This thesis presents an alternative to prevailing understandings of politics in East Timor in the period 1999-2009. Employing the language of state-building, dominant views posit that the new nation’s ‘crisis’ in 2006 is attributable to a ‘weak state’, arguing that substantial constraints on ‘human development’, a legacy of either the Indonesian period or failures of UN state building, presented insurmountable challenges to ‘capacity building’ which hampered the development of a public administration and other arms of the state. A closely related body of analysis attributes the causes, passage and resolution of ‘crisis’ to actors from the political elite. In this view, intraelite conflict foreclosed the possibility of the crisis’s early resolution, and attributed crisis to bad ‘policy-making’. A second perspective posits that a crisis was the result not of a weak state, but of the disempowerment of a strong civil society, that through ‘networked governance’, a legacy of the resistance network against Indonesia, can be relied on to rule. This thesis suggests that the remarkable uniformity of these analyses can be explained by their having: a) largely overlooked pre-1999 politics; and b) used a liberal perspective in which both abstractions and technical solutions (rule of law, capacity building) are assumed to be able to ‘correct’ ‘problems’ leading to ‘crisis’. This thesis proposes an explanation for contemporary politics found not solely in crisis or peace, but in the past. The postcolonial state is examined through the lens of colonial power relations, in terms of the extent and limits of modern ‘bio-power’. Successive chapters examine health and hygiene, the inculcation of norms and dispositions, family and habitat, and monetization. These themes are related back to state formation across the 20th century, and moreover, to an evaluation of life and death, processes evident throughout the practices of contemporary politics, including being significant in the institution of the postcolonial state. A key site of this power across time has been ‘missionary power’, embedded and semi-autonomous from the colonial state, rather than the Catholic Church per se. The manifold limits of colonial bio-power are identified not only as being a result of the paucity of material resources of the state, therefore, but also colonial ambivalence over subjects, durable relations between (and divergent representations of) missionaries and indigenous authorities, and contradictions between ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’, all of which are shown to play out in contemporary politics. Through this analysis, the thesis reveals an alternative interpretation of East Timor since 1999, and offers possibilities for considering politics in other postcolonial contexts.

The chaotic political history of Pakistan is riddled with frequent changes in government that includes three major military regimes. Since independence in 1947, Pakistan’s civil-military bureaucracy has been at the forefront in administering most of the state’s institutions. Decentralisation of political and administrative authority is reckoned as one of the most effective political strategies for dealing with the predominant ethnic identity problems as well as issues related to the over-centralised administration. In Pakistan, various programmes of decentralisation have been implemented by authoritarian regimes. Concealed under the façade of democratising local governance, the core objective of those military regimes was the quest for securing a local collaborative political base. In such context, the local governments’ functional autonomy and political influence has largely been nominal. With a particular focus on the local government reforms implemented in year 2001, this thesis investigates a range of political and administrative issues in Pakistan’s local governance. The study elaborates Pakistan’s post-independence political history to explain why the process of democratisation in general and decentralisation in particular has not been successful. Besides, international political economy perspectives are also evaluated in order to identify the hurdles that have obstructed the process of institution-building in Pakistan. In order to examine the factors that affect the inter-institutional and inter-governmental working relationships, the study is divided into two main analytical spheres. First, the organisational character and behaviour of civil bureaucracy is evaluated as one of the main reasons affecting the performance of local governments. Secondly, the thesis investigates the extent to which political clientelism is ingrained in the local political organisation of Pakistan. More specifically, it probes to find out how the nature of citizen-politician relationships, voting behaviour, and electoral mechanisms explain the failure of local government reforms

