The topic of this thesis is spin doctoring. It understands terms "spin" and "spin doctoring" as deliberate manipulation with public opinion by means of communication. The thesis includes an account of relevant concepts as are public relations, propaganda or corporate spin. It describes academical approaches to this issue. The authors criticize especially a corruptive influence of spin doctoring on democratic society and manipulative nature of public relations, but they offer possibilities of counteraction against these practices as well. The thesis considers both historical and recent manifestations of spin doctoring. Many examples analysed in this thesis concerns political environment of the Great Britain. Techniques and practices of spin doctoring such as "third party technique", "astroturfing" or "denigration campaings" are thoroughly explained. The perspective of semiotics and spin doctoring as manipulation with sign within social environment are concerned. The conflict between critics of spin doctoring and representatives of public relations is interpreted as discoursive discrepancy and both the antagonist discourses are analyzed. One chapter is devoted to spin doctoring within pharmaceutical industry. The practices and techniques of spin doctoring are interpreted in detail on this example....

The topic of this thesis is spin doctoring. It understands terms "spin" and "spin doctoring" as deliberate manipulation with public opinion by means of communication. The thesis includes an account of relevant concepts as are public relations, propaganda or corporate spin. It describes academical approaches to this issue. The authors criticize especially a corruptive influence of spin doctoring on democratic society and manipulative nature of public relations, but they offer possibilities of counteraction against these practices as well. The thesis considers both historical and recent manifestations of spin doctoring. Many examples analyzed in this thesis concerns political environment of the Great Britain. Techniques and practices of spin doctoring such as "third party technique", "astroturfing" or "denigration campaings" are thoroughly explained. The perspective of semiotics and spin doctoring as manipulation with signs within social environment are concerned. The conflict between critics of spin doctoring and representatives of public relations is interpreted as discoursive discrepancy and both the antagonist discourses are analyzed. One chapter is devoted to spin doctoring within pharmaceutical industry. The practices and techniques of spin doctoring are interpreted in detail on this example....

La politique urbaine a pour objet d‟agir sur la gestion des villes afin d‟améliorer le bien-être des résidants. En Angleterre, l‟Etat est intervenu dès le XVIIème siècle afin de soulager les mauvaises conditions de vie des plus pauvres en agissant sur l‟hygiène et le logement. Puis la ville s‟agrandissant, les désordres liés au surpeuplement se sont multipliés, spécialement dans les zones les plus dépourvues des centres-villes. C‟est à Londres que ceux-ci ont été les plus criants et les besoins de solutions les plus urgents. Ainsi, pour permettre une gestion plus efficace des délits urbains, la gouvernance de la capitale britannique a été réformée. C‟est ce à quoi se sont attelés les Travaillistes dès leur arrivée au pouvoir en 1997, et ils ont en même temps donné une nouvelle impulsion à la politique en direction des villes en favorisant les aspects sociaux, environnementaux de la rénovation urbaine, tout en comptant sur l‟investissement des communautés. Et l‟adoption de la politique dite de la Troisième Voie fut un pas essentiel en ce qu‟elle ne rejetait plus le secteur privé mais l‟acceptait, au contraire, comme partenaire privilégié. Islington, l‟un des boroughs les plus petits de Londres, a la particularité de jouxter une des zones les plus prospères du monde : la City de Londres. Cependant, il présente des caractéristiques sociales communes aux zones les plus pauvres du pays. Les programmes qui y ont été lancés ont pris en compte cette spécificité. L‟analyse de ces projets nous permet de passer en revue la politique de rénovation telle qu‟elle a été voulue par les Travaillistes de 1997 à 2010, d‟essayer d‟en tirer des bilans et de tenter de pointer les défis auxquels les villes vont être confrontées.

