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This study evaluates the fitness of political parties for the democratisation of the European Union. At the national level political parties have successfully functioned as transmission belts between voter’s preferences and political outcomes in representative democracies. Some scholars have therefore argued that an increase in party competition at the European level could make the European Union more democratic; other scholars claim that European political parties are too weak to fend off public pressure, which would arise from an increase in political competition. Since cohesive voting behaviour of political parties is the basic prerequisite for a functioning representative democracy, this study analyses how the transnational party groups of the European Parliament are able to generate voting cohesion. Drawing on rational institutionalist theories of political parties and theories of collective action, the study outlines two competitive scenarios for explaining party group voting cohesion in the European Parliament. In the party group disciplinary scenario, the party group leadership is able to enforce voting cohesion through its disciplinary powers. The national party discipline scenario predicts that party group voting cohesion is dependent on the voluntary cooperation of the national party delegations. The empirical analysis of party disciplinary effects in the European Parliament corroborates the party group disciplinary scenario. The party group leadership of the two largest party groups is able to discipline it is members for disloyal voting behaviour. The findings do, however, also show that the party group leadership is not able to sanction national party delegations if they fail to toe the party group line. The study concludes that it will be difficult for the party groups to maintain voting cohesion, if public pressure on Members of the European Parliament increases through a more open form of political contestation at the European level. The responsibility for a successful democratisation of the European Union through party competition, therefore, lies in the hands of national political parties.

<p>A major challenge facing the South African wine industry has been the economic repositioning of the sector, which since 1994 has moved away from a highly regulated domestic environment. The increasing integration of the local industry into international markets and global value chains has been accompanied by the industry&rsquo / s deregulation and restructuring. From the production focus&nbsp / on a limited range of low value-added varieties produced for domestic tastes and to meet monopoly quotas, producers have shifted to planting noble cultivars suited to various international&nbsp / tastes. Despite the lack of growth in traditional Western European markets, new world producers like South Africa have successfully competed and secured new market share. The Western Cape&nbsp / ine industry is ranked as the second-largest contributor to the Western Cape economy. The thesis explores the effect of cluster governance and the coordination of strategic collective&nbsp / actions on the Western Cape wine cluster&rsquo / s competitiveness. The data has been gathered through a combination of documentary analysis and interviews conducted with the leadership and/or&nbsp / management of various industry organisations. A qualitative approach has been adopted in the data analysis and interpretation of the findings, with information gathered via a combination of&nbsp / documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with key representatives of established industry bodies and key role-players in the Western Cape wine cluster. </p>

Conflict between self-interest and group-interest constitute a challenge for the individuals and the groups. The conflict should be resolved for a healthy maintenance of collective action / otherwise the free-rider problem is a likely result. This thesis is about the individual motivation loss -psychological aspect of free-rider problem- and its relation to group attachment &ndash / patriotism-. Free-riding is proposed to be related to patriotism / and guilt, shame and pride emotions. Experimental manipulations include an announcement and confederate condition. Patriotism is analysed within the framework of constructive and blind patriotism. An experiment &ndash / public goods game- measuring free-riding behaviour was conducted for the study. A total of 192 participants took a part in the experiment (98 females and 85 males). Free-riding was found to be negatively related to constructive patriotism / but no significant relation to blind patriotism was found. A look at the concept and development of &ldquo / individual&rdquo / and social capital theory is provided in order to help conceptualise the problem. Results and possible implications of the empirical findings are discussed. Implications are also discussed in a politically and culturally relevant way to Turkey.

Mancur Olson states that individual, after reasonable evaluation, takes the action of free ride. The main factor of free ride lies in the goal of collective actions --- collective goods. And the non-excludability in collective goods enables consumers to benefit without sharing costs. Based on the framework of Olson¡¦s and Russell Hardin¡¦s theories of reaching the goal of collective actions, along with the theory of political entrepreneurs, this study surveys the collective actions of Tzu-Chi Foundation, in hope of depicting its factors and strategies for overcoming difficulties in collective actions. This study gives an analysis of Tzu-Chi Foundation in terms of collective actions, concluding that its selective incentives are Master Cheng Yen¡¦s unconditional love, cause & effect cycle and pursuit of pop culture. Successful marketing and computerized fund-raise tactics make people more willing to invest time and money in promoting Tzu-Chi Foundation. Few entrepreneurs are willing to bear the costs even without cooperation from other members, as they are satisfied with the collective goods provided by the group, just as Hardin states. Furthermore, one of the solutions to collective actions of free ride is to rely on organization operating by political entrepreneurs. Master Cheng Yen successfully plays the role of entrepreneur leader, adopting strategies like keeping equidistance from each political party, developing constant sense of mission within the organization, exercising mild leadership and management strategies, consolidating the Foundation with religious prospect, recruiting elites and making good use of talents...etc. Multiplied by her female leader impact on Taiwan, these factors combined are the key points of Tzu-Chi Foundation¡¦s success.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to conceptualize the idea of a “digital civil society”. During the latest half-century, technological developments in the areas of information and communication have been increasingly ingrained in everyday-life of many people. Not surprisingly, politics have also been affected by these developments. The concept of a global civil society is getting increasingly fashionable, and it is my belief that this global civil society in many ways is related to the technological developments manifested in the digital revolution. From this point of departure, it is my intent to depict the idea of a digital civil society within a conceptual framework substantiated by a number of cases of collective action where the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has been instrumental. By doing this, my intention is to see if, and how, the ICT revolution is altering civil society organization, mobilization, advocacy and action.</p><p>The essay has five parts. First, there is a brief introduction of the subject where the main research issues are put forward. The second part describes the methodology and defines the central concepts; global civil society, globalization and the ICT revolution. This framework, elaborated more thoroughly in part three, will serve as both goal and means for the research as it constitutes the research method as well as a potential basis for further research in the area. In part four, a number of cases of civil society collective action are portrayed and analyzed in connection to the conceptual framework. In some of these cases, ICT is used as a way to support and supplement more traditional “offline” collective action whereas in the second part of this chapter, cases of more pure “online action” are described. With the features and characteristics of these case studies in mind, the aim is to identify tendencies supporting the idea of a possibly emerging digital civil society. In the last chapter, there is a discussion concerning the potential characteristics and outcomes of such a digital civil society. I also present a model describing the logic of the conceptual framework and the processes and concepts which are central to this study.</p><p>My conclusions are meant to create an environment conducive to further research on the subjects I have studied. First, it appears as if the logic of “networking” as power structure within civil society is favourable for organization, participation, communication, mobilization and action. As such, the networked, dynamic and horizontal character of the Internet seems to influence the organizational character of many civil society entities. Secondly, the Internet’s ability to allow for many-to-many communication seems to contribute to a broader and more inclusive way to debate issues of all kinds. Thirdly, ICT in some ways appears to “individualize” collective action, a development possibly related to the individual and isolating character of Internet use itself and the relative anonymity which can be enjoyed online. In sum, these findings suggest that the idea of a digital civil society broadens the base of collective action and, to some extent, reduces the costs of participation.</p>

