This study examines the effectiveness of civic organizations focusing on leadership and the role of culture in politics. The study is based on a quasi-experimental research design and relies primarily on qualitative data. The study focuses on Miami's Cuban community in order to examine the role of public initiative in grassroots civic and community organizations. The Miami Cuban community is a large, institutionally complex and cohesive ethnic community with dense networks of community organizations. The political and economic success of the community makes it an opportune setting for a study of civic organizing. The sheer number of civic organizations to be found in Miami's Cuban community suggests that the community's civic organizations have something to do with the considerable vibrancy and civic capacity of the community. How have the organizations managed to be so successful over so many years and what can be learned about successful civic organizing from their experience? Civic organizations in Miami's Cuban community are overwhelmingly ethnic-based organizations. The organizations recreate collective symbols that come from community members' memories of and attachments to the place of origin they hold dear as ethnic Cubans. They recreate a collective Cuban past that community members remember and that is the very basis of the community to which they belong. Cuban Miami's ethnically based civic organizations have generally performed better than the literature on civic organizations says they should. They gained greater access to community ties and social capital, and they exhibited greater organizational longevity. The fit between the political culture of civic organizations and that of the broader political community helps to explain this success. Yet they do not perform in the same way or in support of the same social purposes. Some stress individual agency rather than community agency, and some pursue an externally-oriented social purpose, whereas others focus on building an internal community.

This research provides an understanding of the conditions that presage the failure of consolidated democratic political regimes through constitutional processes. In seeking to answer the question of how democracy might fail through democratic means, this study has revealed a gap in the literature on democratization. Venezuela was selected as a heuristic case study to explain this phenomenon. Heuristic case studies place less emphasis on the more configurative or descriptive elements of the case itself, and instead see the case as a point of departure for the formulations of theoretical propositions. While in-case hypotheses are possible, heuristic case studies make it an explicit research plan to tease out mechanisms that exist in a particular case study that might survive in other situations. This study demonstrates that the elements in society that act as direct participants in the establishment of a democratic political system are able to maintain their position in the new order largely through an expansion of their ability to meet popular demands through clientelistic arrangements. While these corporatist groups may serve to facilitate social mobilization during the establishment of democratic regimes, they do so only in so far as they can maintain social control of in-group membership without fully providing parts of the democratic structure, these corporatist arrangements provide for a type of unstable democratic purgatory: democracy is not fully representative, yet it is not completely unresponsive to the demands of the electorate. The condition of democratic purgatory produces a paradox whereby democracy can be undemocratic under certain conditions. The stability of these regimes allows for democratic consolidation, despite the undemocratic basis of legitimacy. While these regimes can undergo consolidation, ultimately, this condition is unstable: either these regimes must establish an endogenous basis of political legitimacy (one that is not simply a function of the corporatist/clientelistic political structure), or the democracy will suffer a qualitative decline that may result in a democratic breakdown. Furthermore, this study finds that the viability of any type of democratic regime rests upon its adaptability to ensure adequate representativeness.

Over the past few decades, there has developed an increasing interest in family life in Canada, by many organizations and individuals. With the greater degree of industrialization, there have been corresponding social changes, some of which are believed to be undermining the stability of the family, making support from outside sources desirable, if not necessary. Programs of education for parents and parents-to-be have arisen as a means of providing more effective support to Canadian urban families. The family life education programs that have developed are of great variety and of varied sponsorship. Through schools, churches, universities, community agencies and the mass media, attempts are being made to strengthen interpersonal relations in the family unit. Social agencies, particularly child-caring and family agencies, whom one would expect to be active in this field, would appear to be shoving little initiative in developing such services. That this is so, remains a puzzle to the writer. In this study of Co-operative Pre-School Groups in Vancouver, in which the stated purpose is the education of child and parent under the guidance of a trained teacher, attention is focused on expressed reasons for using this facility, and the values believed to derive from its use for both child and parent. The most significant finding of the study is the importance attached to parental participation in the Co-operative program. The learned relationships of the play group are transferred to the home situation. Through this learning experience, parent-child relationships take on a deeper significance and meaning that makes family living a more relaxed and pleasant experience. The study points out the importance of relating family life education programs to the actual life situations of the families concerned. It also attests to the effectiveness of the Co-operative Pre-School Group involvement as a method of providing family life education. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

