The Social-Democratic Federation has been ill-served by historians, dismissed as an irrelevance or an alien intrusion into British politics. This thesis attempts to provide a balanced and coherent account of the SDF's history, emphasisi: regional as well as national developments to demonstrate that until the early years of the twentieth century, the party posed a genuine alternative to the supposed 'mainstream' development of the ILP/Labour Party. The Federation was far from the monolithic, centralised organisation, dominated by Hyndman, thatis often depicted. A study of the branches in Lancashire and Yorkshire reveals regional diversity and demonstrates that they enjoyed considerable autonomy, but although this autonomy allowed branches in areas like Lancashire to adapt to their environment with considerable success it also produced a party prone to internal divisions over strategy. Consequently it failed to develop consistent policies. This proved a fatal handicap at a crucial period in the history of the British Socialist movement, during the formative years of the Labour Party. The SDF was marginalised, preoccupied with its own internal debates at a time when it could have exercised considerable influence inside Labour's ranks. It never satisfactorily resolved the debate over which course to pursue, that of reform or revolution, until the outbreak of the First World War brought the divisioi within the party to a head, which ultimately caused its dissolution. Nevertheless its eventual demise should not obscure its achievements which, as is often the fate of pioneers, remain largely unsung. It educated and agitated; it played a leading role in the formation of both ILP branches and Labour Representation Committees; it produced a generation of working-class intellectuals and militants; it championed the cause of the unemployed. Most important of all, the SDF was responsible for re-introducing Socialism to the British political agenda.

This dissertation explores the nature of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as a governance organisation in the context of international regime theory. It examines the hypothesis that ICANN represents a new type of hybrid political entity, one that both challenges established concepts in IR theory, and that may be representative of emerging trends in other areas of global issue management. The concept of international regimes, initially defined in the early 1980s by Stephen Krasner, has become one of the key elements of contemporary International Relations theory. Despite ongoing debates between proponents of various theoretical paradigms over some key questions, such as how and why regimes form and are sustained, the basic concept of the international regime has remained fairly clearly defined. ICANN, however, has been widely interpreted as a new approach to global governance in an emerging issue-area, one based upon ‘multistakeholder’ decisionmaking involving a range of interested actor types, as opposed to the traditional model of a predominantly state-based ‘inter-national’ organisation. This dissertation seeks to examine the extent to which concepts drawn from existing regime theories remain useful as analytical tools for interpreting the types of emerging global governance arrangements represented by the ICANN system. The dissertation begins with a review of ICANN’s history and organisational structure, followed by a literature review exploring some competing interpretations of ICANN. It then utilises three case studies of the ICANN policy development process in action, in an effort to explore how ICANN policy is made in practice and which types of actors and interests appear to have most influence within the regime. The analysis reveals certain commercial interests, together with governments, to be the predominant actors within the ICANN system. Subsequent chapters draw upon these findings to explore how ontological models drawn from various paradigms on regime theory, including realist, neoliberal institutionalist, neo-Marxist and social constructivist approaches, might be applied to the ICANN regime. The study demonstrates that concepts drawn from each of these paradigms, and particularly vi neoliberal institutionalism and social constructivism, are readily applicable to the ICANN case. The dissertation concludes that ICANN can be usefully interpreted as a regime using a definition based on Krasner’s, albeit of a modified type better described as a ‘global governance’ rather than an ‘inter-national’ regime. Finally, it attempts to evaluate the extent to which lessons from the ICANN case may be applicable to emerging trends in other issue-areas of international politics.

This work has three core aims; to quantify the extent to which women stood as council candidates and were elected between 1918 and 1938; to assess the influences on the backgrounds of women seeking election in that period; and to examine a sample of women elected to determine how far they retained separate spheres reflecting gendered interests or were able to join male colleagues in wider council roles. The findings show patchy progress with far slower growth on county councils than in London and only one or two women councillors present at any one time on some important councils. Council culture and political geography were causes of low representation. Women increasingly needed access to political parties to be candidates, but the presence of a political battleground and the nature of local social leadership were equally important. London women needed to be politically driven from the outset whereas some towns elected women recognised as community leaders rather than politicians. Women councillors had experience of suffrage activism, voluntary work, as Poor Law guardians and of committee co-option. They could remain in office for decades. Women were concentrated on committees of domestic interest, but their activities changed as state intervention increasingly influenced family life. By addressing topics such as birth control, the special interest of women councillors became a very public discussion of a previously private domestic matter. Women also took on public roles as committee chairman or mayors. This blurring between public and private spheres is of relevance to wider discussion about women’s activism as they gained in citizenship. Despite slow progress over 1,400 women contributed as councillors in this period with a very practical style and determined tenacity. This overview of their distribution, origins and activities shows an uneven spread of women councillors with divided political views, but unity in seeking improvement in family life.

