M.A. (Sociology) / Prior to 2012, ward committees (WCs) were elected informally and with very little regulation. Ward Councillors were instructed to convene public meetings during which community members were nominated and voting was done by a raise of hands – this dissertation refers to these as “first generation” WCs. Over the last decade this process became problematic as politically motivated ward councillors, were found to manipulate the WC election for their own benefit. In 2011 public revolt ensued on a national level, and as a result it was decided that all municipalities had the option of utilising the IEC to ensure the 2012 election process would be more transparent – these will be referred to here as “second generation” WCs. Two municipalities in Gauteng province opted for this alternative; one of them was the City of Johannesburg (COJ). This dissertation looks at the relationship between a “second generation” WC and a social movement organisation (SMO) in the COJ. Since the late 1990s the South African state has placed a large emphasis on the restructuring of local government, and the creation of WCs was one outcome of this process. Simultaneously there has been a rise in social movements which serve to represent the needs of the poor and marginalised, who have seemingly been ignored by the state’s neoliberal policies. This dissertation focuses on the WC of Ward 8 and the Thembelihle Crisis Committee (TCC) as a SMO, within the context of the Thembelihle informal settlement. The former is an “invited participatory space” which has been created by the state to invite residents to participate. The latter is an “invented participatory space” created from below by the grassroots, through which residents assert their agency as active community members. Many scholars have conceptualised these participatory spaces as separate and distinct. Faranak Miraftab (2004) applied this analysis to understand the South African context, which proved valuable at the time. Subsequently, “invited spaces” were labelled as pseudo-democratic, state controlled, and hence there was the suggestion that they should be abandoned, while “invented spaces” were perceived as more accurately reflecting the views and needs of the poor in South Africa (SA). More recently, scholars such as Luke Sinwell (2012) and Claire Bénit-Gbaffou (forthcoming) have begun to argue that the binary of invited and invented is too simplistic. They have urged that we need to look more closely at the relationship between these two spaces as opposed to setting them apart. Bénit-Gbaffou claims that “invited spaces” remain important and should not be abandoned. However, scholars have not sufficiently investigated the interface of the “invited” and “invented”. By drawing on various sources, including in-depth interviews, non-participant observation, surveys, literature and informal communication, this dissertation attempts to fill this gap in the literature by presenting a concept which I refer to as “contesting space”. The concept will be used to extend beyond the invited/invented binary, and hence more accurately analyse what is taking place at the interface of the two. By analysing where the WC and TCC meet, we begin to see what happens when a powerful SMO inserts itself onto the invited space of a “second generation” WC.

Esta tese visa analisar a constituição, o funcionamento e os limites da Avaliação por Pares (AP) no âmbito do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). A pesquisa operou por dois caminhos distintos: um diacrônico e outro sincrônico. No primeiro, elaborou-se uma reconstrução histórica da AP praticada no CNPq entre 1951 e 2015 contextualizada pelas mudanças institucionais a que passou o órgão durante o citado período. O segundo caminho centrou-se na análise de dois estudos de caso que redundaram na elaboração de perfis dos Bolsistas de Produtividade em Pesquisa de Filosofia e Educação com bolsas vigentes no ano de 2016. Do um ponto de vista teórico, os resultados alcançados foram interpretados segundo as noções de Campo Científico de Pierre Bourdieu e Reconhecimento de Axel Honneth. Quanto à história da AP no CNPq constatou-se uma ligação entre o crescimento na quantidade de bolsas implementadas pelo órgão e uma maior formalização legal e institucional da AP, especialmente a partir da década de 1970. O próprio crescimento da comunidade científica brasileira possibilitou uma transição de procedimentos pessoais e informais de AP para um rígido, formal e impessoal circuito de imposições legais quanto a AP praticada no órgão. Quanto aos dois estudos de caso constatou-se que apesar de todas as restrições formais que atualmente regulam a AP no Conselho, especificidades históricas, geográficas, econômicas e relativas a gênero acabam por influir nos resultados dos processos de AP. Com base na pesquisa realizada, verificou-se a necessidade em se instituir uma maior transparência nos processos de AP no órgão de modo a se coadunar um aperfeiçoamento da própria prática da AP assim como um controle social da destinação dos recursos públicos mais democrático e acessível a sociedade civil. / This theses analyzes the institution, the mechanisms and the limits of peer review (PR) in Brazil’s National Council for Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq). Research was conducted at both diachronic and synchronic levels. At the diachronic level, I accomplished a historical reconstruction of PR practices in CNPq from 1975 to 2015, linking this reconstruction to the institutional changes undergone by the Council during this period. At the synchronic level, I focused on two case studies, which allowed me to outline the profile of researchers in Philosophy and Education with productivity grants (in 2016). Research findings were interpreted with the help of Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of Scientific Field and Axel Honneth’s idea of Recognition. As for the history of PR in CNPq, research results established a correlation between the increase in grants funded and the legal and institutional formalization of PR, particularly since the 1970s. The growth of the Brazilian scientific community entailed a shift from informal and personal PR procedures to the rigid, formal and impersonal mediating rules now in place. As for the two case studies, I found that despite all formal restrictions now governing the Council’s PR practices, historical, geographical, economical and gender based specificities still have an influence on the outcome of PR processes. Research results indicate the need for a greater transparency regarding the Council’s PR processes in order to improve practices and expand social control over allocation of public resources.

