Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-209).

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / This study attempted to examine the role that selected civil society groups played to promote citizen participation in governance processes. / South Africa

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In a democratic society, apart from the three public institutions --- the executives, the legislatives,and the judiciary, journalism is regarded as the Fourth Estate. Among all of the mass media, television broadcasting is deemed as the most powerful and influential medium. Since 1945, the ownership of the three major electronic media in Taiwan had been substantially under the Kuomintang government's control and manipulated de facto by the KMT party. Under such circumstances, the electronic media were factually manipulated as an ideological propaganda tool of an authoritarian regime by the KMT, the ruling party. With its political monopoly over the television broadcasting harshly criticized by the public and the opposition ¡Vthe Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Government Information Office of the Executive Yuan yielded to the request for deregulation by consenting to loosen its grasp of the frequency spectrum foranother television station, the Formosa Television, went on air in June 1997, marking a milestone in Taiwan's broadcasting evolution and generating one controversy after another since the inception. In the current study, two research approaches are adapted. Firstly, from the standpoint of political competition, contextual analysis is applied to analyze the association between local electronic media's evolution and the the transition of democracy in Taiwan. Secondly, based on the findings and insights from the first approach, a case study on FTV is conducted to further assess the significance of the FTV¡¦s text and manufacture culture along with the media effect on social experience. Regarding methodology, the historical approach serves to ground the analysis of the television broadcasting development while qualitative research is employed to evaluate the case study, out of which first-hand information as well as perspectives are obtained through field observation and in-depth interviews with the managers and executives of the television station. The thesis asserted here is that the ownership of the FTV does not belong to the DPP for the simple reason that its shareholders consist of varied kinds of investors. Nonetheless, the structure of the ownership is marked by the dominance of two non-official entities, the DPP and DPP-afffiliated law-makers. As a natural result of the will of its major shareholders, FTV's board members tend likely to be officials of the DPP party or its designated representatives. This is why FTV is generally referred to as a propaganda arm of the DPP. One of the major findings suggests that FTV has since its inception set as its priority the raising of competitive edge against the three KMT controlled television networks (TTV, CTV, CTS). In fact, in their practical operations, two major indices for performance evaluation are turned to the prime-time news reporting and the ratings. Underlying the fierce competition are considerations for ideological dominance and advertising revenues. As it turns out, the political ideology of FTV owners parallels the marketing strategy of the professional executives. Due to an emphasis upon native-orientated programming, FTV has enjoyed a strategic advantage over the other three networks in terms of market appeal and division. The study appreciates that the FTV's endeavors to break through the monopoly of the KMT-controlled networks, thus redressing the over-due biased reports on political issues and positively contributing to the pluralistic perspectives of a dynamic island democracy. However, in the meantime, ideological intervention by the ownership in the production and distribution of the programming is detected. Sepecifically, in assuming the responsibility for maintaining the impartiality of journalism and the self-appointed role of "power balancer", FTV finds its equally tempting to pursue revenues and profits for the sake of the electronic media's own survival and continuous development. As a result of interactions between political power intrusion and the commercial profit motive, television broadcasting in Taiwan has never been treated as an independent, ideally performing public domain in which public interests take precedence over political ideology and commercial proprietary rights. As Taiwan is marching at full speed toward a fully democratic state, it is worthwhile to reposition the Formosa Television as a substantive player in the process while objectively assessing the extent to which television is capable of solidifying the achievement of democracy in Taiwan. In its analyses, this research discerns that FTV had been perceived as an opposition party's TV station instead of a genuine nonpartisan mass media ever since its inception. With the DPP in power after the presidential victory in March 2000, FTV is now criticized as an official organ of the new government. So it is proposed that FTV take aggressive actions during the post-election, critical period to resolve the general misunderstanding, impartiality and objectivity being the most essential elements of the reengineering work. Grounded on a firm belief in the unbiased and yet facilitative role of journalism as the Fourth Estate, the study in its final assessment presents concluding assertions: 1. Media should sustain the inallenable right of supervision over government. 2. The ruling principles of objectivity and impartiality should not be compromised or vary from regime to regime. 3. Political parties and politicians should refrain from employing media as a personal or propaganda tool. 4. Mass media should serve as an arena equally accessible to citizens where public issues and interests are explored and strengthened in support of the democratization of Taiwan.

Taiwan has over the past thirty years experienced a substantial political transformation. Being ruled by Chinese nationalists since World War II, Taiwan started its democratic transition in the late eighties. The new democratic system did not only provide people with freedom to vote, it also marked the beginning of a search for a new national identity. Based on the international theory of constructivism, this paper defines and studies the Taiwanese people’s progression away from a dominant Chinese national identity towards a uniquely defined Taiwanese identity. The purpose of this study is to understand the causes of the shifting national identity from a constructivist point of view. By using keywords within the theory of constructivism this paper studies major historical events that shaped and altered the national identity of Taiwan. These events include the democratization process as well as Taiwan’s changing relations to mainland China. Constructivist theory primarily suggests two important aspects in order to understand the shifting identity. These include the importance of the constructed political institutions in the form of political parties during the democratization process, as well as the cultural influence on the Taiwanese people correlated with the lifting of the ban on travel to China in the late eighties.

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Research into the divergent results achieved by developing countries has traditionally been separated into two distinct approaches. While some scholars have attributed failures to weak governance at the national level, many others have criticised the pursuit of a narrow set of pre-defined liberal market reforms. Using the experiences of China and Botswana as case examples this research moves beyond the limitations of existing explanations to examine the necessity for both national accountability and contextualised policy making. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the connection between good governance and substantive human development indicates that while national accountability is vital, the individual circumstances of a state are equally important to consider.

The intention with the research was to investigate the role of civil society in the Kenyan democratization process. The research intends thus to analyze (1) the role of civil society in Kenya's transition to democracy (1990- 2002), and (2) the role of civil society in the further democratization process (2002- 2013). The results of the research demonstrates that the role of civil society played a crucial role in Kenya’s transition to democracy given that civil society provided with a multiparty- system in 1991. In addition, civil society endowed with education for citizens in order to attain constitutional reforms. As a result, Kenya accomplished a transition to democracy in 2002. The role of civil society in the further democratization process struggled to maintain democracy since corruption emerged instantaneously where elections resulted in electoral frauds. Civil society played a vital role once again, but this time with the help of media.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.