also show that it is highly unlikely that China’s maritime policy is becoming more assertive as, at China's present stage of social and economic development, it simply cannot afford the ill will and adverse consequences that would result from an act of international aggression. It will show how easy it seems to be for a country like the US to project a misleading image of another country’s intentions, which can in turn serve partially to mask its own intentions. Finally, it will show that the China’s stance on the SCS is starting to be seen by the world as a litmus test for the assertiveness of overall Chinese foreign policy.

What gets plans off the shelf? : a multi-site case study of the factors influencing municipal recreation plan implementation

Municipalities that engage in recreation planning have the potential to use their resources more effectively. However, successful planning means getting the plan off the shelf and implemented. This study investigated the factors that influenced municipal recreation plan implementation in three municipalities. Interviews were conducted with eleven key informants (recreation directors, planning consultants, a city councillor, and members of plan steering committees). The findings of this study suggested that because the implementation of recreation plans occurs in a highly political environment, recreation professionals will need effective strategies to get their plans implemented and that implementation can be facilitated by developing or expanding strategies that: (l) build the power of the recreation department within the municipal government structure; (2) build support for recreation within the local community; and (3) build the political and organizational capacity in the recreation department.

Estelle Cuffe Hawley fonds, 1852-1999, n.d.

Estelle Cuffe Hawley (1894-1995) was an educator, businesswoman and politician, who became the first woman alderman on the St. Catharines City Council. She began her career as a teacher in Peterborough in 1913, and later taught in St. Catharines at Connaught School and St. Paul’s Ward School, where she served as Principal for six years. In 1928-29, she worked as an exchange teacher in Edmonton, Alberta. This would be Estelle’s last year in the teaching profession. She moved back to St. Catharines in 1930 and began a career in business, as an employee of Sun Life Assurance Co. She remained in this profession until around 1952. It was during this period that she became very active in the community and local politics. In 1934 she was elected to the St. Catharines Board of Education, where she advocated for the improvement of teachers’ salaries, the introduction of nursing services in schools, and the inclusion of music in the curriculum. She served as a member of the school board until 1937. The following year, she became the first woman elected to the St. Catharines City Council. As an alderman, she worked to improve the community's social welfare services, serving consecutively as chairman of all committees. She established comprehensive health services (including medical, dental and nursing), in the public, separate and secondary schools of St. Catharines, the first program of its kind in Canada. She was also instrumental in establishing minimum housing standards and engaging the public in local government by arranging a series of lectures by city officials. She remained a member of City Council until 1943. The following year she campaigned unsuccessfully for the mayoralty. In 1953 she married Hubert Hawley and moved to Orillia. She continued to remain active in the community, serving as President of the Ontario Recreation Association from 1950-1953, and editor of their Bulletin from 1955-1961. During the 1960s, she worked with various groups, including the Voice of Women, the Mental Health Association and the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. In addition to this work, Estelle wrote poetry and short stories, some of which were published in the Peterborough Review, the Globe and Mail and the Canadian Churchman. Some of her short stories (often about her childhood experiences) were broadcast on the CBC, as well as her experiences as a Town Councillor (under the pseudonym Rebecca Johnson in 1961). She also broadcast a segment that was part of a series called “Winning the Peace” in April 1944. Estelle was a sought-after public speaker, speaking on topics such as peace, democracy, citizenship, education, and women’s rights. In 1976, Brock University conferred an honorary Doctor of Law degree to Estelle for her leadership as an educator, businesswoman and a stateswoman. Her husband Hubert died that same year, and Estelle subsequently moved to Mississauga. With the assistance of an Ontario Heritage Foundation grant, she began work on her memoir. She later moved back to Orillia and died there in 1995, at the age of 101.

Les missions des bibliothèques publiques autonomes du point de vue des élus municipaux québécois