This study was to investigate the role played by traditional authorities in IDP policy implementation in local municipal councils in the Vhembe District located in Limpopo Province. The specific objectives of this study were to characterise the traditional authority serving in the municipal councils. Traditional leaders serving in municipal councils, the district mayor, local municipal mayors, managers, IDP managers, district and provincial representatives of the House of Traditional Leaders in Limpopo Province were interviewed using semi-structured sets of questionnaire to obtain the required data. The data were entered into an Excel Spreadsheet and subsequently exported into an SPSS for analysis. The results of the study revealed that traditional authority forms an integral part of IDP policy implementation in Vhembe District Municipality. The results further revealed that perceptions of stakeholders vary as to the role played by traditional authorities in the IDP policy implementation process. The results revealed that some traditional leaders agreed that participation in IDP policy implementation (45.5%), involvement (45.2%), the submission of views (41.2%); ward committee meetings (42.8), council IDP policy (90.0%), role (50.0%), submission of proposals (38.7%) and consultation by the municipality (93.2%), were all satisfactorily taking place in the municipality. Furthermore, the results indicated that traditional leaders serving in municipal councils were members of the ruling party (40.0%), aged on average 55.26 years, distributed between 35 and 75 years, and were from extended households of 11.3 members per household, distributed between 3 and 25 members ¯ with an average of 2.4 spouses per traditional leader, distributed between one and five spouses. The majority had attained secondary level education (40.0%), tertiary level education (33.3%) and primary education (26.7%). They showed high experience ranging between 2 to 35 years, and 17.46 years on average as traditional leaders – with a further 7.66 years of experience in the municipal council. The majority make their livelihood by way of compensation from council (73.3%), wages from government as traditional leaders (93.3%), or employment (6.7%). All the traditional leaders own vehicles. The study concluded that the demographic and endowment characteristics of these traditional leaders influence their role in municipal IDP policy implementation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

