Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-90).

What is civil society? This term is no longer new to Hong Kong people in the past 10 years. Nowadays we learn about the conflicts between the HKSARG and civil society groups from time to time given the increasingly weak governance under Hong Kong’s political landscape. A new type of nonprofits (NGOs) formed after 2000 in Hong Kong is closely related to the development of civil society. This paper attempts to argue that the state-nonprofit relationship in Hong Kong can be classified as statist-corporatist, a term used by Lee (2005a) with reference to Salamon, Sokolowski, and Anheier’s Social Origins Theory (2000). The “statist” character refers to the authoritarianism undertaken by the government to grip the control of nonprofits in order to consolidate its ruling; on the other hand, the “corporatist” character is displayed by its consistently generous support to social welfare through funding the non-government service providers. This paper further argues that with the rise of civil society, the non-profit regime also displays a “liberal” character, a term used in Lee and Liu (2011), which has been taking shape in the past 10 years. Under the liberal regime, there is a sizeable civil society comprising smaller individual nonprofits with state financing only one of the possible funding sources. Then, how are the NGOs or civil society groups performing under the liberal regime with respect to their relationship with the state? The majority of these nonprofits work on policy advocacy to fight against the government. The current study will use the case of Hong Kong Unison, an influential nonprofit serving ethnic minorities, to demonstrate how a self-funded NGO, deficient in financial support from the government, carries out advocacy works to call for policy change to suit the need of ethnic residents in the areas of education, employment, and race discrimination. It is found that its size, composition and financing are evident to the features of a liberal regime. Furthermore, with reference to Lee and Liu’s (2011) paper on factors influencing network formation among Hong Kong nonprofits, the present study seeks to explore how this policy advocacy NGO makes use of networking as an effective strategy to form alliance with like-minded parties, given its limited resources. The interactions with different parties such as politicians, government officials, private donors, ethnic minority community, human rights groups, and the media have been discussed. What is civil society? This term is no longer new to Hong Kong people in the past 10 years. Nowadays we learn about the conflicts between the HKSARG and civil society groups from time to time given the increasingly weak governance under Hong Kong’s political landscape. A new type of nonprofits (NGOs) formed after 2000 in Hong Kong is closely related to the development of civil society. This paper attempts to argue that the state-nonprofit relationship in Hong Kong can be classified as statist-corporatist, a term used by Lee (2005a) with reference to Salamon, Sokolowski, and Anheier’s Social Origins Theory (2000). The “statist” character refers to the authoritarianism undertaken by the government to grip the control of nonprofits in order to consolidate its ruling; on the other hand, the “corporatist” character is displayed by its consistently generous support to social welfare through funding the non-government service providers. This paper further argues that with the rise of civil society, the non-profit regime also displays a “liberal” character, a term used in Lee and Liu (2011), which has been taking shape in the past 10 years. Under the liberal regime, there is a sizeable civil society comprising smaller individual nonprofits with state financing only one of the possible funding sources. Then, how are the NGOs or civil society groups performing under the liberal regime with respect to their relationship with the state? The majority of these nonprofits work on policy advocacy to fight against the government. The current study will use the case of Hong Kong Unison, an influential nonprofit serving ethnic minorities, to demonstrate how a self-funded NGO, deficient in financial support from the government, carries out advocacy works to call for policy change to suit the need of ethnic residents in the areas of education, employment, and race discrimination. It is found that its size, composition and financing are evident to the features of a liberal regime. Furthermore, with reference to Lee and Liu’s (2011) paper on factors influencing network formation among Hong Kong nonprofits, the present study seeks to explore how this policy advocacy NGO makes use of networking as an effective strategy to form alliance with like-minded parties, given its limited resources. The interactions with different parties such as politicians, government officials, private donors, ethnic minority community, human rights groups, and the media have been discussed. The present study has certain limitations. However, it is meaningful as it provides insights into the state-nonprofit relationship as the society evolves. It argues that the tension between the government and policy advocacy NGOs cannot be resolved if Hong Kong is not to run democratisation as promised by the Beijing Central Government1. Recommendations are made to call for further research on the development of policy advocacy NGOs following the establishment of the Fourth Term Government of the HKSAR on 1 July 2012. / published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The civil society perspective and the corporatist perspective have thus far dominated studies on state-society relations in the Chinese context. While these paradigms are insightful, their unidirectional and rigid natures may no longer adequately describe the complex nature of evolving state-society relations in China. As such, Joel S. Migdal’s State-in-Society framework is adopted as the theoretical premise of this study. Allowing for more fluidity, the State-in-Society theory serves as an alternative approach towards examining interactions between the state and nonprofits and between the state and society. The concept of social control within the framework is examined in further