Thesis (M.M. (Public Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Globally, there is an increasing emphasis on results-based monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. The emphasis on M&E systems is driven by the need to: promote good governance; improve government’s performance and public accountability; comply with international donor funding requirements; achieve the millennium development goals; and respond to economic and social pressures experienced by countries. A readiness assessment is considered a critical first step and the foundation of results-based M&E system. In light of limited evidence, the aim of this study was to examine the state of readiness of the Limpopo Department of Health (LDOH) to implement the new results-based M&E policy framework. The research approach selected for this study was qualitative in nature, and provided a systematic inquiry of the state of readiness of the LDOH for the implementation of the new results-based M&E policy framework. The study employed in-depth interviews and document analysis to obtain information, in order to bring rich insights, meaning, values and holistic views to the study questions. A key finding that emerged from the study is the existence of an enabling legislative and policy environment for the implementation of the results-based M&E system. However, there are several factors that mitigate against the successful implementation of the results-based M&E system. These included sub-optimal leadership and accountability; structural weaknesses with high vacancy rates and unclear roles and responsibilities; lack of integrated management information and M&E systems; inadequate infrastructure and resources; and problems with M&E culture, capacity and skills development. The overall conclusion of the study is that the LDOH is not ready to implement a results-based M&E system. Key recommendations include dedicated resources (finances, staff, etc.) for implementation, strong leadership at political and management level, strengthening capacity and systems; and focus on the establishment of an integrated results-based M&E system, without neglecting processes and the organisational culture.

Thesis advisor: Martin Scanlan / This qualitative case study examined leaders’ shared data use, a process of translating data into action (Bernhardt, 2013). Understanding data use is considered conceptually by attending to the assistance relationships shared between central office leaders and principals in the context of turnaround. Such relationships are marked by occasions during which members share expertise by modeling practices; the modeling informs how systems, structures and subsequent practices are introduced and even reinforced for newer members. I focused my analysis on four manifestations of data use: data’s influence on adjusting leadership practice, data’s ability to inform instruction, data use’s benefits from technological advancement, and the intentional promotion of resilience. Data collection included document review as well as interviews with central office leaders and principals. Findings evidenced the nature of both central office leaders’ and principals’ data use as well as revealed a remarkable degree of commonality in the language and practices these leaders shared. The results of this study indicated that assistance relationships are a functioning element of leadership in the turnaround context. This study supported the research that leaders’ shared practice of data use benefits student growth and achievement in line with state-determined assessment and accountability targets. Recommendations include additional research into Lawrence Public Schools’ data use to further inform a blueprint for comprehensive district-wide reform as well as the development of exit criteria from receivership. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / District leaders are attempting to navigate unprecedented federal and state policy pressures to create a coherent plan for improvement with limited guidance from research. Rorrer, Skrla, and Scheurich (2008) identified establishing policy coherence as one of four essential roles in systemic reform performed by district leaders. This qualitative case study explored how leaders in one Massachusetts public school district that had demonstrated signs of improving achievement and equity attempted to establish policy coherence. Drawing primarily upon semi-structured interviews, this study found that district leaders enacted the role to varying degrees in ways that were consistent with Rorrer et al. (2008). In particular, building leaders were much less apt to respond to external policies in a proactive and deliberate manner. Furthermore, district leaders worked to mediate policies in service to local goals and needs in a variety of ways. Recommendations include how district leaders can enact the role in a more proactive and deliberate manner while setting clear goals and developing collaborative partnerships with schools, all which allow them to craft coherence more effectively. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / The purpose of this study was to understand beginning teachers’ experiences with learning to teach in an educational system that puts intense pressure on teachers to prepare students for standardized tests. The situation is common in many developed and developing countries whose educational systems are run by policies grounded in neoliberal and human capital ideologies. Using a phenomenological research design, I explored teachers’ experiences in two very different educational systems, the United States and South Korea, and focused on the commonalities and differences of their experiences of learning to teach. I recruited four secondary-school teachers (two English and two mathematics) who had been teaching fewer than three years from each country. I conducted a series of three phenomenological interviews with each teacher in his or her native language, following the guidelines set out by Irving Seidman (2012). My analysis suggested that, although there were many differences between US and Korean teachers’ lived experiences in the context of test-based accountability, the groups were primarily similar. Both novice teachers in the United States and Korea faced significant conflicts between their prior beliefs about good teaching and the educational system that demanded them to teach to tests. All teachers in this study described experiencing various levels of frustration with having to teach to the tests, which was not their preferred approach to teaching. While struggling to meet the demands of their test-based accountability systems, the beginning teachers in this study established firm student-centered beliefs and strived to integrate practices that were consistent with their beliefs. The findings suggest that support in the form of policies and teacher education is necessary to promote teachers’ constant learning and growth in the challenging context of test-based accountability. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Growth modeling in education has focused on student characteristics in multilevel growth accountability models and has rarely included financial variables. In this dissertation, relations of several demographic and financial characteristics of Oregon school districts to the reading and mathematics growth of students receiving special education services in Grades 3-8 were explored after accounting for student level demographic characteristics. Previous research indicated that three variables were potentially related to student growth: district level aggregated student demographics, district geography (e.g., location in a remote area), and district funding. Three sources of data were used to investigate these relationships: institutional data reported by the Oregon Department of Education, the Common Core of Data gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics, and Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test data collected as part of the National Center on Assessment and Accountability in Special Education. Multi-level models of student growth across Grades 3-8 were constructed for reading and mathematics, with time (level-1) nested within students (level-2) and districts (level-3). Results demonstrated that although student-level demographic factors account for the majority of meaningful differences in student growth, both district demographic characteristics and financial investment in students were related to growth for students who received special education services.

