The research investigates the effects of the 1989-92 Public Service Renewal and 1995-1997 Reform of the State administrative reform programme on the ministerial field services. These reforms, through the processes of deconcentration and responsibilisation, delegated increased autonomy to the firld services in their operational management to enable them to improve their delivery of policy objectives. The primary research question was whether operational and institutional factors at field service level impeded or facilitated moves towards a more managerial logic of appropriateness as envisaged by the reform programmes. Through an institutional analysis of the French administrative reform process, a number of institutional and operational factors were identified that would determine the capacity of the field services to engage in the reform process. These factors included the concessions made by the reforms to the field services in budgetary and human resource management, the incentives for field service officials to participate and the extent to which both the field services and their central Ministries were able to adjust to the requirements of the reform. In addition, there were the conservative influences of the trade unions, the effects of budgetary cutbacks and the contextual backgrounds of the respective Ministries that were influences on the receptivity of the field service to change. Burgelman's 'Model of the Interaction of Strategic Behavior, Corporate Context and the Concept of Strategy' was used as the theeoretical framework through which the findings from the fieldwork investigations conducted in the Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure Ministries were interpreted. The theoretical framework was found to be applicable to the French administrative context through its articulation of those over their operations and to show greater initiative. Burgelman's criteria for autonomous strategic behaviour were, therefore, adapted to the French administrative reform context and utilised as a structural framework through which the research findings were presented. The establishment of whether the respective criterial had been met provided a means to identify those institutional and operational variables which influenced the capacity of the field services to exercise greater autonomy in their operational management. The explanatory insights of Burgelman's model show how the resilience of traditional institutional features and the effects of budgetary cutbacks minimised the impact of the Public Service Renewal and the Reform of the State programmes in those field services of the Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure Ministries where fieldwork was carried out. The conditions within the French administration were found to be more constraining on the organisational behaviour of officials than Burgelman's model, based on a large scale private sector organisation envisages. Burgelman's model was able to identify the organisational dynamics that constrain reform, but was not able to trace the source of these constraints into a wider social context. It was found that insights from sociological and rational choise institutionalist perspectives clarified the missing social elements of Burgelman's model. The final chapter examines how the organisational dynamics identified in the study could be used as the basis for a generalised framework.

European integration theory is currently in a stage of evolution in which the validity of the traditional theoretical approaches, neofunctionalism and neorealism is increasingly questioned as a consequence of their inability to explain and predict EU developments successfully. The two theories, longtime rivals derived from International Relations (IR) scholarship, are now challenged by an emergent critique grounded in comparative politics theory. Within the IR camp, attempts to bolster the orthodox theories through their synthesis have been unsuccessful. The neofunctionalist-neorealist rivalry continues unproductively despite the advent of a rival paradigm. John Peterson's framework of European Union (EU) decision making, the focal theory of this thesis, seeks to provide a means of marrying IR and comparative political concepts, but requires (and fails to make) a choice between the two IR theories in order to function. The aim of this thesis therefore, is to shed new light on the neofunctionalist-neorealist debate by applying literature to an analysis of the Committee of the Regions. This new EU body affords actors from subnational government their first formal rights in EU policy making, thereby significantly altering the range of actors involved in that process. In order to meet this objective, an original investigation of the Committee was undertaken. It involved research interviews with a series of key actors as well as analysis of the available literature, and concluded that the Committee is having a limited but identifiable impact on the EU policy. The thesis argues that neither neofunctionalism nor neorealism is able to encompass this due to their respective essential premises. It therefore proceeds to propose amendments to the Peterson framework, drawing on its advocacy of a composite model of EU decision making to advance a new framework. The latter harnesses insights obtained from confederal, multi level governance, policy network and new institutionalist theories, and thereby lends support to the burgeoning paradigm shift in favour of comparative politics.

