Do citizen volunteers, sitting on legislatively created local historic architectural review boards, represent a part of the American governance tradition? This study examines the relationships between public board members, citizen interests, career public administrators and the elected appointing authorities. This research involved a national survey of over 1200 members of boards of historic architectural review. In addition, four town or county case studies are presented in detail. These case studies are Jonesborough, Tennessee; Lynchburg, Virginia; Cobb County, Georgia; and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. These case studies are examined through an ecological perspective. Within the context of this study, boards of historic architectural review are very much a part of the urban/town/county governance model. They are highly professional in their composition, highly egalitarian, and deeply committed to furthering highly individualistic notions of community. Although some national community studies suggest a malaise in communitarian ideals, this research suggests just the contrary. The failure of citizenship falls more upon the legitimacy accorded to citizens as public administrators rather than an apathy toward manifesting that citizenship. Historic preservation itself is in a national state of disarray. Its ethos is poorly defined, and the national wellspring for preservation impetus to the local community is strained. Most communities find themselves struggling to fit a nostalgic, sentimental vision of the preserved environment into a well articulated economic model. This research suggests that local historic architectural review boards need to draw upon themselves to create better opportunities through self-study and formal certification programs. By enhancing their natural reserves of professionalism and commitment, they will advertise what they already do very well: administer in the public interest. By joining with like-minded community-based public boards this new coalition promises a energy and direction for municipal governments. The key is to foster an open environment of dialogue and debate centered on furthering good, responsive government. / Ph. D.

This study of the diffusion and evolution of the 311 innovation in the form of citizen service centers and as a technology cluster has been designed to help identify the catalysts for the spread of government-to-citizen (G2C) technology in local government in order to better position future G2C technology for a more rapid rate of adoption. The 311 non-emergency number was first established in 1996 and had spread to 80 local governments across the United States by 2012. This dissertation examines: what factors contributed to the adoption of 311 in American local governments over 100,000 in population; how did the innovation diffuse and evolve over time; and why did some governments' communications with citizens became more advanced than others? Given the problem of determining causality, a three-part research design was used to examine the topic including a historical narrative, logistic regression model, and case studies from Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The narrative found that the political forces of the federal government, national organizations, and policy entrepreneurs (Karch, 2007) promoted the 311 innovation to solve different problems and that it evolved beyond its original intent. The logistic regression model found that there was a statistically significant relationship between 311 adoption and the variables of higher population, violent crime rate, and the mayor-council form of government. The case studies revealed that mayors played a strong role in establishing citizen service centers in all three cities while 311 adopter Pittsburgh and non-adopter St. Louis seemed to have more in common in their G2C evolution due to severe budget constraints. With little written about the 311 innovation in academic journals, practitioners and scholars will benefit from understanding the catalysts for the diffusion and evolution of the 311 in order to determine ways to increase the rate of adoption for future G2C communication innovations. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This bachelor's thesis is based on a Minor Field Study (MFS) conducted in Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco, April and May 2015. The aim is to study Moroccan journalists' attitudes towards citizen journalism and its impact on the role of the journalist: 1) With what claims do they define citizen journalists and journalists respectively? and 2) In what ways do these claims relate to the impact citizen journalists can be expected to have on the role of the journalist and freedom of expression in Morocco? In the discussion, theories on discourse, professionalism, journalistic ideals, and development journalism are applied. Semi-structured interviews in French were conducted with five journalists working within five different print and online publications. The material was analyzed according to a model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The interviewed journalists give accounts of how they are "condemned to be connected" to the vox populi that citizen journalists constitute. There is a prevalence of professionalism discourse where verification and objectivity are described as what characterizes a journalist. But respondents also emphasize "teamwork", and that "all journalists are citizen journalists", and these themes are interpreted as characteristic of development journalism. Within professional discourse in a development journalism context, the reliability of citizen journalists is downplayed. At the same time, citizen journalists are described as freer than professional journalists. In conclusion, it is considered likely that development journalist discourse sets an obstacle to the liberalizing impact of citizen journalism.

No abstract available / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Administration)