Submitted by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-01-23T11:14:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 OsvaldoCapelariJuniorDissertacaoParcial2017.pdf: 423283 bytes, checksum: 5fec61001a702978bac1bcf74cae01a2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-01-23T11:14:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 OsvaldoCapelariJuniorDissertacaoParcial2017.pdf: 423283 bytes, checksum: 5fec61001a702978bac1bcf74cae01a2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-23T11:14:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 OsvaldoCapelariJuniorDissertacaoParcial2017.pdf: 423283 bytes, checksum: 5fec61001a702978bac1bcf74cae01a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-29 / This study is dedicated to the application of the Brazilian anti-corruption law to political parties. Political parties are the mediators of the will of civil society and the state and, because of that, have a constitutional status of their own. They are indispensable to democracy. However, the behavior of the people exercising public functions creates risks of acts of corruption. This is the reason why the anti-corruption law elects objective, civil and administrative responsibility, with the purpose of sanctioning the legal entity of private law that competes or benefits from the act adversely affecting the Public Administration, including the foreign one. From the analysis of the anti-corruption law it is observed, although, that political parties were subtracted from their scope of incidence. It is important to point out that this is in line with the democratic ideal and, consequently, with a good democracy. This calls for responsiveness and accountability, and it is unreasonable for partisan associations to benefit from rules that draw the amount of enforcement from control agencies. On the other hand, since the political parties are contemplated in the law, due to the exegetical effort, one of the challenges of the present research, it is imperative that norms of good governance be created through independent internal control in order that the legal norms are and other regulations that may be created in its Statutes. In any case, the political party may, despite being considered not to be within the law, create integrity mechanisms, which will surely confer trust to the voter. This should be honored in the electoral campaign and his preferences be freely expressed in the vote. Yet, since democracy is not confined to voting, the role of accountability must be emphasized as fundamental to good party practices and, therefore, to the integrity of electoral and partisan systems. In this way, democracy will be substantive and the strengthening of political parties is one of its foundations. / O presente estudo trata da aplica????o da lei anticorrup????o nos partidos pol??ticos. Os partidos pol??ticos s??o os mediadores da vontade da sociedade civil e o Estado e, por isso, tem um estatuto constitucional pr??prio. S??o indispens??veis ?? democracia. Contudo, a a????o de pessoas que exercem mandatos e cargos p??blicos cria riscos de atos de corrup????o. Essa ?? a raz??o de a lei anticorrup????o eleger a responsabilidade objetiva, civil e administrativa, com o objetivo de sancionar a pessoa jur??dica de direito privado que concorra ou se beneficie do ato lesivo ?? Administra????o P??blica, inclusive a estrangeira. Entretanto, da an??lise da lei anticorrup????o observa-se que os partidos pol??ticos foram subtra??dos de seu ??mbito de incid??ncia. ?? importante salientar que isso vai de encontro com o ideal democr??tico e, via de consequ??ncia, com uma democracia de boa qualidade. Esta reclama responsiveness e accountability, n??o sendo razo??vel que as agremia????es partid??rias se beneficiem de normas que retirem quantidade de enforcement das ag??ncias de controle. Por outro, estando os partidos pol??ticos contemplados na lei, por for??a do esfor??o exeg??tico, um dos desafios da presente pesquisa, observa-se que ?? imperioso que sejam criados normas de boa governan??a atrav??s de controle interno independente a fim de que as normas legais sejam observadas, assim como as regulamentares e outras que por ventura sejam criadas nos seus Estatutos. De qualquer modo, o partido pol??tico pode, a despeito de se considerar que n??o estejam dentro da lei, criar os mecanismos de integridade, o que seguramente conferir?? confiabilidade perante o eleitor. Este deve ser prestigiado na campanha eleitoral e suas prefer??ncias serem livremente exprimidas no sufr??gio. Todavia, como a democracia n??o se confina com o voto, deve-se real??ar a fun????o da accountability como fundamental para as boas pr??ticas partid??rias e, por conseguinte, a integridade dos sistemas eleitorais e partid??rios. Desse modo, a democracia ser?? substantiva e o fortalecimento dos partidos pol??ticos ?? um de seus fundamentos.

