People’s participation in their own development is at the core of Communication forDevelopment. This study explores the potential and barriers for youth civic engagementespecially among the urban youth in Bhutan, a newly democratised country in theEastern Himalayas. Youth Initiative (YI), a project begun in the fall of 2013 by a groupof local youth and mentored by a local civil society organisation, the Bhutan Centre forMedia and Democracy, was chosen as the case study.The study analyses how and in which arenas youth enact their citizenship inBhutan; how young people themselves see their opportunities to participate indemocratic processes, analysing social, cultural and political factors influencing theirparticipation; whether their civic participation is critical or conforming to the existingsocial structures; how could Facebook foster democratic culture and youth civicengagement; and what is the link between youth civic engagement and social capital.Data were collected through three (3) focus group discussions with youth andnine (9) qualitative interviews with founders or steering committee members of the YI.The 19 young participants of the focus group discussions were between 17 to 28 yearsold, two of the groups consisting of YI representatives and one of unemployed youth.The interview data together with relevant textual sources were analysed through theconceptual framework of participatory democracy and social capital. Three distinctthemes could be identified through the qualitative thematic analysis: 1. Youth agency inthe public sphere; 2. Inequality and corruption; and 3. Cultural change. Particularlyinformal cultural barriers, such as respecting authorities and the lack of democraticculture to have an equal, critical dialogue in the public sphere were seen as mainobstacles for youth civic engagement in Bhutan.The findings indicate that youth civic engagement is a crucial component instrengthening social capital, particularly mutual trust across different groups andgenerations of people. The study argues that it is possible to create a space for intergenerational dialogue that encompasses and respects the diverse, but overlappingspheres of youth agency, democratic communication and social harmony.

This thesis explores the implications of democratisation on the regulation of health care providers. It examines the reforms in relation to two regulatory policies in the pharmaceutical market of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Korea – the separation of prescribing and dispensing (SPD) and the pharmaceutical pricing policy – conducted in two periods – the 1980s under the authoritarian regime and the 1990s under the democratised regime. The misuse and overuse of drugs had long been recognised as a problem for the NHI, and the tight regulation of the SPD and pharmaceutical pricing as potential solutions. Democratisation seems unlikely to tighten the government’s regulation of the SPD and pharmaceutical prices. On the one hand, the Korean authoritarian regime was known as being capable of conducting top-down regulation of societal groups, and democratisation as having liberalised the government-society relationship. On the other, pharmaceutical regulation is a sophisticated and detached issue, which restricts the ability of laypeople to mobilise and exert bottom-up pressure for regulation. Nevertheless, the authoritarian government failed to tighten, and even loosened these regulations, whereas the democratised government tightened them. This thesis explains this puzzle by focusing on the features of the agenda-setting process and the articulation of policy issues therein. In the 1980s, the SPD and the pharmaceutical reimbursement pricing policy were administrative issues, discussed exclusively between bureaucrats and the central associations of health care providers, which resulted in loose regulation. In contrast, in the 1990s, reform-oriented professionals and NGOs raised these issues and put them on the political agenda, which motivated the government to conduct tighter regulation. This thesis suggests some general implications of democratisation on the politics of regulation. The hierarchical and exclusive authoritarian policy network aims to realise policy goals set by ruling elites; however, for other policy issues, societal partners can utilise this network to promote their preferred policies. Democratisation, which promotes competitive elections and political rights, allows previously excluded policy actors to participate in policy-making networks. These new actors include professionals and activists who are able to understand regulatory issues and articulate them in ways that are salient to politicians and the general public, which will motivate the government to tighten the regulation governing its traditional policy partners.

Depuis le début des années 90, des collectifs d'architectes mettent en avant des démarches alternatives au processus traditionnel d'élaboration du projet architectural ou urbain. Ils privilégient des interventions sur les petites échelles permettant une implication plus importante des habitants sur le projet dans le cadre d'actions engageant peu de moyens. A la fois proches des artistes « activistes » ou de pratiques d'éducation populaire, ces architectes proposent des méthodes alliant pédagogie de la création et participation démocratique. Le militantisme et la coproduction avec le public semblent ainsi dessiner les contours de modèles d'action qui, bien que marginaux, participent au changement des valeurs traditionnelles du champ de l'architecture. Une nouvelle socialisation de l'activité des architectes semble alors être à l'oeuvre à travers ces formes d'engagements professionnels. La thèse est organisée en trois parties. La première présente un état des lieux de la socialisation de l'architecture à travers deux entrées principales : l'histoire sociale de la profession et le mouvement de la démocratisation de l'architecture. La deuxième chapitre vise à expliciter les formes de professionnalités développées par des collectifs à partir d'une description de fonctionnements associatifs et de divers champs d'action (interventions sociales et artistiques ou actions pédagogiques et participatives). Enfin, la troisième partie explore les modalités selon lesquelles des architectes et des artistes façonnent de nouvelles compétences construites à partir de déplacements relatifs à leurs champs de référence / Since the early 1990s, architects' collectives have placed emphasis on alternative approaches to the traditional process used to develop architectural or urban projects. These collectives privilege small scale interventions that permit a greater involvement of local residents in the project through actions requiring few means. Simultaneously close to “activist” artists and community education practices, these architects propose methods that ally the teaching of creativity and democratic participation. As a result, the activism and joint production with the public seems to outline the contours of action models that, although marginal, are contributing to changing traditional values within the field of architecture. A new socialisation of the activity carried out by architects seems to be taking shape through these forms of professional commitment. The thesis is organised into three parts. The first presents an assessment of the socialisation of architecture through two particular aspects: the social history of the profession and the movement towards the democratisation of architecture. The second chapter aims to clarify the forms of professionalism developed by the collectives through a description of the associative operational methods and the various fields of action (social and artistic interventions or educative and participative actions). Finally, the third part explores the methods through which architects and artists develop new skills by expanding their specific fields of reference