Political power has been much contested and debated, culminating in the development and measurement of many distinct and narrow facets of power. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by providing a conceptual and operational framework for researching power in a political system in a relevant, observable, comprehensive and meaningful way. Using this framework to consider the power of the Labour Party in local government, as perceived by practitioners, has provided new insights into existing understandings of power in both theory and practice. Many different facets of power are relevant to researching the power of the Labour Party in local government. These were brought together using an abstract model of a political system to provide a comprehensive and meaningful framework for researching power. The framework makes it possible to operationalise power by identifying three principal dimensions that are observable - capacity, decision making and power – and connect the different facets together. This framework makes clear the distinction between conceptions of power at micro-level, which concern the capacity to influence others, and macro-level, which concern the capacity to influence outcomes; and the significance of applying the appropriate conception to the research context. The conceptual and operational framework was used to research the power of the Labour Party in local government through a case study of Kirklees Council. The research was conducted between October 2012 and August 2013 and used a mixed methods approach incorporating a survey of Labour Party councillors, interviews with Labour Party members, and observation of various meetings, this research explores each facet of power. This case study shows that central government controls the capacity of Kirklees Council, but the Labour Party has the potential to influence local political outcomes well beyond the sphere of the Council. In terms of decision making, the Leader dominates the Labour Party, but due to the professional expertise of officers and bargaining power of other political parties has less control over Kirklees Council. Regarding outcomes, the activities of the Labour Party in local government makes marginal differences to the electorate and policies of Kirklees Council, but a significant difference to the Labour Party itself. So, even though political parties dominate the governance of local authorities, this case study shows that local party politics in practice makes only marginald differences in the locality.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the development and the defense system are precisely controlled by some proteins to allocate energy and resources as needed. JASMONATE-ZIM domain 3 protein is the repressor of the jasmonic acid defense pathway. JACKDAW (JKD), SHORTSHOOT (SHR), and SCARECROW (SCR) bind together to form the BIRD complex, which regulates root patterning. The transcription factor Teosinte branched1/Cycloidea/Proliferating cell factor 14 (TCP14) also regulates plant development. Recent data shows that JAZ3 and TCP14 interact with JKD and may form a ternary complex, which reveals the study of the five proteins mentioned above may help to understand how defense signals are interpreted during plant growth. The interactions of these five proteins provide a theoretical base to maximize plant fitness and increase crop yield. Using protein purification, microscale thermophoresis, isothermal titration calorimetry, negative staining, X-ray crystallography in this project, we identified JKD interacted with JAZ3, and JKD interacted with TCP14, but they could not form a ternary complex in vitro; SHR/SCR interacted with JAZ3. Those binding results suggests TCP14 and SHR/SCR may have very similar binding site of JKD, and JAZ3 may guide the degradation of the BIRD complex. In structural studies, we resolved the 2D class average that showed the outline of the BIRD complex and it potentially helped to identify how JKD bound to DNA. We also determined the crystal structure of the TCP14 domain, which was an intertwined dimer that possibly uses arginine residues in the N terminus to interact with DNA. These interaction and structure studies of the five proteins provide the basis to understand how defense signals affect plant development.

Orientée par la prémisse selon laquelle la citoyenneté multiple ne constitue pas une pathologie de la citoyenneté, cette recherche se propose de mettre en évidence les mécanismes idéologiques et les pratiques institutionnelles qui ont alimenté la tradition du rejet dogmatique des allégeances politiques parallèles. Tributaire d'une approche généalogique, le cadre analytique de cette recherche explore la dynamique diachronique de la citoyenneté multiple pendant quatre époques de la citoyenneté occidentale : la cité antique, l'État pré moderne, l'État nation et l'État de droit démocratique. En considérant que la citoyenneté multiple est issue de la concurrence juridique de diverses conceptions idéologique de la citoyenneté, cette analyse se penche sur la manière dont les généalogies de la citoyenneté occidentale ont progressivement alimenté l'idée selon laquelle la gestion politique de la conflictualité sociale réclame des allégeances politiques univoques et même 1'exacerbation de l'attachement patriotique. Incapable de supprimer la citoyenneté multiple par le discours performatif de la loi positive, la communauté politique insiste ainsi sur la confusion entre l'ordre politique et celui moral pour la discréditer et condamner. Cette stratégie de dénonciation idéologique devient plus virulente à l'époque de l'État nation à cause de l'instrumentalisation ethnoculturelle de la citoyenneté multiple par les diverses nationalismes. La longue tradition du rejet dogmatique de la citoyenneté multiple contraste avec la relative tolérance affichée pendant les dernières décennies. Affaiblie de manière asymétrique par la mondialisation, la souveraineté étatique est dorénavant obligée de composer avec tous les acteurs de l'ordre international afin d'éviter l'érosion politique de la citoyenneté. Face à l'affirmation d'une hiérarchie mondiale des citoyennetés, les communautés politiques contemporaines reconsidèrent leurs exigences en matière d'allégeances politiques univoques en misant sur la complémentarité des citoyennetés. Stimulée par la prééminence libérale des conceptions volontaristes de la politique, la citoyenneté multiple se présente ainsi comme une stratégie individuelle susceptible de consolider la vocation politique du statut de citoyen face aux abus socio-économiques du marché. Même si la guerre états-unienne contre le terrorisme risque d'imposer le reflux temporaire de la progression mondiale de la citoyenneté multiple, le repositionnement contemporain de l'État passe par l'apprivoisement idéologique des allégeances politiques parallèles.

