Thesis. 1976. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / Bibliography: leaves 129-133. / by Toby G. Radasky. / M.C.P.

In this exploratory study, several conditions are identified as facilitative to a mandate of accountability to the welfare service users premised on a social process of cooperative inquiry. Firstly, constructive pressure from an extraneous surveillance power is necessary to instigate the structural inclusion of the welfare service users, without which the prevalent power asymmetry between the welfare service users and the professional service providers cannot be easily rocked. Secondly, enhanced social encounter and sustained interaction between the welfare service users and the service providers is the basis for emergent trust and alliance facilitative to an eventual power sharing that a mandate of accountability to the welfare service users demands. Thirdly, an ideological allegiance to the liberatory orientation of social work professionalism is imperative to nurturing the service providers' political commitment to the course of partnership with the service-using principal that a mandate of accountability to them requires. Realization of the service providers' accountability to the welfare service users invariably lies in the dialectic interaction between managerialism and professionalism. / Meanwhile, the study identifies different manifestation of the user involvement rhetoric between service units serving the elderly and the disabled persons (the "frail" group) and those serving clienteles with psychosocial or moral deficiency (the "deviant" group). It is the contention of this thesis that the greater strength and wider scope of user involvement as featured in the institutional structure of service units in the "frail" group does not necessarily correspond to a state of power symmetry that allows authentic argumentation between the professional service providers and the welfare service users in their discursive encounter. Given the multifarious strategies enabling the service providers to exert control over the welfare service users, the service providers' attitude in their relationship with the welfare service users is crucial for effecting change in the prevailing power position of the welfare service users. Materialization of a mandate of accountability to the welfare service users is hence premised on the prevalence of a cultural code that can embrace a more egalitarian relationship with the welfare service users among the service providers. / The last decades have seen a wide-reaching quest for reforms in the Hong Kong public sector. Among the multifarious managerial changes imposed on the Hong Kong welfare sector, the Service Performance Monitoring System instigated in 1999 embraces the irrefutable rhetoric of accountability that subjugates welfare service units in Hong Kong to a renewed mandate of managerial control premised on performance measurement and the enhanced involvement of the welfare service users. It is this policy context that revitalizes the user participation ethos that the profession of social work has always been supporting. By the mixed methodology of survey and case study, the research on which this thesis is based endeavours to locate the structural properties of the commonly incepted user involvement mechanism among the Hong Kong welfare service units, and to discern the processual dynamics in the discursive space enabled by the structural inclusion of the welfare service users. This is meant to advance our understanding on the ways by which user involvement enables a mandate of accountability premised on a cooperative inquiry with the welfare service users. / The study identifies a generally limited strength and scope in the user involvement initiatives adopted by the welfare service units. The discursive encounter between the service-using principal and the service-providing agent was also fused with tension. The tension was manifested in the service providers' unease at the accountability discourse, which legitimized the authority of the welfare service users in the management structure of the service units. In a service environment where the managerial discourse and the professional discourse used to compete for dominance, both the managerialist and professional tenets were employed by the service-providing informants to confront the tension and neutralize the implied power of the welfare service users, however meager it was. Whilst structural inclusion of the service users is a necessary condition for tackling the management risk arising from necessary entrustment to the service-providing agent, this thesis contends that structural re-engineering by itself is insufficient to ensure the advancement of the service-using principal's influence in their accountability relationship with the professional service providers. / Leung Tse Fong, Terry. / "November 2005." / Adviser: Bong-ho Mok. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4336. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-315). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