As the digital transformation and the technological development progresses, the tools, methods and practices of activistsare changing and a unification of engineers and social reformers can be witnessed in contemporary forms of activism.This thesis presents a case study research that explores how practices from the Free and Open Source softwaremovement can lead to a democratisation of technology in the environmental activism project Precious Plastic.Furthermore it analysis the broader societal implications of this democratisation with a focus on human well-being andthe natural environment. By discussing Kelty’s (2008) concept of recursive publics and Haff’s (2018) work on OpenSource as a development model in the context of Feenberg’s (1992) critical theory of technology, central Open Sourcepractices were identified that have the potential to foster a democratisation of technology. This guided a qualitative textanalysis of the development discussions of two phases of Precious Plastic. Two major factors could be identified thatdetermine the extent to which the democratisation of technology through Open Source practices is possible. Theopportunity to contribute to a project and the power of a central gatekeeper. Other aspects, like an increased sense ofbelonging, the discussion of the own infrastructure and the projects future, or the efforts to involve as many actors as pos-sible in the technology, were found to have fostered a deeper and broader discussion among the participants. This studysuggests to extend the term Open Source activism (Aitchison and Peters, 2011), to describe a form of activismthat has the creation of technology at its core and brings together a variety of actors with similar practices who negotiateand shape the aim and the purpose of technology, leading to an increased compatibility of the technology with ournatural and human limits. However, this concept needs to be refined and improved with further studies before it can begenerally applicable.

Im Jahre 1991 ging Sambia von einem autoritären Regierungssystem zu einer „Mehrparteiendemokratie“ über. Diese Arbeit untersucht die folgende demokratische Transition und wirtschaftliche Liberalisierung bis zum Jahre 2008. Folgende Fragestellungen werden die Analyse bestimmen: Wie waren die Beziehungen zwischen den Akteuren auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene während des betreffenden Zeitraumes? Welche Wirkung hatte ihre Interaktion auf die Entscheidungsfindung und auf die Ergebnisse dieser Entscheidungen im Prozess der Transition und Liberalisierung? Schließlich sind folgende Fragen zu beantworten: Wie standen die demokratische Transition und die Bemühungen zur Liberalisierung der Wirtschaft zueinander? Bedingten sie sich gegenseitig? Meine These ist, dass die Politik in Sambia seit der Unabhängigkeit im Jahre 1964 immer schon zwischen den nationalen und internationalen Akteuren ausgehandelt wurde. Die politischen Parteien und Gewerkschaften in Sambia und die Gebergemeinschaft, besonders die Weltbank und der internationale Währungsfond (International Monatery Fund IMF), waren die Hauptakteure in diesem Verhandlungsprozess. Verstärkt wurde diese Interaktion seit den ersten freien Wahlen im Jahre 1991. Darum konzentriert diese Arbeit auf den Zeitrahmen ab 1991. Die Analyse beginnt allerdings schon mit der Auflösung der Föderation im Jahre 1963, wenngleich die Darstellung dieser Periode nur umrissartig ausfällt. / In 1991 Zambia made an end with its autoriterian rule and attempted a multiparty democracy. This thesis is about the consequential democratic transition and economic liberalisation up to the year 2008. The following questions determine the analysis: How was the relationship between actors, national and international in the relevant time frame? How did their interaction influence the decision making process and the outcome of it in terms of transition and liberalisation? Finally, these questions need to be answered: How did democratic transition interrelate with economic liberalisation? Did they mutually influence each other? I state, that politics in Zambia since independence in 1964 has always been negotiated by national and international actors. Zambian political parties, trade unions and the donor community, the World Bank and the International Monatery Fond in particular, were the main actors in this process of negotiation. Their interaction was strengthened following the first free elections in 1991. That is the reason for this work to focus on this period of time. Nevertheless, the analysis starts with the dissolution of the federation in 1963 if only in an outline.