<p>A major challenge facing the South African wine industry has been the economic repositioning of the sector, which since 1994 has moved away from a highly regulated domestic environment. The increasing integration of the local industry into international markets and global value chains has been accompanied by the industry&rsquo / s deregulation and restructuring. From the production focus&nbsp / on a limited range of low value-added varieties produced for domestic tastes and to meet monopoly quotas, producers have shifted to planting noble cultivars suited to various international&nbsp / tastes. Despite the lack of growth in traditional Western European markets, new world producers like South Africa have successfully competed and secured new market share. The Western Cape&nbsp / ine industry is ranked as the second-largest contributor to the Western Cape economy. The thesis explores the effect of cluster governance and the coordination of strategic collective&nbsp / actions on the Western Cape wine cluster&rsquo / s competitiveness. The data has been gathered through a combination of documentary analysis and interviews conducted with the leadership and/or&nbsp / management of various industry organisations. A qualitative approach has been adopted in the data analysis and interpretation of the findings, with information gathered via a combination of&nbsp / documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with key representatives of established industry bodies and key role-players in the Western Cape wine cluster. </p>

<p><br /> A number of programmes have been implemented in the field of development communication, with the specific aim of promoting social change among communities, and a series of studies have illustrated the positive effects of entertainment-education (EE) interventions on individuals variety of fields, including health, agriculture and sustainable development, and make use of a different range of media such as radio, television and theatre. In line with the theory and conceptual framework of the Integrated Model of Communication for Social Change (IMCSC), this research is intended to explore, empirically, how development communication programmes can foster collective action amongst community members. The research is based on a case study of Sesotho Media &amp / Development (SM&amp / D), a nongovernmental organisation that has been operating in Lesotho, using media to promote social transformation and individual change. For the past 10 years, SM&amp / D has been working in Lesotho using a methodology based on facilitated documentary screening with a specific focus on HIV/Aids-related issues, combined with capacity building programmes aimed at training facilitators among support groups, youth groups and prison inmates around the country. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods of enquiry were employed throughout the research. Common research tools used include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observation. In addition, a variety of secondary sources of information, including evaluation reports, funding proposals and journal articles were reviewed. The results of the study reveal that development communication initiatives are able to foster collective forms of action by increasing the level of&nbsp / efficacy&nbsp / amongst the audience. Conclusions highlight that participatory development communication with an educational aim allows people to identify problems and to strategise and mobilise resources for collective action. </p> <p>&nbsp / </p>

<p align="left">A number of programmes have been implemented in the field of development communication, with the specific aim of promoting social change among communities, and a series of studies have illustrated the positive effects of entertainment-education (EE) interventions on individuals variety of fields, including health, agriculture and sustainable development, and make use of a different range of media such as radio, television and theatre. <font face="Times New Roman">In line with the theory and conceptual framework of the </font><i><font face="Times New Roman">Integrated Model of Communication </font><i><font face="Times New Roman">for Social Change </font><font face="Times New Roman">(IMCSC), this research is intended to explore, empirically, how </font>development communication programmes can foster collective action amongst community members. The research is based on a case study of Sesotho Media &amp / Development (SM&amp / D), a nongovernmental organisation that has been operating in Lesotho, using media to promote social transformation and individual change. For the past 10 years, SM&amp / D has been working in Lesotho using a methodology based on facilitated documentary screening with a specific focus on HIV/Aids-related issues, combined with capacity building programmes aimed at training facilitators among support groups, youth groups and prison inmates around the country. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods of enquiry were employed throughout the research. Common research tools used include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observation. In addition, a variety of secondary sources of information, including evaluation reports, funding proposals and journal articles were reviewed. The results of the study reveal that development communication initiatives are able to foster collective forms of action by increasing the level of <i><font face="Times New Roman">efficacy </font><font face="Times New Roman">amongst the audience. </font>Conclusions highlight that participatory development communication with an educational aim allows people to identify problems and to strategise and mobilise resources for collective action.</i></i></i></p>

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal