<p> This study explores the link between democracy and bureaucracy using Japan as the critical case study. The research question is whether competition by multiple principals creates opportunities for bureaucratic drift. This project hypothesizes that policy settings including multiple principals (independent variable) are more likely to manifest bureaucratic drift (dependent variable). At the same time, policy settings excluding multiple principals (independent variable) are more likely to manifest less bureaucratic drift (dependent variable). Variation in agent discretion is the critical effect of the independent variable (i.e., number of principals) on the dependent variable (bureaucratic drift). </p><p> Evaluating the exercise of discretion of administrators is feasible if one's evidence is primarily from the administrators themselves. To test these hypotheses, therefore, this project adopts a research design based on a qualitative case study methodology. The case studies include four of Japan's ministries: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Land, Industry, Transportation, and Tourism (MLITT), and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW). Likewise, the role of the National Personnel Authority (NPA) in the administrative system is also evaluated. Research participants include both participants in the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program along with NPA administrators.</p><p> This study contributes to the extant corpus of research in a number of salient respects. First, this project proposes a different dependent variable in that most studies are focused on administrative reform whereas the focus here is on bureaucratic drift. Second, this project discusses the important effect of bureaucratic discretion. Third, while relevant to the quality of the Japanese democracy in particular, these findings may be leveraged to a larger conversation about the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy in the Asian context and perhaps beyond. Finally, this project provides an explicit policy recommendation for contemporary Japanese politics proposing that greater authority be delegated to administrative agents, albeit supervised by a powerful intermediary, to minimize bureaucratic drift.</p>

<p> This thesis explores Japanese society through the lens of cultural hybridity and liminality to understand the shift towards nonconformity and hyper-individualism among post-postwar Japanese. This shift reflects an important point in Japan's transculturation process whereby post-postwar Japanese have developed a cultural hybridity of inbetweenness (liminality) juxtaposing their native Japaneseness (<i>wakon</i>) against their adopted Westernness (<i>y<span style="text-decoration:overline"> o</span>kon</i>). This <i> wakon-y<span style="text-decoration:overline">o</span>kon </i> hybrid construct is posing a challenge to Japan's longstanding hybrid modernity philosophy of <i>wakon-y<span style="text-decoration:overline"> o</span>sai</i> (Japanese spirit- Western things), which perpetuated the pre-modern core values and collectivist ethics of Japaneseness for nearly 150 years below its fa&ccedil;ade of Western modernity. The dilemma inherent in Japan's <i>wakon-y<span style="text-decoration:overline"> o</span>kon</i> in-betweenness is foreshadowed in the pioneering works of Abe K<span style="text-decoration:overline">o</span>b<span style="text-decoration:overline"> o</span> and Murakami Haruki, who both illuminated the conflicting juxtaposition of the core values and ethics of Japaneseness (wakon) and <i>seken</i>-Other (the jury-surrounding- the-Self) against the pursuit of the individualist ethics of Westernness (y<span style="text-decoration:overline"> o</span>kon) and Selfhood (<i> shutaisei)</i> within their imaginaries. </p>

No description available.

<p> CHIK is a viral infection transmitted by the <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito which causes an illness with symptoms of severe joint pain, high fever, and rash. The joint pain can continue for months, causing disability and economic strain on families. This study included implementation of a baseline needs assessment, and development, implementation, and evaluation of an experimental community-based educational intervention in rural Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 184 households, across 12 purposively sampled villages (six intervention and six control), participated in the needs assessment between August and December 2010. The experimental community-based educational intervention was implemented between December 2010 and August 2011, in the six intervention villages. A total of 180 households, from the same 12 villages, participated in the post-intervention evaluation. A randomized block design with repetition was used to test whether there was a change in CHIK knowledge scores from baseline to post-intervention in the treatment group. A model including respondent variables, household larval status, household container larval status, recent experience with CHIK, numbers of livestock, socioeconomic position (SEP) variables, and water variables were used to predict CHIK knowledge scores in rural Tamil Nadu. Respondent age, measures of luxury amenities and water source were statistically significant predictors of knowledge in this model. The CHIK knowledge score increased from 9.0 to 9.4 in the intervention group (p=0.6457) and from 8.5 to 9.2 in the control group (p=0.393), showing that the educational intervention did not increase CHIK knowledge in the intervention group. Although this low-cost intervention, utilized in a resource poor area of Tamil Nadu, India did not result in an increase of CHIK knowledge, the process of developing the educational intervention may provide a template for future interventions. Future studies should investigate methods of sustainability in the use of educational messages. </p>

<p> As nations have become far more interconnected by means of globalization in the 21st century, the issues that affect one nation often have affects upon others. As India is a nation with a population of more than 1.2 billion, the issues that affect the nation also affect others. As an assault in Delhi, India made international news on December 16, 2012, the international community has become more aware of the incidents of gender-based violence that exist within the country. The ramifications of the international community's knowledge of the assault included a drastic decrease in both its international reputation and its tourism industry. As tourism provided 6.6% of its total GDP in 2012, it is an industry that is integral to the development of the nation. In order for India to increase its reputation and its tourism industry, gender-based violence in the form of assault and trafficking must be eradicated. This thesis will discuss the roots of gender-based violence specifically in India, and a case study of India's fight against colonialism will be used as an example of how a sense of nationalism was essential in meeting the goal of the nation at that time. As colonialism and gender-based violence are both 'enemies' to a nation's autonomy and reputation, this thesis will analyze the fact that the nation's ability to form a cohesive national identity, as it did during British rule, is essential for it to achieve its 2013 goals.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1975. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327, 330-338).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1975. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327, 330-338).

