Previous studies have lauded Ghana's commitment to sustainable development, but corruption and violence may affect sustainable development policies and initiatives related to poverty reduction, agricultural practices, environmental protection, and human development. The purpose of this holistic, qualitative case study was to identify and describe good governance practices in Ghana and threats to sustainable development. A Marxist conceptual lens guided the thematic analysis of data collected from artifact documents, field notes, and interviews of 20 key informants from various professions and diverse perspectives who were directly involved in the governance of Ghana or implementation of policies. Three primary themes emerged: (a) the importance of active governance proactively anticipating and responding to citizen's needs through democratic processes, independent judiciary, social inclusion, and influence in Africa; (b) an effective governance formulating and implementing specific policies to advance citizens' standard of living in partnership with the private sector focused on human capital, education, health services, farms-to-market infrastructures, and revamping economic priorities; and (c) fair governance and rule of law accountable to the people. Ghana's good governance practices for sustainable development that were identified integrated some Western practices while maintaining and sustaining its own cultural norms and priorities. This may be a durable recipe for other African nations to use to effect positive social change for citizens, private institutions, and therefore, good governance, which is germane for sustainable development.

There is a widespread public perception of corruption in Liberia's election process, yet there is little documentation on the characteristics of voters and their perceptions of electoral corruption. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between gender, ethnicity, physical location, and perceptions about political activity during the 2005 national election. Roderick Chisolm's conceptualization of the internalist view of justification served as the theoretical construct. Data were acquired from the Afrobarometer survey (n = 1,200), which used a representative cross-sectional sample design, and were subjected to cross-tabulation analysis, a chi-square test, and a correlation analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that elections were perceived as unfair and that gender was an important predictor of perception. The analysis revealed that 26.8% of women perceived the National Election Commission as untrustworthy and 79.0% reported that they did not feel completely free to choose their preferred candidate. A chi-square test of association confirmed that among males, the belief that elections are free and fair was statistically significant (p = .002), though not for females (p = .151). Gender was moderately correlated (r = .088) with corruption of government officials. It was also found that the theoretical construct may explain the behavior of elected officials, but was not predictive of voter engagement. Recommendations to remedy this problem include widespread election reform that focuses on combating negative perceptions of voters, particularly among women, and correcting technical irregularities in Liberia's electoral processes.

The need for governance institutions in Ghana to focus on policy results that impact directly on citizen's wellbeing rather than results that are achieved immediately after implementing program of activities has become more relevant than ever before due to widening policy gaps (the difference between policy intention and policy outcome) in Ghana. Defective policy implementation by the Ghanaian Civil Service is widening policy gaps in Ghana. With the aid of the institutional analysis and development framework, this quantitative study examined the relationship between policy gaps and governance in Ghana. Empirical data were collected from 539 Civil Servants in Ghana using a web-based survey. The 539 Civil Service participants in this study were chosen from a list of all Civil Servants obtained from the Office of the Head of Civil Service in Ghana. Multiple linear regression was employed to test the extent to which 6 governance indicators affected policy gaps. Findings showed a significant negative relationship between the regulatory quality governance indicator and policy gaps. The study also found no significant relationship between policy gaps and other governance indicators, namely voice and accountability, political stability, regulatory quality, rule of law, governance effectiveness, and control of corruption. These results suggest that implementing public policies relating to trade and investment, taxes, tariffs, and other regulatory issues that seek to enhance the development of the private sector significantly reduces policy gaps. This study leads to positive social change by helping the civil service improve policies and procedures to services for the citizens it serves.

Democracy building operations in foreign nations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been met with resistance and at great cost in terms of dollars and lives. Reducing these costs requires understanding why individuals choose to resist the transition to democracy, yet current research in the field does not address the issues of a previously nonviolent population turning to terrorism to resist transition to democracy. The purpose of this single case study was to use rational choice theory and Crenshaw's 3 levels of causation to understand what factors influenced members of the Sunni sect to resist democratic transition following the 2003 invasion of U.S. forces. Data for this study consisted of secondary data, including transcripts of interviews with 15 Sunni Iraqis who once supported or showed neutrality for a democratic government but then resisted transition through terrorism. Data were deductively coded according to Crenshaw's 3 levels of causation and then subjected to thematic analysis. Findings revealed that the primary factor that led individuals to support terrorism against the transitioning government was political, in that Sunni participants felt that after the democratic transition, the government excluded them from participation in the development of the new government to include constitutional development and elections. Findings also showed that religion, specifically being Sunni, impacted the decision to resort to resistance through terrorism. The study concluded with recommendations to the U.S. government and military forces that highlight planning and execution considerations to address during similar democracy building operations for success in the future.

Combatting corruption in Cameroon has become a primary policy focus for the government and the civil society; yet, the success on that front has been modest. The literature on anticorruption efforts in the country is scant. Using Rothstein and Santiso's conceptualization of anticorruption strategies as the guide, the purpose of this case study of government's anticorruption policy and practice was to explore and contextualize the anticorruption strategies in Cameroon to fill the gap in the literature and potentially contribute to solving the problem. Data were collected through interviews with 20 government employees working with the government's main anticorruption agency -- the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), and through documents obtained from government published archives and expert publications. The data were inductively coded and organized in themes, then an integrated content analysis was conducted on the themes. The key finding of the study is that the government's anticorruption strategies faced major challenges due to their poor design, formulation, and implementation. Potential approaches to addressing these challenges were also identified by participants to include leadership/political solutions such as regime change, institutional reforms such as granting NACC institutional autonomy, and conceptual solutions such as reforming NACC into an organization with judicial status. This study will impact positive social change through the recommendations it makes for good governance, which if implemented by the Cameroon government, would improve systems, institutions, and services to the citizens of the country. Another benefit is the improvement in government revenue, better investment budgets, and greater economic activity to alleviate poverty.

