The African Youth Charter requires African countries to formulate and adopt an integrated national youth policy to address youth concerns. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Children's Charter also confer on children and young people the right to participate in matters that concern them. This qualitative research adopted a social constructivist approach to examine young people's participation as strategic stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of Ghana's youth policy. The aim was to gain knowledge about the processes that facilitate or hinder young people's participation in the policy process at national level. The study involved the use of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 20 stakeholders in the policy process; the study involved 4 policy makers, 3 lobbyists and 13 young people aged 15 - 17 years. Questions that guided the study were: what is the extent of young people's participation in the policy process; are there barriers to involving young people in the policy process; and what strategies were been used to promote young people's participation in the policy process in Ghana. Findings showed discrepancy in the attitudes and behaviour of policy makers towards young people. For example, on one hand policy makers recognised young people's right to participate but on the other hand they did not seek to involve young people in the policy process. The study identified a number of factors contributing to this discrepancy; from the perspectives of policy makers young people were not matured enough to take part in policy discussions, but from the perspectives of young people the policy process was highly politicised, hence their non-participation in political activities such as voting meant that they were not considered worth inviting to participate in policy discussions. The study highlights a difference in the policy processes of developing and developed countries. Whereas in most developed countries the main area of contestation is the policy formulation stage, this study however shows that in a developing country like Ghana the main area of contestation is the policy implementation stage. Also, whereas young people had some level of participation in the formulation of the policy they were out rightly excluded from the policy implementation stage, leaving the young people to question the commitment of policy makers to engage young people in decision-making. In light of the dissonance between the theory and practice of participation, the study argues that to effectively involve young people in the policy process demands the granting of political capital to young people. The thesis concludes with a call for a rethink of the apolitical status usually ascribed to young people.

This thesis is a study of public sector reform in the context of economic crisis. The thesis examines the introduction of new management practices to the Cyprus civil service, with the aim of understanding the role of various actors, internal and external to Cyprus, in influencing the policy agenda. Based on semi-structured interviews with key players, the research captures a civil service at the point of transition. The government of Cyprus has been under pressure to introduce reforms since joining the European Union in 2004. Nevertheless, political and social factors have made previous attempts to reduce civil service staffing and introduce practices influenced by ‘New Public Management’ (NPM) have been unsuccessful. The current programme of reforms, by contrast, have resulted from coercive influence of the ‘Troika’ following the economic crisis, which has added weight to an existing tendency towards normative isomorphism. The research finds a recognition of the desirability of ‘modernisation’ amongst policy-makers, civil service managers and trade unionists alike. This finding, which might be surprising in other national contexts, may be explained by the island’s historical legacy of political patronage and clientelism. NPM initiatives are regarded as being beneficial, overall. This, in turn, suggests a reappraisal of the nature of bureaucracy in Cyprus, which would indicate that it has not lived up to its reputation for being meritocratic and impartial, and is regarded by the actors as a barrier to progress.

No description available.

This thesis is a collection of essays that addresses the challenge of understanding the relationship between public service motivation and volunteering. Set in the backdrop of increased corporate and public sector social responsibility, I first examine the theoretical rationale behind public service motivation (PSM). I address the debate of how it affects volunteer behavior through the concept of volunteering intensity. As individuals often have preconceived notions as to how their values match with an organization, I integrate the theory of Person- Organization fit (P-O Fit). The model is quantitatively tested in four studies using data sets of individuals who have a history of volunteering in the Southwest region of UK and Italy. In the first study, I confirm that individuals with high levels of PSM report exerting greater volunteering intensity or effort. The second study examines how PSM differs across homogenous and heterogeneous samples of Millennials. In the third study, I find limited support for the presumption that individuals who are coerced into volunteering exert less effort then their non-coerced counterparts. In the final study, I explore if PSM has different outcomes in relation to time, frequency and volunteering intensity. Together, this collection of papers are interwoven around the discussions concerning using PSM as a motivator to volunteer. These studies have implications that can impact policies such as the UK Work Program, mandated volunteering in school and organizational social responsibility programs. The findings also have practical implications for HR managers that are highlighting social responsibility as part of their employer branding process. Additionally, volunteer coordination managers across sectors can benefit from how these studies improve our understanding of PSM and P-O fit in the volunteering context. Finally, from an academic viewpoint, I contribute to debates surrounding the third wave of PSM research.

This thesis offers a new answer for an old question. Since the inception of public policy and administrative studies, the field has grappled with the problem of how to define the relationship between politics and administration. An examination of the policy literature suggests the existence of two major views: disjunctive and integrative. On one hand, those scholars who favour a disjunctive view construe politics and administration as mutually exclusive spheres. In this case, the study of policy and administration tends to emphasize the technical aspects and ignore the political factors. On the other hand, theorists who embrace an integrative view suggest that administration is fundamentally a political activity. Expanding the focus beyond managerial concerns, integrative scholars argue that public policies should not be confined to technocratic styles of policy-making that inhibit citizen engagement and depoliticize the public sphere. In spite of their commendable attention to politics, however, integrative theorists (particularly those embracing an interpretive orientation or a deliberative approach) have not yet been able to convincingly delineate a policy model that fully recognizes the political. The key argument of this thesis is that an agonistic vision has a strong potential to think politics and administration together that has not yet been considered by contemporary policy scholarship. Drawing on the work of Chantal Mouffe, the Agonistic Policy Model (APM) proposed here attempts to fill an important gap in the literature. Although agonistic theories have been widely recognized in the academic discipline of political science, they have not yet been translated into an implementable policy model. It is argued that an APM elucidates how politics and administration can be construed as interdependent spheres, thus offering a solution that helps to envisage how the political can be properly integrated into public policy and administration. In addition, besides an original interpretation of the policy process, the APM provides an innovative way of thinking how policy-making can contribute to deepen democratic values and institutions.