[No abstract submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

In the discipline of International Relations, the term "realism" has been severed from its association with ordinary usage, and is attributed to a school of thought according to which international politics is essential1y an asocial realm of conflict and struggles for security and power among states in an anarchical environment. The two main post-war theorists associated with this approach are Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz. This thesis argues, contrary to conventional wisdom, that realism is not a meaningless term in common parlance, nor is it redundant as an attribute of thought about international politics. I argue that it has been inappropriately applied to the work of these two "grand theorists" whose approach does not merit the label. Instead, this dissertation concludes that they are more appropriately characterised as idealists. In contrast to Morgenthau and Waltz, whose work suffers from the shortcomings of (in Morgenthau's case) nostalgic idealism and (in Waltz's case) complacent idealism, I argue that what is referred to as the "Grotian" approach to the study of international politics is more deserving of the label "realism." The argument is explicitly based on the interpretation of the meaning of the terms "political realism" and "political idealism" contained in Robert Berki's book, On Political Realism (London, 1981). Consistent with the logic of ordinary usage, Berki argues that realism is an attribute of thought which presupposes that "reality" is the dialectical interplay between necessity and freedom, constraints and opportunities. Idealism, in contrast, is the ontological denial of this presupposition, and the reification of either necessity or freedom. These abstractions are then imposed upon political practice leading to an evaluative stance of nostalgia and complacency, or revolution (the "idealism of imagination"). Realism transcends the false bifurcation between these extremes. In light of Berki 's analysis, Hedley Bull's theoretical approach to international politics - which recognizes its heterogeneity as a social and "rule-governed" domain - is defended as a more realistic starting-point for thinking systematically about the source and nature of order among states than that provided by either Morgenthau or Waltz. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The analysis of man's use of space and its significance in social interaction has been largely neglected by anthropologists. The task for this study is to indicate that the management of space is far from accidental--in fact, it is a complex network of observable patterns. Despite the lack of studies (empirical or otherwise), it is argued that in face-to-face interaction, spatial patterns constitute a fundamental dimension. Moreover, such patterns are not explicit; rather they are in the realm of unconscious behaviour i.e. covert culture. The thesis begins with a survey of the few studies reported in the literature which deal with spatial patterns. As well, consideration is given to a variety of material which provides secondary reference to this central interest. The writer then reports methods attempted to gather information on codes of spatial behaviour. Several different perspectives for handling the resultant data are explored to illustrate the relevance of distance patterns. Following this discussion is a proposal for a possible field study which would allow a comprehensive analysis of human spatial arrangements. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

In this dissertation, a conceptual framework for the study of interaction between two persons is presented. One specific aspect of that framework is selected and an experimental test which focuses on that aspect is conducted. This test is designed to begin the process of refining the original conceptualization. The conceptual framework utilized stresses the sequential and information-processing features of interaction. The responses of persons are considered to be the result of two processes: one in which an interpretation is made (the "interpretive process"), and one by which that interpretation forms the basis for a new response (the "decision process"). This two-step model of action is used in order to deal with some of the problems created when a simple one-step behavioral model is used to deal with cognitive and linguistic processes. Since sequential interaction is a central concern in this dissertation, the manner in which interpretations or decisions are changed over time is a crucial issue. It is proposed that the "interpretive process" is best accounted for by a threshold type of operation, whereas the "decision process" might best be dealt with by a more simple learning model. These suggestions are made in order to account for some of the resistance to change which the literature on expectations identifies, and at the same time, the flexibility of response which is found in situations of learning. Once this conceptual framework is specified, a more detailed elaboration of the "interpretive process" is begun. Two general types of threshold choice processes are described: one which predicts a change in choice after a run of events of the same type, and the other which predicts a change after the differences between two event types reaches a threshold. An experiment is developed which allows one to differentiate which threshold model best accounts for the choices made. Thirty-five subjects are used and the results support the difference threshold model as the one which accounts for most of the choices. However, the predictive power of the difference model at its maximum is only 84% of the choices made. There is, in addition, some evidence which suggests that the subjects might alter choice models under certain conditions. Finally, several weak points in the conceptual framework are identified, along with suggestions regarding strategies for future research. Refinements of the experimental design which include greater controls on motivating and memory factors are suggested. Such refinements would allow an even stronger test of the threshold models proposed. An alternative suggestion is that the reseach move to an elaboration of the relationship between events and interpretations or an elaboration of the "decision process" itself. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Two process frameworks are available to solve labour-management problems. One is based on the conflict aspect of the industrial relationship, while the other exploits the relationship's symbiotic nature. The study examined why specific problems are assigned to particular processes with the view that such an analysis would indicate the potential for cooperation. A decision model was proposed which isolates various conditions and resulting behaviors relating to the procedure of problem resolution. In the absence of a method for determining the universal nature of problems it was suggested that individual problems are independently categorized by each party according to their potential for a win/win or win/lose solution. Once each party has independently arrived at a classification for a single problem, a choice of process is effected by the domineering nature of the distributive bargaining process, the presence of audiences, and the need to maintain an image of power. It was hypothesized that a distributive process will be chosen when expectations of response are either unclear or distributive. If more than one problem exists, the same factors will restrict the decision to the distributive process unless both sides agree to a separate integrative process for potentially win/win problems. In addition to a mutual decision to pursue the integrative option, a successful resolution of a problem through a separate integrative process will only be successful if a strategic structure is implemented to minimize suspicion, tendencies towards revenge, and negative audience reactions. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Malgré l'importance numérique et sociale qu'elles ont prises depuis les années 1970, les fermetures d'usines ont peu été étudiées par rapport au phénomène de mobilisation qu'elles provoquent parfois. Surtout elles ont été étudiées sous l'angle des effets économiques et socio-sanitaires ou par rapport à une analyse de l'efficience des politiques de main-d'oeuvre de l'État pour empêcher celles-ci ou en minimiser les effets. Lorsque les auteurs ont étudié ce type de mobilisation, ils ont pour la plupart privilégié une méthode d'analyse: la monographie. Découlant de l'utilisation de cette méthode, les études sur les mobilisations ont plutôt été descriptives, d'où l'absence d'analyse explicative de la dynamique sociale de la mobilisation (Segrestin, 1980). Les mobilisations sont surtout expliquées par les problèmes créant les crises ayant provoqué la mobilisation. Le problème devient l'explication... Comment dès lors expliquer que pour des problèmes identiques, il n'y aura pas toujours mobilisation des groupes en crise? Les deux entreprises et localités sont LAR Machinerie de Métabetchouan et St-Raymond Paper de Desbiens. La survivance et le maintien de la communauté de référence provoquent une interaction des divers groupes sociaux, interaction incluant un potentiel conflictuel interne et externe à la communauté société puisque ces luttes ont comme enjeu fondamental la direction du développement.

