A lack of historical perspective sustained the widespread view that participatory initiatives in Brazil represented a marked rupture from traditional forms of political engagement to radically new democratic practices. This view overlooks both incremental steps towards broader political participation taking place throughout the 20th century and setbacks restricting participation in the 1980s. This dissertation offers a historical account of the emergence of participatory democracy in Brazil that challenges this dominant view and calls attention to the importance of structural factors and national-level political-institutional contexts. Three case studies of municipal administrations in the late-1970s and early-1980s shine light on the impact of structural factors in the emergence, design, and outcome of participatory initiatives, and the contrast of these precursory experiences with the internationally known 1990s participatory models shows how participatory ideals and practices responded to the changing institutional context of the 1980s. This dissertation puts forward three central arguments. First, research should not treat citizen participation as a normative imperative but instead examine how it emerges through social and political struggles fueled by structural inequalities. Second, it is unfounded to assume that citizen participation will lead to profound transformations of national-level institutions, but it is equally erroneous to suppose that citizen participation is always intended to strengthen representative institutions; the long-term impact of direct citizen participation is an empirical rather than analytical or normative question. Third, a key challenge of participatory democracy today is to free itself from the inflated expectations imposed on it by its own enthusiastic supporters.

This thesis describes the sections in the Resource Management Act 1991 of particular relevance for nga Iwi Maori and assesses how well these facilitate involvement for Maori in the management of New Zealand�s resources. The method of assessment used is one of comparison between the schemes and philosophies of 1991 Act, and the active involvement of Maori in decision-making for their resources which is requires by Article ii of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). Part i describes the Maori world view of the environment and outlines the Treaty of Waitangi and its relevance to resource management law. Part ii describes the purpose and principles contained in sections 5, 6(e), 7(a), and 8 of the 1991 Act. Chapter Three provides an overview of the relationship between the purpose and principles. Chapter Four discusses the purpose in section 5 and proclaims that the inclusion of sustainability as a purpose in resource management legislation is advantageous in terms of the indirect furtherance of Maori conservation aspirations for the enviroment. It also describes how the cultural wellbeing of Maori has been interpreted to be an express part of the purpose of the Act. Chapter Five provides an analysis of section 6(e) which makes the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their taonga a matter of national importance under the Act. Chapter Six describes section 7(a) and kaitiakitanga which must be given particular regard under the Act. Chapter Seven discusses section 8 and the content and meaning of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Part ii concludes that while the facilitation of Maori involvement in the management and protection of natural and physical resources is improved under this Act, these sections are an insufficient safeguard for Maori interests. Part iii assesses the other sections in the Act which have a bearing on Maori involvement in resource management processes. Chapter Eight explores the planning system. Chapter Nine describes the resource consent processes in the 1991 Act. Chapter Ten comments on various procedural provisions which introduce tikanga Maori into the Act, and Chapter Eleven is devoted to exploring the sections in the Act which in the writer�s opinion provide the most potential for recognition of rangatiratanga in a limited form. This Part proclaims that the emphasis in the Act is very much on consultation with nga Iwi Maori as an effective means for their involement in resource management. It is submitted that this is not the active participation in decision-making that Maori seek and which is guaranteed under Article ii of the Treaty of Waitangi. Chapter Twelve acknowledges that involvement of nga Iwi Maori in processes under the 1991 Act will rely to some extent on the content of policy statements and plans produced by the local authorities. An analysis of the Proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement is undertaken to explore how the concerns of Kai Tahu have been incorporated into the statement. Chapter Thirteen ends by concluding that while the 1991 Act does provide for increased Maori involvement in resource management processes in New Zealand it does not facilitate the decision-making role guaranteed by Article ii of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Resource Management Act (hereafter �the RM Act�) has significantly changed the statutory framework for natural resource management in New Zealand. It is the result of a three year process of law reform, the largest law reform exercise ever undertaken in this country (M. F. E., 1992). It consolidates into one statute most of the laws that regulate the use of New Zealand�s natural and physical resources. The purpose of the RM Act is the promotion of �the sustainable management of natural and physical resources�. The focus of this Project is the introduction into the RM Act of a number of positive obligations dealing with Maori interests, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, consultation, and iwi management plans. The RM Act contains provisions designed to, amongst other things, safeguard Maori heritage interests, make consultation between consent agencies and tangata whenua mandatory in the preparation of local authority plans and policy statements, provide for the delegation of authority to iwi, and to instruct decision makers to take the principles of the Treaty into account when exercising functions and duties under the act. These provisions provide new opportunities for a distinctive Maori dimension to be incorporated into resource management decision making practice. The ability is present within the RM Act to remove some of the barriers that have prevented Maori from participating in decisions on the management of resources. The interest of tangata whenua in natural resource management are now a part of the statutory framework. This has the effect of increasing the interaction, consultation and accountability of iwi and local government when natural resources are managed. The realization of the potential of these iwi provisions in the RM Act will require decision makers and local iwi to develop a working relationship by exploring models of consultation and co-management. For the relationship to be effective, it will need to be based on mutual tolerance and cooperation. The rights and duties in the relationship are complementary and rest with both parties. Long-term sucess will require a commitment from both local authorities and tangata whenua to work together in good faith and with clarity of purpose to develop kaupapa (plan, strategy) for the present and future management of natural resources.

