This thesis offers a perspective on why majority-poor democracies might fail to pursue pro-poor policies. In particular, it discusses why in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, which claimed to represent the poor and under-privileged, did not claim and spend large amounts of centre–state fiscal transfers that could have reduced poverty, provided employment and benefitted core supporters. Despite this failure, the RJD and Yadav enjoyed repeated electoral success between 1990 and 2005, in a context of credible elections and a majority of poor voters. I have called this combination of events the ‘Bihar paradox'. I explore this paradox by: 1. Creating two panel data sets on fiscal transfers in the form of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and State Plan Allocations made from the Government of India to sixteen main states over an eight-year period from 1997-98 to 2004-05. 2. Using the panel data sets to show that, during this period: a) Poor states in India claimed and spent less of the centre–state fiscal transfers available to them than wealthier states b) Relative to other states, the Government of Bihar claimed and spent less fiscal transfers than expected of a state at its level of poverty. 3. Explaining how Yadav's electoral strategy contributed to this under-claiming and under-spending. For Yadav, the political imperative was to marginalize the upper castes and provide selective benefits to key supporters. This led to large numbers of public sector vacancies which eroded state administrative capacity in all but a few ‘pockets of productivity', which in turn led to poor results for general development outcomes. The Bihar story is relevant to areas of research variously labelled as ‘state-building', ‘capacity development' and ‘public sector reform'. It is another warning about how easy it is to foster pessimism by attributing governance problems in poor countries to deeply embedded historical or cultural factors, when they may have more immediate, political and tractable causes.

Koreans are increasingly participating in overseas golf holidays in the Asia Pacific region and this trend is expected to continue. The popularity of golf holidays has been linked to the growing demands of special interest tourism and sport tourism where tourists seek to satisfy specific travel needs and wants to meet their travel motivations. Research into travel motivation using the concept of the push and pull framework is therefore a focus of study in tourism research. To date, little or no research has examined travel motivation and tourist typology using the push and pull framework in the markets of special interest tourism, sport tourism, or golf tourism. This thesis fills the gap in the literature and contributes to knowledge of tourist motivation and typology. The aims of the research were therefore three-fold: to identify the push and pull factors of golf travel motivation, to classify heterogeneous golf tourists into homogeneous groups, and to profile the clusters with respect to socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. This was achieved by collecting empirical data on Korean golf tourists travelling in the Asia Pacific region. The methodology comprised both qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews and quantitative research based on self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was employed to identify five push based socio-psychological motivations and seven pull based destination attributes. A cluster analysis was then conducted to classify golfers into three different clusters, namely, Golf-intensive Golfers, Multi-motivated Golfers, and Companion Golfers. The golf clusters were then profiled based on the findings in respect to socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. A cross tabulation with chi-square tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses of this thesis. Results revealed that golf tourists were not homogeneous in their push based socio-psychological travel motivations. Their profiles are theoretically and statistically feasible because the research tested hypotheses indicate that each cluster had both similarities and differences in socio-demographics, golf related behaviour and travel characteristics, destination attributes, and destination preferences. This suggests that marketing strategies should target both the different and similar aspects of golf travel behaviour. The research is of benefit not only to academics and practitioners in the study of travel motivations and tourist typology in the field of special interest tourism, sport tourism, and, in particular, golf tourism, but also to tourism marketers and tour operators in the development, promotion and packaging of golf holiday products.

Engaging a determined enemy across a broad range of conditions, the U.S. Army in World War II's Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) played an important role in the defeat of Japan. How units fought and learned in SWPA and how they adapted to the evolving challenges of their environment is the focus of this dissertation. The subject remains largely unexplored, especially in contrast to the attention the European theater has received. An examination of the 112th's performance not only illuminates an understudied area in the historiography of World War II but also offers relevant lessons for contemporary military organizations. Mining a rich collection of primary sources, this study analyzes the development of the 112th Cavalry Regiment and sheds light on how American units in SWPA prepared for and conducted combat operations. A National Guard unit federalized in 1940 and sent to the Pacific theater in 1942, the 112th performed garrison duties on New Caledonia and Woodlark Island and eventually fought in New Britain, New Guinea, and the Philippines. Before deactivating, the regiment also served in Japan during the first months of the occupation. Concentrating on one unit illustrates the extent to which ground forces in SWPA were driven to learn and adapt. The 112th had mixed success when it came to carrying out its assigned missions effectively. The same was true of its efforts to learn and improve. The unit's gradual introduction to combat worked to its advantage, but learning was not simply a matter of building on experience. It also involved responding to unexpected challenges. Experience tended to help, but the variety of circumstances in which the cavalrymen fought imposed limits on the applicability of that experience. Different situations demanded that learning occur in different ways. Learning also occurred differently across the organization's multiple levels. Moreover, failure to learn in one area did not, as a matter of course, undermine advancement in all. Much depended on the presence of conditions that facilitated or disrupted the learning process, such as the intricacy of the tasks involved, the part higher headquarters played, and the enemy's own responses to the changing environment.

