The release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 marked the beginning of a transition process during which South Africa would finally move from an authoritarian apartheid state to a democratic state that respected and upheld the basic principles of human rights. The field of ""transition politics"" is huge. It necessarily encompasses and is a reaction to the years of history prior to the period of transition, which may have (and has often) been marked by struggle, whether it was violent or passive, against the former regime. It covers areas as broad as the field of politics itself from constitution design to public administration reform. Ultimately the raison d'etre of a political transition period is encapsulated in the attempt to create a utopian ideal state or political entity which corrects the perceived injustices and faults of the system it is attempting to replace or redesign. This dissertation focuses on a small but nonetheless significant area of that attempt to create the ideal political system. It is an area than has been and remains particularly pertinent in South Africa and was particularly important during the transition period, namely the intermediation of the demands of interest groups, and in particular, the mediation of the demands of key producer interest groups.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-61). / In December 2007, Kenyans went to the polls to elect a president, Member of Parliament, and local councillor. As citizens who had most recently voted out one of Africa's longest standing "Big Men," in Daniel Arap Moi, there was an understandable level of excitement and enthusiasm from citizens to exercise their vote once again, as well as from the rest of world which was eager to uphold Kenya as a model of African democracy. Unfortunately as the polls closed five days later; the Kenyan Electoral Commission had been disgraced, the two main political parties were mired in ballot stuffing accusations, and violence had engulfed Nairobi, Kisumu, and the Rift Valley. While the flawed election led to an irreplaceable loss of life and severely damaged the nation's economy and reputation, it is unclear whether this flawed election would diminish Kenyan's democratic health and progress towards democratic consolidation. Indeed, recent and compelling social science evidence suggests that flawed elections do not necessarily hinder democratic development in Africa, and thus the greatest indication of Kenya's democratic progress was simply that the election was held. However, as a witness to Kenya's 2007 election, I feared that Kenya's democratic progress would be severely impeded as people voiced their discontent with elections, voting, political parties, and most importantly, democracy itself. In an attempt to determine if in fact flawed elections have a long-term detrimental impact on democratic health and consolidation I investigate the relationship between the "freeness and fairness," of elections {or electoral quality} and two indicators of democratic health: {1} popular perceptions of democratic supply and {2} popular demand for democracy. "Supply," is measured as popular satisfaction with the way democracy works plus the recognition of living in a democracy. "Demand," is measured as support for democracy plus rejection of three forms of authoritarianism, military rule, one man rule and one party rule. These indicators are aggregate measures taken from responses to Afrobarometer surveys, and have been utilized previously to assess citizen's views of democracy and the prospects for democratic growth and consolidation. Using three rounds of Afrobarometer surveys I analyze data from 18 countries and 33 elections in Africa between 1996 and 2005, using both elections and countries as the unit of analysis. The empirical results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between electoral quality and perceived supply of democracy, but no correlation between electoral quality and the current level of demand. In other words electorates tend to see electoral outcomes as the preeminent event in determining how satisfied they are with democracy, but do not directly link the outcome of the most recent election to their support for democracy. Although the level of electoral quality did not directly correlate with the level of demand, further analysis showed that flawed elections on average negatively influence both supply and demand. Free and Fair elections, on the other hand, had a much smaller but positive influence on supply and demand. Taken together, there is compelling evidence to suggest that electoral outcomes do shape people's perception and support for democracy. If in fact citizen opinion and support for democracy is critical to democratic consolidation than this research finds that flawed elections can significantly impede democratic growth and retard the consolidation process.

Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66).

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-93). / This study investigates the willingness of Zimbabweans to use protest participation as an alternative route to the democratisation of Zimbabwe. A set of theoretical determinants from the literature are tested against individual reports of protest participation usmg the Afrobarometer survey: Round 3. Explanations include economic, political, cultural, cognitive and collective action factors. The evidence from this study reveals that, while conventional wisdom would associate protest with the economically insecure, the unemployed and individuals who belong to the working class, in Zimbabwe protest potential is high among the urbanised, the young, professionals, educated and the economically secure. The study raises questions about the efficacy of the strategies of civil society and opposition in Zimbabwe to mobilise protest Zimbabweans, despite being marginalised and confronted with the most severe crisis, are not inclined to push for economic and political transformation.