La légitimité d’une organisation est fondée sur sa mission, c’est-à-dire sur sa raison d’être. Des responsables des bibliothèques et de nombreux chercheurs craignent que la légitimité des bibliothèques publiques soit contestée dans la société de l’information. De plus, les textes officiels présentant les missions des bibliothèques publiques sont divers et les missions y sont délibérément non définies. Au Québec, où une grande majorité des bibliothèques publiques autonomes sont placées directement sous la tutelle des municipalités, les bibliothèques publiques doivent définir et légitimer leurs missions avec les élus municipaux. L’objectif principal de cette recherche est de comprendre, via les discours, le point de vue des élus municipaux québécois sur les missions des bibliothèques publiques autonomes, en comparaison avec les pratiques et les ressources des bibliothèques au plan local. Basé sur la théorie de la construction sociale de la réalité, un cadre conceptuel est proposé de manière à étudier non seulement les discours dans leur dimension textuelle, mais aussi à contextualiser ces discours et analyser l’écart entre ces discours et les pratiques des bibliothèques.La stratégie de recherche adoptée est une étude de cas multiples. L’objectif est de développer une analyse en profondeur de chaque cas et une analyse inter cas. Les douze cas (municipalités) ont été sélectionnés en fonction de deux critères de variation (la taille de la municipalité et le budget annuel alloué par la municipalité à la bibliothèque) et un critère discriminant (la distance par rapport à l’Université de Montréal). Des entrevues ont été menées auprès des élus municipaux présidant la commission ou le comité dont dépendent les bibliothèques publiques. Ces entrevues et les politiques culturelles ont fait l’objet d’une analyse de discours. Les entrevues auprès des responsables des bibliothèques et la documentation ont fait l’objet d’une analyse de contenu. Ces analyses ont permis la triangulation des méthodes et des sources de données.Les élus municipaux québécois, comme les professionnels, n’offrent pas un discours homogène sur les missions des bibliothèques publiques. Toutefois, un modèle de discours émerge. Il montre un discours « limité » par rapport à la littérature, dans lequel une image passive de la bibliothèque est présentée et dans lequel la tradition perdure malgré le contexte de la société de l’information. Mais l’analyse révèle aussi que les élus municipaux construisent leurs points de vue sur leurs propres convictions en tant qu’individus, sur leur rôle dans la gestion de la municipalité en tant qu’élus et sur l’image qu’ils ont des usagers des bibliothèques publiques. Enfin, l’analyse a révélé un axe de différenciation des points de vue selon que le discours s’appuie sur des valeurs fondamentales ou sur les usages (réels ou supposés) de la bibliothèque.

Éthique et gouvernance : les règles qui régissent la prévention et la sanction des conflits d'intérêts chez les élus municipaux

RÉSUMÉ FRANÇAIS Ce mémoire fait l’étude du régime de prévention et de sanction des conflits possibles entre les intérêts de la municipalité d’une part et de ceux de ses élus de l’autre. L’objet de recherche est abordé selon une approche historique et éthique basée sur le régime juridique actuel. Le mémoire est divisé en 3 chapitres : (1) la notion de conflit d’intérêts ; (2) le cadre juridique à la base du régime de sanction des conflits d’intérêts et (3) celui sur le régime de prévention des conflits d’intérêts dans le domaine municipal. Le chapitre préliminaire situe l’objet de recherche à l’intérieur des grandes tendances de la recherche juridique sur la question et présente un cadre de réflexion sur la notion de conflit d’intérêts. L’examen des conflits d’intérêts repose avant tout sur un questionnement et sur un jugement de nature subjective : ce qui a été considéré comme un conflit d’intérêts autrefois ne l’est pas nécessairement de nos jours et ce, en dépit du fait que le cadre juridique évolue aussi dans le temps. On ne peut donc pas dégager avec exactitude et pour toujours ce qui constitue un conflit d’intérêts de ce qui n’en constitue pas un. Le chapitre premier est divisé en 4 sections. On y traite notamment de la règle relative à l’interdiction pour un élu municipal de contracter avec la municipalité. On y démontre que l’origine de cette règle remonte aux premières lois municipales du XIXe siècle et que cette dernière a subi assez peu de modifications au fil des ans. La troisième section porte sur les cas de malversation, d’abus de confiance et les autres inconduites prohibées par la Loi sur les élections et référendums dans les municipalités (L.R.Q. c. E-2.2). Une quatrième section sur les accusations criminelles d’abus de confiance et de corruption vient clore le premier chapitre. Chacune de ces sections est abordée notamment en faisant l’historique des dispositions législatives en cause ainsi qu’en faisant certains parallèles avec la législation des autres provinces canadiennes. Le chapitre 2 sur le régime de prévention des conflits d’intérêts est divisé en 4 parties. La première section porte sur l’obligation pour un élu de déclarer annuellement ses intérêts pécuniaires. Cette obligation n’est pas unique au Québec puisqu’elle est présente dans quelques législations provinciales canadiennes. La deuxième section porte sur l’obligation pour cet élu de dénoncer verbalement son intérêt dans une question abordée par le conseil municipal réuni en séance ou en comité. Là encore, l’origine de cette approche préventive est fort ancienne et a longtemps été considéré comme le seul moyen de dénoncer son intérêt sans subir les sanctions prévues par la loi. Une troisième section s’intéresse au cadre juridique entourant les soumissions publiques et qui vise à éliminer toute situation possible de favoritisme ou de patronage. Une quatrième section aborde la question des codes d’éthique et de leur utilité ainsi que les développements récents sur cette question avec le dépôt en 2009 du rapport du Groupe de travail sur l’éthique dans le milieu municipal. Une conclusion vient clore le mémoire en présentant une synthèse de l’étude assortie de commentaires personnels sur les conclusions du Groupe de travail précité.

Participação social nos conselhos de unidades de saúde

This exploratory and qualitative study sought to investigate how health service users? participation on the Councils of Health centers occurs in the municipality of Botucatu in São Paulo. Data was collected in September and October 2008 via interviews guided by a semi-structured script, administered to 9 service users who are members of the Council at four primary health care centers. After content analysis, three thematic categories emerged: Knowing the service user/councillor, The Health Centers? Council and Participation on the Council. The results show the unpreparedness and lack of knowledge of the councillors representing health service users on the subject of the role of the Councils and on public health policies, evidencing the need for actors from the health services to invest in guidance, consciousness-raising and preparation of citizens with critical ability to influence, guide, demand and question the health services? actions.