This thesis looks at the potential for using tourism as a poverty alleviation strategy in the context of Vietnam and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). The theoretical basis for this research stems for the growing recognition within development rhetoric of the place of tourism as a key industry in many developing nations, and the formation of a Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) approach. The fieldwork section of this thesis looks at the barriers and opportunities for those in the poorer communities of Lang Co, a small town on the cental east coast of Vietnam, to supply the burgeoning tourism industry with locally produced products that are compatible with their current livelihood strategies. Results show that there are many opportunities for the poor to benefit from the rapidly growing tourism industry in Vietnam and the region. There is a strong recognition of tourism in national and regional development strategies, there is a rich cultural, environmental and social context driving the tourism industry and there are several initiatives taking place, such as the Vietnamese National Tourism Law, which include many elements of pro-poor tourism principles. However, this thesis has found many barriers also prevent poorer people from benefiting from tourism. In the case of Lang Co, the poor were often limited in their ability to participate in the industry by debt and lack of access to credit, lack of education and training opportunities, a declining natural resource base and by a lack of awareness and participation in the planning of the tourism industry. More widely, the tourism industry is centrally driven and focused on high growth and large infrastructure type developments which in some cases conflict with the principles of PPT and the ability of people at the ground level to participate. This research highlights the complexity of attempting to use tourism as a poverty reduction strategy given the wide range of stakeholders involved and various levels involved the planning and implementation of the tourism industry. The potential applicability of a concept of pro-poor tourism in a rapidly changing context such as Vietnam is contingent of the ability of the poor to have influence on an industry which is having an increasing effect on their lives and livelihoods.

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Includes bibliographical references (18 leaves). / 2 v. : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Examines the factors that predict attendence to mammography screening by comparing various groups of attenders and non-attenders. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 1999