Emotional intelligence is a relatively new and growing area of behavioural research, which stimulated the imagination of the general public, the commercial world and the scientific community. Only a few studies have been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of emotional intelligence, optimism, life satisfaction and self-efficacy, as well as the validity and reliability of these measures on a sample of university students. Further objectives included conceptualising emotional intelligence, optimism, life satisfaction, self-efficacy, wellbeing and academic performance and determining the validity and reliability of the 33-item measurement of emotional intelligence (SEIS) for a sample of potential future employees in economical sciences professions. The results obtained from this study will help organisations determine the level of emotional intelligence and well-being of their future workforce, in order to implement certain interventions to improve it. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. A sample of 341 students was used for this study, but only 324 of the responses could be utilised. The participants (N = 324) were students within the field of economics. 1 17 Students were from the Vanderbijlpark Campus and 207 students were from the Potchefstroom Campus. The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, Life Orientation Test Revised, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the General Perceived Self- Efficacy Scale were administered. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the statistical data. The results obtained from the SEIS proved this measuring instrument to be valid and reliable. By using the multiple linear regression analysis approach, a six dimensional factor structure for emotional intelligence among students emerged, which supported earlier conceptions in this regard. The results showed that Interpersonal factors consisted of Positive Affect, Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control. Intrapersonal factors consisted of Self-Efficacy, Life Satisfaction and Optimism. Self-efficacy, Life satisfaction, Optimism, Pessimism, Positive Affect, Emotion-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotion-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control, predict 16% of the variance in Academic Performance. Significant predictors of Academic Performance are Life Satisfaction, Optimism, Pessimism and Emotions-Others. A second order factor analysis was done on the factors of the SEIS, LOT-R, GPSES, and the SWLS. Two factors were extracted explaining 50,95% of the variance. These factors were called Interpersonal Factors and Intrapersonal Factors. On the Intrapersonal Factor, the following factors loaded: Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own and Non-Verbal Emotions. Self-Efficacy, Life Satisfaction and Optimism, Positive Affect and Emotional Control loaded on the Interpersonal Factor. It is evident from the above that psychological well-being consisted out of two dimensions namely Interpersonal and Intrapersonal aspects. Positive Affect is significantly positively related (large effect) to Optimism and Self-Efficacy and significantly positive related (medium effect) to Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control. Emotions-Others is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own and Self-Efficacy. Happy Emotions is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions, Emotional Control, Optimism and Self-Efficacy. Emotions-Own is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Non-verbal Emotions, Emotional Control, Optimism and Self-Efficacy. Non-verbal Emotions significantly positively related (medium effect) to Emotional Control and Self-Efficacy. Emotional Control significantly positively related (large effect) to Self-Efficacy and significantly positively related (medium effect) to Optimism and Life Satisfaction. Optimism significantly positively related (medium effect) to Life Satisfaction and Self-Efficacy. Pessimism is significantly negatively related (medium effect) to Life Satisfaction and Self- Efficacy. Life satisfaction is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Self-Efficacy and Academic Performance. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Emotional intelligence is a relatively new and growing area of behavioural research, which stimulated the imagination of the general public, the commercial world and the scientific community. Only a few studies have been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of emotional intelligence, optimism, life satisfaction and self-efficacy, as well as the validity and reliability of these measures on a sample of university students. Further objectives included conceptualising emotional intelligence, optimism, life satisfaction, self-efficacy, wellbeing and academic performance and determining the validity and reliability of the 33-item measurement of emotional intelligence (SEIS) for a sample of potential future employees in economical sciences professions. The results obtained from this study will help organisations determine the level of emotional intelligence and well-being of their future workforce, in order to implement certain interventions to improve it. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. A sample of 341 students was used for this study, but only 324 of the responses could be utilised. The participants (N = 324) were students within the field of economics. 1 17 Students were from the Vanderbijlpark Campus and 207 students were from the Potchefstroom Campus. The Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, Life Orientation Test Revised, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the General Perceived Self- Efficacy Scale were administered. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the statistical data. The results obtained from the SEIS proved this measuring instrument to be valid and reliable. By using the multiple linear regression analysis approach, a six dimensional factor structure for emotional intelligence among students emerged, which supported earlier conceptions in this regard. The results showed that Interpersonal factors consisted of Positive Affect, Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control. Intrapersonal factors consisted of Self-Efficacy, Life Satisfaction and Optimism. Self-efficacy, Life satisfaction, Optimism, Pessimism, Positive Affect, Emotion-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotion-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control, predict 16% of the variance in Academic Performance. Significant predictors of Academic Performance are Life Satisfaction, Optimism, Pessimism and Emotions-Others. A second order factor analysis was done on the factors of the SEIS, LOT-R, GPSES, and the SWLS. Two factors were extracted explaining 50,95% of the variance. These factors were called Interpersonal Factors and Intrapersonal Factors. On the Intrapersonal Factor, the following factors loaded: Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own and Non-Verbal Emotions. Self-Efficacy, Life Satisfaction and Optimism, Positive Affect and Emotional Control loaded on the Interpersonal Factor. It is evident from the above that psychological well-being consisted out of two dimensions namely Interpersonal and Intrapersonal aspects. Positive Affect is significantly positively related (large effect) to Optimism and Self-Efficacy and significantly positive related (medium effect) to Emotions-Others, Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions and Emotional Control. Emotions-Others is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Happy Emotions, Emotions-Own and Self-Efficacy. Happy Emotions is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Emotions-Own, Non-Verbal Emotions, Emotional Control, Optimism and Self-Efficacy. Emotions-Own is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Non-verbal Emotions, Emotional Control, Optimism and Self-Efficacy. Non-verbal Emotions significantly positively related (medium effect) to Emotional Control and Self-Efficacy. Emotional Control significantly positively related (large effect) to Self-Efficacy and significantly positively related (medium effect) to Optimism and Life Satisfaction. Optimism significantly positively related (medium effect) to Life Satisfaction and Self-Efficacy. Pessimism is significantly negatively related (medium effect) to Life Satisfaction and Self- Efficacy. Life satisfaction is significantly positively related (medium effect) to Self-Efficacy and Academic Performance. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This doctoral thesis explores the ideational framework of British foreign and European policy in the era of New Labour governments (1997-2010). Drawing from social constructivism and the "linguistic turn" in social sciences, and using discourse analysis as its primary tool, it analyses a set of major foreign and European policy speeches by prime ministers and foreign secretaries, and Labour Party general election manifestos, to reconstruct the ideational structure in which empirical British foreign policy was embedded. It identifies conceptual ideas about the nature and rules governing the international order, distribution of power in the international system, hierarchy of issues in contemporary international agenda, international identity and role of the United Kingdom, its key international relationships, its power resources, and interests and values shaping British foreign policy, as held by the leading government figures of the era. Established changes and transformations of these governing ideas are contextualised in the empirical development in the international arena. While confirming the pro-stability and self-reproduction bias of ideational structures, via their constitution of agency and organization of the actors' discursive practices, the thesis identifies six events which sparked...