La République Populaire de Chine, appelée communément Chine, connaît la plus grande croissance économique soutenue des pays en développement (PED) de la dernière décennie. Alors que la plupart des PED peinent à trouver le chemin de la croissance, le modèle de développement économique de la Chine fait de plus en plus des envieux en Afrique. Fort de cette réussite, la Chine se positionne désormais comme un partenaire et un investisseur de premier plan pour les pays africains. La croissance des investissements chinois en Afrique plus que d'actualité est au centre de la politique et de l'économique internationale. L'objectif de ce mémoire est d'expliquer la croissance des investissements directs chinois en Afrique subsaharienne et d'identifier les déterminants économiques et politiques qui influencent les choix de destination de ces investissements. Il sera établi que pour soutenir la croissance économique chinoise, les investissements directs des sociétés d'État chinois sont orientés vers les pays à fortes potentialités en ressources naturelles. En outre, les résultats suggèrent que durant la période de 2003 à 2007, la taille du marché, la stabilité macroéconomique et politique, et la corruption n'ont pas d'influence sur la localisation des IDE chinois dans les pays d'Afrique subsaharienne. Les résultats révèlent enfin que, plus un pays de cette région est ouvert au commerce international, moins les sociétés chinoises s'orientent vers ce pays. Finalement, nos résultats nous laissent croire que l'approche chinoise des IDE sortants défie l'approche traditionnelle qui met de l'avant la stabilité politique et économique des pays récipiendaires, pour affirmer le besoin de changement de paradigme dans ce domaine.

L’évaluation des politiques publiques s’effectue dans un contexte où les dilemmes éthiques sont nombreux et difficilement évitables. Les évaluateurs doivent quotidiennement composer avec différentes tensions éthiques susceptibles d’influencer la qualité de leur travail. En développant un modèle d’analyse nous permettant de catégoriser les évaluateurs selon un axe altruiste-corporatiste, nous nous sommes proposés de vérifier si tous les évaluateurs faisaient preuve de la même sensibilité lorsque confrontés à des situations de dilemmes éthiques. En nous inspirant d’une méthodologie de recherche éprouvée par Morris et Jacobs, nous avons rencontré, dans le cadre d’entrevues, des évaluateurs de politiques publiques canadiens. Les résultats obtenus nous ont permis de conclure que les évaluateurs de type altruiste font preuve d’une grande sensibilité éthique, alors que les évaluateurs de type corporatiste font preuve d’une sensibilité éthique plus modérée. Nous avons également observé que d’autres facteurs comme le milieu d’évaluation (interne ou externe) et l’expérience peuvent influencer la sensibilité éthique. / Program evaluation occurs in a context where ethical dilemmas are frequent and hardly avoidable. Evaluators must daily deal with different ethical tensions that may influence the quality of their work. By developing an analytical model allowing us to categorize evaluators according to whether they are the corporatist or the altruist type, we proposed to verify if all evaluators demonstrate the same sensitivity when faced with ethical dilemmas. Taking inspiration from a proven research methodology by Morris and Jacobs, we met, through interviews, Canadian evaluators of public policies. We have concluded that the altruist type show a high ethical sensitivity, while the corporatist type show a more moderate ethical sensitivity. We also observed that other factors such as evaluation environment(internal or external) and experience can influence ethical sensitivity.

