A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in 50% fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Public Policy. June, 2017 / The notion of good governance in municipalities has gained prominence in the discourse around the performance of local government which is at the coal face of service delivery. The study aimed to explore the governance practices prevalent in Westonaria Local Municipality by examining how the rule of law is maintained through the enforcement of policies and by-laws in the municipality; how the executive is held to account for performance by the Council and the extent to which the community is involved in the affairs of the municipality. The study sought to understand the governance challenges experienced in the municipality that contribute to poor audit outcomes and to propose recommendations for improvement. The study found that human and financial resource constraints affect municipal performance. Furthermore, the study established that effective oversight by council and enforcement of consequence management by management are necessary in fostering good governance in the municipality. / MT2017

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of (PhD) in the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Law Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg / Since the 1970s, when third world countries challenged the market-dominated international trade regime, the United Nations (UN) has been engaging without relent on how to fill the gap in business and human rights governance. The gap exists in countries with relaxed domestic regulatory regimes, where multinational corporations commit human rights violations without regional and institutional mechanisms to hold them accountable. From the draft codes, to the Global Compacts and the UN Draft Norms, the search failed to yield the desired result. In 2005, another move was made that produced a compendium of UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) which was unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in May 2011. Although it has been argued that the endorsement fills the gap that has been missing in the quest for global corporate accountability, the search continues unabated at the UN forum albeit without the support of some powerful nations for a ‘binding international legal instrument’ that will regulate the activities of corporations with regard to human rights. However, while awaiting the outcome of the recent interrogation on the issue, the UNHRC passed a resolution that the implementation of the UNGP should commence. Since Africa is one of the continents greatly affected by this problem, this thesis considers how the African Union (AU) can develop a framework for corporate human rights responsibility and accountability in line with the UNGP. To this end this thesis proposes a mechanism that will engender a proper implementation of the UNGP; it argues that a new treaty process and implementation of the UNGP are simply different sides of the same coin and that they serve the same purpose. The thesis also considers the adequacy of the existing regulatory framework for corporate human rights accountability in Africa and explores the creation of an appropriate forum for the implementation of the UNGP. Choosing the AU as the suitable forum, this thesis endeavours to examine how some legal and policy-making institutions in the AU can be rejuvenated, overhauled and re-positioned in order to perform effective corporate accountability oversight to support the domestic and sub-regional systems. Furthermore, it attempts to provide possible remedies to victims of corporate human rights violations in Africa.

O objetivo central desta tese é formular propostas normativas de delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político de forma a que este sirva como mecanismo de conformação de um paradigma de democracia qualificada (democratic responsiveness), cujo atributo fundamental é favorecer a correlação entre a atividade política e as expectativas e interesses da sociedade. Sob as premissas de que a qualificação democrática deve ser um objetivo fundamental no Estado Constitucional contemporâneo e de que a agregação de responsiveness ao processo político é, sem dúvida, um expediente necessário para tanto, defendemos em nossa tese a adoção de um modelo normativo em que as três facetas do instituto da responsabilidade responsibility, accountability e liability favoreçam a aproximação entre poder político e sociedade, o que é coerente com uma conformação mais substancial do princípio da soberania popular na experiência democrática, atenuando o déficit que as teorias procedimentais de democracia e a representação política independente causaram nesse campo. Valorizando o papel que a Constituição e o direito exercem em relação ao fenômeno político, apresentamos, como uma primeira proposta para um delineamento do instituto da responsabilidade do poder político que cumpra os objetivos acima colimados, a preferência por um ordenamento legal responsivo (responsive law), em que as normas priorizem o elemento