The aim of this thesis is to explain recent developments in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) infrastructure policy and their implications for European integration theory. It sets out to test the view that firstly, the ad hoc nature of the TEN-T programme leads to national governments reaffirming their role as key actors within the EU policymaking process. Secondly, the aspiration of the EU's sustainable mobility strategy is not implemented in practice at the national level. The thesis combines theories of European integration with a study of the EU day-to-day transport policy making process to show how the TEN-T programme fits into wider debates on sustainability and European integration generally. To achieve this objective the thesis examines the dichotomous debate that exists between intergovernmental and supranational theorists in their attempts to conceptualise the wider process of European integration. It argues that such approaches drawn from International Relations (IR) are sufficient tools to explain the EU system of governance. In order to characterise the EU transport policy-making process more effectively this thesis highlights the need to adopt a combination of tools from both IR and Comparative Politics (CP) schools of thought. The transport sector is examined within the thesis for the reason that it remains one of the few policy areas that can better illustrate the tension between intergovernmental and supranational approaches to European integration. In addition, the transport sector is of European significance as decades of unrestrained growth have heightened concerns about its ability to achieve sustainable mobility. Indeed, the TEN-T programme is offered as part of the solution to Europe's transport problems and as a means of promoting sustainable mobility within the EU. However, analysis of the TEN-T policy development reveals a set of obstacles to the implentation of a sustainable European transport infrastructure policy. The findings resulting from this research are firstly, contrary to the assumption that European transport policy is dominated by an integrationist strategy of the political centre in Europe: it is the national government that remains the key actor in the European transport infrastructure policy process. Secondly, based on the evidence presented within this thesis, the transport sector does not signify a marked shift towards multi-level governance. Thirdly, the absence of this power sharing framework can be used to explain the unsustainable direction of the current TEN-T policy.

The aim of the thesis is to gain insight into the contemporary system of urban governance through an analysis of multi-sectoral regeneration partnerships. It specifically seeks to contribute to an understanding of urban governance through an investigation of three inter-linked themes. These are firstly, the power relations that governance entails; secondly, the quality of the relationships between those involved, with particular regard to the existence (or otherwise) of trust; and, thirdly, the democratic implications of the system. Three conceptual lenses were developed to investigate those central concerns, the first drawing on insights from regime theory, the second employing the literature on social capital and the third utilising the principles of deliberative democratic theory. These lenses were applied both separately and holistically to concrete examples of three different types of multisectoral regeneration partnerships operating within the geographical location of Brighton and Hove. The purpose was firstly, to ascertain whether when viewing the partnerships holistically the exercise of power, the development of trust and the engendering of democracy were compatible with one another; secondly, to gauge whether success in one of those dimensions was to the detriment of one or more of the others; and thirdly, to examine how different types of partnerships dealt with those issues. From the case study it was found that the exercise of power, the development of trust and the engendering of democracy were difficult goals for all of the partnerships studied. It was also found those goals were incompatible with one another and that success in one was to the detriment of one or more of the others but that the different types of partnership dealt with those issues in different ways. These findings contribute to a fuller understanding of multi-sectoral regeneration partnerships in and of themselves and they also provide insights into the contemporary system of urban governance. For the practice of urban governance they indicate, for example, that policy makers may be faced with incommensurable goals. At a conceptual level the findings suggest the need for a holistic approach to the subject.

Deliberative democratic theory has evolved in response to the perceived limits of liberal democratic theory and practice and offers a challenge to, and a critical perspective from which to judge, contemporary liberal representative institutions. The institution of representation establishes a 'division of labour' between an elite of professional politicians and a passive, privatized citizenry. Deliberative democracy offers the possibility of a different form of that division where increased opportunities for citizen participation are taken to be both feasible and desirable, and citizen engagement forms part of an ongoing critical dialogue upon which more legitimate forms of political authority can be grounded. Underpinning deliberative democratic theory is the idea that our needs and interests may be dialogically interpreted and formed. This takes us away from the notion of the citizen as sole proprieter of private, subjectively formed preferences and provides the imperative for a more public, active conception of citizenship. The work of Jurgen Habarmas is central to deliberative demoratic theory. His distinction between strategic and communicative rationality lies at the heart of the deliberative critique of representative government and in itself provides a useful critical foothold. However, Habermas's procedural conception of discursive legitimacy, though necessary, is not a sufficient condition for a flourishing and vibrant deliberative democracy. This thesis addresses this lacuna in his work, the problem of the mediation of moral pronciples and moral culture, and elaborates a political ethic of philia politike which substantively supplements contemporary deliberative democratic theory. Turning to the question of deliberative democratic institutions, we ask whether deliberative democracy should be seen as an alternative to liberal representative democracy, requiring a complete restructuring lf liberal political institutions, or whether it points to the reform and supplementation of representative structures and practices. We draw learning from the experience of citizens' juries on what may be of value to deliberative democratic theory as well as critically assessing the claim that citizen's juries are viable deliberative institutions.