The demographics of the Kenyan public service are poised to change in unpredictable ways in the next few years, especially regarding diversity in the workplace. For a country with a bulging youth population whereby about 61% of the population is under the age of 24 years with those aged 14 years and below accounting for about 42% , it is worrying that the workforce components are neither inventoried nor planned for, especially in the public sector. This sector is also the largest employer as is the case in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study seeks to find out what it would take to improve the practice of a large public sector organisation, KNBS, using strategic workforce planning to tackle its workplace challenges. There is an attempt to mitigate the imminent and/or looming skills shortages in the light of the mass exit of the ‘baby boomer’ generation from the workplace on the one hand, and the government’s policies restricting the hiring of younger generation recruits, on the contrary. The study uses participatory action research to highlight the need for a strategic workforce plan (SWP) as a medium to long-term coping strategy. The study undertakes the first full cycle of the Participatory Action Research spirals involving participants within the workplace. These participants, drawn from various directorates and departments within KNBS, split into focus groups. An analysis of workplace demographics provides a baseline to enable the development of a sustainable SWP, one that could be ‘rolled out’ across the country’s public sector. While recognising that many change initiatives fail due to lack of involvement of key stakeholders, this study engages the whole spectrum of employees – not just as information sources, but also significant actors in the process of crafting a new 5-year SWP for KNBS.

Previous decades have seen multi-agency partnerships growing in prominence for policymaking and service delivery. However, when partnership working has been researched in relation to the public service ethos (PSE), studies have tended to investigate collaboration between the public and private sectors and the effect on the PSE. This dissertation contended that discussions about collaboration between the public and private sectors are distinct from other types of partnership working. The study investigated the relationship between the PSE and partnership working in a public setting. The research questions were investigated in a senior partnership board in a city in the UK. A case study approach was used, underpinned by documentary analysis, a board observation and semi-structured interviews. The fieldwork explored the values of staff employed in public services, identified in previous research. Four areas for discussion were identified: the PSE and partnership working; values, the PSE and partnership working; the importance of the PSE and partnership working; and the changing meaning of the PSE and its values. The findings identified three perspectives of the micro, macro and meso PSE. However, in contrast to suggestions that the values of public servants are the most important element of public service, it was found that the language of partnership working was more evident in the case study. The conclusion suggests a number of contributions to understand the PSE and partnership working. Firstly, findings identify the relevance of the PSE in contemporary public services. Secondly, it informs our understanding of the role the PSE plays in multi-agency governance. Thirdly, it identifies the potential use of public service values within the discourse of integration. It also identifies a methodological contribution that it is possible to research the PSE in a public partnership board and use public service values to do so.

In 2009, the Republic of Ireland (ROI) revised its Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. Despite a review of the literature revealing a considerable body of work on codes of practice, few studies were observed to systematically analyse the impact of codes and none to do so in a public sector context. Furthermore, the literature indicated that although the significance of boards was generally accepted, agreement as to the attributes that determine their effectiveness was lacking. This issue was adjudged to be compounded in the ROI context, where public sector agentification was revealed to be particularly unique. This thesis explores whether a series of variables, identified in the public sector literature as determinants of board effectiveness, are significant in the ROI Non-Commercial Semi State Bodies (NCSSB) context. The research employed a board governance questionnaire conducted amongst a purposeful sample of NCSSBs. The empirical analysis indicates mixed findings: where no relationships between board member demographics and board effectiveness are identified while, some evidence in support of associations between certain board practice and board structure variables are revealed. Relative to the Code of Practice implementation indicators, the results suggest significant relationships between board effectiveness and board size and relationship with parent department, while no association was observed with the method of board member appointment. The key findings of the descriptive analyses suggest that the sector’s board members emerge from a select coterie of Irish society and that training and orientation uptake is at odds with participants reported governance awareness levels. This study contributes to our understanding of public sector board effectiveness as it treats of board effectiveness from nuanced and context sensitive perspectives. It is anticipated that the results of this study will stimulate future research, which may focus on, in particular, the anomalies revealed by this study’s findings.

No description available.

This study deals with the nature, development and consequences of nationalist movements in Wales. In 1973, a Royal Commission on the Constitution recommended the establishment of legislative assemblies in Cardiff and Edinburgh. The study begins with an analysis of the maintenance of a sense of national distinctiveness in Wales and Scotland, despite centuries of political incorporation into the United Kingdom. The thesis shows how the different stages of development of Welsh and Scottish societies at the time of unification with England was crucial in terms of the maintenance of national institutions. Whereas Scotland maintained a series of significant national institutions, in Wales the Welsh language became a major prop of national identity. Part of this work analyses the fate of the Welsh language since unification and its role in religion, education and the formation of political identity. The enduring link between language and nationality is examined, as is the role of the language in the development of Welsh nationalist ideology in the twentieth century. The thesis also examines-the changing social, economic and occupational structure of Wales since 1945 in an attempt to explain the growth in support of Plaid Cymru in the nineteen sixties. The proposals to create legislative assemblies were the subject of a referendum in 1979, and the debate over the devolution proposals is also analysed. The thesis concludes with a review of the relevant literature, a discussion of the relative neglect by sociologists of nationalism and nationalist movements and an assessment of the future prospects for the Welsh nationalist movement.