finalístico e se torne possível a responsabilização da atividade política a partir dos resultados por ela alcançados. Outra proposta que apresentamos é a de enaltecer e readequar o papel do judicial review como mecanismo essencial à efetividade da responsabilidade do poder político, especialmente no sentido de assegurar a integridade e efetividade das instituições e procedimentos desenvolvidos no escopo de aperfeiçoar a responsiveness no processo político. Sem implicar a invasão da seara típica dos demais Poderes do Estado, defendemos uma atuação do Judiciário compromissada com a concretização dos requisitos necessários à implementação da democratic responsiveness. Como proposta final, defendemos que a atividade governamental assuma um caráter programático, valorizando o papel que os programas de governo podem assumir na aproximação entre a atividade política e os interesses e expectativas sociais mais prementes, especialmente quando se preveem mecanismos de influência popular na construção de aludidos programas. Esse último aspecto é essencialmente importante para o instituto da responsabilidade em razão de tornar possível a accountability prospectiva, isto é, permitir que a sociedade participe diretamente na fixação das prioridades da atividade governamental a ser desenvolvida, o que, a nosso ver, é uma perspectiva muito interessante para o alcance do modelo de democracia qualificada que defendemos nesta pesquisa. Em sede final, deixamos claro que as propostas apresentadas são apenas linhas indicativas para o alcance de um objetivo que entendemos prioritário na realidade estatal e social contemporânea: o de qualificar nossos institutos e instituições. A nosso ver, a busca do aperfeiçoamento contínuo do Estado Constitucional, da democracia e da responsabilidade do poder político, mediante a fixação de parâmetros e paradigmas de qualidade, deve ser uma tarefa permanente do cientista social, e foi nesse escopo que desenvolvemos a presente tese. / The central goal of this thesis is to devise normative proposals for defining political accountability that can be used as a mechanism to shape democratic responsiveness, whose fundamental attribute is, in turn, to promote the link between political activity and societys expectations and interests. Based on the premises that democratic responsiveness should be a fundamental goal of todays Constitutional State and that adding responsiveness to the political process is, unquestionably, a necessary measure, this study argues for the adoption of a normative model in which the three prongs of political accountability responsibility, accountability and liability promote an approximation between political authority and society, and this is coherent with a more substantial shaping of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in a democracy, thus mitigating the deficiencies caused by procedural democracy theories and independent political representation in this field. Stressing the importance of the role of the Constitution and the Law over politics, our first proposal for defining political accountability that fulfills the goals described above is to adopt a responsive legal system, in which the norms prioritize the final result, and by so doing, accountability attached to political activity takes place based on the results attained by such political activity. Our next proposal is to value and redefine the role of judicial review as an essential tool to promote the effectiveness of political accountability; especially in the sense of ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of the institutions and procedures developed within the scope of improving responsiveness in the political process. Without necessarily invading traditional fields under the other Branches of power, this study advocates a more committed Judiciary in terms of achieving the necessary requisites to implement democratic responsiveness. As our third and last proposal, we argue that government activity should play a programmatic role, valuing the role government programs can play in bringing together political activity and the more urgent interests and expectations of society, especially when there are mechanisms for the people to participate in developing said programs. This latter aspect is of utmost importance for accountability because it renders prospective accountability possible, that is, it enables societys direct participation in establishing the priorities of government activity, which, in our point of view, is a very significant perspective for the achievement of the democratic responsiveness advocated herein. Finally, this study emphasizes that the proposals presented are only general guidelines to achieve a goal that we consider urgent in todays social and government scenarios, which is to qualify our institutes and institutions. In our view, the quest to continuously improve the Constitutional State, democracy and political accountability, by setting quality parameters and paradigms, must be a permanent effort on the part of social scientists; and it was within this scope that this study was developed.