detail. Descriptive multiple case study was used as a method of inquiry, followed by thematic analysis. Findings generally corroborate with the logic of social control, with compliance, participation and legitimacy being the incremental stages with which both nonprofits and the state seek to attain from each other and from the public. It was found that the state employ strategies including co-optation, procedural validation and hijacking scholarship to gain participation whereas moral reinforcement, rhetoric validation, and image consolidation are used to attain legitimacy. Ironically, nonprofits employ similar strategies in an attempt to change the state’s behaviour. Vilification and shaming are used to gain compliance, while resource appropriation and preemptive engagement are employed to attain participation. Moral reinforcement, image consolidation, individual credibility and persistence were found to be critical factors in bolstering organizational legitimacy. Furthermore, findings generally support the claim that nonprofits operating in rural areas enjoy greater autonomy than those active in urban areas. Even so, state-society relations is highly localized and therefore overgeneralization should be avoided. In addition to contributing to the discourse on state-society relations, this study seeks to identify the role of nongovernmental organizations in orphan care provision in China. Along with content analysis and field observations, 10 in-depth cases are presented to illustrate existing obstacles pertaining to orphan care provision. Identified barriers are subsequently compartmentalized into five main categories: knowledge level, policy level, cultural level, organizational level, and state-NGO relations. Given the distinct welfare system extant between rural and urban areas, findings indicate that orphans in rural areas are disproportionately disadvantaged compared to those residing in cities. This may be due to the relatively weak economic and human resources that often characterize rural China. One important observation is the growing tendency for local governments to regard nongovernmental organizations as critical service partners. However, the sustainability of this service model is questionable, especially when the state claims to carry primary responsibility over citizen welfare. The legal ambiguity concerning the registration and governance of nonprofits also jeopardizes future undertakings. Nevertheless, it is strategically and rationally sensible for local governments to ally with nonprofits insofar as there are deficiencies in the former’s capacity to deliver social services for disadvantaged children. This study concludes by discussing policy implications on China’s third sector and social development. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Make-A-Wish Foundation is the largest wish-granting organisation in the world and can be found in over 50 countries managed by 37 affiliates in five different continents. This thesis is a strategic review of Make-A-Wish International (MAWI), including an implementation plan for the betterment of Make-A-Wish International and its affiliates, namely, Make-A-Wish Hong Kong (MAWHK). The first part of the review is a comparative study of MAWI against six comparable non-governmental organisations. The second part is a situational analysis of MAWI covering its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as some key performance indicators. The third part is an implementation plan for MAWI and MAWHK, which includes key areas of focus, namely Wishes and Wish Quality, Operations, Organisational Development, Community Engagement, Revenue Generation and Brand Building. With this strategic review, the hope is to be able to assist MAWI and MAWHK in its next stages of development to better provide services for the communities they serve. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Curitiba’s Integrated Transportation Network (ITN), in Brazil, has been highly regarded as a model of sustainable transportation for several years. Since its inception, the system has not only been molded to address the three core dimensions of sustainability –environmental, social and economic- but has also successfully brought together the government, the private sector and the general public. The purpose of this study is to describe the case of Curitiba’s planning process and transportation system. More specifically, this report first examines the conditions that led to a system to be well-regarded as sustainable and then determines some lessons learned that can guide the implementation of similar systems in other cities. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Non-governmental organisations (NGO) have been recognised as important actors when it comes to achieving a sustainable development. Cooperation between the state and NGOs is desirable and this thesis is a contribution to the knowledge about the cooperation between NGOs and the state. The objective is to provide a deeper understanding of the cooperation between environmental NGOs and the Moldovan state. The environmental NGOs that are chosen are based in Chisinau and have worked with waste management and recycling. Further the thesis also aims to suggest factors that can affect the nature of the relationship     between the chosen actors. To achieve this I carried out a case study of four environmental NGOs that are based in Chisinau. A representative from each NGO was interviewed about the organisation and its relationship to the state. Theories about clientelism and synergy were then used to analyse the results. I have come to the conclusion that there is a positive attitude towards cooperation with the state but at the same time the NGOs strive to maintain their independence from the state. In addition to this there are certain factors such as trust, availability of resources, and the characteristics of the NGOs can influence the nature of the relationship. This study is a contribution to the knowledge regarding NGO-state relationships and can be used as a base for further studies on this subject. This subject is important to study as NGOs have been identified as important actors in achieving a sustainable development and governments are encouraged to cooperate with them.