This thesis deals with the political economy of mining laws and regulation in Namibia from 1884 to 1986. Mining laws and regulations have played an important role in the exploitation of Namibia's mineral resources since the colonial period. They have also played an important role in the exploitations by foreign mining companies of Namibia's mineral resources. The study shows how this process has evolved. Chapter I discusses the link between colonialism and exploitation. It also shows the special interest of the colonial administration in mineral development. The formal and substantive rules governing the acquisition of mineral rights are discussed in detail in Chapter II. An important element in the exploitation of Namibia's mineral resources is the international market. Chapter III examines the marketing of Namibia's minerals. It shows that the colonial administration is unable and unwilling to exercise control in this area. Special attention is paid to the marketing of diamonds as it illustrates very well the dominant position of the mining companies. Marketing of minerals is closely linked with taxation. This is examined in Chapter IV. The chapter reveals that the inadequacies of the legislation enables mining companies to achieve their objective, maximisation of profits without corresponding benefits to Namibia. The exploitation of Namibia's mineral resources has a direct effect on the environment. Chapter V shows that the spread of multinational mining companies and their operations have a direct effect on the environment, health and safety of mine employees and the community in surrounding areas. It also shows that mining laws and regulations are inadequate to cope with this problem. South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia since the termination of the mandate in 1966 has important legal consequences. The legal status of the mining concessions granted by South Africa before and after the termination of the mandate are examined in Chapter VI in the light of the United Nations action in this respect. In order to clarify the options for independent Namibia, Chapter VII discusses the experience of other developing countries in mineral development and their relationship with multinational companies. In Chapter VII, we recommend that mining laws and regulations of an independent Namibia should reflect the needs of the Namibian population.

This study provides a case study of women’s political representation in the National Parliament of Pakistan, where a particular form of the quota approach has been adapted in a highly gendered political context. By examining the experiences of Pakistani women parliamentarians, this thesis contributes to key academic literature on gender quotas and political representation that has received a considerable attention from feminist scholars. The aim of this thesis is to explore the extent to which women’s formal representation is translated into substantive change for women. This is an empirical case study, primarily based on qualitative analyses of face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews of 20 women parliamentarians (out of 76) and proceedings of the parliament of the last three years (2008-11). By adapting Anne Phillips’s (1995) The Politics of Presence in entirely new and novel way, one of the major contributions this study claims to make to the theoretical literature is to analytically examine the effects of quotas from various aspects of political representation: descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation and from a broader perspectives than has hitherto been seen. It also addresses a major gap in the literature on the reasons why some quota women act more often than others in legislatures, and what factors contribute to the silence and suppression of Pakistani women leaders. It is argued that women’s presence in the political spheres is important, but that it is vital to take the particular context into account when judging whether women can and do act for women. This thesis shows that representation depends on various factors which can positively or negatively contribute towards substantive change. It also demonstrates that quotas may challenge existing gender dynamics and have various effects on women’s representation within and outside parliament. However, some gender and human rights issues may be difficult to tackle, especially those challenging the powerful feudal and tribal political elite (mainly men).

