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The internship experience with the City Clerk’s Office of Tucson, Arizona, provided the intern with the opportunity to observe and participate in the basic duties and functions of a public agency. The intern worked under the guidance and direction of the City Clerk. Projects were assigned which varied in complexity, scope, and responsibility. Although the intern was introduced to the complete range of activities of the Clerk’s Office, most of the time was spent on election-oriented activities. The administration of elections was studied intensely from beginning to end. Special attention was given to the environment in which the City Clerk operates. Attention was also focused on the behavior of individuals within an organizational structure. After completing the internship and the body of the diary, the intern integrated classroom theory and practical experience. Recommendations were then made regarding the organizational structure of the City Clerk’s Office and other related points.

This thesis explores responses to rape in the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda, based on three years of participant observation plus in-­depth interviews with a random sample of 187 women from two villages. The issues examined lie at the intersection of two ongoing discussions in scholarship and practice and contributes to each of them: wrongdoing and justice, and sexual violence and rape. Northern Uganda is at the heart of international justice debates. Fierce controversy followed the 2005 announcement of the International Criminal Court’s intervention in ongoing conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda. Two opposing representations of Acholi society emerged: that Acholi were innately forgiving -­ able to deal with mass crime through traditional justice; or that they needed and often supported formal legal justice. But this missed crucial aspects of Acholi realities, which this study illustrates, most basically the profound value of social harmony, and a deep distrust of distanced authorities to dispense justice in their interest. Many scholars and practitioners assume that in the aftermath of crime, justice must be done. Amongst Acholi, I have found, the primary moral imperative in the wake of wrongdoing is not punishment of the perpetrator or individual victim’s rights but the restoration of social harmony. Experience of rape and harm it causes are predicated on understandings of wrongdoing related to challenges posed to social harmony. Similarly, an appropriate remedy depends not only on the act of forced sex itself, but also on the social role of the perpetrator and social context. This thesis adds empirical, locally-­grounded, and culturally-­specific evidence in support of a more complicated and nuanced explanation of rape and its aftermath than is familiar in the analytical/normative frameworks familiar in post-­atrocity justice debates or anti-­rape feminist activist discourse. It suggests reimagining the meanings of these phenomena along lived continuums: before, during and after war; and acknowledging the role of sex, power and politics in all sexual experiences on a spectrum of coercion and enthusiastic consent.

<p>The political context that prompted the formation of district municipalities in the present form can be summarized as follows: before 1994, there were a few sporadic Regional Services Councils and Joint Services Boards responsible mainly for bulk service provision in rural areas. In many rural areas, the acute imbalances in personal wealth, physical infrastructure and the provision of services were most patent. Provinces decided which of the local government models best suited their province. Consequently, it was possible for the institutions of local government to differ from province to province and there would be a two-tier system of local councils and region-wide district councils throughout non-metropolitan South Africa. The aim of this study was two-fold. FIrst to analyze the key causes of conflict that arise within the two-tiered system. Second, to determine whether district intergovernmental forums will be able to address the key causes of conflict identifies and assist in making the relationship between district and local municipalities more co-operative.</p>

This is a study of how UK public sector organisations both build and define capacity for improvement. Public service quality in the UK remains a subject of ongoing importance, not least because of its contribution to economic growth of the country as a whole but also because of the needs and wants of the civil population as consumers of those services. It is considered that in order to improve service in a continuous and sustainable manner, organisations must develop the capacity for improvement through the process of capacity building. The research is based in the field of Education, at school level, from which the implementation and effects of a particular capacity building policy can be examined. The policy in question is PPA time (Planning, Preparation, and Assessment time), which forms part of the government's agenda for Workforce Reform. In conducting this exploratory research, a qualitative approach to a case study based research design is adopted. An interpretive analysis of cases facilitates a richness and depth of understanding. Six detailed case studies are carried out at schools serving Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils in one Local Authority in the West Midlands. A number of research methods are employed to facilitate triangulation of the data, including semi-structured interviews, observation, a survey, and a diary study. This thesis makes three contributions to new knowledge. Firstly, it develops understanding of the role of certain influences on internal capacity. Some are found to influence internal capacity directly through their impact upon internal capabilities. Others are found to influence internal capacity indirectly through the way in which they impact upon implementation of a capacity building policy. Influences are further found to be `enablers', which if present would enhance internal capabilities; `qualifiers'; without which, particular influences would `inhibit' internal capabilities, and which had the potential to become `enablers'; and `inhibitors', which had detrimental effects on internal capabilities. Secondly, it examines the relationship between direct influences and internal capacity to find that several of the influences in the extant literature are less significant in the context of a policy designed to build capacity. Further, it finds that particular influences affect other influences and so are `higher order' influences. Thirdly, it interprets the literature and research findings to conclude that `capacity building' is best understood as: the process of developing the necessary resources to meet improvement objectives, and of maximising the benefits of those resources through organisational capabilities.

The problem is, to determine the correct interpretation of the Texas statutes which govern the relationships between the municipality and the school district.

Sustainable development is generally accepted as a policy imperative. However, it can be interpreted in very different ways and is perhaps best regarded as a discourse rather than as a precisely defined term. It is also generally accepted that `sustainable development' requires actions at all spatial scales and by all levels of government, including the local. However, parish and town councils, which are the most local level of local government in rural England, are given no responsibilities in relation to sustainability. This thesis is intended to investigate the potential of parish and town councils to take a leadership role in increasing the sustainability of their communities. A casestudy approach is used, involving the study of five larger local councils in the county of Gloucestershire, in the context of larger-scale sustainable development discourses. Two case-study projects are also analysed to study how different discourses come together at the local level. We find that the concept of `sustainable development' has been adapted by UK government to conform to wider political discourses. However, government interpretations are not necessarily reproduced at the local level, where inherent contradictions become more apparent. Although parish and town councillors may express commitment to `sustainable development', they tend to interpret it in terms of the local and the relatively short- term. A discourse of local council legitimation is identified by which councillors see their role as caring for their parish, with the benefit of local knowledge and holistic thinking. The thesis concludes that if parish and town councils are to contribute to sustainable development, they must be given specific powers encompassing the global and long-term effects of local activities, and other local groups must see the local council as a leader of the community and `sustainability arbiter', rather than as just another interest group.

