No / International aid agencies are increasingly placing social accountability at the heart of their governance reform programs, involving a range of social activist mechanisms through which officials are rendered answerable to the public. Crucially, aid agencies are not just promoting these mechanisms in emerging democracies, but now also in authoritarian societies. What then are the likely political regime effects of these mechanisms? We approach this by examining who supports social accountability, why, and the implications for political authority. Focusing on the Philippines and Cambodia cases, it is argued that, to differing degrees, social accountability mechanisms have been subordinated to liberal and ⁄ or moral ideologies favoring existing power hierarchies. These ideologies often privilege nonconfrontational state–society partnerships, drawing activists into technical and administrative processes limiting reform possibilities by marginalizing, or substituting for, independent political action pivotal to the democratic political authority of citizens.

The aim of this project is to examine the emergence of non- governmental organization (NGO) networking by conducting a case study of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court (CICC). It explores the role of this Coalition in the context of the growing movement towards a "global civic politics." An in- depth look at this Coalition is unveiled through primary sources, interviews, and observations. Using a three- tiered model of networking, one can better understand NGO collaboration and networking that are unique in the field of international human rights law and indicative of a new trend in international politics. This model is developed from Timothy Luke and Gearóid à Tuathail's conception of geopolitical nature, Castells' conception of networks, and then modified to apply to political mediation. NGOs have acted as part of the engine behind the creation of an International Criminal Court in numerous ways. They have amassed over 900 organizations in support of a strong permanent court, as well as fostered relationships with the United Nations, and state governments, and regional blocs. By using this three- tiered framework, I will investigate the networking capacity and functions of the Coalition. The basic research question to be answered is: How does the CICC explain the role of NGOs as mediating agents between states and institutions within the context of contemporary global society? / Master of Arts

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the origin and evolution of the Kingsport Regional Education Alliance (KREA 2000). A total of 18 individuals, representing three categories, business, education, and community, were selected by purposeful sampling techniques to participate. Data were collected through qualitative methods. The analysis revealed attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of those involved in the KREA 2000 activities. Through data analysis the investigator identified a core group of influencers who were primarily responsible for the creation of KREA 2000. The investigator identified four major categories that were critical to the evolution of KREA 2000. The four major categories were: leadership, communication, infrastructure, and collaboration. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were suggested: (1) KREA 2000 should set up a channel of leadership that will prepare future chairs; (2) KREA 2000 should become more proactive in the political arena in regard to educational issues; (3) the KREA 2000 should be staffed with a full time coordinator and a part-time clerical person, (4) KREA 2000 should appoint a volunteer liaison to each participant agency; and (5) KREA 2000 should concentrate on supporting initiatives within and among the participant agency, not create independent projects.

In the field of multiagent systems, trust and reputation systems are intended to assist agents in finding trustworthy partners with whom to interact. Earlier work of ours identified in theory a number of security vulnerabilities in trust and reputation systems, weaknesses that might be exploited by malicious agents to bypass the protections offered by such systems. In this work, we begin by developing the TREET testbed, a simulation platform that allows for extensive evaluation and flexible experimentation with trust and reputation technologies. We use this testbed to experimentally validate the practicality and gravity of attacks against vulnerabilities. Of particular interest are attacks that are collusive in nature: groups of agents (coalitions) working together to improve their expected rewards. But the issue of coalitions is not unique to trust and reputation; rather, it cuts across a range of fields in multiagent systems and beyond. In some scenarios, coalitions may be unwanted or forbidden; in others they may be benign or even desirable. In this document, we propose a method for detecting coalitions and identifying coalition members, a capability that is likely to be valuable in many of the diverse fields where coalitions may be of interest. Our method makes use of clustering in benefit space (a high-dimensional space reflecting how agents benefit others in the system) in order to identify groups of agents who benefit similar sets of agents. A statistical technique is then used to identify which clusters contain coalitions. Experimentation using the TREET platform verifies the effectiveness of this approach. A series of enhancements to our method are also introduced, which improve the accuracy and robustness of the algorithm. To demonstrate how this broadly-applicable tool can be used to address domain-specific problems, we focus again on trust and reputation systems. We show how, by incorporating our work into one such system (the existing Beta Reputation System), we can provide resistance to collusion. We conclude with a detailed discussion of the value of our work for a wide range of environments, including a variety of multiagent systems and real-world settings.

International social movement coalitions are a promising instrument to address systemic problems in a globalizing world. This thesis explores the issue of maintenance of these coalitions by examining the factors that have facilitated or inhibited the maintenance of the Hemispheric Social Alliance as an example. This thesis is based on a qualitative case study; data includes some content analysis but mostly consists of direct interviews. The main finding is that factors such as resources, internal relationships, external conditions and management all affect the maintenance of an international social movement coalition. The thesis argues for increased links between social work and social movement coalitions, and offers insights for social work policy, research and practice.

In the field of multiagent systems, trust and reputation systems are intended to assist agents in finding trustworthy partners with whom to interact. Earlier work of ours identified in theory a number of security vulnerabilities in trust and reputation systems, weaknesses that might be exploited by malicious agents to bypass the protections offered by such systems. In this work, we begin by developing the TREET testbed, a simulation platform that allows for extensive evaluation and flexible experimentation with trust and reputation technologies. We use this testbed to experimentally validate the practicality and gravity of attacks against vulnerabilities. Of particular interest are attacks that are collusive in nature: groups of agents (coalitions) working together to improve their expected rewards. But the issue of coalitions is not unique to trust and reputation; rather, it cuts across a range of fields in multiagent systems and beyond. In some scenarios, coalitions may be unwanted or forbidden; in others they may be benign or even desirable. In this document, we propose a method for detecting coalitions and identifying coalition members, a capability that is likely to be valuable in many of the diverse fields where coalitions may be of interest. Our method makes use of clustering in benefit space (a high-dimensional space reflecting how agents benefit others in the system) in order to identify groups of agents who benefit similar sets of agents. A statistical technique is then used to identify which clusters contain coalitions. Experimentation using the TREET platform verifies the effectiveness of this approach. A series of enhancements to our method are also introduced, which improve the accuracy and robustness of the algorithm. To demonstrate how this broadly-applicable tool can be used to address domain-specific problems, we focus again on trust and reputation systems. We show how, by incorporating our work into one such system (the existing Beta Reputation System), we can provide resistance to collusion. We conclude with a detailed discussion of the value of our work for a wide range of environments, including a variety of multiagent systems and real-world settings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [123]-126).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northwestern University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-235).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Aug. 2, 2007). PDF text: xviii, 388 p. : ill. UMI publication number: AAT 3258404. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.