This thesis evaluates the position of the NDP as Canada’s third party in federal electoral politics. It analyzes three external factors, the electoral system, the party finance system and the effects of voter behaviour and low voter turnout on the electoral success of the NDP. This work aims to discover why the NDP is seemingly caught in what this thesis refers to as a third party curse. Each of the three external factors which are susceptible to change are analyzed individually to discover whether they have a negative effect on the electoral success of the party.

This thesis evaluates the position of the NDP as Canada’s third party in federal electoral politics. It analyzes three external factors, the electoral system, the party finance system and the effects of voter behaviour and low voter turnout on the electoral success of the NDP. This work aims to discover why the NDP is seemingly caught in what this thesis refers to as a third party curse. Each of the three external factors which are susceptible to change are analyzed individually to discover whether they have a negative effect on the electoral success of the party.

This thesis focuses on third party logistics providers in Sweden and their service offerings. The author examines, evaluate and discuss the range of third party logistics services provided by third party logistics companies in Sweden. Furthermore, the author categorized the third party logistics providers using some of proposed frameworks and theories for differentiating third party logistics providers from previous researchers. This was done to determine the relevant categories that the third party logistics providers in Sweden belongs to. Moreover, the author made a comparison of the competence of third party logistics providers in terms of the number of services they offer in Sweden. The author used the qualitative research approach as the thesis is more exploratory in nature. Basically, exploratory research is conducted to obtain greater understanding of a concept or to help clarify ambiguous problem. The author interview four (4) third party logistics providers in Sweden and other information such as the provider’s website information and annual reports was used in the analysis. It is interesting to note that, relationship between third party logistics providers and their customer is a major factor when classifying providers into different category. Some of the theories proposed by previous researcher on the classification of third party logistics provider have become obsolete due to the fact that the relationship between the third party logistics providers and their customers has evolve over the years from formal cooperation to strategic alliance and joint ownership. Some of the companies are less competent than others in terms of the services they offer in each of the third party logistics service categories. This does not necessarily make them weaker because the services they offer in each of the categories are being driven by the company’s business strategy to stay competitive in the third party logistics industry. Furthermore, although size and global status give some competitive advantages, adopting different strategies such as creating a niche market in a particular service or a particular industry will provide major competitive advantages to third party logistics providers.

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.

This thesis shows the development and shifts in rhetorical form as strategies evolve to meet heresthetic demands. This thesis explores the rhetorical crisis that emerged between the Democratic Party and the Mississippi Freedom Party at the 1964 Democratic Convention. Specifically, the focus is on the rhetorical discourse presented by the members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, Fannie Lou Hamer in particular, at the Credentials Committee two days before the onset of the actual Convention. It is the rhetorical interplay in the specific context of the Committee, the subsequent political bargaining behind the scenes during the next four days of the Convention, and the emerging and evolving constraints as a result of this bargaining that illuminate the symbolic power and limitations behind a rhetoric aimed at redefining race in the nation??s social and political consciousness.

A typical Chinese intellectual has not only sense, but also sensibility. But, the problem is the balance in between. After dealing with sensibility well, the rationality of an intellectual is able to work well. And that makes the life completely. In this dimension, the Chinese intellectuals are a special community in Chinese society. It has great influence on cultural, political, economical, and societal changes in every historical stage. Especially, it affects the Chinese modernization process. Therefore, questions about Chinese intellectuals are becoming a focus to academic circles around the world. However, to Chinese Communist Party (CCP), intellectuals are nothing more than hangdogs. Besides, in CCP, those who take charge in the end are the Peripheries in the old society. Somehow, Chinese intellectuals walk on a continuous marginalizing way. CCP`s policy toward the intellectuals can be divided into two parts, and they are Before and After the Establishment of People`s Republic China, and former could be also named WWII or War against Japan phase. The policy in former stage focused on three contradictions: 1. Partiality versus Humanity; 2. Dogma versus Academy; 3. Democracy versus Enslavement. And its practices are: 1. Political discrimination; 2. Pullback on work; 3. Carelessness on life. The CCP used some ways like lines struggle, self- and public-criticism, innuendo-criticism, verbal and violent struggle, etc, to reach its goal. From viewpoints of Materialism and class, the CCP thought that knowledge should serve proletariat and must be combined with labor, and two principles should be held firmly: 1. every move of CCP should be connected with mass; 2. the goal of central CCP leadership. In the second stage, CCP planed some principles for coming communism society, and these principles tried to overturn old relation of production, to replace private ownership, to ruin ruling class and class itself, and to erase division of labor based on private ownership. CCP tried to let everyone have full development and real freedom. So, policies they adopted like hundred flower blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend, Struggle-criticism-transformation policy during Cultural Revolution, Policy after Lin Biao Incident, Policy after collapse of Gang of Four, etc. 21st century is an age of Knowledge-based Economy, and intellectuals play a more important role in this century. And in this age, everyone must have some practice and experience to find the true meaning of life, and the target worth for fighting. In the future, those who do not advance, go backward and who goes back goes under.

Akademisk avhanding--Sciences politiques--Stockholms universitet, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 188-207.

Thesis (JSD)--City University of Hong Kong, 2009. / "Submitted to School of Law for the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 337-358)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1930. / At head of title: The Catholic University of America. Bibliography: p. 201-206.

Most studies of electoral system effects tend to ignore the characteristics of parties in the causal chain. Yet, this dissertation argues that different party structures, when interacting with electoral systems, lead to different levels of party system fragmentation. In a weak party structure, elite action is the key to explaining the different outcomes: a permissive electoral system tends to inflate the number of parties because the rule poses an obstacle to elites’ electoral coordination. But this major obstacle is removed under a restrictive rule, which results in lower fragmentation. By contrast, the role of voters becomes active in a strong party structure; therefore, the effects of permissive and restrictive electoral systems become similar as both tend to bring down the number of parties through voters’ strategic behavior. This dissertation tests the theory on Thailand since the country has gone through three waves of electoral reform in which the electoral system has been changed between a permissive and a restrictive electoral rule. At the same time, the party structure has changed following the victory of the Thai Rak Thai Party in the 2001 election. The changing interactions of party structures and electoral systems provide a quasiexperimental setting conducive to inspecting the effects of the key factors on party system fragmentation while other confounding variables (social heterogeneity and viii political institutions) are held constant. This research design allows me to compare periods of time in different configurations of party system fragmentation. This dissertation applied multi-methods, including case study analysis, single-country multilevel quantitative analysis, and a large N, cross-national quantitative analysis, to reach the conclusions. Theoretically, the findings suggest that electoral system effects are contingent on party structures. Successful institutional engineering requires deep understanding of both formal rules and the political context of a particular country. In other words, one size cannot fit all, even for the same country at different times. / text