Exploiting recently-released files from the United Kingdom’s National Archives at Kew, this thesis is a case study of the complexities of engaging in diplomacy with a revolutionary regime – a regime that had come to power in a state with which there had previously been friendly co-operation and profitable commercial relations. Specifically, it analyses the evolution of the British diplomatic experience and especially the role played by British diplomats in dealing with Iran between 1978, when widespread discontent against the Shah made it clear that his pro-Western regime might not survive, through the revolution of 1979, the dawn of the Islamic Republic and the American embassy hostage crisis, until the end of 1981, by which time it was clear that Anglo-Iranian relations were mired in difficulties, with Britain conducting business via an ‘interests section’ under a protecting power, Sweden. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how well British diplomats performed as they conducted relations during a major revolution, against a highly uncertain backdrop, with Iranian domestic affairs in constant flux. Comparisons are made to the British experience of previous revolutions, especially those in France, Russia and China. In exploring the relationship and interactions between Britain and Iran, the thesis not only looks at how foreign policy towards Iran was shaped by the British government in London (particularly via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), but also at how the British embassy, and later the interests section, in Tehran, helped to shaped policy at home while dealing with the grave uncertainties in Iran. To this end, in addition to looking at major international issues, like the fallout from the hostage crisis, the implications of the Iranian upheaval for the Cold War and the impact of the Iran- Iraq conflict, the thesis explores three major questions. In chronological order these are: the supposed failure of the embassy, under Sir Anthony Parsons, to predict the downfall of the Shah (where the thesis draws on works that discuss intelligence ‘surprises’); how diplomats at the embassy faced the upheaval in Tehran, during the revolution itself; and how the interests section was established and staffed, under Swedish protection. The thesis therefore combines some of the conventional focus of works of international history (such as political crises, war and trade) with questions that have arisen from the literature on diplomatic practice (such as the daily work of ambassadors, the value of interests sections as compared to embassies and interactions within the diplomatic corps).

The research presented here examines a new definitional framework of creative autonomy that was designed with regard to the negotiated nature of creative autonomy and its relationship to the multiple identities of creative labourers. Having identified several limitations in the existing literature on creative autonomy, I argue that there is a need to observe creative labourers through a more appropriate lens—one which understands the paradoxes and dilemmas that today’s creative labourers experience in an undeniably commercial working environment. I suggest that such paradoxes and dilemmas, and the balance that needs to be attained, can be better understood if we consider the concept of the multiple identities of creative workers. Based upon this, I propose a new framework of creative autonomy, which seeks to appropriately reflect the distinctive attitudes of creative workers by taking into account the many concurrent desires manifest in the workplace. To empirically examine the new framework of creative autonomy and the concept of the multiplicities of creative labourers, the case of Main PDs in the South Korean light-entertainment television industry was selected. By observing the lived experiences of Main PDs, I attempt to reveal the negotiated nature of creative autonomy, which is the foundation of the new framework proposed in this study. Consequently, the significant industrial value of individual creative labourers who are able to negotiate and balance various intrinsic and extrinsic needs or demands in the creative production process becomes clear, and I then conclude by suggesting a need to establish a new management strategy so that broadcasting organisations are able to retain and manage professionalised PD labourers in the shifting labour market, for the development of not only organisations but also the creative workforce and the industry as a whole.

This is a study of that system of Home Government of India which came into existence with Pitt's India Act in 1784 and lasted with few material alterations till 1858. The striking fact about that system was the setting up of a 'dyarchy', that is to say, the establishment of two bodies with overlapping jurisdiction. How it worked in practice, over what issues the two bodies came into conflict, and by what methods open friction between the two was, as a rule, avoided is the aim of this Thesis to show. It is clear that the subject is fascinating as well as of some importance. Hitherto the relations between the Directors and the Board of Control have not received adequate attention. The subject is one which lies mainly outside the domain of regular Indian History. Such account of their relationship as is given by Mill and Kaye hardly does justice to the Board of Control, while Auber, who scrupulously refrains from taking sides, is no more than a dull chronicler. Among the modern writers who have worked on parts of the subject mention must be made of Sir William Foster, the late Lord Curzon, and Mr. P.E. Roberts. It is hoped that the survey presented in these pages fills a long-felt gap. That it is complete cannot, owing to insufficiency of material, and the limitations of time and capacity, be pretended. The "Melville Papers" which were expected to shed considerable light on the subject have been scattered in various hands. In reply to my enquiry, the National Library of Scotland wrote that they had obtained some fresh material, but that it would take about six months before it was made accesible to readers. This was in May. Subsequently I received another letter saying that the material was ready for inspection, but it did not seem to promise much information on the subject. A visit to Mr. Francis Edwards, 83, High Street, Marylebone, who kindly placed at my disposal all the MSS. still in his possession proved equally fruitless. Nevertheless the MSS. at the India Office Library, the Parliamentary Papers, and the Papers printed for the use of the Proprietors have been freely consulted. As the issues over which the Board and the Court came into conflict had their roots in many cases in past history, I have devoted some space to discussing the initial position. It would thus be found that each chapter is something more than a mere narrative of controversies. With regard to the general plan of the Thesis, I might mention that the first chapter recapitulates the events leading up to the Act of 1784, and the second chapter which discusses the general features of the system is designed to serve as 'an introduction. Each subsequent chapter is then devoted to a case or a group of cases illustrating the relationship of the Board and the Court of Directors. The series terminate with the case of Major Hart, a landmark in their relations. My thanks are due to my professor, John Coatman, Esq., C.I.E., for valuable guidance and constant encouragement, and Sir William Foster for occasional advice, as also to the officials of the British Museum and the India Office Library.