[pt] Este trabalho se propõe investigar a trajetória do novo trabalhismo a partir da experiência do Partido Democrático Trabalhista (PDT). O estudo percorre as origens, as negociações e conflitos, a formação identitária, o desempenho político, bem como os desafios enfrentados ao longo da década de 1980, período que abrange o fim da ditadura militar e a reorganização político-partidária do Brasil. Durante quase vinte anos, o trabalhismo, que era uma tradição hegemônica no país desde Vargas, ficou relegado ao ostracismo. O PTB foi extinto, os petebistas cassados e exilados. É o caso de Leonel Brizola, principal herdeiro do getulismo, que viveu como exilado no Uruguai e depois em Portugal. A pesquisa mostra como Brizola, da capital portuguesa, liderou o processo de reorganização do novo trabalhismo - um projeto gestado em meio ao exílio. Por fim, o estudo enfatiza o peso da tradição política no Brasil, investigando como o PDT buscou resgatar o trabalhismo do pré-1964 e ressignificá-lo no contexto da redemocratização. / [en] This study aims to analyze the new laborism s project conducted by the Democratic Labour Party (PartidoDemocráticoTrabalhista). It addresses the political party s origins, identity formation, negotiations and conflicts, political performance, as well as the challenges faced throughout the 1980s. This is the period of the end of the military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the political-party reorganization in Brazil. For almost twenty years, laborism (trabalhismo), a hegemonic tradition in the country since Getúlio Vargas regime (1930s), was left to ostracism. PTB, Brazilian Laborism Party, was extinct, party members were persecuted and went to exiled. It was the case of Leonel Brizola, the main inheritor of getulism, who lived in exiled in Uruguay and later in Portugal. From the Portuguese capital, Brizola lead the process of the new laborism project. Finally, this study emphasizes the weight of political tradition in Brazil by investigating how the PDT sought to rescue pre-1964 labor political ideology. In doing so, Brizola gave new meanings to laborism (trabalhismo) in the context of the Brazilian redemocratization.

The research examines New Labour’s Third Way policies and the impact New Deal for Communities (NDC) regeneration programme had on participation in health care. This longitudinal study (1998-2007) explores participatory joint working, welfare state, social capacity, health inequalities, citizen involvement and community capacity. It captures the experiences of local community and front-line workers whilst delivering the Health Focus Group (HFG) in the NDC programme. Using action learning reflection techniques, the study analyses a purposeful sample of 15 from the local community, front-line workers, and strategic respondents involved in the NDC health programme. The research demonstrated the NDC did increase participation, joint working and involvement of local actors 1998–2003. The importance of communication, leadership and relationships was recognised as an important catalyst for developing community governance models. The new action learning spaces initiated, designed and delivered 19 new models of joint local clinical, community and complementary health and well-being projects. In 2001, New Labour introduced public private finance initiatives with the Primary Care Trust (PCT) which conflicted with the local actors’ involvement in the participatory joint decision-making. The reconfiguration of health and social care services and the new public health models introduced complex governance and monitoring models, further distancing the local actors from the process. Strategic staff changes in key governance positions also adversely affected the communication and trust established with local actors. The research concluded operational, tactical, and strategic alignment is necessary to maximise joint participation in decision-making.