In many low-income and 'fragile' states, citizens' committees are elected to co-manage basic social services. However, the effects of such committees on service delivery, and the way they are influenced by local contexts, remain understudied. This thesis seeks to fill these gaps by examining the case of the health facility committees in Burundi and South Kivu between 2011 and 2014. It relies on original health facility and committee surveys, household surveys, nested interviews and focus groups, and interviews with key informants. The thesis firstly explores how the committees came about. It then looks at the questions, What makes them get involved in decisions at their health facility? and, How do measures designed to improve committee functioning lead to changes in service delivery, if at all? Mixed-methods work finds that chief nurses largely dominate the health facilities, and the committees appear to be both the product of recent political and administrative changes and a façade of community governance. The work's randomised controlled trial tests the idea that this inefficiency arises from an 'institutional knowledge gap': the committee members and nurses do not know the committee's (official) functioning. An information session has strengthened the committees and led to changes in health facility management in South Kivu, but not in Burundi. This difference seems to come from dissimilar management structures and people's relationships to service providers. The intervention has had no effect on service provision. The remaining chapters report on additional interventions in Burundi, which theory and qualitative research suggest might improve the effects of the knowledge intervention: trust-building between nurses and committee, information about health facility performance, and increased interaction between local leaders and committees. These are either ineffective or have unintended consequences. Overall, the thesis nuances the promises of social accountability mechanisms and stresses the importance of power relationships within basic social services.

Bibliography: leaves [261]-266.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

The purpose of this study has been an investigation of citizen participation in USDA Forest Service land management planning for the Coronado National Forest (CNF) in southeastern Arizona. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this research combined concepts from the fields of sociology, political science, natural resource planning and management to develop methods for obtaining citizen input, promoting ethnic minority participation, and following Forest Service use of public comment in the planning process. Data from existing questionnaires and a short questionnaire developed specifically for planning forums were used to investigate forms of participation, determine which publics participate and ascertain levels of interest in natural resource planning. Participation on the CNF core planning team provided observations on use of the publics' input. Despite a 20 percent Mexican-American population surrounding the CNF, there was essentially no ethnic minority participation in planning forums designed to gather public issues. Data support the thesis that minorities did not participate because they did not generally think that natural resource questions were important and did not support land planning. Ethnic minorities will come to meetings when they are directly affected, despite a low sense of efficacy. Ethnic minorities had equal access to information about planning forums; however, very few were on the mailing list because they did not respond to a letter inviting them to be on the CNF mailing and generally did not answer requests for public comment. The Forest Service used the public comments received as the basis for writing issue statements which set the parameters for integrating land and resource planning. Results were reported back to the public for review and issue statements were subsequently revised as a result of citizen and other agency comment. Citizen participation is one way to overcome skepticism of the Forest Service resource management performed in the name of the public interest. Different syles of decision-making imply different roles for citizen participation. Elections are decided by voting and legislative votes are influenced by lobbying. In a bureaucracy, incremental decision-making suggests citizen participation in order to map the political terrain, satisficing encourages interest group negotiation, and the synoptic approach wants facts from the publics. To count votes when decisions are being made to satisfice adds irrelevant data that frustrates both decision-maker and public. Comprehensive and useful public comment can be obtained from a structured process that is appropriate to the decision-making style the agency is using. Citizen views are part of the decision, but so also are economics, legal requirements, and resource constraints. Only in elections do a majority of citizens who vote, win. Bureaucratic decisions are not so neat in terms of popular will. But that is inherent in a government run by three branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial, in a complex society.