This study examines the role of Ward Committees in facilitating “authentic” public participation, with particular reference to Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. The key question of the study is whether Ward Committees serve as effective mechanisms to promote public participation in the local sphere of government in South Africa. To answer this question, this research project focuses on the composition, functioning and responsibilities of Ward Committees, and how these contribute to effective public participation. This is important because one of the mandates of local government in the post-apartheid era in South Africa is to promote local democracy through the participation of communities. The empirical findings of this research project reveal that Ward Committees are confronted with a multitude of challenges where their functioning tends to be compromised. This has led this research to recommend the improvement of capacity among Ward Committees as a way of enhancing public participation. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Misdaad is deesdae op almal se Iippe. Daar verloop nie 'n dag of die media lewer verslag oor een of ander vorm van misdaad wat plaasgevind het nie. Die vraag is nou wat gedoen kan word om die vlaag van misdaad in Suid-Afrika te stop en lewe en eiendom te beskerm. Feit is dat daar nie slegs 'n enkele stap is wat gedoen kan word om misdaad te voorkom nie. 'n Gesamentlike poging deur die hele gemeenskap is die enigste wyse waarop misdaad voorkom kan word. Proaktiewe polisiering kan aileen slaag indien die gemeenskap kollektief verantwoordelikheid vir misdaad aanvaar en daadwerklik optree om misdaad te voorkom. Die polisie, as aktiewe vennoot in die voorkoming van misdaad, het 'n opvoedingstaak deur die gemeenskap in te lig oor hoe misdaad gepleeg word, wanneer en waar dit gepleeg word en wat gedoen kan word om kwesbaarheid te verminder. 'n Gesindheid van omgee vir mekaar moet dus by die gemeenskap (die passiewe vennoot) gekweek word. Hieruit volg respek vir die lewe en eiendom van 'n ander en dit sal lei tot aktiewe optrede. Presipiterende polisiering deur die gemeenskap is 'n teken van geslaagde opvoeding. Dit word nie net ge"illustreer deur die verharding van die fisiese om9ewing nie, maar ook deur die betrokkenheid van die gemeenskap in die omgewing om dit veilig en aangenaam vir almal te maak. Blywende sukses kan slegs verseker word indien die polisie en die gemeenskap ondersteuning van ander departemente ontvang. Slegs wanneer die gemeenskap totale samewerking van aile belanghebbendes ervaar sal hulle gemotiveerd wees en voortgaan om betrokke te bly. / These days crime is on everybody's lips. Not a day passes without the media reporting on some or other crime which has taken place. The question that arises is what can be done to stop the crime wave in South Africa and protect lives and property. The fact is, there is no one single step that can be taken to prevent crime. A joint effort by the community as a whole is the only way in which crime can be prevente. Proactive policing can be successful only if the community accepts collective responsibility for crime and makes a conscious effort to prevent crime. The police as an active partner in crime prevention should educate the community about how crime is committed, when and where it is committed and what can be done to decrease vulnerability to crime. An attitude of caring for each other must be cultivated in the community (the passive partner). This will result in respect for lives and property of others and will lead to proactive conduct. Precipitating policing by the community is a sign of successful education. This is illustrated not only by the hardening of the physical environment, but also by the community's involvement in ensuring that the environment is a safe and pleasant place for all. Lasting success can only be ensured if the police and the community are supported by other departments. Only when the community has the full co-operation of all parties concerned, will members of the community be motivated to remain involved. / Police Practice / D.Litt. et Phil. (Police Practice)

The most contemporary approach to biodiversity conservation within South Africa is that of community-based initiatives, which seek to combine biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development. As a challenge to the Western, science laden approaches to conservation there is an increasing need for community initiatives to reflect the values of local communities. Values of local communities and the management body, CapeNature, with regards to Driftsands Nature Reserve, Cape Town, were captured and analytically coded through the qualitative methods of interviewing and participant observation in order to develop a grounded theory and model. A discussion of the expressed values suggests that community-based conservation initiatives are doing little to include community values even though there is a large degree of agreement between these and corporate values. As such, it is questioned whether community-based conservation can be practised within an organisation which, due to procedures and protocols, is top-down in its approach. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

Denna studie handlar om hur kommuner med olika förutsättningar arbetar med medborgardeltagande. Studien grundas på antagandet att en mindre kommun med svaga resurser kan få svårigheter i arbetet med medborgardeltagande. Detta antagande utreds i en jämförelse mellan en kommun som arbetar med ett enskilt plankontor och två kommuner av liknande storlek som samarbetar med en gemensam stadsbyggnadsförvaltning. Forskningen har fokuserat på hur planarkitekterna själva upplever att arbetet med medborgardeltagandet har fungerat i deras kommun. För att komplettera planerarnas åsikter behandlas också kommunala dokument i studien. Arbetet är en del av kandidatprogrammet Fysisk Planering och handlar om medborgardeltagande som är en viktig del av den fysiska planeringen. I uppsatsen går det att läsa om de kommuner som har valts ut, deras bakgrund, hur de arbetar med medborgardialoger samt vilka skillnader som finns mellan de två fallen. Då det ena fallet innefattar två kommuner som samarbetar inom planeringsområdet finns det också i uppsatsen utredningar kring hur kommuner kan samverka, hur samarbetet ser ut i det här fallet samt hur en sådan samverkan kan påverka arbetet med medborgardeltagandet. / This study is about how municipalities with different qualifications are working with citizen participation. The study is based on the assumption that a small sized municipality with weak resources may have difficulties in the work of civic participation. This assumption is further investigated with a comparison between a municipality working with an individual planning office and two municipalities of similar size that collaborate with a mutual office for urban management. The research is focusing on how the planners themselves feel that the civic participation has worked in their municipality. Municipal documents are also used in this study next to the planners’ opinions to complete what might be missing. The study is part of the bachelor program Fysisk Planering (Spatial planning) and therefore the study includes civic participation which is a very important part of spatial planning. In the paper you can read about the municipalities that have been selected, their background, how they work with civic participation and what differences there are between the cases. Because of the fact that one of the cases includes two municipalities that cooperate in the planning field there is also a focus in the study on how this cooperation could look like, how it works in this case and at last how a cooperation like this can affect the work of the citizen participation in the municipalities.