Currently, rhetoric is considered a negative term. This dissertation uses rhetoric as a normative term serving simultaneously as both the central story line and storyteller. Rhetoric is both the object of study and the lens through which to study. A field study was conducted with the Roanoke County administration. The rhetorical patterns of administrative leaders were observed and documented in their day-to-day activities. Rhetoric is the conceptual glue both highlighting and pulling together different layers of understanding. At the level of theory development and application, this includes building conceptual linkages between leading and organizing. In practice, public administrators know that leading and organizing occur as an integrated whole. Methodologically, a new technique to study the rhetoric of leading and organizing is introduced within the Roanoke County field study. At a normative level, the linkages discovered in the rhetorical discourse of leading and organizing reveal a greater understanding of democratic governance. The field study provides insights into leading and organizing that are also constitutive of a normative position regarding democratic governance. / Ph. D.

By end of 20th Century, democratization has become a major global phenomenon. In Taiwan, since Democratic Progress Party registered as lawful political party till the period it seized power, serial political democratization had attracted the eyes of the world. Through the 3rd wave of democratization which pushed Taiwan into a democratic country, democratic governance has become the key engineering work for concreting democracy. In Taiwan, though authoritative ruling had been ended and the decision mode of party leading government and administrative superior were collapsed, but there are all kinds of difficult problems in governance emerged, including the boycotting and the confrontation and antagonism between the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan, the interactive relationship between elected administrator and bureaucratic system and the disorder in the decision making system in administrative system, malpractice and corruption of government employees, recession of economy and unemployment rate maintaining high together lead to conflict between ethnic groups, corruption and social disorder and moral downgrading, despite the people is nominally the master of the country, and the confusion, disorder and unrest plus the uncertainty toward the future has brought up the core of problem, which is the governing structure under democratic political system need be established and concreted as soon as possible. This paper utilize the material and date obtained in interviews under ¡§ Taiwan¡¦s Election and Democratization Study, 2003 (TEDS 2003)¡¨. It attempts to study the differences in evaluation of democracy, participation in democracy and democratic value as generated from the individual background factors as well as their evaluation of the current democratic governance. It is hope to draw practical suggestion of democratic governance which would serve as a lead for breaking of present difficult situation of Taiwan.

Yes

Public guardians are individuals appointed by the state to care for the interests of incapacitated citizens. The nature and quality of their care is examined at sites in Maryland, Delaware, Tennessee, and Virginia. In the first three states public guardianship programs have been running for at least ten years; in Virginia two pilot projects are currently underway. All sites use different service delivery models. In addition to studying case file notes, public guardians, program supervisors, and wards were observed and interviewed with regard to their background, their views on public guardianship, accountability and effectiveness, and services provided. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better qualitative understanding of how well state public guardian programs intersect intimately with individuals for whom no other responsible decision maker exists. The study concludes with recommendations regarding the roles of the public guardian in improving wards' quality of life through substitute decision making and in enhancing democratic governance to give voice to wards through their own participation in decision making and relationships with their public guardian. / Ph. D.