Depuis les trente dernières années, plusieurs chercheurs se sont penchés sur le phénomène de gouvernementalisation de l'État et sur l'installation de politiques intéressées à la vie des populations humaines à l'intérieur des cadres nationaux. L'historicisation des relations de pouvoir entre la gouverne et la vie en tant qu'objet de régulation en ayant résulté aura permis d'aborder les rationalités biopolitiques et leur application technique à travers différents moments de l'histoire moderne. Ce mémoire s'intéresse aux politiques globales qui s'adressent aux populations et à la maximisation de leurs potentialités. Prenant comme ancrage la période 1918-1945 et l'expérience pratique de la Société des Nations comme premier effort de gouvernementalisation et de normalisation biopolitique d'un espace administratif transnational, ce mémoire offre un examen des divers développements de la politisation du bios à l'échelle globale par les organisations intergouvernementales. Même si la Société des Nations est remplacée par l' Organisation des Nations-Unies à la fin de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, cette organisation aura su, par ses travaux, léguer une philosophie politique libérale et cosmopolite, une pensée sécuritaire et hygiéniste et finalement, un ensemble de technologies gouvernementales s'adressant à la fois à la chair et à l' esprit des populations, lequel visant à garantir une paix internationale. Même si elles se présentent comme positives et moralement dignes de louanges, les politiques des organisations internationales imposent des valeurs, détruisent certaines possibilités pour en imposer d ' autres, et sont généralement l'apologie des dominants.

La mobilisation des savoirs scientifiques en vue d'informer le processus d'élaboration de politiques publiques (evidence-informed policy-making) est un sujet de recherche ayant reçu une attention grandissante au cours des dernières décennies. Alors que l'on constate une certaine accumulation de connaissances quant aux facteurs explicatifs potentiels d'un faible niveau d'utilisation de la recherche scientifique { telle que manifeste par l'existence de revues systématiques sur le sujet { il n'en reste pas moins que très peu d'études empiriques visent à tester des hypothèses quant aux facteurs présumés et à rapporter la magnitude de leurs effets. À partir de données d'observation tirées d'une enquête menée auprès d'analystes de politiques de la fonction publique québécoise (n = 1614), la présente thèse vise initialement à identifier et décrire les facteurs contribuant à l'utilisation des savoirs scientifiques par ces acteurs. Par le recours combiné à l'analyse de cheminement (path analysis), permettant de capter les relations de médiation, et à la simulation statistique, permettant de décrire substantiellement les effets observés en termes de probabilités, les analyses décrites permettent de rapporter la magnitude des effets totaux, directs et indirects spécifiques. Les résultats montrent notamment que certains facteurs { tels les connaissances préalables ainsi que l'accès physique à la recherche scientifique { ont des effets directs importants ainsi que des effets indirects notables. Les résultats tirés de cette technique novatrice sont également comparés en fonction de différentes options analytiques (simulation à partir de valeurs observées ou spécifiques, différents niveaux de variances résiduelles des variables endogènes) afin d'en tester la sensibilité. Une seconde problématique, à teneur plus méthodologique, est ainsi explorée afin de mettre en relief les enjeux relatifs à la sélection des techniques d'analyse et la façon de rapporter les résultats de recherche. De manière plus générale, comme toute inférence causale menée dans un contexte non-expérimental, nos résultats font face à un certain nombre de biais potentiels. Ceux-ci sont décrits et discutés d'un point de vue méthodologique et épistémologique afin de mettre en contexte la validité et la portée des résultats. / The mobilisation of scientific knowledge in public policy-making processes { evidence-informed policy-making { has received increasing attention as a research topic of its own over the last decades. While one can appreciate some cumulative knowledge on the potential explanatory factors of low levels of research use { manifest by the existing systematic reviews of literature on the subject { the fact remains that relatively few empirical studies aim at testing hypotheses with regards to specific factors and the magnitude of their effects. Using observational data taken from a survey conducted among ministerial policy analysts in the province of Québec (n = 1614), the thesis initially aims at identifying and describing the factors related to the use of scientific research by those policy actors. Through the use of both path analysis { allowing the description of mediated relations { and statistical simulation { allowing a substantial description of the observed effects using probabilities { the reported analyses describe the magnitude of total, direct and specific indirect effects. The results show that some factors { notably, prior knowledge and physical access to scientific research { have important direct effects as well as notable indirect effects. The results of this innovative technique are also compared with regards to various analytical options (simulating on both observed or specific values, various levels of residual variance on endegenous variables) so as to test their sensitivity. A second obective, with a more methodological tone, is thus explored so as to put in perspective the issues at play when selecting analytical techniques and presenting research results. And more broadly, like every causal inference based on non-experimental data, our results are subject to potential biases. These are described and discussed both from a methodological and epistemological point of view so as to put the validity of our results and their scope in context.