This study deals with the development of political communication in Nigeria, from the colonial, independence and post-colonial periods. Also background information is given on the political communication systems in the precolonial period. It is argued that the patterns of pre-colonial systems still persist, particulary in the rural areas of Nigeria. Hence, the thesis undertakes to examine in detail, the political communication relationships between 'two separate but relatively autonomous environments in Nigeria with particular reference to the 1983 general elections. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first is a historical theoretical and methodological - analysis of politics and communication in Nigeria and the second a specific study of the 1983 general elections. The first chapter analyses the classical conceptions of political development and the development of political communication. The classical models are discussed and defined in three main stages: traditional, transitional, and modern nation-state. Chapter Two examines the pclitical communication trends that have led to the assumption that modern communication systems are all powerful politically. This leads to my analysis, criticisms and rejeciton of the linear model of communication development. Following my rejection, of the linear model, I suggested a theoretical and methodological framework for this study. Chapter Three looks at the structure of political and communication systems in the precolonial Nigeria. Kinship and religion are established as the mechanisms of sociopolitical and economic relationships in the pre-colonial period. Chapter Four centres on the impact of colonial administration on the precolonial institutions and the development of party politics, Christian religion and western education. Chapters Five and Six analyse the development of mass media and their relationship to different groups. Chapter Seven critically evaluates the political role of mass media as factors that influence electorates' political opinion. Part two presents an empirical analysis of the 1983 general elections with particular reference to Imo State. Under it, Chapter Eight sets out the method of the research. Major problems encountered in the fieldwork and how they were solved are stated. Chapters Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve establish the characteristics and attributes of five groups of participants, their membership of voluntary organisations, their political participation and relationship to channels of communication respectively. In Chapter Thirteen political issues are discussed in relation to voters' views. Ln Chapter Fourteens the relationship between the mass media, political personalities and issues are examined. Finally Chapter Fifteen attempts to assess the role and direction of political communication development in Nigeria today - Some suggestions are made as regards to the most useful approach to political communication in Nigeria.

No description available.

The central and pivotal doctrine of the Imamate in the Twelver Shii creed maintains that the Imams are endowed with the exclusive prerogative to assume the authority and functions of the Prophet in both the temporal and religious domains. This is so by virtue of explicit designation (nass) received by each Imam from his predecessor to act as custodian, protector and expositor of divine teachings. Unfavourable political circumstances during the 'Umayyad and 'Abbasid dynasties forced the Imams to adopt a quietist attitude and to opt for accommodation with the illegitimate authorites. The inaccessibility of the Imams and their inability to guide their followers in distant places resulted in delegation of certain functions of the the Imams to the 'ulama' to guide the community. The prolonged occultation of the twelfth Shii Imam led the jurists to arrogate to themselves the right to act as his indirect deputies (na'ib al-Imam). Establishment of Imami Shiism as the state religion by the Safavids in the early sixteenth century, the victory of the Usuli school over the Akhbaris and the formulation of the institutions of marja'iya and a'lamiya paved the way for Ayatullah Khumayni to lay the grounds for the jurist's assumption of all-comprehensive authority (al-wilaya al-mutlaqa) by extrapolating arguments from tradition reports. The combination of the marja'iya and leadership (rahbar) of the Islamic State in the person of Ayatullah Khumayni had the potential of marshalling the Shii 'ulama' and masses to support for a political cause. However, bifurcation of these two roles in the 1989 revised Constitution of Iran forebodes the separation of the secular and the religious spheres.

plan A / Pacific Islands Studies

Of the various regional languages in France, Occitan, a language spoken in the southern third of the country, is facing some major problems, namely those of the creation of a written standard — a process which began only in the late 19th century — and the splintering of the Occitan movement into several distinct dialect groups. One of these dialects, Gascon, has long been considered the black sheep of the Occitan dialects, due in part to its peculiar phonology, lexicon and its literature, which developed in a much different manner than the other Occitan dialects for a number of reasons. Gascon is also the most widely misunderstood of the varieties of "Langue d'Oc", often being confused as being either a separate language, a very corrupt form of French (a patois), or simply a very distant relative to Occitan. This thesis attempts to explain the rationale for a Gascon language movement by examining its historical and social development and the shifting cultural identity over time. The linguistic traits specific to Gascon will be discussed, as well as the differences between it and the other forms of Occitan. Finally, a brief discussion of the present state of Gascon and the regional movement(s) will conclude this overview of one of the many regional or minority languages of France.