Este estudo analisa o controle das empresas e profissionais de segurança privada no Brasil. A questão mais importante em relação ao controle da segurança privada é saber se é possível assegurar que o policiamento provido por esse setor seja executado de acordo com as regras públicas. A única forma de obter serviços aderentes a essas regras é fazer com que elas sejam levadas em consideração pelos profissionais que executam as atividades de policiamento privado. Estudiosos do policiamento concordam que os mecanismos mais capazes de produzir esses resultados estão localizados no interior das organizações. Levando isso em consideração, o objetivo desta tese de doutorado é entender as condições sob as quais as organizações de policiamento privado controlam seus funcionários de acordo com as normas públicas que regulam a prestação de serviços de segurança privada no Brasil. A hipótese que orienta o estudo é a de que esse controle ocorre quando as empresas de segurança percebem a existência de um ambiente institucional na qual os atores que exercem o controle externo da segurança privada (clientes, órgão regulador, Judiciário e mídia) são capazes de fazer com que comportamentos desviantes em relação às normas públicas sejam mais custosos para as empresas do que os investimentos necessários à estruturação de sistemas de controle interno aptos a prevenir tais comportamentos. Para avaliar essa hipótese foram realizados estudos de caso em quatro contratos de prestação de serviços de segurança, dois contratos para instituições financeiras e dois contratos para redes comerciais. A análise dos casos revelou que o modo como as empresas de segurança controlam internamente os seus funcionários é fortemente afetado apenas pelo controle externo realizado pelos clientes que contratam serviços de segurança no mercado. Quando os clientes remuneram contratos de prestação de serviços adequadamente e se interessam por condutas respeitosas, criam-se condições para a existência de sistemas de controle altamente estruturados e alinhados às regras públicas. O contrário também é verdade. Se os clientes não remuneram contratos adequadamente e desejam comportamentos desviantes em relação às normas públicas, o resultado tende a ser sistemas de controle interno com baixo grau de estruturação e alinhamento às regras públicas. Diante deste último cenário, a pesquisa mostrou que na maioria das situações os controles externos provenientes do órgão regulador, do Judiciário e da mídia não são capazes de atuar satisfatoriamente como última linha de defesa e correção de rumos. Esses achados apóiam as visões pessimistas presentes na literatura especializada, que vem sustentando a idéia de que existem déficits de governança e controle sobre as atividades de policiamento privado. / This work analyzes the control over Brazils private security companies and agents. The most important issue in relation to the control over private security is to know if it is possible to ensure that the policing provided by this sector is run in accordance with public rules. The only way to get security services following these rules is to ensure they are abided by the agents who perform private policing activities. Scholars of policing agree that the control mechanisms better able to produce these results are located within organizations. Taking this into consideration, the aim of this doctoral thesis is to understand the conditions under which private security companies control their employees in accordance with the public rules governing the provision of private security services in Brazil. The hypothesis that guides the study is that this control occurs when security companies realize the existence of an institutional environment in which those exerting external control over private security (customer, regulator, judiciary and media) capable of cause deviant behavior in relation to public standards are more costly for companies than the investment required to structuring internal control system able to prevent such behaviors. To evaluate this hypothesis four security services contracts underwent case studies, two from financial institutions and two contracts from department store chains. The analysis of the cases revealed that the way private security companies control internally their employees is strongly affected only by clients who hire these services. When clients adequately pay for a service contracted and they require proper care and respectful behavior, they create conditions for the existence of internal control systems highly structured and aligned to government rules. The opposite is also true. If clients do not pay for the contract properly and request a deviant behavior in relation to public standards, the result tends to be of internal control systems with a low degree of structure and alignment. In the face of this last scenario, the research showed that in most situations the external controls from the regulator, the judiciary and the media are not able to satisfactorily perform as a last line of defense and course corrections. These findings support the pessimistic views present in the literature, which have sustained the idea that there are governance deficits in activities of private policing.