O processo de descentralização das políticas sociais no País, implantado pela Constituição Federal do Brasil de 1988, levou a reformulações na gestão dessas políticas em Estados e Municípios, em termos da cultura gerencial, da estrutura administrativa e da abertura de canais de participação da sociedade civil na construção, acompanhamento e avaliação das ações. Nesse processo, as relações entre Estado, Mercado e Comunidade deveriam atingir um equilíbrio, a partir de políticas baseadas no modelo de consenso político (OFFE, 1998). No contexto da gestão de políticas públicas municipais, o Conselho Gestor é considerado um canal de participação da Comunidade e condição para o município ter acesso a verbas estaduais e federais para programas sociais locais. No Esporte, a prevalência dos interesses do Mercado se reflete nas normas legais e nos planos de desenvolvimento do Esporte implantados nas duas últimas décadas no País. O registro da existência de Conselhos Municipais de Esporte ou congêneres é muito recente no país, e o conhecimento sobre o seu papel e desempenho, no sentido de viabilizar a participação da Comunidade na formulação e desenvolvimento de políticas locais, é bastante limitado. Esta Pesquisa foi desenvolvida com o intuito de verificar se o Conselho Municipal de Esporte se constitui efetivamente em espaço de definição de políticas e de discussão e articulação entre os interesses dos diferentes segmentos da ordem social - Estado, Mercado e Comunidade - em uma política de Esporte local. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido estudo de caso sobre o Conselho Municipal de Esporte, Lazer e Atividade Física de Santana de Parnaíba-SP, referente ao período da sua criação em 2003 até 2006, a partir da análise de fontes documentais, complementadas por depoimentos de membros do Conselho e do representante do Executivo Municipal da área de Esporte, com base na metodologia da História Oral. As análises realizadas sobre o processo de implantação e a atuação do Conselho levaram a não confirmação da hipótese do estudo. Foi constatado um distanciamento entre a proposta participativa do governo municipal e o que ocorreu no âmbito da política de Esporte e do Conselho, não havendo incentivo a participação da sociedade civil no processo de formulação e acompanhamento da Política de Esporte. Considerações e perspectivas quanto à superação das lacunas identificadas na ação do Conselho são levantadas 6 no sentido de contribuir para a reflexão teórica e o aprimoramento da atuação desse mecanismo de gestão democrática em outros municípios brasileiros. / The decentralization process of social policies in the Country, as implemented by the 1988 Federal Constitution of Brazil, led to the reformulation of such policies\' management in States and Municipalities, as regards managerial culture, administrative structure and opening of channels for the civil society\'s participation in the construction, follow-up and assessment of such actions. In this process, the relationships among State, Market and Community should reach a balance, by means of policies based on the model of Political Consensus (OFFE, 1998). In terms of management of municipal public policies, the Managing Board is a channel for the Community\'s participation and places the municipality in position to access state and federal allowances for local social programs. In Sports, the prevalence of the Market\'s interest is reflected in legal rules and Sports development plans implemented within the past two decades in the Country. The record of the existence of Municipal Boards of Sports is very recent in the country, and the knowledge as regards their role and performance towards making the Community\'s participation in the formulation and development of local policies feasible is extremely limited. This research was developed aiming at ascertaining whether the Municipal Board of Sports actually constitutes a space for defining policies and discussion and organization of the interests of the social order\'s different segments - State, Market and Community - into a local Sports policy. Therefore, a case study of the Municipal Board of Sports, Leisure and Physical Activity of Santana de Parnaíba-SP was developed, regarding the period from its creation in 2003 up to 2006, based on the analysis of documental sources, complemented by statements by Board members and the representative of the municipal executive power in the Sports field, relying on the Oral History methodology. The analyses carried out as regards the process\' implementation and the Board\'s activities led to the nonconfirmation of the study\'s hypothesis. A distancing between the municipal government\'s participative proposal and what took place within the sphere of the Sports and the Board\'s policy was ascertained, as well as an absence of encouragement for civil society\'s participation in the process to formulate and follow-up the Sports Policy. Considerations and perspectives as regards filling in the blanks identified in the Board\'s actions are raised aiming 8 at contributing to the improvement of such democratic management mechanism\'s activities in other Brazilian municipalities.

Many researchers and political experts have commented on the disenfranchisement of the citizenry caused by irresponsible use of power by the government that potentially violates the 4th Amendment rights of millions of people through secret mass surveillance programs. Disclosures of this abuse of power are presumably protected by the 1st Amendment, though when constitutional protections are not followed by the government, the result can be prosecution and imprisonment of whistleblowers. Using a critical autoethnographic approach, the purpose of this study was to examine the devolution of democratic governance and constitutional rights in the United States since 9/11. Using the phenomena of my signature indictment (the first whistleblower since Daniel Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act) and prosecution by the U.S. government, data were collected through interviews with experts associated with this unique circumstance. These data, including my own recollections of the event, were inductively coded and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. The findings revealed that the use of national security as the primary grounds to suppress democracy and the voices of whistleblowers speaking truth to, and about, power increased authoritarian tendencies in government. These tendencies gave rise to extra-legal autocratic behavior and sovereign state control over the institutions of democratic governance. Positive social change can only take place in a society that has robust governance and social structures that strengthen democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, and do not inhibit or suppress them.