The study analysed four South African non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to determine which internal areas/parts promoted and inhibited its functioning. In this context, areas/parts refer to purposes, structure, relationships, rewards, leadership, helpful mechanisms and attitude towards change. The main objectives of this research were to investigate the different areas of functioning to determine which ones were hindering and which were helping the NGOs. The research would subsequently provide feedback and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders. The research design was quantitative with the Organisational Diagnosis Questionnaire (ODQ) being used. The questionnaires were analysed on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Overall results revealed that the internal areas of leadership, purposes, rewards and relationships were promoting the organisations’ functioning while structure, helpful mechanisms and attitude towards change were inhibiting the organisations’ functioning. The results also revealed the promoting and inhibiting factors/areas for each organisation. The promoting factors contribute to the organisations’ functioning and the inhibiting factors hinder the organisations’ functioning. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

This dissertation focuses on the role of non-governmental organisations in provision of health care services in KwaZulu-Natal. The study had three objectives which were: - identify the role of non-governmental organisations in the provision of health in KwaZulu-Natal. - describe mechanisms for enhancing collaboration between the government and non-government organisations. - investigate mechanisms for redistribution of resources from the public and private sectors to the non-government organisations. The Nationalist Party government, supported by its apartheid policies created imbalances in the provision of services in South Africa. Generally speaking, inequity in all spheres of life was visible between the white population which was the minority and their counterparts, the blacks which were the majority. Health care services were fragmented and divided in racial lines. The whites who were predominantly located in urban areas had access to curative health care which was affordable to them. The blacks were located in rural areas which were referred to as homelands. The health services were minimal and in most places they were unavailable. Curative facilities provided by hospitals and clinics were situated long distances from where the majority of the population could find them. Transport facilities like roads were not well developed, ambulances and health care workers were not available. Health care facilities was inadequate in these areas. The health care provided by the apartheid government was inadequate and structures which were outside the government known as non-government organisations were formed. These NGOs acted as the first line of health defence to the marginalised sectors of the South African communities. Non-governmental organisations were also functioning in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and some were comprehensive in approach and did not provide only health services but also training and education, housing, social services and other development activities. The role of these non-governmental organisations involved the following:- improving health in the most remote and disadvantaged communities, for example, informal settlements, rural and the ultra poor areas. - providing integrated and comprehensive services, for example, employment generating projects, education and training and housing. - unifying the different racial groups and breaking down prejudices and assumptions with regard to race and gender. Although non-governmental organisations operated in South Africa, there was always confrontation between the government structures and NGOs, particularly those which were actively involved in the upliftment of the lives of the previously disadvantaged communities, namely the blacks. These non-governmental organisations provided these services under a variety of unpleasant conditions, characterised by assassinations, tortures and imprisonment. These NGOs were banned by the government and others operated under restrictive and authoritarian government policies. The recent political changes which took place in South Africa - the unbanning of political organisations like the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress highlighted the need for transformation in all aspects of life. In 1994 a democratic government which was ANC-Ied was legitimately elected. The government of national unity was committed to the upliftment of the lives of all South Africans, particularly the provision of health care for all. People were extremely optimistic when the new government (GNU) came into power. The role of non-government organisations was theoretically non-existence and minimal as the government was aiming at providing health care services to the previously disadvantaged communities. Foreign donors and funders redirected their financial assistance to the government and the funding was between government to government. The personnel from non-governmental organisations was recruited to business and government sectors which also challenged NGOs to replace these dedicated and committed people. The funding problem has become a major challenge to non-governmental organisations and most of them have been forced to shut down. The political transformation has challenged non-government organisations to reposition themselves and work with government in the upliftment of the lives of all South Africans. The government of national unity is committed to the provision of equitable, preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services at all community levels, particularly the previously disadvantaged. The researcher has identified two non-governmental organisations as a case study and these NGOs are providing health care services in KwaZulu-Natal. The NGOs are the Health Systems Trust and the Valley Trust. In addition to these two NGOs literature which was relevant to this study was also reviewed. The researcher reached the following conclusions after the findings of the study were analysed: - Non-governmental organisations have played an important role in the past in the upliftment of the lives of South Africans. - Resources have been inequitable been distributed and there is a need to redistribute these resources equally. - South Africa is faced with health problems which needs all stakeholders to be involve in order to eradicate ill-health. The study offers a number of recommendations based from the conclusions which can be generalised to non-governmental organisations providing health services. / Thesis (M.Admin)-University of Durban-Westville, 1999.

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