This study reviewed how networks, entrepreneurs and narratives were intertwined in keeping a policy process moving and preventing it from stagnating. By applying Roe's narrative analysis theory (as developed in Narrative Policy Analysis - 1994), along with Kingdon's theory of entrepreneurs (as developed in Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies - 1995) and Kickert's explanations of networks (as developed in Managing Complex Networks - 1997) the study attempted to uncover how a complex policy issue is managed by the stakeholders involved. The Children's Bill was the case study used to show the usefulness of these three theories in understanding the intricate engagements and relations of participation around a complex policy. By applying qualitative data collection and analysis techniques, the case study illustrated how a complex policy is able to move through the policy and legislative processes despite the conflict and difficulties encountered. The dominant narratives were identified, the narrative of the Working Group (WG) (to hold the Bill over to the next parliament and to include a National Policy Framework), and the counternarrative of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (to fast track the Bill through parliament and to make excisions), as were the non-stories (on issues of poverty). The research also identifies the policy entrepreneurs (the WG secretariat and in particular the Children's Institute and Paula Proudlock) and the networks in which they operated. This information provided the basis to identify the meta-narrative to hold the Bill over to the next parliament for further deliberations on the excisions that had been made, which allowed the Children's Bill process to continue. Some recommendations for further evaluation and research into this policy process are noted. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This is a study of public participation which is located within context of the current policy processes that are occurring across South Africa whereby local municipalities are re-naming streets and buildings to more broadly reflect the heritage of South Africa and its people. The process has suffered drawbacks across the country and commentators point to poor public participation, consultation and public engagement. The process of name-changing proves a need to pose some critical questions about the nature of policy implementation in a democratic South Africa. I look at this through the theoretical framework of public policy implementation. In this study I examine the process of public participation in the changing of the name St. Lucia Wetland Park to Isimangaliso Wetland Park. I adopt a qualitative research approach comprising of semi-structured interviews and surveys. I explore four key questions. First, what was the public policy decision-making process that was followed in the renaming of St. Lucia Wetland Park as Isimangaliso Wetland Park? Second, did the re-naming of St. Lucia Wetland Park as Isimangaliso Wetland Park include participation and consultation in the decision-making processes by the public who reside and work in the area? If so, what type of consultation did this include and what was the extent of the participation? Third, to what extent is this new name accepted or rejected by the public who live and work in the area? Is the acceptance or rejection of the name dependent upon levels of consultation, dependent upon the historical significance of the new name, or on something else altogether? Fourth, what implications does the acceptance or rejection of the new name have for processes of public participation in public policy decision-making in the future and for theories of implementation? I find that, despite no proper process of consultation, the community who live and work in the area accept the new name of the park. They do so for three reasons. First, the community do not treat the park as theirs. Second, they have never been participants in previous decision-making processes. Third, the new name represents a history and heritage that they claim as their own. These findings indicate that theories of public policy implementation should be revised. / Thesis (M.A.)-Univerisity of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-69).

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 112-128).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-69). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 112-128). Also available in print.