Christoph Graupners Musik zu zeremoniellen Anlässen am Hof der Landgrafen zu Hessen-Darmstadt

Die politische Rolle der Hofmusik in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts ist im Kontext der repräsentativen Machtmittel innerhalb des höfischen Kräftefeldes verortet. Die höfischen Zeremonielle bildeten nicht nur den Aufführungsrahmen, sondern legten sämtliche Determinanten für die musikalischen Ereignisse fest. Zu den Aufgaben der Hofkapellmeister im kleinen, aber innerhalb des Reiches nicht ganz unbedeutenden und durchaus paradigmatisch stehenden Fürstentum Hessen-Darmstadt gehörten die musikalischen Umrahmungen der fürstlichen Hochzeiten, Trauerfälle, Geburtstage sowie politischer und kirchenpolitischer Anlässe. Christoph Graupner wirkte hier als Hofkapellmeister zwischen 1709 und 1760; bis zu seiner Erblindung im Jahr 1754 schuf er ein umfangreiches Werk, das die Verhältnisse dieser Landgrafschaft in signifikanter Weise spiegelt. Graupners Musiken zu den Festen der Landgrafen umfassten immer Kirchenkantaten für den Gottesdienst, daneben oft auch weltliche Musik zur Unterhaltung der Gäste. Obwohl die – damals hochmoderne und in der Entwicklung begriffenen – Gattung der Kantate bei weitem überwiegt, sind es auch Bühnenwerke, die diese Funktion erfüllten, aber lediglich im ersten Jahrzehnt von Graupners Dienstzeit in Darmstadt aufgeführt wurden. 83 panegyrische Werke (57 geistliche, 24 weltliche Kantaten, 2 Bühnenwerke) konnten als Zeremonialmusiken systemisch in ihrem Aufführungskontext analysiert werden. Dabei ergaben sich etliche neue Erkenntnisse wie Datierungen, Zuordnungen zu Anlässen, auch Funde von bisher als verschollen geltenden Textdrucken. Der Geheimrat Johann Jacob (von) Wieger konnte als mutmaßlicher Textdichter identifiziert werden. Insbesondere ist deutlich geworden, dass der Bedeutungsverlust höfischer Repräsentation am Ende der absolutistischen Epoche wie in anderen Residenzen auch in Darmstadt die Zeremonialmusik tangierte. Für Graupner blieb vor diesem Hintergrund einerseits die ungebrochene Unterordnung unter die hierarchischen Verhältnisse, was die Huldigung als Form der Pflichterfüllung einschloss. Andererseits jedoch zeigten sich latente Distanzierungsversuche: zum einen die Schaffung musikalischer Subtexte in gewissen panegyrischen Werken, zum anderen aber vor allem die Hinwendung zur Kirchenmusik und damit zu einer Religiosität, die nicht nur die Anmahnung der christlichen Tugenden ermöglichte, sondern auch mit dem “Schaffen zur Ehre Gottes” eine persönliche Rechtfertigung jenseits von allem tagespolitischen Geschehen bot.

A radical agenda for local government

If we want to rebuild Labour's councillor base, we will need to repoliticise the role of local government.

Exercise agency? The role of elite actors in local democracy in English local government: the local democracy maker.

The way in which employed senior elites in English local government exercise their agency in the practice of local democracy and local governance is considered in this thesis. The research posits the notion that elite Officers act as Local Democracy Makers as they draw on their own traditions and ideologies in responding to the dilemmas of changing policy and politics in the public realm. The study is located in the latter part of New Labour?s term of office and applies an interpretive and reflexive approach to three studies of the exercise of well being powers. The approach is one of applied ethnography through the examination of literature reviews, interviews and observations of decisions taken in the exercise of the powers of economic, environmental and social well-being are used to examine how and why the Local Democracy Makers make sense of their world in the way that they do. The research suggests that, despite prevailing narratives, local governance arrangements depend on a system of hierarchy, employed elites and local politics. The challenges of re-configuring local democracy and attempts at "hollowing out" the state have secured an influential role for the non-elected official. How officials interpret, advise, mediate and manage the exercise of local governance and local democracy presents a challenge to assumptions that public services are governed beyond or without local government. New narratives and reflections on the role of the local government Officer and the marginalisation of the elected Councillor are presented in the research. In particular, how the senior elite occupy managerial, strategic and political roles as Local Democracy Makers, offers an insight into the agency of strategic actors in localities. Consequently, the success of changes in public policy is materially influenced by how the practitioner responds to such dilemmas. The thesis concludes by suggesting that integral to the design and success of public policy implementation is the role of the Officer, and especially those practitioners that advise governing arrangements and democratic practice.