No description available.

This research probes the role of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in the African Union (AU), given the documented struggle of African regional integration institutions for relevance in the highly intergovernmental milieu of African regionalism (Haas 1970; 615; Gottschalk&Schmidt 2004:138). In 2000, African heads of states met in Lomé Togo and pledged to do all that is necessary to create effective, working institutions in the African Union (AU 2000). Taking into consideration the very recent history of the AU and its institutions, the research approach was to interrogate the evolution of the Pan African Parliament as a path to determining the PAP’s definitive role in the AU. As the research progressed, the institutionalism approach unveiled how past institutional legacies and culture in the OAU shaped the emergence of the AU and in particular the PAP. The research located and developed a central argument, which is that designers of institutions will likely create institutions with functional outcomes attuned to their own motivations and intentions. These motivations and intentions in turn are shaped by historical and social exigencies which render rational reflections dubious. This central point is observed in the manner the OAU has subsequently shaped the design of the AU and PAP in particular. Consequently, the thesis views the non-interference legacy of the OAU as well as the highly intergovernmental culture of African regionalism as institutionalised baggage with the potential of crippling a supranational leaning institution like the PAP. Based on this central argument, the research found that despite its legal importance in terms of the AU Constitutive Act, the PAP in practice, plays no effective role in AU decision making. As a consultative body, the PAP has made no impact whatsoever in the decisions of the AU. Finally, drawing from the institutionalism discourse, the research argues that although these institutional antecedents may not augur well for PAP’s future in the AU, the PAP’s growth strategy should take advantage of increasing tasks and unintended consequences in the expanding AU, to find its relevance in the continental polity. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Africa’s international marginalization is preponderantly conceptualized through world systems approaches, particularly structural dependency. Consequently, the region’s socioeconomic quagmire, characterized by economic stagnation, abysmal poverty, inequality and foreign dependency, is often attributed to its colonial heritage. Particular reference is made to the small size of the African state and its structural specialization in primary production. Collective self reliance based on mutual interdependence (regional integration) thus suggests itself as a logical way to overcome the structural constraints imposed by the small size of the state, while at the same time representing a viable alternative to asymmetric trade with developed countries. It is within the context of this theoretical framework that this study critiques the predisposition of the regional body in Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), towards a trade biased approach to regional integration (market integration). This critique is based on theoretical and empirical findings showing that trade led strategies are primarily suited for developed countries with robust manufacturing industries and complimentary production structures. Countries in Southern Africa are however characterized by a near absence of manufacturing industries, are at different levels of development and show low levels of trade complementarities. This study therefore concludes that market integration is an inappropriate strategy for regional integration in Southern Africa and in the process suggests development integration – a political economy approach, as an alternative.

The purpose of this research is to compare the trade policies guiding by Brazil and Mexico in recent years. Considering that both countries underwent a, in many ways, similar economic development in the second half of 20th century. This Master's Thesis titled "Trade Relations of Brazil and Mexico: A story of two different alignments" will therefore attempt to cast some light on what were the exact outcomes of the different paths undertaken by Brazil and Mexico in the 1990s.

This thesis analyses the terms in which collective identity and regional institutions can explain state action towards the unfolding of regionalism in the Andean Community (AC). This analysis develops a constructivist approach that assesses constitutive and casual effects of ideas in order to provide explanations. For the assessment and distinction of these effects, the thesis proposes an interpretive method that consists of focusing on transitive verbs and metaphors denoting causation that state officials and regional bureaucrats use to refer to the role of ideas in orienting state action. The analysis of the explanatory role of collective identity and regional institutions is carried out in three case studies of the AC, namely, Peru remaining an AC member while being reluctant to adopt the Andean Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and the Common External Tariff (CET); collective negotiations of a free trade agreement between the AC and the European Union; and the adoption of the Integrated Plan for Social Development (PIDS). The thesis shows that constitutive and causal effects of ideas are possible to observe in the three case studies of the AC. By observing these effects, the thesis provides a better understanding of a relationship of mutual constitution and causation between collective identity and regional institutions in the AC, and suggests a number of issues that may explain the AC’s maintenance despite its little achievements and low material benefits it provides to member states. The thesis also makes a significant contribution to constructivist theorising inasmuch as it provides a method to operationalise constructivism’s aim of providing explanations based on the role of ideas. To the study of the AC, this thesis represents a major contribution inasmuch as it is the first work that analyses the views of some of the main performers of state action and of the AC as a regional organisation, which accounts for the closest approach to how member states act in the AC.

While western regional alienation has been the subject of much scholarly and public debate in Canada, we still know relatively little about the factors driving the phenomenon. Relying upon survey data collected in the 1997 Canadian Election Study (CES), this study attempts to substantively quantify western regional alienation and identify its correlates. Using the existing literature as a starting point, the study examines how western regionalism and political culture are typically conceptualized and identifies several factors commonly said to propel regional unrest and western 'distinctiveness.' Regression analysis is used to systematically test the accuracy of existing theories concerning western regional alienation. The study contends that while the four western provinces do not hold a monopoly on feelings of regional alienation, levels of unrest are indeed higher in the West than in other parts of the country. Regional alienation is also distinguished from more general understandings of political apathy or cynicism. Finally, with respect to the factors said to propel regional unrest, antipathy towards Quebec and Outgroups are shown to be the most important predictors or regional alienation - while attitudes concerning the economy, populism, social programs, law and order and continentalism have a weaker effect. However, even after controlling for these factors, significant regional differences remain. Thus, other factors - as-of-yet unaccounted for - must also play a role. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

This thesis examines the formation of Appalachian studies as an academic field from roughly 1970 to 1982. First, this thesis analyses regionalism and what defines a region, focusing on the different contexts and narratives through which Appalachia has been described. Second, this thesis examines how scholars and activists in the region challenged prevailing narratives and sought new ways to examine and contextualize the region. Efforts to challenge stereotypes and address the social, political, and economic problems of the region galvanized academics and activists alike. Despite their similar work and shared vision for an interdisciplinary regional field, academics and activists often disagreed on the methodologies and goals of Appalachian studies.