O princípio da dignidade humana e da proteção à saúde são decorrentes do direito fundamental à vida. São direitos definidos como prerrogativas mínimas sem as quais o cidadão não existiria dentro do estado democrático de Direito. O pluralismo e os tempos modernos evidenciam outros problemas para a humanidade e, dentre eles, está a obesidade. Trata-se de problema que decorre de um processo histórico, expondo que a alimentação humana mudou substancialmente com a crescente urbanização, somada ao fenômeno da globalização e a disseminação da cultura de consumo, fatores que foram predominantes para o aumento exponencial desta doença. Atualmente é problema grave de saúde pública mundial, que dependendo do país e de acordo com seu desenvolvimento, pode chegar a ser causa de discriminação social, vulnerabilidade e exclusão social. Nesse aspecto, na mesma medida em que a obesidade é crescente em todo mundo, as diversas formas de sanar tal questão também são presentes. Logo, evidencia-se naturalmente constatação do crescimento das chamadas cirurgias bariátricas e, como consequência óbvia de tal aumento, a possibilidade de erros médicos em tais intervenções também é cada vez mais crescente. A medicina é atividade que pela sua própria natureza envolve riscos e lida com o bem mais essencial e fundamental. Assim, o erro médico não pode ser apenado com benevolência. Quaisquer ofensas a tais direitos são repelidas pelo Poder Judiciário que, por meio do instituto da responsabilidade civil, evidencia as premissas básicas de prudência, perícia e diligência, expondo a necessidade de atitudes regulares dos profissionais ligados à atividade médica e o bom senso na apuração de eventual ilícito, bem com condenações justas e igualitárias, pautadas na análise técnica e específica a respeito da conduta do profissional, após a observância de todos os princípios éticolegais e processuais. Assim, neste trabalho busca-se apresentar a tutela jurisdicional da cirurgia bariátrica no que diz respeito a responsabilização do médico por erro, aplicando-se a teoria da responsabilização civil e apontando-se a natureza e a ocorrência dos erros que potencializam e embasam demandas judiciais, bem como os procedimentos regulares e recomendados com o objeto de prevenir a responsabilização. / The principles of human dignity and health protection are derived from the fundamental right to life. They are rights defined as the minimum prerogatives without which citizens could not exist within a democratic state. Pluralism and the modern times point to other issues for mankind, among them, obesity. This is a problem that derives from a historical process, evidenced by changes in human nutrition due to the ever-growing trend of urbanization, in addition to the phenomenon of globalization and we spread culture of consumption, which have been major factors for the exponential growth of this disease. In the present day it presents itself as a serious global public healthcare issue, and depending on which country and stage of development, may become the cause of vulnerability, social prejudice and exclusion. Meanwhile obesity has been shown to be growing worldwide, various means of addressing and solving this matter have also been made available. It may be verified a growth in the number of the so-called bariatric surgeries, and as a direct outcome, the enhanced possibility of medical failure during these procedures. The practice of medicine inherently involves risks while dealing with one´s most fundamental and essential belonging. Hence, medical failure cannot be taken lightly or benevolently. Any offenses to such rights are rebuked by the Judiciary, that bring forth the basic assumptions of prudence, skill and diligence through the institution of civil responsibility, pointing to the need for regular attitudes of medical-related professionals and proper reasoning when examining possible illicit, as well as fair and equal conviction, based on the specific technical analysis regarding the professional´s conduct, whilst observing all procedural, ethical and legal principles. Therefore, this publication intends to present the jurisdictional tutelage of bariatric surgery concerning the physicians accountability for his or her mistake by applying the theory of civil accountability, identifying the nature and occurrence of the errors that provoke or lay grounds for legal action, as well as the regular procedures advised in order to prevent accountability.