Doctor Educationis / This thesis investigated the leadership approach associated with sustained improved academic performance of principals heading National Strategy for Learner Attainment (NSLA) schools. The research problem addressed the leadership practices and personality traits that characterised the leadership approaches of principals heading high schools which have achieved long-term academic improvement amongst the schools undergoing the NSLA interventions. The main research question was: What leadership practices and personality traits characterised the leadership approaches of principals heading schools who have achieved long-term academic improvement amongst the schools undergoing the NSLA interventions? Thereafter, four subsidiary research questions guided this research. Firstly, what were the leadership practices of principals in selected successful NSL schools? Secondly, what personality traits characterised these principals? Thirdly, what learning and teaching challenges did principals heading these schools face? Lastly, how did these principals address the learning and teaching challenges in these schools? The literature and past research supported and provided information that leadership at schools plays a pivotal role for teaching and learning to be successful. However, the literature does not prescribe a specific leadership approach, but recommended a contingency leadership approach. The contingency leadership approach was used as the theoretical framework for this study. This approach recognises that there is no single preferred style of leadership and that the situational context must be taken into account for leadership to be effective. The study was guided by the qualitative methodological paradigm which is embedded in the interpretivist approach in order to develop rich and in-depth descriptions and meaning, feelings and experiences gathered from respondents. The case study as a qualitative research design was used to collect, analyse and interpret data from principals, teachers and selected members of the School Management Team (SMT). The population comprised of fifteen high schools in the Metro Central Education District, Cape Town that underwent the NSLA intervention. However, the investigation took place at five schools in the Metro Central Education District and participants remained part of this initiative for more than three consecutive years. These schools are resident in a wide area on the Cape Flats. All principals at the time, were permanently appointed. Two research instruments were used. A questionnaire to collect data about the leadership of principals was completed by post level one teachers. This questionnaire covered three areas, the biometric information of the respondent, the leadership behaviour of the principal and the leadership approach promoting teaching and learning. A semi-structured interview was done with the principal and selected members of the Schools Management Team (SMT). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the questionnaire. To analyse the semi-structured interviews, categories and themes were used to maximise the information collected. Through qualitative research the researcher was able to develop rich and in-depth descriptions of meaning, feelings and experiences through analysis. The study concluded that to achieve long-term academic improvement amongst NSLA schools an integrated leadership approach for principals is recommended. This approach encapsulates the various leadership approaches and the leadership personality traits or characteristics of the principals as well as taking into account the situational context for effective leadership and decision-making. Limitations in respect of this research were enumerated. Finally, recommendations based on the conclusions were highlighted including recommendations for further investigation.

No description available.

Local Peace Committees (LPCs) have emerged as adequate infrastructures for fostering peace in conflict-affected countries. The role of LPCs in facilitating peacebuilding is recognized in countries like Kenya, Burundi and Colombia. However, a significant gap exists in our understanding of the factors that enhance LPCs' capacity to resolve pastoral communal conflicts. This thesis aims to fill this gap by addressing the question: Why are some Local Peace Committees able to resolve pastoral communal conflicts while others are not? I propose that LPCs that receive continuous external funding have an increased capacity to resolve communal conflict compared to those with limited external funding. To test this theoretical argument, I conduct a study on two LPCs in Kenya. The findings of my study provide moderate support to the hypotheses tested. I attribute this moderate support to the small sample size, methodological limitations, and other confounding variables, such as local ownership and the country's supportive political environment. This study underscores the need to investigate additional factors that contribute to the increased capacity of LPCs, such as non-financial support( training and workshops).

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to provide a structural analysis of the second house of the South African Parliament - the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The study firstly focuses on the theoretical experience of second chambers in general. It then touches on a comparative study of second chambers of selected countries. The study then provides a description of the composition of the second house in South Africa, the committee system employed as well as the information flow. It also explores the concept of co-operative governance, the powers assigned to the NCOP by the Constitution and discusses the method of selecting delegates in detail. In addition the study focuses on the role that the NCOP is expected to play within the national legislative process. This analysis is descriptive in nature and aims to serve as an educational tool for the South African public as well as in the international arena. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om 'n strukturele analise te maak van die tweede kamer van die Suid-Afrikaanse Parlament, die Nasionale Raad van Provinsies (NRVP). Eerstens fokus die studie op die teoretiese ervaring van tweede kamers in geheel. Dit gaan dan verder om sekere vergelykings te tref tussen die tweede kamers van verkose lande. Die studie beskryf onder andere die samestelling van die tweede kamer in Suid- Afrika, hoe die komiteestelsel gebruik word, asook die vloei van informasie binne die NRVP. Die studie gaan ook verder om die konsep van saamwerkende regering en die konstitusionele magte van die instelling te bespreek asook die metode om afgevaardiges te verkies tot die NRVP. Die studie fokus ook op die verwagte rol van die NRVP binne die nasionale wetgewende proses. Hierdie analise is beskrywend van aard en beoog om te dien as 'n opvoedkundige instrument vir die Suid-Afrikaanse publiek asook binne die internasionale arena.