The media has always gone through changes, starting from the era of the Gutenberg printing press several centuries ago, to the introduction of radio and television in the last 100 years. In the last two decades, Internet and digital technologies have rapidly transformed the media and reshaped how news is gathered and disseminated, and re-defined audiences and their role in the media. Before the Internet, news dissemination was scheduled and periodic, for example the 6pm television bulletin or weekly newspaper. Today news is now global and published in 24/7 round the clock news cycles. At this time, there were clear demarcations between radio, television and newspapers, which were all separate entities. These demarcations have largely fallen away as all media have migrated online to publish on the same platform, using the same elements such as text, audio and video. Increasingly, television is migrating online to the degree that forecasts predict that online television will eclipse traditional TV as we now know it, just as much as online newspapers have eclipsed traditional newspapers. This debate is widely contested In pre-Internet days, the media had distinct demarcations between the media owners, news gatherers (and production people), like journalists, and the audience. These demarcations are blurring as audiences increasingly participate in the media resulting in the emergence of a new breed of journalists; the citizen journalist. This is the most popular term used to describe these new journalists. The dynamic nature of the online platform and functionalities like Web 2.0 made it possible for anyone to publish themselves online, on a blog, on social networking sites or to set up their own website, at very little or no cost. This has spurred a lot of creativity, and the wider public has created vast amounts of content such as video, audio and text and submitted or published them online. Consequently, content creation is no longer the preserve and domain of the media and journalists; the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and the availability of other enabling technologies: inexpensive digital technologies like video cameras, digital cameras and recorders means that anyone with access can now create content and disseminate it. Debates in many parts of the world have suggested that these abilities are catalysts that could spur the public into contributing news and video content of breaking news to the media and help keep the 24/7 round the clock news cycle current. After all, some online social networking sites have already demonstrated that citizens possess the skills to produce and publish video content. At a time when the media is facing financial pressure due to reduced advertising revenues, caused in part by the economic crisis and by the shift to the online platform, there are suggestions that citizens could help newsroom budgets by contributing material. It is against this background of rapid online migration by the media, and the emergence of this new breed of news gatherers, that this research on the Open Newsroom is set. The research topic is not new; a body of research about online migration of the media and the new news ecosystem exists in many other countries. In New Zealand however, this is still an emerging area of for research. This research monitored news bulletins on New Zealand’s two main television news channels, 3 News on TV3 and One News on Television New Zealand for 12 months from early 2008 to late 2009. The idea was to gauge and analyse the amount of content submitted by citizen journalists. The research also looked at a case study which illustrated the potential dangers of using news content submitted by citizen journalists. The research sought the professional opinions of a wide range of decision makers and influential people from the New Zealand media such as editors, journalists and publishers and those involved in the training of journalists in New Zealand. Using a Mini-DV video camera and a digital audio recorder, the researcher filmed and recorded interviewees and edited video clips of the interviews which were then published in the media gallery on the website www.theopennewsroom.com. The interviews sought to find out and discuss the online migration by the media, the new news ecosystem, the public’s participation in the media and the benefits and disadvantages of citizen journalism. To put the research into perspective, the website also carries some research articles and literature reviews on the media. The research findings from the interviews with New Zealand media professionals who participated in the study match trends happening in many countries. While most value the potential benefits of citizen journalists in the news process, some strongly expressed a great deal of skepticism and suspicion regarding news contribution from nontraditional journalism sources. In general, the research offered a series of insights into modern media rather than clear-cut answers

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 497-516).

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abstract: This research examines the use of innovative mechanisms for encouragement of citizen participation in the governance, policy, and decision making processes using case studies of Washington, DC, the United States and Seoul, South Korea for comparison. The research illustrates ways of encouraging development of citizen participation using innovative mechanisms through comparative study. This research used a comparative case study of the two cities which focuses on how the two governments apply ICTs and foster citizen participation, what similarities and differences there are between the two city governments' performance and practices, and what may cause these similarities and differences. For the research, websites and citizen participation practices of Washington, DC and Seoul using innovative technologies - Citizen Summit and Seoul Oasis - are reviewed and compared using the categories of general capacity, actor, legal aspect, management, and evaluation. As capitals of the United States and South Korea, Washington, DC and Seoul lead the encouragement of citizen participation, and the two cities' specific practices are recognized as exemplary. The findings describe encouragement of citizen participation using innovative technologies in governance, policy, and decision making processes of Washington, DC and Seoul as well as similarities and differences. Both cities commonly use Government 2.0. Through Government 2.0, citizens can participate and influence the results and effects of policy. Also, governments secure transparency, legitimacy, and efficiency through direct communication with citizens. The study illustrates how citizen participation using innovative technologies can support civic engagement in local government. Strong leadership of the mayor is a common driving force of the two cities in initiating and implementing the Citizen Summit and Seoul Oasis. Different contexts of the two cities influence ways to initiate and utilize innovative technologies. Washington, DC implemented a practice combining public meeting and small group discussion using innovative technologies. On the other hand, Seoul initiated a new citizen participation practice based on the Internet. The results of the research show that innovative mechanisms allow adopting new government-citizen relationships in both cities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2011