This paper explores the implications of tax policy on the migration habits of the wealthiest of tax paying groups in certain U.S. states, and quantifies those implications for readers so they have a better understanding of how human behavior and tax systems interact. This is done so by examining the general phenomena of tax related migration as it manifests itself in specific real- world examples. As such, this paper projects the number of high-income taxpayers lost based on increases to the rates of personal income tax, and the associated tax dollar gains/losses (i.e. to what extent are top-tax bracket filers "voting with their feet"?). The paper provides calculations for three different rates of population sensitivity, and the corresponding numbers of lost tax payers in relation to a tax increase. The paper then goes on to show the diminishing returns of tax rate increases on top-tax bracket payers by calculating the amount of time needed for migration to completely offset the original gains from the high rate of taxation. The findings of this paper, which examine the states of New York, California, and Connecticut, conclude that these states will exhaust tax gains from a 5% income tax increases on top-tax bracket payers in the long term (46 - 142 years), and further concentrate their top-tax...

This study explores the link between regional cooperation and integration and the root causes of conflict in Africa. Specifically, it focuses on the experience of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is arguably one of the most developed regional cooperation and integration experiments on the African continent. In particular, the study assesses the extent to which, and the conditions under which, the promotion of regional cooperation and integration in ECOWAS (in its multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral characters) contributes to tackling the root causes of conflict in West Africa. In doing so, it first evaluates the extent to which there has been regional cooperation/integration within ECOWAS, and then reviews whether this has had any detectable effect on the root causes of conflict. ECOWAS is home to many cooperation/integration initiatives, including intra-regional trade; migration and the free movement of people; monetary integration and macroeconomic convergence; regional norm diffusion; and conflict management and resolution initiatives. To an extent, such a level of sophistication explains why the organisation is often portrayed as one of the most advanced regionalisation processes in Africa, if not the most advanced. Yet the research argues that while the region appears advanced in its approach to regional cooperation, especially when compared to other African regional organisations, this does not necessarily result in actual integration (e.g. shared sovereignty), let alone a successful effect on conflict transformation. In reviewing the extent to which each of these sectors is factually integrated, the study argues that there is a gap between existing policies and their implementation. Of all sectors mentioned above, only two (regional norm diffusion and conflict management/resolution) can be considered as highly integrated, because of their ability to translate into practice some of the elements for which they have been designed. The remaining sectors either have low or medium levels of integration, mainly due to challenges of regulation and implementation along with the absence of political will and real commitment from most member states. In assessing the security situation in West Africa, this dissertation argues that ECOWAS can be credited for reducing the level of violence in the region, which although still plagued by political and security tensions, appears less violent than it was just a decade ago. As regards the issue of whether ECOWAS has had any effect on tackling the root causes of conflict in the region, the analysis reveals that the organisation has been quite successful at diffusing regional norms of good governance and democracy, also thanks to the commitment and political will of member states. On the other hand, it does not appear as if intra-regional trade as well as monetary and macroeconomic convergence have exerted any tangible effects on conflict transformation, mainly due to the reluctance to share sovereignty, the lack of political will and poor implementation. Moreover, this study contends that ECOWAS’ effect on the root causes of conflict through its conflict management and resolution initiatives has been minimal, because initiatives within this domain focus mainly on containing existing tensions, with their capacity at preventing conflicts being hindered by a variety of factors, including inefficiencies and frictions, the ad-hoc modus operandi, the lack of capacity and financial means, and the reluctance by member states to adopt a coherent regional framework based on shared sovereignty. Finally, the study argues that migration and the free movement of people in ECOWAS may have a double-effect on conflicts in West Africa. On the one hand, it fosters a greater sense of common purpose and cultural sharing. On the other hand, the poor institutionalisation of this area of integration may actually contribute to triggering tensions (for instance, due to corruption and harassment at the borders), while the persistence of porous borders allows armed groups to move across the region. The dissertation ends by raising questions as to whether regional cooperation and integration in Africa should be seen as a promising avenue to address the root causes of conflict, due to the mixed results of a rather ‘good’ case such as ECOWAS; and alternative approaches are contemplated. / Dissertation (MA (International Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Political Sciences / MA (International Relations) / Unrestricted

This dissertation offers a revisionist account of American regionalist fiction. In particular, it contests prevailing diagnoses of the genre as bourgeois nostalgia by locating within its content and form a radical utopian impulse. By drawing out their engagement with socialist, feminist, anti-racist, and environmental protection movements, this project shows how regionalist texts perform both the utopian work of envisioning progressive futures and the necessarily regionalist work of orienting and charting a path toward those futures on a localized scale. Although our historical understanding of social movements during the Long Gilded Age is largely framed in the Nationalist and (proto-)Progressive politics of much overtly utopian fiction, comparative readings of William Dean Howells, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charles W. Chesnutt, Sutton E. Griggs, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Kate Chopin reveal within regionalist fiction a more radically democratic model for social change. This suggests, in part, that regionalist writers of the 1870s through the 1910s imagined the local rather than the national as the scale on which social change could and should be carried out.