Diakonia is a Christian, church-based, development agency operating in the greater Durban area. It was conceived and established by the Roman Catholic Archbishop Denis Hurley. A qualitative, conceptual, and historical case study of Diakonia and its founder is undertaken. The case study seeks to reveal the nature and role of Christian non-violent social action for peace and social justice in South Africa between 1976 and 1982 – the first six years of Diakonia’s existence. Some of the questions that Diakonia raises about the role of religion in social change are explored, namely:  What is religion as belief and ideology?  What, if any, is the role of religion in social change?  Does the existence of an organisation such as Diakonia demonstrate that religion can directly and positively impact on non-violent human agency for social justice? An understanding of Diakonia cannot be divorced from its situation. The agency is therefore located within the historical configuration of the South African nation-state. In addition, it is analysed in relation the institutional Church; to opposition politics, both secular and religious; to civil society in relation to the state and social change and; to the place of non-government organisations in civil society. Non-violence debates on peace and social justice form an important part of this analysis. The study affirms that religion can make a significant contribution to social justice. Whatever advances social participation, non-violence, equality, liberty and, a better life experience for more of the population is an improvement on the existing state of affairs in a society. Religion therefore has a legitimate role to play in social change. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This dissertation investigates the approach and process employed to both water delivery and capacity building in two distinct KwaZulu-Natal schemes within Mapumulo and Ngwavuma - the Masibambisane Water Project and the Shemula Community Water Supply Scheme, respectively. The principal concern of the study is whether capacity building may proceed alongside service delivery. The context of the study is established in exploring several theories of rural development, the role of power structures, the state and development agents, as well as the Reconstruction and Development Programme, in relation to rural development. Furthermore, the concept of capacity building is examined in terms of theory and practice in order to conceptually locate the schemes under consideration. The central argument of the dissertation is that effective management of the delivery process, from investigatory work through to implementation and maintenance of the product, enables capacity building to proceed apace. The primary research conducted around the respective schemes offers support to the argument and further highlights the centrality of extensive community consultation and participation within the delivery process. It is further argued that capacity building is not simply a desirable, but essential component of community-based development initiatives, particularly where the role played by community members subsequent to project implementation is critical to the sustainability of the product. In addition, a comprehensive and grounded understanding of the development context and of the needs and aspirations of the beneficiary community are advanced as being indispensable in seeking to successfully deliver a service in a manner that is appropriate and sustainable. Finally, the role of the state, funding institutions and delivery agents within the rural development context may prove highly effective in facilitating fundamental positive changes in the quality of life experienced by rural people. However, it is argued that in order for such development to proceed, such agents need to adopt a self-critical approach and adapt their current policies, practice and perceptions in accordance with the constraints and opportunities of the development context. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

The tourism phenomenon has shifted focus from a purely economic and business development strategy towards sustainable development and community-based tourism. It currently emphasises the importance of responsible tourism development. A growing trend in South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is the promotion for tourists and host destinations to take responsibility for local resources, including cultural and natural resources. As a result, the proliferation of cultural, heritage and natural centred attractions have emerged throughout the province. However, this shift in thinking has not always managed to result in sustainable and successful tourism projects in practice. The academia emphasises the breach that exists in community participation and levels of management in many community-based initiatives. This research project proposes that sustainable tourism development requires a thorough examination of how communities perceive the tourism phenomenon and how they would like to see their own cultural identity represented to tourists. The case study of the Van Reenen community was interspersed with visual research methods in order to elicit a purer response from the local community. It questions what influences people’s perceptions of their collective and individual social identities. This research used conventional interview methods combined with two visual methodologies, namely auto-driven elicitation and photo elicitation. The former removes the researcher from the image-making process and involves the use of photographs or visual art produced by the research subjects in response to a specific question. The latter method is based on the idea of placing a photograph into a research interview and structuring questions around it. The theoretical framework of this study considers cultural self-representation as a tool to enhance community participation which can result in more sustainable and authentic experiences for both the tourists as well as the host community. Referring to the gap which exists in sustainable tourism development, this method can be very productive to increase community tourism knowledge development and participation. The results of this research will enable the local community to produce marketing literature; enable the N3 Toll Concession (Pty) Ltd (the project sponsor) to enhance community-based tourism (CBT) in the area, and inform future projects. The participant data reveals that this particular rural community is substantially influenced by their most immediate surroundings. It can therefore be assumed that the community has a perception which values that their current cultural and natural heritage can be utilised as vehicles for tourism development. The case study identifies its own limitations in not eliciting enough useful data from participant self-analysis. The visual methods used in this study provide tourism development projects with a tool to increase community commitment through real involvement as well as constructions of authentically unique products for the tourists. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.