The President of the United States sets the tone for policy and has significant power in adopting and implementing policy. Despite this acknowledged power, prior studies, have not examined whether or not agency theory is predictive of voting in U.S. presidential elections. Agency theory is important in the scope of voting behavior as it identifies the relationships which support significance in practicing the activity. This correlational study examined the statistical impact of personal agency, social agency, and sociocultural agency on predictive voting behavior. This study used secondary data originally collected between 1956 and 2008 by the American National Election Study through a multistage probability design that yielded a survey of 28,000 individuals. A single, combined model was created from variables measuring personal, social, and sociocultural agency on the dependent variable of voting to test which type of agency had the highest predictive power on voting. The outcome of a logistic regression analysis demonstrated that sociocultural and personal agency, but not social agency, were statistically powerful predictors of voting (p < .05). These findings suggest that an individual's personal perceptions and cultural status influence their likelihood to vote, but that their social units do not. These findings suggest that efforts to increase turnout by members of sociocultural groups that are less likely to vote should focus on increasing personal agency. This study promotes positive social change by empowering the design of more effective get-out-the-vote campaigns to increase voter participation, especially among the underrepresented.

The government of Laos has carried out regressive organizational changes in its electric power sector including deregulation, decentralization, and devolution. As governmental agencies attempt to improve their organization, little is understood about the impact these changes have on the electric sector. Using Burke's organization change theory as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explain the impact of organizational change on rural electrification in the Champassak Province, Laos. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 20 participants representing governmental agencies, private entities, and nongovernmental organizations. Data were also collected through observation of a public consultative meeting and reviewing of publicly available documents, both of which were related to electrification. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using a thematic procedure. According to the study findings, organizational change helped expand electrification at the early stage. However, shortcomings such as setting onerous tax rates and promulgating convoluted laws by the public sector have caused static growth in both the trend of project finance and electrification recently. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to local policy makers and legislators to tailor the fiscal policy and statutes, which may support wider electrification efforts in the Champassak Province.

Humanitarian aid, while useful in the short run, sometimes has the effect of contributing to poverty and poor economic conditions in the long run. This occurs when recipients of relief aid lose their initiative to fend for themselves and become reliant on external aid. The purpose of this mixed method study was to evaluate the degree to which dependency on long term aid has contributed to chronic poverty in the Moroto district of Uganda. This study was grounded on Harvey & Lind's conceptualization of the dependency syndrome. The research questions addressed the relationship between household production and investment pattern with number of year as aid beneficiary, while exploring the beneficiaries' perceptions on the roles of relief aid in their livelihood. Survey data were acquired from 75 participants from five sampled villages in Moroto District; qualitative data were acquired from the same villages involving five focus group discussions with 15 key informants per village. Quantitative data were analyzed using multivariate regression analysis and resulted in a finding of a statistically significant negative relationship between household production and investment with number of years spent as aid beneficiary. Qualitative data were inductively coded, and then organized around key themes. These findings suggest that many rural Ugandans believe that if aid were to cease, they would either migrate to an area where aid was available, or die of starvation. Implications for positive social change are connected to a recommendation to organizations offering humanitarian aid to package relief aid with other programs that support the recipients' resilience building capacity in order to save lives and reduce chronic poverty that is common in disaster-prone areas around the world.

In the United States of America today, there are concerns regarding the appropriate functioning of the police service and a lack of effective police accountability. African Americans have often been victims of unprofessional police conduct; however, their views have rarely been found adequately represented in the literature on the subject. The purpose of this case study was to fill this identified gap in the academic literature. A conceptual framework composed of the afrocentric, environmental contingency, and conflict theories was used to guide and inform this inquiry. The main research question focused on discovering which form of police oversight is seen as the most trusted, respected, and fair method of ensuring police accountability from an African American perspective in a mid-western U.S. city. Data were collected through review of pertinent documents, and through interviews and observation of 8 purposefully selected members of the African American community in the city. All data were inductively coded and then subjected to thematic analysis.The key finding of this study revealed that the most trusted, respected, and fair method of ensuring police accountability within the local African American community is a process that is not controlled only by the police. Participants consistently noted that it was their belief that an outside person, board, committee, or agency should evaluate cases of unprofessional police conduct, when appropriate. The findings of this study resulted in recommendations to the police leadership that may provide increased understanding, give a voice to this community, assist in devising good public policy, and benefit all citizens of the region.

Despite policies for U.S. federal agencies to use open competitive procedures that increase small business participation in federal contracting, some small businesses do not win open competitive federal contracts. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies some leaders of small businesses in the service industry have used to win open competitive U.S. federal contracts. The conceptual framework for this study was agency theory. The participants in this study were 6 leaders of small businesses in the state of Washington who successfully implemented strategies to win open competitive U.S. federal contracts. Data were collected through face-to-face, semistructured interviews and a review of company documents. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-phase cycle of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding the data, resulting in the 3 key themes: opportunity identification strategy, requirements strategy, and bid submission strategy. The findings indicated that leaders of small businesses win U.S. federal contracts by identifying contracting opportunities that meet their business model and risk tolerance, strengthening their knowledge of contract requirements, and increasing their participation in competitive public procurements. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential for leaders of small businesses to lower the unemployment rate through the creation of jobs, increased innovation, and contribution to the economic growth of the local community.