<p> In this qualitative explanatory single case study, community of practice and positioning theory were used to examine the perceptions of Chinese English teachers (CETs) concerning foreign English teachers (FETs) in a bilingual primary school in an urban environment in East China. The problem in this study was the difficulty of CETs and FETs to work harmoniously to teach English in Chinese primary schools. Specifically, the research questions were a) what are the Chinese English teachers&rsquo; perceptions of barriers to collaborating with foreign English teachers? and b) What are the Chinese English teachers&rsquo; perceptions regarding the contributions of the foreign English teachers in relation to English language teaching? At this school, each Chinese teacher was paired up with a foreign teacher as co-teaching dyad with shared responsibility. After conducting interviews with seven Chinese English teachers at the school, the interview transcripts were coded using values coding methods and descriptive coding. After compiling the data, six themes emerged relative to the research questions. Concerning barriers to collaboration, the Chinese English teachers mentioned noticeable differences in the dedication to teaching, a lack of solidarity between the two groups, and problems with the administration of the school. Contributions of the foreign teachers were providing cultural context, different approaches in teaching and working with the students, and native speaker model. From these results, it was recommended that foreign teachers need to demonstrate their desire to teach in better ways to their Chinese coworkers. Additionally, school administration must provide more direct leadership so that teachers can know what is expected of them concerning how to work together with the other teachers.</p><p>

<p> This study examined the relationship between intentional father involvement and intergenerational transmission of Christian faith (ITCF) among Evangelical Presbyterian families in South Korea. Although God has assigned fathers as the leaders of the family who should assume the primary responsibility for their children&rsquo;s spiritual formation, many Korean evangelical fathers have overlooked their responsibility. In the meantime, the number of Korean youth who identified as Christians has been decreasing. While there are many studies that have examined parental or maternal influence on faith transmission, not enough empirical studies focused on the role of fathers on ITCF. Moreover, there was sparse, if any, literature that dealt with the relationship between intentional father involvement and ITCF among Korean families. </p><p> Based on review the of theoretical, empirical, and theological literature, this study selected and examined the relationships among four major variables: fathers&rsquo; religiosity, fathers&rsquo; attitude on their role as a father, intentional father involvement with their children, and family faith activities. In addition to the major variables, some demographic variables were also analyzed to better understand the sample and to compare with the preceding literature. </p><p> The target population was Korean Evangelical Presbyterian fathers in South Korea, residing with their children from kindergarteners to middle schoolers (approximate ages from 4 to 14). In this study, a total of 388 fathers from 33 Evangelical Korean Presbyterian churches participated by answering via personal mobile devices an online survey questionnaire (Survey Monkey^&reg;) that measured intentional father involvement (Inventory of Father Involvement), fathering attitude (Theistic Sanctification of Parenting Scale), religiosity (Religious Commitment Inventory-10), family faith activities (Faith Activities In The Home Scale), as well as some demographic background data. The collected data were analyzed through the Spearman&rsquo;s Rank Order correlations, Mann-Whitney&rsquo;s <i>U</i> test, and Kruskal-Wallis <i> H</i> test. </p><p> The results of this study showed that Korean Evangelical Presbyterian fathers&rsquo; intentional involvement in childrearing is associated with intergenerational faith transmission as measured by the frequency of family faith activities at home. The significant results of this study can be summarized as follows: (a) Korean Evangelical Presbyterian fathers highly valued their religious faith and their role as a father, and moderately participated in childrearing, yet they did not actively practice family faith activities; (b) Korean Evangelical fathers&rsquo; personal religiosity, attitude on their role as a father, intentional paternal involvement with their children, and family faith activities were significantly correlated; and (c) fathers&rsquo; graduate level of education, their church offices as pastors/evangelists, and their experience of parenting class attendance were correlated with family faith activities. </p><p> Based on the results of this study, several implications were suggested in order to encourage families and church leaders to help fathers more actively participate in the process of faith transmission. Also, some limitations, and future research recommendations based on the limitations were suggested. </p><p>

abstract: This dissertation examines lexical and phonetic variations between Daigi, Hakka, and Modern Standard Chinese elements as used in two Daoist temples of southern Taiwan, the Daode Yuan (DDY) and Yimin Miao (YMM) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which form linguistic repertoires from which religious communities construct language variants called religiolects. Specific variations in the use of these repertoires appear to be linked to specific religious thought processes. Among my results, one finds that phonetic features of Daigi and Hakka appear linked to the use of language in religious contexts at the DDY and YMM, especially such that alterations in pronunciation, which would otherwise be inappropriate, are linked to speakers of the religiolects processing and producing religious thought in ways they otherwise would not. For example, what would normally be pronounced [tʰe laɪ] internal to one's body would be archaicized as [tʰe lue], from frequent contact with [lue tan] inner alchemy; this leads to reinforced conception of the inner body as sacred space. One also finds that semantic features of lexical items received sacralized contours in overt and non-overt ways, such that lexical items that would otherwise be irreligious become religious in nature; e.g., instances of the appearance of 道, especially in binomial items, would be resolved or parsed by reference to the sacred meaning of the word (such as the [to] in [tsui to tsui], which normally means having its source in, coming to be associated with 道 as path from sacred font). / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Religious Studies 2015