Analyze the effects produced by the educational policies implemented in the rural schools in the corresponding period between 1997 and 2010 in the State of Sergipe is the main objective of this thesis. The central question of the thesis is about understanding the implementation of federal programs in the rural schools in the state of Sergipe have produced changes in educational policy peasant? If present contradictions, and there from programs such possibility of overcoming the current educational context in the interests of workers in the field? For policy analysis of Rural Education in the State of Sergipe was identified and analyzed five educational programs that formed the Rural Education in the last thirteen years: the National Education Program in Agrarian Reform (PRONERA); Program Pro-Youth Field of Knowledge land, the Program in Education Quilombos; Active School Program, and the PROCAMPO - Degree in Education Field. A qualitative study and multireferential worked with both Marxist thinkers, as with researchers who develop important theories for public policy analysis in the field of political science. The research instruments used were: analysis of official documents and content of the programs, and interviews with professionals (clerks, teachers, coordinators) responsible for the implementation of educational policies. In findings highlight the Active School Program was the Field Education program present in greater number of municipalities (more than 90% of the municipalities surveyed). The Education Program in Quilombo was the only program that was not identified in any municipality, even in those who have maroon communities like Orange, Cumbia and Well Redondo. Most schools peasant still works in makeshift buildings and in extremely inappropriate. In terms of materials, most students peasants relies only on the textbook adopted for urban schools. Exceptions are only for students on programs Active School and Youth Field Pro-Knowledge of the Earth, which has proper manuals. The continuing education of teachers, essential for ensuring the success of educational policy, there was also very timely in some counties and was completely non-existent in most of them. In this matter there was always a divergent understanding among teachers and secretaries who participated in the survey. In all municipalities surveyed educational funding is borne by persons of municipal public management that are not directly tied to education. Municipalities who participated in this research and that form a representative sample of the state, (a) Secretary (a) education is responsible only for administrative actions and pedagogical therefore financial stocks are the responsibility of the departments of finance. The survey showed that in the Sergipe Rural Education as educational policy is still in an early stage of implementation, working through specific projects or programs of the federal government. / Analisar os efeitos produzidos pelas políticas educacionais implementadas nas escolas do campo no período correspondente entre 1997 e 2010 no Estado de Sergipe é o principal objetivo desta Tese. A pergunta central da tese versa sobre compreender se a implementação dos programas do governo federal nas escolas do campo no Estado de Sergipe têm produzido transformações na política educacional camponesa? Se apresentam contradições, e se há a partir de tais programas possibilidade de superação do contexto educacional atual segundo os interesses dos trabalhadores do campo? Para análise da política de Educação do Campo no Estado de Sergipe foi identificado e analisado cinco programas educacionais que constituíram a Educação do Campo nos últimos treze anos: o Programa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária (PRONERA); o Programa Pro Jovem Campo-Saberes da Terra; o Programa Educação nos Quilombos; o Programa Escola Ativa; e o PROCAMPO Licenciatura em Educação do Campo. A pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa e multirreferencial trabalhou tanto com pensadores marxistas, como com pesquisadores que desenvolvem teorias importantes para análise da política pública no campo das ciências políticas. Os instrumentos de pesquisa utilizados foram: análise de documentos oficiais e dos conteúdos dos programas, e entrevistas com profissionais (secretários, professores, coordenadores) responsáveis pela implementação das políticas educacionais. Nos resultados encontrados destacamos que o Programa Escola Ativa era o programa de Educação do Campo presente em maior quantidade de municípios (mais de 90% dos municípios pesquisados). O Programa Educação nos Quilombos foi o único programa que não foi identificado em nenhum município, mesmo nos que têm comunidades quilombolas como Laranjeiras, Cumbe e Poço Redondo. A maioria das escolas camponesas ainda funciona em prédios improvisados e em condições extremamente impróprias. Em termos de materiais, a maioria dos alunos camponeses conta somente com o livro didático adotado para as escolas da zona urbana. Excetuam-se apenas dos alunos dos programas Escola Ativa e Pro Jovem Campo-Saberes da Terra, que tem manuais próprios. A formação continuada de professores, elemento fundamental para garantir o sucesso da politica educativa, existia também muito pontualmente em alguns municípios e era completamente inexistente na maioria deles. Nessa questão havia sempre uma compreensão divergente entre os professores e os secretários que participaram da pesquisa. Em todos os municípios pesquisados o financiamento educacional é assumido por pessoas da gestão pública municipal que não estão diretamente vinculados à educação. Dos municípios que participaram dessa pesquisa e que formam uma amostra representativa do Estado, o(a) secretário(a) de educação é responsável somente pelas ações administrativas e pedagógicas, pois, as ações financeiras estão sob a responsabilidade das secretarias de finanças. A pesquisa realizada mostrou que em Sergipe a Educação do Campo enquanto política educacional encontra-se ainda num primeiro estágio de implementação, funcionando através de projetos ou programas pontuais do governo federal.