This dissertation is devoted to the study of who used the formal channels of interaction in the early modern era and why. It examines the full range of the political conversation in early modern Sweden, as seen in the supplications to the Diet in the Age of Liberty (1719–1772), and more specifically the supplications submitted to the parliamentary committee tasked with handling them, the Screening Deputation. The literature yields few systematic studies of this official channel, and supplications have long been terra incognita in the early modern political landscape. Their exact importance is uncertain, to say the least. Using a database built on three samples from the beginning, middle, and end of the Age of Liberty, the Diet's supplication channel is shown to have been used by two groups: supplicants from state-affiliated households primarily tried to use it to pursue their claims on the state, to settle various issues related to employment, or to receive some sort of support through hard times; and, increasingly, commoners, especially delegates in the Estate of the Burghers, used the channel for their gravamina concerning commerce, taxation, and the like, and state support for public amenities, a group for whom the Screening Deputation offered an alternative route to getting their grievances heard by the Diet. Both groups increasingly used the Diet's supplication channel was appeal the verdicts of the King in Council (Kungl. Maj:t). Although most were not appeals against the Judicial Audit, the results reveal an active use of appeals, and thus a de facto erosion of Kungl. Maj:t's supremacy. The results also show that as many as three-fifths of all supplicants had their supplications accepted by the Screening Deputation for further examination by the Diet. Although the acceptance rate was definitely lower in the 1730s and 1740s, the committee seems to have been fairly benevolent in its interpretation of the rules on petitioning. The results, lastly, show that although the Diet's supplication channel allowed excluded groups direct access to the Diet - including women of all classes, commoners of rank, and unrepresented groups - it mainly catered to men with the social status or wealth that put them in the middle and upper strata of society. Although this supplication channel stood open to anyone, its egalitarian potential was seemingly never realized. The use of March and Olsen's institutional theory about the logic of appropriateness, has revealed that certain institutional templates and norms that would have enabled these groups more access to the channel succumbed and made room for other institutional foundations. Supplications were part of the medieval and early modern centralization of legal and political power, the formation of the state, the protection of the privileges of Swedish subjects, and, during the Age of Liberty, the power struggle between the Diet and the kings. Each supplication viewed by itself might seem trivial, but nonetheless played a part in each and every one of these major processes. An ordinary Swede could have an impact on early modern politics when acting in concert with other supplicants, like rain eating away at rock.

Diepsloot, a township in Johannesburg, South Africa, was used as a case study to explore the perceptions of people in informal settlements towards their role in limiting pollution in their environment. The method followed was qualitative, and primary data were collected through the use of key informants (Ward Councillor and Environmental Health Officer), and three focus groups. Diepsloot is a marginalised residential area located in the Northern perimeter of the City of Johannesburg. The settlement is spatially fragmented, reflects a high residential density and is plagued with high levels of unemployment and poverty. Compounded by poor municipal service delivery, these challenges lead to a range of environmental problems such as overflowing solid waste on the streets, water pollution, and high levels of indoor air pollution. The study found that there were varying levels of commitment to limiting pollution by people in the informal settlement. This (commitment to limiting pollution) was largely dependent on community action through the formation of street committees. In streets where there was community cohesion, street committees were stronger and environmental conditions were better. In contrast, environmental problems were worse where street committees were weak or not operating. Regarding the role of government, the major constraints leading to unresponsive interventions were the limited scale of municipal operation and their poor communication with residents. Suggested corrective measures include recycling, education on pollution and the need for institutional strengthening. Further research aimed at identifying a set of appropriate partnerships and institutions needed for responsive interventions in informal settlements is required.