Tesis para optar al grado de Licenciada en Historia / En la presente investigación se busca determinar y explicar las formas y el contenido de los kurganes de los pueblos más relevantes de la antigüedad en la zona del Asia Central: los escitas y los hsiung-nu con el objetivo de identificar aquellos elementos comunes que nos permiten hablar de la existencia de un horizonte cultural entre los diferentes pueblos de las estepas. A través del análisis de bibliografía, imágenes y fotografías se buscará demostrar que desde el Volga se generó un movimiento de pueblos a partir del 4.500 a.C. que otorgará las principales características de los pueblos nómades en la región, entre ellos los kurganes como forma de enterramiento y que serán perfeccionados por los escitas hacia el siglo VII a.C., siendo estos quienes a partir de influencias culturales extenderán el uso de los kurganes entre los pueblos asiáticos, particularmente a los hsiung-nu.

This thesis conducts empirical studies on China's stock market using contemporary financial theories in order to explain the anomalies in China's stock market and then put forward some policy implications on the basis of the empirical research findings. The thesis consists of seven chapters. In addition to providing a brief introduction to the relationship between stock market development and economic growth. Chapter 1 describes several anomalies occurring in the international stock markets and sets up a research framework for the thesis to further study. Chapter 2 is a literature review. It reviews major contemporary theories or hypotheses related to initial public offerings (IPOs) underpricing, long-run underperformance and asset pricing characteristics. Chapter 3 is a general description of China's stock market development, which offers an institutional background such as IPOs system and stock market structure. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 conduct empirical studies using data from China's stock market. In Chapter 4, using cross sectional regression, I examine whether short run underpricing exists in China's stock market and the validity of a series of theories used in explaining this phenomenon. In Chapter 5, based on standard event study methodology, I investigate whether long-run underperformance of IPOs exists in China's stock market, and to what extent. In Chapter 6, according to Fama-MacBeth approach, I build a univariant model to examine whether Capital Asset pricing Model and Fama-French Three-Factor Model hold in China's stock market, and lo analyse empirically the asset pricing characteristics of China's stock market. Chapter 7, the last chapter, is the summary of the thesis. Some suggestions and policy implications are presented.

Background: The influence of religion on demographic behaviors has been extensively studied mainly for Abrahamic religions. Although Buddhism is the world´s fourth largest religion and is dominant in several Asian nations experiencing very low fertility, the impact of Buddhism on childbearing has received comparatively little research attention. Objective: This paper draws upon a variety of data sources in different countries in Asia in order to test our hypothesis that Buddhism is related to low fertility. Methods: Religious differentials in terms of period fertility in three nations (India, Cambodia and Nepal) and cohort fertility in three case studies (Mongolia, Thailand and Japan) are analyzed. The analyses are divided into two parts: descriptive and multivariate analyses. Results: Our results suggest that Buddhist affiliation tends to be negatively or not associated with childbearing outcomes, controlling for education, region of residence, age and marital status. Although the results vary between the highly diverse contextual and institutional settings investigated, we find evidence that Buddhist affiliation or devotion is not related to elevated fertility across these very different cultural settings. Conclusions: Across the highly diverse cultural and developmental contexts under which the different strains of Buddhism dominate, the effect of Buddhism is consistently negatively or insignificantly related to fertility. These findings stand in contrast to studies of Abrahamic religions that tend to identify a positive link between religiosity and fertility.