Contemporary debates about development confer a prominent role to citizen participation and decentralization. Growing scepticism about the efficacy of narrowly conceived measures add pressure to reform development both theoretically and in practical terms. There is a greater understanding that ‘traditional’ development approaches and policies need to be reformulated and decentralization and citizen participation have been proposed as remedies to previous development failures. It is frequently argued that citizen participation will improve the efficiency and efficacy of public services. Citizen participation is meant to render local government more accountable and to contribute to deepening democracy, by reinforcing representative democratic institutions with participatory forms. At the same time, decentralization reforms have been proposed as a response to the failures of highly centralized states. From a political perspective, it is argued, decentralization reforms can help the central state gain legitimacy and have been seen as a strategy for maintaining political stability. It has been repeatedly suggested that physical proximity makes it easier for citizens to hold local officials accountable for their performance. From an economic perspective, decentralization can improve the match between the mix of services provided by the public sector and the preferences of the local population. It has also been noted that people are more willing to pay for services that respond to their priorities and that increased competition between local governments generates spaces for more creative responses adapted to local needs. But then, can decentralization and citizen participation live up to the faith and expectations that they have inspired? I argue that the literature commonly over-emphasises the role of citizen participation and decentralization in development and what these processes and reforms can achieve. Much of the evidence is anecdotal in nature and tends to neglect the specific contexts in which these processes take place. Also largely ignored are political economy considerations and a critical exploration of the relationship between these two key words. At best, when their interrelationships are addressed decentralization and citizen participation are conceived as based on a symbiotic relationship. I suggest, however, that the relationship between these two processes is not as straightforward as most of the literature assumes. The meanings of these two key words in current development lexicon are explored and critically assessed. I argue that whether or not the rising prominence of these two words actually means the emergence of a new development agenda is a moot point. It critically depends on the understandings of these ambiguous terms. The thesis adopts a political economy approach. Combined with this is an awareness of the broader historical and socio-economic context in which citizen participation and decentralization take place. The thesis applies these ideas triangulating diverse research methods and data sources. It combines a literature review and documentary analysis, a survey conducted with municipal authorities and civil society organizations in the Eastern Cape as well as structured interviews with Ward councillors and with key informants. From a theoretical perspective, the study lays a foundation for understanding the relationship between development policies outcomes and the nature of citizen participation and decentralization in developing countries. This, in turn, provides a basis from which citizen participation and decentralization in South Africa can be assessed and understood. The thesis presents evidence from a case study of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. By revealing how different dimensions of decentralization and citizen participation operate and intersect, the findings demonstrate, that contrary to common knowledge, citizen participation and decentralization are frequently at odds. Moreover, contrary to frequent statements, the research also shows that opening new spaces for participation in decentralized local governance can result in fewer changes and disappointing results at best, undermining the transformative potential of the concepts of participation and decentralization.

The study focuses and explores citizen participation in the policy and planning process in local government in Lesotho. The study argues that citizen participation in the policy and planning process is important. This is because it is through citizen participation that the government is rendered accountable and responsive to the needs of the local community. Secondly, citizen participation is important in that it helps in the deepening of democracy. In Lesotho, citizen participation has been encouraged by the different governments since the era of Moshoeshoe to the present regime. Lesotho held the first democratic local government elections in 2005. One of the objectives of introducing local government is to foster citizen participation in policy and planning processes. The interviews conducted reveal that citizen participation is taking place even though at a minute degree. Several challenges exist in local government that hinder active and effective citizen participation in local government in Lesotho. One of the major challenges impeding citizen participation is the statutory framework regulating citizens’ participation in local government. This study has found that there is no direct legal or policy framework regulating or enforcing citizen participation in local government. Coupled with this challenge is another crucial challenge relating to the structure and mechanisms that are used for citizen participation. The study reveals that the structures and mechanisms are not adequate to enhance and encourage citizen participation. Pursuant to this, the study proposes some reforms with a view to improving citizen participation in Lesotho. Firstly, the study proposes that the policy and legislative frameworks be improved so as to provide enough scope and space for citizen participation. These frameworks should provide for adequate structures, mechanisms as well as processes and areas that can improve citizen participation in local government. Secondly, crucial instruments for community participation in planning such as the IDP, budget process and the performance management in South African context can be designed with specific cognisance of the structures established. Thirdly, the government must encourage, educate and sensitize citizens to actively take part in local government, through capacity building programmes. It can take the advantage of the NGOs already working with the communities and citizens as a strategy to enhance citizen participation. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / In many spheres of life, humanity is finally coming to terms with the fact that our world has changed beyond the limits of our industrial-era ways of thinking. Linear and reductionist approaches to strategy and problem-solving are no longer sufficient for dealing with the realities of our modern world, which are characterised by the certainty of change; not least of all due to technological change and environmental factors such as resource scarcity and global warming. Some of the changes that humanity has experienced include; • Uncertainty about the magnitude and direction of the changes; • Difficulty of visualising contexts and options in an increasingly complex environment, where many of the parts are interdependent, and where the knowledge requirements increasingly transcend traditional disciplines; • Serious and possibly irrevocable consequences of errors in decision-making; • The ability of humanity to adapt and respond to change. Living in sustainable harmony with itself and the biosphere requires that we use systems thinking to mediate between the need for action and the awareness of complexity. These aspects require that we adopt a continuous and adaptive mode of strategy and development, enabling us to shape a better future. As South Africa enters its sixteenth year of democracy, the challenges of unemployment, scarcity of critical skills, a poor education system, growing crime levels and perennial poverty, continue to confront both the state and civil society alike. This study seeks to map the South African government’s long-term and short-term planning frameworks that guide the planning processes and timeframes for all government departments. While the purpose is to determine the long-term planning methodologies and techniques of both Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), these are informed by the response to the national government planning frameworks, such as the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). The National Planning Commission was established specifically to perform the long-term planning function of government. It is against this background that the researcher examines the long-term planning processes and methodologies of selected DFIs and SOEs, using the Environmental Scanning and Literature Review methodologies. Environmental scanning and literature review methodologies were used to gain a high-level understanding of the long-term planning processes of the national government. A literature review of current and previous long-term planning processes using scenario planning (by Eskom and the CSIR) and foresight (by the CSIR) have provided an indication that, although long-term planning is a desired goal, it is not widely practiced and where it is practiced the results and related impacts are not yet known. A survey of selected SOEs and DFIs was conducted to determine the nature and extent of long range planning undertaken by each of these bodies, as well as the methodologies that were used. The aim was to determine whether foresight tools such as systems thinking and/or scenario planning have been used in the past and what results have been achieved. Without this information, it would not be possible to identify the gaps that exist in the longterm planning frameworks of these entities. The results of the survey revealed that the concept of long-term planning using methodologies such as foresight, scenario planning and systems thinking does not enjoy wide awareness amongst the SOEs, who reported that they do not engage in long-term planning. The study concludes that a need exists for a formal well structured framework for the use of scenario planning and systems thinking as part of the foresight long-term planning methodology in South Africa’s state-owned enterprises. An ideal framework for the introduction and use of long-term planning methodologies is needed in order to seek an answer to the following question: what combination of thinking and planning tools, drawn from Foresight, Scenario Planning and systems thinking could be brought together to create and ideal framework for the introduction and use of long-term planning methodologies at state-owned-enterprises? The study proposes a Six Phase – Foresight and Scenario Planning Framework for longterm planning. This proposed new framework suggests the use of foresight tools such scenario planning and systems thinking. Exposure by the author to multiple foresight driven processes served to provide real life experiences of the potency of the use of these tools in combination during the different phases of the proposed framework. In using the proposed framework, executives at SOEs and DFIs should be able to cope with planning in an environment of uncertainty, while carrying the stakeholders along with them on the journey. The six phases of the process have, in the experience of the researcher, offered tangible benefits to a variety of institutions during the past three years. More than any other benefits, foresight loses its mystic and it becomes easy and accessible to everyone. Action planning, flowing from the foresight process becomes a genuine exercise that impacts on the short to medium term strategic planning taking into account the probable effects of emerging trends, driving forces and likely breakthroughs that leaders in SOEs and DFIs can bring about as they strive to create their preferred future.