The thesis constitutes a detailed historical reconstruction of the creation, contestation and subsequent amendment of the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence, the principal ‘dangerous offender’ measure of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Underpinned by an interpretive political analysis of penal politics, the thesis draws on a detailed analysis of relevant documents and 53 interviews with national level, policy-oriented actors. The thesis explores how actors’ conceptions of ‘risk’ and ‘the public’ interwove with the political beliefs and political traditions relied upon by the relevant actors. It is argued that while there was general recognition of a ‘real problem’ existing in relation to dangerous offenders, the central actors in the creation of the IPP sentence crucially lacked a detailed understanding of the state of the art of risk assessment and management (Kemshall, 2003) and failed to appreciate the systemic risks posed by the IPP sentence. The creation of the IPP sentence, as with its subsequent amendment, is argued to highlight the extreme vulnerability felt by many government actors. The efforts of interest groups and other pressure participants to have their concerns addressed regarding the systemic and human damage subsequently caused by the under-resourcing of the IPP sentence is explored, and the challenge of stridently arguing for substantial change while maintaining ‘insider’ status is discussed. As regards senior courts’ efforts to rein in the IPP sentence, it is argued that the increasingly conservative nature of the judgments demonstrate that the judiciary are not immune from the creep of a ‘precautionary logic’ into British penal politics. Regarding the amendment of the IPP sentence, the Ministry of Justice’s navigation between the twin dangers of a systemic crisis and a political crisis are explored. In conclusion, the IPP story is argued to demonstrate a troubling ‘thoughtlessness’ by many of the key policymakers, revealing what is termed the ‘banality of punitiveness.’ The potential for a reliance on political beliefs and traditions to slip into this thoughtless state, and possible ways of ensuring that such policy issues are engaged with in a more inclusive and expansive manner, are discussed.

Cette thèse traite des réformes et des politiques éducatives mises en place au Royaume-Uni après l’arrivée au pouvoir des nouveaux travaillistes en 1997. À la suite de la dévolution, deux Assemblées furent créés en 1999, l’une au Pays de Galles, et l’autre en Irlande du Nord, et l’Écosse se dota d’un Parlement. Cela entraîna la pérennisation des différences qui existaient entre les systèmes éducatifs du Royaume-Uni, la gestion de chaque système éducatif étant confiée à ces nouvelles institutions. La thèse analyse en profondeur les évolutions et les transformations générées au sein des différents systèmes éducatifs entre 1997 et 2010 (période de gouvernance des nouveaux travaillistes), et dégage les divergences et/ou rapprochements qui en ont découlé. Elle montre comment chacune des quatre nations a fait évoluer sa politique éducative, tout en tenant compte des réformes qui furent mises en place par les précédents gouvernements, ces changements ayant déjà profondément bouleversé l’organisation des systèmes éducatifs (New Public Management/autonomie des écoles). Certaines réformes antérieures à la période d’étude, qui modifièrent profondément le modèle de fonctionnement et l’organisation de ces systèmes éducatifs, sont également abordées car les gouvernements du début des années 2000 durent en tenir compte lors de l’élaboration de leurs projets éducatifs. Cette étude comparative tente aussi de définir l’efficacité des réformes en matière de performance scolaire et d’égalité des chances. / This thesis deals with the reforms and education policies that were implemented in the United Kingdom after the arrival of New Labour in 1997. Following devolution, two Assemblies were created in 1999, one in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland, and Scotland had a Parliament. This led to the persistence of the differences that existed between the education systems of the United Kingdom, the management of each education system being entrusted to these new institutions. The thesis analyses in depth the evolutions and the transformations generated within the different education systems between 1997 and 2010 (period of governance of New Labour), and reveals the divergences and/or convergences that ensued. It shows how each of the four nations has changed its education policy, while taking into account the reforms that were put in place by previous governments, these changes having already profoundly changed the organisation of these education systems (New Public Management/Local management of schools). Some reforms, prior to the period under study, which profoundly changed the organisation of these education systems, are also discussed because the governments in the early 2000s had to take them into account when developing their education projects. This comparative study also attempts to define the effectiveness of reforms in school performance and equal opportunities.