Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1993. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-341). / by Laura A. Hastings. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / In the approaches seen at the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, why did states faced with the same security problem adopt different strategies? Answering this question will bring understanding to why the process has proceeded in fits and starts, as the countries negotiating with Pyongyang - China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States - often struggle to coordinate strategy in their quest to resolve a grave issue of international security. This paper approaches the question by taking up three possible drivers behind strategy among the five negotiating countries - realist calculations, domestic political institutions, and national identity - and, tracing each country's strategy within the talks, identifies the most likely of these drivers for each state. This study finds that while the United States, China, and Russia bring primarily realist concerns to the table, they employ separate strategies toward the North Korean nuclear issue, reflecting differing drivers and goals. In addition, South Korea and Japan see their strategies driven by issues related to national identity and domestic politics. In looking at the origins of these drivers, this study finds that China's realist drive stems largely from its particular vision of economic and geopolitical growth; Japan's push for a resolution to the kidnapping issue stems from politicians' aim for domestic political popularity made easier through Japan's lack of a history of relations with North Korea; Russia's realist drive derives from the Putin-led push to regain a semblance of its historical sphere of influence; / (cont.) South Korea's focus on peninsular engagement comes from a renewed nationalism, its legacy as a "divided nation," and a reimagining of the North Korea threat; and the United States' concentration on realist factors is derived from unique aspects of the post-September 11, 2001 security environment as well as a reassertion of regional goals that underscores U.S.-China competition. / by Jason M. Zahorchak. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-231). / How can states with weak and politicized bureaucracies enforce labor and environmental regulations? Through a study of subnational variation in Argentina, this dissertation develops a framework to explain why bureaucrats are able to enforce regulations in some cases and not others. The framework focuses on two factors: the strength of linkages between bureaucrats and civil society organizations, and the level of administrative capacity in the bureaucracy. Strong linkages can facilitate routinized resource sharing and the construction of pro-enforcement coalitions, and administrative capacity determines whether bureaucrats passively or strategically use societal resources. By explaining variation in patterns of enforcement that are obscured by existing approaches, this research opens up new possibilities for crafting strategies to strengthen regulatory institutions. The dissertation draws on data collected during sixteen months of field research, including over 250 semi-structured interviews and an original survey of labor inspectors. / by Matthew Amengual. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 378-396). / by James H. Rosberg. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1983. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY / Bibliography: leaves 97-102. / by José Manuel Perez. / M.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-90). / Assuming there is another North Korean invasion; could the South Koreans counterinvade North Korea and prevail even without the United States' assistance? This paper studies the possibility of a South Korean counterinvasion against North Korea by looking at the qualitative combat dynamics and performing a formal campaign analyses based on the Korean peninsula's conventional military balance. This study first analyzes the process of the South Korean defensive against the North Korean invasion, and examines South Korea's likely counterinvasion scenarios and assesses their chances of success. These scenarios vary based on North Korea's likely courses of action once its offensive fails, depending on whether the North Koreans retreat to the military demarcation line or hold their position within the South territory. According to this paper's analysis, South Korea is capable of counterinvading North Korea in all the scenarios suggested. South Korea possesses a qualitatively superior force with better readiness and logistics powered by a stronger economy, while the North Koreans lack the force effectiveness necessary to carry out their theory of victory. First, the South Korean forces are capable of fending off a North Korean invasion while inflicting severe damage to the North Koreans; second, the South Korean forces would inflict considerable casualty to the North Koreans during their retreat; finally, the South Korean offensive would be capable of breaking through the weakened North Korean defense. This study makes several contributions. First, it examines the puzzle of South Korean counterinvasion that has been under-discussed despite its political and strategic significance. In doing so, the study presents an opportunity to explain North Korea's recent behaviors and the United States' redefinition of its role involving the peninsula, hence increasing our understanding of the East Asian security dynamics. Second, by providing an updated survey of the peninsula's conventional balance, this study enhances our knowledge in the two Korea's strategic capabilities which have undergone considerable changes. Third, this study advances our usage of campaign analyses by applying a phased use of the models with changing parameters. This approach enables us to analyze multi-phased campaigns comprised of different dynamics with better accuracy. / by Jonghyuk Chung. / S.M.