Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-101).

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Comme de nombreux pays européens, la plupart des Etats d’Afrique noire francophone ont souscrit au concept mondial de l’autonomie locale, à travers des modifications de leurs Lois fondamentales. Pour sa part, la Loi constitutionnelle camerounaise du 18 janvier 1996 consacre clairement la décentralisation territoriale comme mode principal de gestion de la République. Y sont proclamés, tous les grands principes fondamentaux qui sous-tendent la décentralisation territoriale, notamment la personnalité morale de droit public des collectivités territoriales, la libre administration par des conseils élus, l’autonomie administrative et financière pour la gestion des intérêts régionaux et locaux.Le principe constitutionnel de l’autonomie, décliné selon les cas en autonomie administrative et/ou financière, concept à la mode, mais paradoxalement oublié par la doctrine et objet de vives controverses quant à sa mise en oeuvre, fonde l’intérêt de cette étude. L’ambition est de dégager un concept juridique à partir des expressions d’autonomie administrative et financière, afin de doter les différents acteurs intéressés, notamment l’Etat unitaire Cameroun, d’instruments de mesure susceptibles de permettre une mise en oeuvre effective de la force d’autonomie locale sujette à tant de passions dans les discours politiques de tous bords. / Like many European countries, most French-speaking black African states have endorsed the worldwide concept of local autonomy, through changes to their fundamental Laws. For its part, the Cameroonian Constitution Act of 18 January 1996 clearly dedicated territorial decentralization as the main mode of management of the Republic. Y are announced, all the great fundamental principles underlying the territorial decentralization, notably the legal personality of public law of local councils, self-government by elected councils, the administrative and financial autonomy for the management of regional and local interests.The constitutional principle of autonomy, as the case declined in self-administration and / or financial buzzword, but surprisingly overlooked by the literature and subject of intense controversy about its implementation, establishes the relevance of this study. The ambition is to clear a juridical concept from the expressions of administrative and financial autonomy, to endow the different interested actors, notably the unitary state Cameroon, with measuring instruments that could allow an effective implementation of strength of local autonomy subject to so many passions in political rhetoric from all sides.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-62).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-62).

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-62).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-95).

Venezuela began a process of decentralization in the late 1980s as part of a major period of institutional reform designed to restore legitimacy to the discredited political system of the time. The first efforts towards this end did not complete the process of decentralizing political power, since they did not open more spaces or channels for citizen participation in public affairs. With the adoption of a new National Constitution in 1999, however, new channels for citizen participation were opened through the creation, amongst other mechanisms, of the State Councils of Public Policy Planning, the Local Councils of Public Planning and later, the Community Councils. The primary objectives of this thesis were to analyze the degree to which this decentralization process has improved local governance in Venezuela. More specifically, the investigation focused on exploring the effectiveness of the measures introduced to enhance civil society participation in public affairs. The analysis draws upon and attempts to integrate insights from a range of academic literatures including those dealing with: the debates surrounding good governance , organizational and institutional theory, decentralization and civil society participation in public affairs. Rich empirical research into the degree to which the decentralization process has promoted citizen involvement in decision making involved the exploration of a wide range of secondary materials and the conducting of interviews with key actors and participants within the programmes under investigation. Key findings include the observation that the creation and operation of the Local Councils of Public Planning and Community Councils have led to the evolution of a participatory process that has been marred by a lack of legal continuity, institutional disorganization and a lack of awareness of the existence of the mechanisms (and some suspicion regarding their intentions amongst the general population). Outcomes have also been heavily influenced by the political polarization that exists in contemporary Venezuela. The community councils in particular have been the subject of considerable debate within the country with opinion sharply divided along political lines as to whether they represent a radical new vision of decentralization or another way to further centralize power within the hands of President Hugo Chávez.

The concept of ‘empowerment’ has been widely used among development practitioners since the early 1990s. This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on empowerment by developing an analytical framework that incorporates: (a) the dialectical nature of power, (b) multiple levels of analysis, and (c) the subjectivities of power that different actors have and that affect the way they respond to policies. The model is applied to the analysis of Mozambique’s transition to peace and the study of a national initiative called District Development Fund, known as the ‘7 Million’, which aims to promote empowerment by reducing poverty and promoting local participation in the rural districts. The analysis focuses, on the one hand, on the ‘7 million’ policy formulation, stressing the power struggles that shaped its final outcome and, on the other hand, the policy implementation in the district of Angoche, where I conducted extensive fieldwork. I argue that, even though the ‘7 million’ had some positive aspects – including providing a discourse that underlines the relevance of the districts and the local community in matters of governance – its effects in promoting local empowerment have been far below its potential. One of the reasons for this is to be found in the dynamics of power-to and power-over that take place at the local level and that partly reflect structural aspects linked to the Mozambique state formation and peacebuilding process. More generally, the case illustrates the limitations and contradictions of policies that aim promoting ‘bottom-up’ empowerment from the ‘top-down’.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-71).