This thesis investigates Local Area Agreements as a tool for the effective delivery of local public services focusing on three main areas: - Centre-Local Relations and the Vertical Governance of LAAs - Intra Local Relations and the Horizontal Governance of LAAs - Learning from LAAs to improve the future practice of local public service delivery. In exploring these areas, the thesis draws upon several academic theories; principally the Strategic Relational Approach and New Institutionalism. These themes are explored in a two-tiered methodology. The first is a national overview survey of LAA practitioners which then informed the second stage; detailed interviews across two case study areas (Liverpool and St Helens) as well as with civil servants and elected politicians from national government. In relation to vertical-governance, the thesis discusses the national indicator dataset and the ability for areas to adequately focus on local policy priorities, the top-down governance of LAAs and a discussion about the role of Government Office for the regions in negotiating and delivering LAAs. In relation to horizontal governance, the research identifies both stronger and weaker actors within the local governance process, discusses the value of differing actor approaches, investigates how internal accountability affects the relationship with a wider partnership and discusses the role of elected members. The final section discusses how practitioners feel that LAAs could be improved, before discussing how current Coalition policy addresses these concerns, before drawing some final conclusions about the relative success of the LAA project. The findings show that despite initial overtures of greater local discretion over setting priorities, strong central control remained. In particular, this was seen through the indicator selection process, with areas adopting indicators that were not seen as local priorities. At the local level it is shown that a long or short term operating horizon affected how actors worked with the LAA and that those actors that traditionally operated on shorter time scales (i.e. police, fire and rescue service) were more likely to register frustration with longer term bureaucratic processes. It was also found that those actors that viewed partnership working on LAA targets as an investment for long term results were viewed as being more effective than those which simply saw it as a cost. In terms of Coalition policy in the post LAA period, it appears that many lessons have gone unheeded, particularly around the components of effective partnership working. However, the new City Deal programme presents a renewed sense of optimism for effective (and locally responsive) local public service delivery.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration in Project Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Organisations in both private and public sector have embraced Project Management as the ideal means of managing projects with the hopes of ensuring that they deliver their intended benefit. Projects have therefore become particularly prominent within the public sector including Municipalities, as a means of fulfilling developmental goals and delivering services. This has resulted in organisations investing considerable resources to ensure that they build the capacity needed to effectively manage projects. This investment usually takes the form of training and development of project managers or adopting and implementing project management methodologies with clear processes that guide how projects are managed. Within academia there has also been a broad spectrum of research devoted to the field of project management. A major focus area of project management research has been to determine the value of Project Management by measuring aspects of an organization’s project management performance and how best they can improve it to ensure project success. However, despite the advances in Project research and the practice of project management, organisations continue to face low project success rates. Findings from previous research has found that project management is very context specific and that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to implementing project management practices. Therefore, organisations should be tailoring their project management approach to best suit their unique needs. This study has therefore chosen to evaluate project management performance within Municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The aim of which was to find how best municipalities can improve their current performance and ensure project success. The rationale for this research is further supported by evidence which indicates that project management within the public sector is generally less developed than in the private sector. In this study a construct was developed to define project management performance consisting of Project Management Maturity, the impact of project teams and effective project partnerships. Project management maturity was analysed adapting a project management maturity model developed by Labuschagne and Marnewick (2008). Project success was defined by five project success criteria that were identified through literature reviews. The success criteria consisted of the completion of a project within time, budget, quality requirements, satisfaction of the public’s needs and ensuring organizational success. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 108 project managers working within a selected municipal department in South Africa. The results of this research has provided evidence of the link between project management performance and project success within municipalities. These findings provide insights on which aspects of their project management practice a municipality should focus on and develop to maximise project success. In addition, the research also contributes to a deeper insight into the application, benefits and pitfalls of project management maturity models.

Government budgetary techniques and related management systems have been recently of great concern in many countries all over the world. At the present time a few, major developments have been made in this field and these are the main focus of discussions in this thesis with a view to assessing their respective influence on the management of government activities in general, and local government in particular. This study aims to achieve one major objective, that of the empirical investigation of the state and developments of such techniques and procedures in English local authorities. This was done on the basis of the combination of a theoretical analysis, supported by the necessary descriptive material, with an empirical survey to test the main hypotheses of the study. The thesis is presented in three parts, where the first and the second present the theoretical review of the literature, critically discussing the state of the above-mentioned procedures in government activities through both central and local government. The final part summarises and evaluates the findings resulting from the analysis of the survey. The various findings have, where appropriate, been used to test the conclusions of the theoretical aspects of the thesis. The research findings suggest that traditional budgetary procedures in English local authorities are no longer sufficient for an effective and efficient allocation of resources. The annual budget within a corporate planning framework is an integrated part of overall policy and strategy in most authorities. Indeed it is a significant part of the corporate planning system. The present research also confirms that English local authorities have tended to doubt the practical value of PPBS and to prefer a corporate planning approach. A number of authorities have recognised the value of adopting ZBB, and some of them have adopted a modified budgeting approach based on ZBB principles. It seems that these authorities believe in ZBB as an approach suitable to a climate of restraint and cutback. Finally, the majority of the authorities disagree that the introduction of any changes in their accounting and auditing systems were a direct result of the introduction of the newer budgetary techniques.