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-184). / Research on new industrial policy suggests that developing economies' ability to enter and upgrade in new export industries in the context of globalization depends significantly on the existence of supporting institutions and services, developed through public-private collaboration. Yet despite the consensus that "good" sectoral governance matters, we have little understanding of how it emerges, particularly in countries that lack the prerequisites for successful industrial policy. What drives sectoral governance reforms - defined as shifts in sector-specific institutional arrangements or regulations that lower barriers to entry and/or provide collective resources to support firm-level upgrading - in export industries in developing economies? Through a comparative and longitudinal study of variation in governance outcomes within and across the seafood and rice export sectors in Vietnam, this dissertation develops a political framework to explain why some export sectors, at some moments in time, develop nimble, market-responsive governance and others do not. The argument revolves around three factors: industry stakeholder pressure and buy-in, bureaucratic space, and sectoral policy entrepreneurs. By examining variation in governance outcomes, this research moves beyond describing new industrial policymaking to explaining its political origins. It seeks to update literatures on business-government relations and the politics of industrialization to account for a broader set of cases, and in so doing to identify new opportunities for developing economies to take advantage of trade liberalization and globalization, particularly in the growing global food trade. The dissertation draws on data collected during eight months of fieldwork in Vietnam involving 160 interviews with firms, government officials, industry associations and global buyers.. / by Laura Helene Chirot. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 392-417). / This dissertation examines the determinants of the extent of privatization of service delivery. Despite the fact that right-wing governments extolling neo-liberal policies have placed privatization at the top of the policy agenda in recent years, there are some services that have experienced very little privatization, if at all. The aim of this dissertation is to explain the considerable variation in privatization experiences across service programs in different policy domains, political systems and over time. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of privatization of service delivery, while funding remains public, in three policy domains - education K-12, mental health care, and incarceration - across three different political systems - Massachusetts, Texas and England. The comparison of the nine case studies revealed significant differences in the extent of privatization across the three policy domains. Privatization rates in education were considerably lower than in the two other domains, while privatization rates in mental healthcare were higher. Despite considerable differences in institutional structure and the balance of right-left power, the differences in privatization rates across political systems did not follow any clear pattern. The explanation for the difference across policy domains primarily focus on institutional factors. Programs in policy domains with many stakeholders are less likely to be privatized than programs that are smaller by comparison. Also, programs that are institutionally stable are more difficult to privatize than programs that are undergoing radical institutional restructuring for reasons unrelated to privatization. / (cont.) Finally, the dissertation discusses privatization dynamics in a single program over time. The main conclusion of this analysis is that the private sector tends to increase its political involvement after initial privatization has been accomplished, thus potentially bringing about an acceleration of the privatization process. / by Amos J. Zehavi. / Ph.D.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 389-408). / militaries learn in war by developing and testing a theory of wartime military learning in the joint operational context. In doing so, the dissertation makes three related arguments. First, it examines not just whether militaries learn in war, but how militaries learn in war. Specifically, it defines learning as a process that includes two distinct but related phases: first, identifying a problem and, second, implementing a solution. From this conceptual standpoint, the dissertation then proposes a theory of wartime military learning that can explain and predict both whether and how a military is likely to learn the lessons of war, which I call Military Filtration Theory (MFT). MFT argues that wartime military learning is best explained by examining the interaction of two key variables: first, the state's national military strategy and, second, the military's resource endowments. These two variables act as a filter on the information that is identified and absorbed by military organizations throughout the learning process. Finally, the dissertation tests MFT against several alternative explanations in the novel and challenging empirical setting of joint operations. Specifically, I examine the different experiences of the British, American, and German militaries in successfully learning to execute tactical airpower operations during World War II. In addition to demonstrating variation in the learning process, these three cases allow me to focus on a subset of joint operations that sets a high bar for existing theories of military learning in ways that the extant literature does not. The findings of this study provide new theoretical and empirical insights for students of military learning, as well as several practical lessons for policymakers and warfighters. / by Lena Simone Andrews. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 394-406). / by Karen Jacobsen. / Ph.D.