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Across the nation, most states are implementing a new set of standards- and accountability-based reforms: the Common Core State Standards and their accompanying assessments. Unfortunately, the perspectives of school-based educators are largely missing from policy and implementation decisions about the Common Core. To address some of the gaps in previous research, the purpose of this dissertation—a comparative case study of two middle schools on the East Coast of the United States—was to describe and analyze school-based educators’ perceptions of and responses to the Common Core and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Exam. Data analysis revealed that educators in the two schools generally worked from an inquiry stance on teaching, learning, and schooling (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) in that they collectively and critically analyzed the intentions of educational policy and practice based in part on their beliefs about student-centered, constructivist teaching and learning. Consistent with this perspective, they made sense of the Common Core and SBAC based on the degree of alignment they perceived between their own educational values and beliefs, on the one hand, and the values and beliefs that animated the policies, on the other hand, which I conceptualized as “principled sensemaking.” How the educators actually implemented the Common Core and SBAC was the result of the intersection of their principled sensemaking of these standards-based reforms and the degree of agency they had over policy implementation. I termed this type of response to policy “principled implementation.” Four types of principled implementation were identified: principled adoption, principled neglect, principled compliance, and principled resistance. New understandings of school-based educators’ unique, critical, and nuanced perceptions of the Common Core and SBAC and how they believe the Common Core and SBAC influence teaching and learning have the capacity to inform decisions about the future of the Common Core in schools, and contributes to a broader understanding of how school-based educators take up and respond to standards- and accountability-based reforms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Pamela J. Grace / As supported by extensive literature, nurses have a role to play in helping patients and families in getting their needs understood and met. This ethical responsibility includes decisions made by nurses in the context of end-of-life (EOL) care. Ethical decision-making is known to be influenced by nurses' understanding of their professional accountability and several cognitive processes that underlie moral action. Rest (1986) theorized these processes as: moral sensitivity, judgment, moral motivation, and moral character. However, few instruments have been developed to understand nurses' ethical decision-making during EOL care, and most have focused on a single dimension rather than on the multi-dimensional process. The purposes of this methodological study were: 1) to develop a scale with content domains and items capable of describing Korean nurses' ethical decision-making at EOL and 2) to evaluate the scale's psychometric properties using Korean nurses (N = 230). The criteria for participation were: Korean nurses having more than 2 years of clinical experience in the types of units where most Korean patients spend the end of their lives: critical care, general medical-surgical, and hospice units. The process followed two steps. Phase I consisted of the development of domains and items. Three domains were identified through themes derived from an integrated review of relevant literature and the findings from a preliminary qualitative study involving experts in EOL care in Korea. 95 items were generated within these three domains. Content validation was completed by a panel of six nursing ethics experts, three in Korea and three in the U.S. Next, a pilot study to test readability was conducted using three Korean nurses. During Phase II, 67 items of the NEDM-EOLCS version 3.0 were tested. After item analysis and factor analysis, a 55-item final version of the NEDM-EOLCS was established. The total scale and three subscales reported good reliability and validity. The three subscales were labeled: "perceived professional accountability," "moral reasoning and moral agency," and "moral practice at the EOL." / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Thesis advisor: David Rasmussen / This thesis begins by analyzing three different philosophies on human rights. It looks to the foundations of these theories, but focuses primarily on the obligations that each system creates. It evaluates cosmopolitanism and two different institutionalist arguments, eventually settling on a tiered system of international responsibility as the strongest and most practical conception of rights. The second chapter of the thesis discusses the role of the International Criminal Court as a part of this tiered system, and as a means to promote human rights across the globe. This section evaluates the court by considering its historical foundations, its goals and responsibilities, and its actions over the past ten years. It concludes by providing recommendations for the future of the court. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Este estudo analisa os efeitos colaterais indesejados de avaliações externas quando combinadas a políticas de responsabilização (accountability) escolar no Brasil. Estes efeitos colaterais, denominados \"peiragênicos\" por Madaus e Russell, são previsíveis, indesejados e decorrem da manipulação (gaming) das regras do sistema pelos agentes envolvidos, levando à inflação de escores, vieses nos resultados reportados e interferências indevidas nos processos escolares que se pretendiam monitorar. Este estudo completa uma lacuna na literatura nacional, visando a medir a extensão de dois destes efeitos: a exclusão não aleatória de alunos de baixa proficiência de avaliações e a incidência de fraudes ingênuas, em desacordo aos protocolos de aplicação das avaliações. Duas abordagens são apresentadas. Para estimar as exclusões de alunos de baixa proficiência é proposta uma análise baseada na assimetria de distribuições de proficiência, usando distribuições normais truncadas. Para avaliar a extensão de fraudes ingênuas, definidas como a divulgação de respostas aos alunos testados sem levar em conta a existência de cadernos de itens ou permissividade com \"colas\" entre alunos, é introduzida uma abordagem baseada na contagem de blocos impróprios maximizadores. Ambos os algoritmos são aplicados à Prova Brasil, de 2013 e 2015. As medições obtidas são confrontadas com variáveis explicativas associadas às pressões da responsabilização, mediante modelos hierárquicos lineares. As pressões consideradas neste trabalho resultam de programas estaduais de bonificação docente e de acompanhamento do Indicador de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb), assim como variações em rankings do Ideb nos municípios. Os resultados indicam que tanto a exclusão de alunos de baixo desempenho quanto fraudes ingênuas ocorrem em associação a estas pressões. O gaming parece mais intenso em unidades da federação com políticas high-stakes, assim como em escolas com Ideb baixo verificado na avaliação anterior. Tendências de variação do Ideb, distâncias deste indicador às metas, ou mudanças em posições no ranking resultam não correlacionados significativamente às pressões. Exclusões medidas são menores em UFs com avaliações próprias para cálculo de bonificação. Um substancial aumento nas indicações de fraudes em 2015, versus 2013, pode estar associado às mudanças na participação mínima de alunos exigida nestas avaliações. Conclui-se que há necessidade dos formuladores de avaliações tomarem cuidados para controlar os dois efeitos estudados. / This survey analyzes the undesired side effects of standardized assessments when combined with accountability policies, in public schools in Brazil. These effects, identified as \"peiragenics\" by Madaus and Russell, are predictable, undesired and unplanned for, and arise from agents engaging in \"gaming the system\", leading to score inflation, biased reported results and undue interference in the schooling processes under assessment. This survey attempts to fill a void in Brazilian literature regarding the measurement of two side effects: exclusion of low performing students from assessments and undue interference of teachers or testers in the assessment protocols (cheating). To this effect, two analytic approaches are presented. To estimate non-random exclusions of low performing students from testing, a model based on the observed asymmetry of proficiency results, using truncated normal distributions, is proposed. A second model, to assess the extension of naive teacher cheating, defined as attempts to share common answers regardless of differences in test booklets or turning a blind eye to students\' copying answers from classmates, counts unexpected appearances of improper score-maximizing blocks, introduced in this study. Both algorithms are applied to Prova Brasil\'s 2013 and 2015 data sets, a federal assessment of mathematics and reading skills. Measurements are confronted with explanatory variables to test for accountability pressures and gaming-inducing drivers, using two-level hierarchical linear models. The pressures considered in this survey arise from teacher bonus programs adopted by several Brazilian states, performance tracking and rankings of the Ideb indicator (a nationwide metric of the development of elementary and middle-school public education). Results indicate that both selective exclusions of low performing students and naive teacher cheating occur, in patterns associated with pressures. Gaming behavior appears to be more intense in states with high-stakes linked to the assessment, in schools with lower Ideb ratings. Past trends and gaps versus targets in Ideb and changes in local rankings result not significantly correlated with gaming behavior. Lowest exclusion measurements occur in states where alternative assessments are used for bonus payments. A substantial increase in cheating indications in 2015 over 2013 was measured, possibly reflecting increased minimum participation requirements stressing schools to maintain performance through cheating attempts. In conclusion, the need for care in design of assessment policies to control for the two effects measured is made evident.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Botswana's population and water demand are growing at a high rate particularly in the dry south eastern part of the country. In 1999, a Water Conservation Policy and Strategy framework document was formulated to guide a transition from a supply driven water management approach to water demand management. This study investigated whether there was a disparity between the framework policy and strategy recommendations and their actual implementation. / South Africa