In the years following the economic crisis of 1997, Korean policymakers have focused on reforming the civil service by introducing New Public Management (NPM) ideas and practices. By the involvement of top decision-makers to individual central government departments, attempts were made to enhance the materialistic incentive, to reinforce performance management, and to improve flexibility and efficiency of government organisations. Despite these endeavours, the public management reforms in Korea seems to have not yet reached the expected goals. In the search of the cause of such discrepancy, this study investigated the developmental process of four representative civil service pay reform cases, namely, (1) public-private pay balance, (2) performance-related pay, (3) total payroll cost management, and (4) senior civil service pay. In order to do this, the data was collected from relevant documents and archives, such as government publications and newspapers, as well as interviews with 39 policymakers and experts. The analyses of the cases show how different motives and behaviours of key actors the president and core departments- led to varying degrees of attainment in terms of the outcomes of the reform. While NPM-inspired institutions were transplanted in appearance with necessary legal regulations and arrangements established by enactment in the initiating phase, the effectiveness and sustainability of the reform was limited due to the shift of ownership of the reform from the president to core departments in the consolidating phase. This created a pattern which included cyclic fluctuations of an ambitious start, speedy introduction of a new system, and apparent or hidden retreat or maintenance. This study argues that insufficient reform outcomes stem from the relationship between the president and core departments, which was transformed from the agency-type (owner-agent) relationship into the trustee-type Public Service Bargains (PSB) (autonomous department). In this context, this study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing insights into the reform process. Firstly, it expands the theory of NPM by presenting the details of convergence and divergence in the case of the Korean civil service. Secondly, this research suggests the Korean civil service reform model that implies the significance of reform ownership and monitoring process. Finally, this study suggests a concept of “dual identity” of bureaucracy as the object and subject of the reform. It is hoped that the implications of reform dynamics will be helpful to policy practitioners in developing countries that aim to initiate a civil service reform with reference to NPM.

This thesis examines the efforts to introduce governance reform and anti-corruption measures from Indonesia‘s independence in 1945 until the end of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY's) presidency in 2014. It is divided into three main parts covering Sukarno‘s 'Old Order', Suharto's 'New Order', and the reform period. The first part discusses how the newborn state of Indonesia balanced asserting its independence with efforts at institution building. It analyzes the power struggle between the diametrically opposed nationalist camp led by Sukarno and the administrator camp led by Vice President Hatta. It also examines Army Chief General Nasution's push for anti-corruption initiatives under Sukarno's guided democracy. The second part analyzes the roots, causes and development of corruption under President Suharto. It looks at how, in the early period of the New Order, Suharto enacted a number of anticorruption policies in response to demands especially from students, how this political alliance ended as Suharto was able to consolidate his political authority, and how this undermined the checks-and-balances system. It also analyses the impact of the increasing corruption on Suharto‘s political capital as the Indonesian middle class demanded greater transparency and accountability, ultimately – along with 1997 Asia Financial crisis – leading to Suharto‘s downfall in May 1998. The third part of this thesis examines the efforts by the post-Suharto presidencies to tackle the legacy of corruption from the New Order period. It discusses the dynamics between the reformists within the executives and legislatures who worked together with civil society and the conservative/pro-status quo groups and oligarchs, as well as the impact of a more democratic political governance structure, the emergence of a free media, the greater freedom of expression, and the functioning of the most effective anti-corruption agency in Indonesia‘s modern history – the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). This thesis advances three arguments: First, that despite all the rhetoric in championing the cause, governance reform was never seen as a long-term endeavor and therefore was never applied consistently from independence to the SBY era. Second, the anti-corruption drives predating the KPK in 2004 were mostly arbitrary, with limited impact, selective in nature, and politicized. Third, the establishment of the KPK changed the sense of impunity among the political elites, albeit only in a limited sense. On the one hand, that allowed the KPK to sustain and even accelerate the anti-corruption drive during the two terms of SBY's presidency but, on the other, it left the overall political, economic and social structure and with it the persistent institutional failure that induced and incubated the wave of corruption largely intact.