Métodos de identificação de pessoas sempre foram muito importantes para toda a sociedade. Atualmente, as pesquisas em biometria vêm sendo amplamente incentivadas por diversos setores da indústria mundial com o objetivo de melhorar ou substituir os atuais sistemas de segurança e de identificação de pessoas. O campo da biometria abarca uma grande variedade de tecnologias usadas para identificar e verificar a identidade de uma pessoa por meio da mensuração e análise de diversas características físicas e/ou comportamentais do ser humano. Diversas modalidades biométricas têm sido propostas para reconhecimento de pessoas, como impressão digital, íris, face e fala. Estas modalidades biométricas possuem características distintas em termos de desempenho, mensurabilidade e aceitabilidade. Uma questão a ser considerada com a aplicação biométrica é sua robustez a ataques por circunvenção, repetição e ofuscação. Esses ataques estão se tornando cada vez mais frequentes e questionamentos estão sendo levantados a respeito dos níveis de segurança das formas de reconhecimento. Sinais biomédicos como eletrocardiograma (ECG), eletroencefalograma (EEG) e eletromiograma (EMG) têm sido cada vez mais estudados e aplicados ao reconhecimento biométrico. Em específico, os sinais de ECG têm sido largamente adotados para o reconhecimento biométrico em diversos trabalhos. Por outro lado, análise de séries temporais tem sido usada com sucesso em muitas diferentes aplicações para identificar padrões temporais nos dados. Embora dinâmica simples possa ser observada com ferramentas analíticas tradicionais tais como transformada de fourier, transformada wavelet, a representação simbólica pode melhorar a análise de processos que são complexos e possivelmente caótico. Além disso, representação simbólica pode também reduzir a sensibilidade a ruído e melhorar bastante a eficiência computacional. No entanto, existem aspectos estruturais e paramétricos de projeto que podem conduzir a uma degradação de desempenho. Na ausência de uma metodologia sistemática e de baixo custo para a proposição de técnicas de representação simbólicas otimamente especificadas, os comitês de máquinas, mais especificamente ensemble, se apresentam como alternativas promissoras. Neste estudo, os componentes do ensemble, que correspondem as técnicas de representação simbólicas, e seus respectivos parâmetros foram selecionados via algoritmos evolutivos. O objetivo é explorar conjuntamente potencialidades advindas das técnicas de representação simbólicas e comitê de máquinas para reconhecimento biométrico baseado em sinais de ECG. Resultados experimentais conduzidos sobre dois conjuntos de dados disponíveis publicamente indicam que a abordagem proposta pode melhorar o desempenho do reconhecimento quando comparada com as técnicas tradicionais / Identification people methods have been very important for the whole society. Currently, research on biometrics have been widely encouraged by various sectors of the industry worldwide in order to improve or replace existing security systems and people identification. The field of biometrics includes a variety of technologies used to identify or verify the identity of a person by measuring and analyzing various physical and/or behavioral aspects of the human being. Several biometric methods have been proposed for recognition of people, such as fingerprint, iris, face and speech. These biometric modalities have different characteristics in terms of performance, measurability and acceptability. One issue to be considered with the biometric application in the real world is its robustness to attacks by circumvention, repetition and obfuscation. These attacks are becoming more frequent and more questions are being raised about the levels of security that this technology can offer. Biomedical signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) have been increasingly studied and applied to biometric recognition. Specifically, ECG signals have been widely adopted for biometric recognition in various works. On the other hand, time series analysis has been used successfully in many different applications to identify temporal patterns in the data. Although simple dynamics can be observed with traditional analytical tools such as fourier transform, wavelet transform, the symbolic representation can improve the analysis of processes that are complex and possibly chaotic. In addition, symbolic representation can also reduce noise sensitivity and greatly improve computational efficiency. However, there are structural and parametric design aspects that can lead to performance degradation. In the absence of a systematic and inexpensive methodology for proposing optimally specified symbolic representation techniques, machine committees, more specifically ensemble, present themselves as promising alternatives. In this study, the components of the committee, which correspond to techniques of symbolic representation, and their respective parameters were selected via evolutionary algorithms. The objective is to jointly explore the potentialities of both symbolic representation techniques and machine committee for biometric recognition based on ECG signals. Experimental results conducted on two publicly available datasets indicate that the proposed approach may improve recognition performance when compared to traditional techniques