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No description available.

In the U.S. Congress, the authorization-appropriation process is the formal model that establishes the separation between legislative and funding bills. Additionally, it determines the jurisdiction of the congressional committees that oversee those bills. However, a number of scholars have concluded that the authorization-appropriations dichotomy is substantially different in practice than the model suggests. Research in this area has shown that broad changes over the years have altered the roles of the authorization and appropriations committees. At different times, members of the appropriations committees have been regarded as guardians of the federal treasury, advocates of federal funds for their congressional district, or partisans in support of a political agenda (Adler, 2000). In addition to these roles, appropriators evidently have become more active in policymaking -- a role that traditionally has been the domain of the authorizing committees. To further explore the policymaking role of appropriators, this dissertation used a case study approach that traced appropriators' interactions with the executive branch, focusing on a federal agency and its links with the appropriations subcommittees that have oversight and funding jurisdiction over the agency's programs. Specifically, the study analyzed the relationship between the House and Senate Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L/ HHS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) during the period from 1989-2009. Through an examination of critical incidents and contextual elements, this dissertation examined whether the Subcommittees on L/HHS increasingly have become significant players in shaping AHRQ's policies and direction. In addition, the dissertation examined the impacts on AHRQ and possible reciprocal [Agency] influences on the Subcommittees. This research has the potential to build on existing works related to the dynamics of the authorization-appropriations process. Moreover, this research could provide a conceptual framework for analyzing the roles that the other congressional appropriations subcommittees play in relation to the executive branch agencies under their jurisdictions. / Ph. D.

Over the past fifteen years, concern has developed for the condition of the American economy. As a result, business and education leaders in the United States have acknowledged the interdependence between education and the economy. The keys to linking education and the economy are workforce preparation and performance. One major outcome of the concern about the economy and workforce preparation has been the development of industry-based standards, including certification of occupational skills and competencies. The identification, by those who developed the standards, of their perceptions of their adoption might enable business and industry and the labor and education communities to better utilize skill standards. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the perceptions of national industry-based skill standard technical committee members regarding the adoption of skill standards in vocational education programs at the secondary and post-secondary education levels. The study addressed four main research objectives using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. The objectives related to technical committee members' demographic and occupational characteristics and perceptions of the process and results of the standard development project; their perceptions regarding vocational educators IJse of skill standards in workforce preparation programs; their perceptions regarding factors which would enhance or inhibit the adoption of the standards by vocational educators; and their perceptions of how skill standards will impact the effectiveness of vocational education. Skill standards technical committee members' perceptions of their work on the committees and their perceptions of adoption of the standards by vocational educators provide valuable information to assess the skill standard projects and determine whether the work of the committees has been focused on the goals set by the Perkins Act, the U. S. Departments of Education and labor, and the National Skill Standards Board. From the results of this study findings related to the use of the standards by vocational educators, enhancers, inhibitors, and impacts of the standards are reported. Themes associated with international competitiveness, the standard development process, and committee representativeness were also included. Perceptions of technical committee members provide an opportunity to determine how the standards will be adopted by vocational educators as well as the strengths and shortcomings of the committees and possible future directions. Thus, this study provides implications for skill standards committees as well as recommendations for further research. / Ph. D.

Competence committees are groups of educators that monitor the progress of medical trainees and decide when they should be promoted to the next stage of training. They represent an important part of modern-day competency-based medical education programs, yet relatively little is known about their implementation and decision-making practices. This thesis seeks to fill a critical gap in the literature by generating empirical evidence with respect to competence committee implementation and decision-making practices across multiple programs. The first data chapter uses a multi-method approach to examine competence committee implementation practices at a Canadian institution over a three-year period. The second and third chapters examine how individuals and groups make promotion decisions, respectively. These chapters also consider the role of non-traditional data sources, such as anecdotal evidence, in competence committees’ decision-making processes. The final data chapter considers the role of social influences and power and examines how factors such as members’ position on the committee, gender, and race/ethnicity influence their contributions to the committee. This thesis provides insight into some of the challenges that exist with respect to competence committee implementation and offers potential solutions based on best practices across multiple programs. It also highlights factors that can influence competence committee decision making and discusses ways that their decision-making processes can be optimized. Broader implications of this thesis, including the role of groups in solving complex problems and the importance of diversity (both in terms of demographics and functional specialization) in ensuring good decision-making outcomes, are also discussed. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Competence committees are groups of experienced health professionals and educators whose job is to determine whether physician learners (i.e., residents) are ready to progress to the next stage of training and responsibility. These committees are relatively new, and as a result, we do not know very much about how they make decisions. Given the importance of competence committees in ensuring that physicians are able to provide high-quality and safe patient care, the purpose of this thesis was to examine competence committee implementation and decision-making practices at a Canadian academic centre. This took place in two parts. First, we studied competence committees over a three-year period using surveys, interviews, and observations. This helped us understand some of their benefits and challenges. Next, we conducted a series of experiments to understand how competence committee members make decisions both individually and as part of a group. These experiments also helped us understand how competence committees make sense of different types of data, such as prior knowledge about a resident or their assessors. Finally, we examined how various aspects of members’ social identities, such as their position on the committee, their gender, and their race/ethnicity, influence their contributions to the committee. Collectively, the findings of this thesis help to advance the scientific literature in the areas of medical education and group decision making. They can also be used to optimize competence committee operations, which can in turn positively impact patients, healthcare, and society.

Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de estudar os órgãos técnicos e consultivos da sociedade anônima, em sua configuração mais contemporânea, segundo a qual são mais conhecidos como os comitês da sociedade anônima. Para isso, serão avaliados os movimentos internacionais que têm exercido influência na criação desses órgãos nas companhias brasileiras. Esses movimentos estão intrinsecamente ligados às forças de convergência dos padrões internacionais de governança corporativa, tema que também é apreciado no decurso do trabalho. Após, a dissertação cuidará de avaliar as medidas externadas em âmbito nacional, que demonstram a tendência à adaptação dos referidos padrões internacionais de governança corporativa, com recomendações, e também algumas determinações, para que as companhias criem os comitês nas suas estruturas. Ao final, serão avaliadas algumas consequências jurídicas da implantação dos comitês no Brasil, conforme a concepção moderna que se tem para esses órgãos. / This master\'s degree dissertation aims to discuss the technical and advisory bodies of corporations, contemporarily known as corporate committees. In order to achieve its goals, the study will take into consideration the international trends that have influenced the creation of these bodies in Brazilian companies. These trends are closely linked to an international effort towards the convergence of corporate governance standards, which will also be analyzed in this dissertation. Furthermore, this dissertation will explore the measures taken to substantiate and adapt these international standards of corporate governance to a domestic setting. Such measures include both recommendations and mandatory provisions to create corporate committees. Finally, this dissertation will analyze certain legal consequences of the deployment committees in Brazil, taking into consideration the modern understanding of these bodies.

<p>In South Africa, governance structures in the form of clinic committees, hospital boards and district health councils are intended to provide expression to the principle of community participation at a local and district level. They are meant to act as a link between communities and health services and to provide a conduit for the health needs and aspirations of the community to be represented at various local, districts, provincial and national levels. This study aimed to assess the functioning of health governance structures in the form of clinic committees. Specifically, the study sought to ascertain the number of clinic committees associated with public health facilities in three provinces in South Africa namely the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu Natal and to identify the factors that are perceived by clinic committee members to either facilitate or impede the effective functioning of clinic committees.</p>

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Neighbourhood councils are sub-municipal committees which operate within a geographically delimited area of a municipality or a municipal department. Their activities cover a single established policy area such as social services (single functioned committee) or several areas such as education, leisure, and social issues (multi-functioned committee). The thesis includes a comparative analysis of the origin, occurance, and performance of multi-functioned neighbourhood councils in Finland, Norway, and Sweden during the period 1968-1986. In the case of Denmark, the debate is analyzed and the question posed as to why neighbourhood councils were not introduced during this period.It is the interplay between a number of factors which determines how and why neighbourhood councils occur and in some cases endure and are developed further. The countries' traditions and characteristics - such as the size of the public sector and local government's share of it, size of municipalities, and political culture - are important in this context. Increased democracy and greater effectivity were the main aims of the reform and these have been achieved to some extent. The occurance of neighbourhood councils also means that participation, recruitment, articulation of demands, and communication between elector and elected are changed and somewhat improved. Where neighbourhood councils exist, greater consideration is given to geographical (rather than departmental) principles in the distribution and redistribution of services and welfare. Neighbourhood councils are clearly a source of further variation between and within the Nordic countries. It is, however, too early to judge whether the variation within countries will develop into inappropriate deviations from the principal of equal services for all or if they, on the contrary, are indications of greater future responsiveness. / digitalisering@umu