Les organisations des années 2000 feront face à divers changements de nature politique, économique ou technologique mais aussi de nature démographique. Elles devront en conséquence adopter de nouvelles politiques et de nouveaux programmes pour mieux s'adapter à l'environnement et ainsi s'assurer une main-d'oeuvre qualifiée pour demeurer compétitives. Ce mémoire porte sur l'étude d'un changement démographique, le vieillissement de la population ainsi que son impact sur les organisations du secteur de l'éducation dans la région urbaine de l'Outaouais. Les objectifs visés par cette étude consistent à pouvoir identifier les politiques et programmes organisationnels pour pallier le vieillissement de la population et à vérifier auprès des intervenants-clés de l'Outaouais la faisabilité des stratégies identifiées. Pour ce faire, le travail a traité tout d'abord de la problématique théorique du vieillissement de la population et d'une grille méthodologique qui a permis de comprendre les pratiques des gestionnaires des organisations du secteur de l'éducation dans l'Outaouais urbain. Les dimensions théoriques et méthodologiques ont pris appui sur une double perspective analytique: les approches systémique et décisionnelle. L'étude de la problématique du vieillissement de la population pour l'ensemble du pays et de la province a permis de mieux situer l'Outaouais urbain. Par rapport à l'ensemble du Québec la situation outaouaise est avantageuse en ce sens que la région compte davantage de jeunes. Elle pourra donc bien planifier et mettre à l'essai divers programmes et politiques. La revue des politiques et programmes mis en place en Europe et aux États-Unis pour pallier le vieillissement de la population et par le fait même de la main-d'oeuvre nous a appris que les organisations, pour demeurer actives et répondre aux critères de qualité imposés par le contexte social et économique, vont devoir adopter des politiques et programmes pour le maintien en emploi des travailleurs âgés. Cette étude nous a ainsi incité à formuler l'objectif de recherche suivant : Est-ce que les gestionnaires des ressources humaines et les représentants syndicaux du secteur de l'éducation de la région de l'Outaouais urbain sont sensibilisés à la question du vieillissement de la main-d'oeuvre et des besoins futurs en vue de conserver une main-d'?uvre qualifiée? Cet objectif de recherche nous a ensuite amené à mieux cerner ce qui incite les travailleurs âgés à prendre une retraite anticipée (revenu adéquat à la pension, mauvais état de santé, préjugés), les facteurs qui inciteraient les travailleurs âgés à demeurer au sein du milieu de travail plus longtemps (valorisation des travailleurs, milieu de travail équitable ) et conséquemment, les programmes et politiques que les organisations devront adopter pour le maintien en emploi des travailleurs âgés (partage du travail, modification de l'horaire de travail, formation, recyclage, aménagement de la tâche, promotion de la santé). Les entrevues avec les intervenants-clés du secteur de l'éducation dans l'Outaouais urbain ont révélé que ceux-ci sont sensibilisés à la problématique du vieillissement de la main-d'oeuvre, mais n'en tirent que peu de conséquences en termes de changements de politiques et de programmes. La plupart n'ont entrepris aucune étude ni projet spécial pour pallier le vieillissement de la main-d'oeuvre et plusieurs croient que l'initiative devra venir du gouvernement provincial avant d'être adoptée dans la région. Toutefois l'intérêt démontré durant les entrevues nous permet de croire que les établissements d'enseignement de l'Outaouais urbain participeraient à un projet-pilote pour le maintien en emploi des travailleurs âgés si un tel projet était initié. D'autres études et projets-pilotes s'avèrent donc nécessaires afin de démontrer la faisabilité et les avantages d'instaurer un programme pour le maintien en emploi des travailleurs âgés dans le secteur de l'éducation.