The aim of this thesis is to shed light on the distinctive role of the European Union (EU) as a state-builder in the case of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The thesis engages with distinctive literatures on liberal peace, peacebuilding, state-building, the EU and conflict resolution as well as Security and Judiciary Sector Reform. By synthesizing these literatures this research will try to test the EU effectiveness in the state-building project in the OPTs by reference to two main case studies: the EU’s initiatives in the domains of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Judiciary Sector Reform (JSR) while at the same time addressing issues of the broader governance agenda and the rule of law. Thus, the broader liberal peace and peacebuilding literature will help contextually to understand how state-building has been used as a tool for implementing the liberal peace, the distinctive literature on state-building will help to identify the ‘core’ state functions that institutions established should be able to run and the literature on conflict resolution will help to identify all tools and mechanisms that the EU has at its disposal in order to ‘build’ states. By drawing on these literatures, this thesis will set three criteria on which the effectiveness of the EU as a state-builder will be tested namely generation of legitimacy, coherence and regulation of violence/ability of enforcement. The thesis is mainly empirically-oriented (drawing on almost 100 interviews that were conducted with EU, Israeli and Palestinian officials) and will focus on the two civilian missions that the EU has deployed in the OPTs (EUPOL COPPS and EUBAM Rafah) in order to help the Palestinian Authority reform its security sector as well as initiatives in the domains of judiciary sector reform and the rule of law (Seyada Project). The main argument of the thesis is that the EU has approached the state-building project from a technical aspect without linking it with clear political decisions and objectives. As a result, while initiatives in the domains of SSR and JSR have helped the PA improve the situation on the ground this was done at the expense of democracy and political objectives that would contribute to the ending of the Israeli Occupation.

Islamic practices have led to exhaustive debate in academia ranging from the traditional battlefield of gender related issues to the relatively new decisiveness surrounding the war on terror. In most of the debates regarding Islam, when one legitimises or delegitimises his/her stance, the divine is invoked as the main point of reference. The divine thus turns into the source of vice and virtue simultaneously through these competing opinions. In this game of "authenticity", we often ignore the aspect that, in our religious zealousness, the divine itself is victimised. This is because, while referring to the divine as the main architect of our opinions, we sideline those non-divine factors in the process of constructing "authenticities" which help shape our reading of the divine. The divine is simply a part of our constructed "authenticity" but not its exclusive constituent. We need to realise that the divine is not read in a vacuum and by those who do not have materiality; its readings are always carried out by those who are a product of their own circumstances and their understandings are routed through their particular contexts. The present study is an effort to analyse those non-divine factors which help shape our reading of the divine, and are not any less important in the process of constructing "authenticity" than the divine with reference to the gender discourse of Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan. This study proposes that there is always a need to maintain a gap between our understanding of the divine and "the divine"; because of the fact that the former is constructed, while the latter believed by Muslims as eternal, hence immutable. In addition to carrying out problematization of "authenticity" of the JI discourse, the study underscores the fact that problematization ought to be an integral part of our exercise of ascertainment of "authenticity" so that we may maintain the gap referred to above.

With the creation of the Sunshine Policy and its outcome on inter-Korean relations, numerous scholars began highlighting the cultural factors of norm and state identity as a means of understanding and explaining changes to the inter-state relations on the Korean peninsula. Previous studies pay attention to the changing character of the military conflict between three states including the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People Republic of Korea and the United States. In following the concepts drawn from the constructivist tradition, this thesis argues that the problem of previous constructivist studies is not inappropriate concepts such as norms and state identity, but the shortage of attention paid to the process of transformation in state identity. Therefore, this thesis draws more attention to constructivist traditions because of their significance when regarding concepts relating to norm and state identity in analysing inter-Korean relations.

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The major motivation behind this thesis comes from an interest in the processes of depoliticisation and re-politicisation in economic management. The focus on the interaction between the national state and the global social relations positions the main problematic of the thesis within critical international political economy (IPE). This interaction is investigated in the context of the specific case study of Turkey. Given the fact that the existent literature on depoliticisation largely builds on the experiences of the advanced capitalist states and their managers, the thesis aims to contribute to this body of literature and assess the applicability of the conceptual framework in a different domestic political setting. On the other hand it aims to build on and contribute to the critiques of the existent literature on Turkey in the sense that the latter is often portrayed within an exceptional outlook and treated as a stand-alone case. The second chapter provides a critical overview of the literature on the conceptualisation of state and social relations in Turkey. The third chapter reviews the place of the state and the political and defines (de)politicisation not only as a governing strategy of the state managers to manage capitalist social relations but also in broader terms; as open-ended process in so far as its effects extend beyond the governmental realm. Chapter four proceeds to demonstrate the applicability of such a framework in the Turkish case through an evaluation of governing tactics and strategies in the post-WWII context. The subsequent three chapters explore the evolution of crisis and restructuring of social relations for the periods 1994-2001, 2002-2005 and 2006-present in an attempt to investigate the effects of the governing strategy and process in material and perceptional terms.