Over the years, citizens' trust and confidence in their governments has continued to decline and digital government is expected to reverse this trend. An enormous amount of money has been spent, worldwide, on electronic government initiatives that are focused on improving performance, reducing costs and enhancing citizens' trust and confidence in their governments. Yet, of the many initiatives that have been implemented, very few have achieved real transformation of government (i.e. fundamental changes to the way core functions of government are performed to achieve noticeable gains in performance and efficiency). As such, there is a need to understand how transformation of government as a construct affects citizens' trust and confidence in government in the presence of factors such as, government performance and citizen satisfaction. This research empirically investigates the influence of digital transformation of government on citizens' trust and confidence in the context of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is a top ranking country in terms of use of ICT in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. A conceptual model was developed and validated using an online survey targeting randomly citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Based on 313 responses, the findings of this research suggest that citizens' trust and confidence in their government is positively influenced by transformation of government, mediated by government performance and citizens' satisfaction. The study found that e-government and technology are not enough for achieving a real transformation of government, and therefore, in tackling the decline in citizens' trust and confidence in government. Other factors were found to be important in this equation, including transparency and accountability of government functions and activities in meeting citizens' expectations. The research offers multiple policy implications and theoretical contributions, in addition to helping understand how digital transformation of government can enhance citizens' trust and confidence in government, improve government-to-citizen relationship, and increase the adoption of digital services offered by governments. From a policy perspective, this research offers a validated conceptual model that can be used as a frame of reference when planning ICT-enabled transformation projects in government. From a theoretical context, this study is the first to investigate the relationship between transformation of government and citizens' trust and confidence in government.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:36:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo326_1.pdf: 1032216 bytes, checksum: 737481da0b0727475a6a593b1a4d28a3 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / A transparência nas contas públicas é fator condicionante para a existência de um governo democrático, para isso a contabilidade, como produtora de informações que fomentam a prestação de contas, tem papel fundamental perante o estado e a sociedade. O presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar se as demonstrações contábeis de prefeituras municipais do estado de Pernambuco estão compatíveis com os degraus da Accountability, propostos por Pederiva (2004), no que tange às contribuições previdenciárias sobre folha de pagamento e no seu repasse para os fundos gestores destes recursos. O método utilizado foi o dedutivo, quanto aos objetivos foi exploratório e descritivo, baseado em análise documental e bibliográfica e com abordagem do problema qualitativa. A amostra partiu dos 185 municípios pernambucanos, onde extraiu-se 30 municípios, definidos de forma não probabilística e por acessibilidade e que após a análise das demonstrações foi finalizada em 27 municípios por três deles haver apresentado problemas de conteúdo na descrição dos itens que compõem as demonstrações contábeis do setor público. A análise dos dados baseada nos 17 anexos da lei 4.320/64 resultou na aderência, das demonstrações contábeis dos municípios estudados a todos os degraus de accountability, de cerca de 4% da amostra, o correspondente a um município, que em 2007, cumpriu todos os requisitos de transparência e prestação de contas de valores previdenciários, agrupados em retenções, inscrições e baixa do montante correspondente a esta prefeitura no exercício. Conclui-se que as demonstrações contábeis do setor público não estão compatíveis com os degraus de accountability, pois embora um município tenha demonstrado cumprimento através das demonstrações contábeis, o fez em apenas um ano, feito que não foi repetido no ano seguinte. Alerta-se que as omissões de valores retidos diretamente em folha de pessoal, observadas no transcorrer das análises, constituem fato preocupante aos cidadãos e contribuintes, uma vez que o custeio de futuros benefícios passa a ser incerto à medida que a regularidade de órgãos com estes problemas é atestada em determinado período, sem que haja ressarcimentos ou ajustes de valores não confessados, evidenciados através das informações contábeis

The purpose of this study is to examine and understand why parastatals in Nigeria are on the face of it performing so poorly. Parastatals are critised for being ostensibly immersed with ethnicism, corruption, nepotism, patronage, clientelism, low accountability and transparency. These issues were explored in the context of Ajaokuta Steel; an enterprise that was substantially complete two decades ago but subsequently progressed no further. Ajaokuta Steel is an industrial giant meant to take the lead of industrialising, developing, and taking Nigeria and Africa from poverty and unemployment. To pursue this study the researcher employed mixed methods of research with interpretivism combined with a critical ambition and a case study as the main research strategy. The researcher used questionnaires, observations, interviews to gather data. Theoretical framework based on neopatrimonialism was used to guide the researcher in the empirical work and in the study. The interviews from the case site and stakeholders were analysed from the voice recorder and those from the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics. The use of several data collecting methods was to achieve triangulation and because of the seriousness of the problem which needed an in-depth investigation to unveil the mystery behind the non-completion of the giant moribund industry. The results of the interviews, case study and questionnaires indicated that the problems of governance and accountability of parastatals in Nigeria are that governing board members and chairmen who formulate policies are appointed to boards based on political patronage, ethnic balancing and religious considerations, thereby loading boards with unqualified people who may ultimately compromise an organisation such as Ajaokuta Steel. Interviewees and respondents also identified a lack of political will on the part of the government, suggestions of an international conspiracy, corruption, military incursions in politics, the geographical location of Ajaokuta Steel and the culture of neglecting projects, as further contributory factors. Interviewees and respondents mentioned also lack of accountability and transparency in the affairs of parastatals. These factors have greatly affected all parastatals in Nigeria. It was recommended that parastatals should appoint board members, the CEO and staff based on track records of good antecedents; publish their accounts in the national newspapers; or be privatised by Public Private Partnership (PPP) so that government will be able to concentrate on its primary duties of providing security, health services and education for its citizens.

This study investigates accountability and transparency issues in the management of oil and gas (O&G) revenues in Ghana through public discourse. It establishes the factors that influence accountability and investigates how accountability is discharged amongst stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana, with respect to contemporary accountability theories. The thesis develops a contextualised analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012), and Gray et al.’s (1996) conceptualisations of accountability, in addition to other contemporary accountability concepts, mirrored through the ethical variant of stakeholder theory to classify, analyse and interpret the issues of transparency and accountability in revenue management in the O&G industry in Ghana. It uses this framework to analyse and interpret questionnaires and interviews of stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana; these include the government, civil society groups and upstream oil companies. The thesis establishes that the accountability relationships (strategic, financial, fiduciary and procedural) between accountees and accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana are hierarchical, bureaucratic and fussy, making the discharge of accountability unintelligent, ineffective and vulgate and only routinely given for cosmetic purposes. Consequently, the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana employ the positive variant of the stakeholder theory, motivated by legitimisation practices to regularise their activities, contrary to the expected ethical variant of the theory. The outcome reflects the practices of for-profit organisations such as upstream O&G companies, but conflicts with the government’s fiduciary responsibilities towards citizens and the espoused communal values of the legal and regulatory framework of the industry. Current perspectives on positive stakeholder and legitimacy theory therefore appear to explain existing stakeholder relationships and how accountability is discharged in the O&G industry in Ghana. The thesis contributes to the public accountability and transparency literature in a number of ways: First, the study presents an empirical basis to advance discourse about accountability and transparency in natural resource management in developing countries, by developing a contextualised theoretical and analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012) and Gray et al’s (1996) accountability concepts, and using the ethical stakeholder theory as a lens for interpretation. Second, it provides an empirical basis for rethinking the hierarchical managerialist approach to accountability suggested by the positive variant of the stakeholder theory and its legitimisation mechanisms between accountees and the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana, and suggests the adoption of the ethical variant of the stakeholder theory with its moral imperatives. Third, the study provides significant insight into governance issues in Sub-Saharan Africa that could inform policy formulation for the region by international bodies, including the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), by critically reviewing accountability and transparency issues in the oil sectors in Angola, Nigeria and the DRC and juxtaposing this evidence with empirical findings for Ghana. Finally, it advances understanding of the public accountability practices and transparency issues in the O&G industry in Ghana, while pointing out significant governance implications for policy-makers, civil society and advocacy groups, think-tanks, the O&G companies and academics.