<p>By presenting case studies from the village of Mahenye in Zimbabwe and the five villages of the Okavango Community Trust in Botswana, the study looks beyond the objectives, discourse and contests of policy and undertakes an investigation of what actions rural people are undertaking inside the institutions established by policy makers, and of governance outcomes at the local level. These case studies reveal that unfettered devolution can lead to elite capture and the perpetuation of poverty / that rural communities themselves have agency and the ability to exercise it / and that there is limited and shrinking political space in both countries which is reducing opportunities for rural communities to engage with political processes. The Botswana case studies demonstrates that an imported and imposed devolutionary initiative which lacks links to higher levels of governance can reduce political space at local levels. The Zimbabwe case study demonstrates that political space may be more effectively created through decentralisation. The lesson drawn from these case studies is that institutional arrangements and roles should be determined by context specific issues and circumstances and move beyond the structural determinism that has characterized much of the CBNRM debate to date. The study concludes with policy recommendations. These include the need for recognition of the synergy between CBNRM and democratisation as mutually reinforcing processes and the need to be context-specific...</p>

<p>By presenting case studies from the village of Mahenye in Zimbabwe and the five villages of the Okavango Community Trust in Botswana, the study looks beyond the objectives, discourse and contests of policy and undertakes an investigation of what actions rural people are undertaking inside the institutions established by policy makers, and of governance outcomes at the local level. These case studies reveal that unfettered devolution can lead to elite capture and the perpetuation of poverty / that rural communities themselves have agency and the ability to exercise it / and that there is limited and shrinking political space in both countries which is reducing opportunities for rural communities to engage with political processes. The Botswana case studies demonstrates that an imported and imposed devolutionary initiative which lacks links to higher levels of governance can reduce political space at local levels. The Zimbabwe case study demonstrates that political space may be more effectively created through decentralisation. The lesson drawn from these case studies is that institutional arrangements and roles should be determined by context specific issues and circumstances and move beyond the structural determinism that has characterized much of the CBNRM debate to date. The study concludes with policy recommendations. These include the need for recognition of the synergy between CBNRM and democratisation as mutually reinforcing processes and the need to be context-specific...</p>

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, the Bush administration articulated an anti-terrorism grand strategy of armed democratisation in the Middle East that constituted the heart of the “Bush Doctrine.” This strategy derived primarily from the framework of activist democracy promotion developed by neoconservatives, and reached its apex in 2003 when it served as the rationale for regime change in Iraq as the fulcrum for the democratic transformation of the Arab world. Yet by 2008, the Bush administration's democratisation policies and many elements of the broader neoconservative framework of democracy promotion have been significantly scaled back as a result of the challenges they have faced in the Arab world - to the extent that both are now entering a state of decline. In seeking to assess the development, assumptions and outcomes to date of the United States' post-September 11 anti-terrorism strategy in the Middle East, this thesis offers a critical account of the rise and decline of the “neoconservative moment” in American foreign policy as exemplified by the Bush Doctrine's Middle East democratisation policies. This thesis examines the origins, evolution and claims of the neoconservative paradigm of armed democracy promotion; it relates these to the justifications for interventionist democratisation in the Middle East present in the terms of the Bush Doctrine; and it assesses some of the key critiques made of these assumptions over the past five years. Unlike a number of studies of the Bush Doctrine and neoconservatism, this thesis takes seriously the Bush Doctrine's claims and neoconservative beliefs as a genuine intellectual framework for intervention, consistently examining their assertions on their own terms. Further, this thesis utilises an interdisciplinary approach of study, adopting a number of the methods and analytical tools of history and political science in making its arguments and reaching its conclusions.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / By presenting case studies from the village of Mahenye in Zimbabwe and the five villages of the Okavango Community Trust in Botswana, the study looks beyond the objectives, discourse and contests of policy and undertakes an investigation of what actions rural people are undertaking inside the institutions established by policy makers, and of governance outcomes at the local level. These case studies reveal that unfettered devolution can lead to elite capture and the perpetuation of poverty; that rural communities themselves have agency and the ability to exercise it; and that there is limited and shrinking political space in both countries which is reducing opportunities for rural communities to engage with political processes. The Botswana case studies demonstrates that an imported and imposed devolutionary initiative which lacks links to higher levels of governance can reduce political space at local levels. The Zimbabwe case study demonstrates that political space may be more effectively created through decentralisation. The lesson drawn from these case studies is that institutional arrangements and roles should be determined by context specific issues and circumstances and move beyond the structural determinism that has characterized much of the CBNRM debate to date. The study concludes with policy recommendations. These include the need for recognition of the synergy between CBNRM and democratisation as mutually reinforcing processes and the need to be context-specific. / South Africa

The main aim of this thesis is to examine the processes and procedures for promoting local government democracy in post-apartheid South Africa. This study principally investigates the extent to which local government reforms empower women in local politics, given the context, constraints and contested discourses in the historical meaning of „women‟, as well as the history of institution making in South Africa. In order to achieve this, the study explores local government reforms processes‟ contribution to the nature of women‟s political participation and representation in local politics. The study further explains the relationship between political parties‟ and that of government in the participation of women in local politics. Lastly, the study identifies ingrained factors shaping women‟s participation in local politics prevalent in spite of reforms. The study has adopted an institutionalist approach and uses critical theory in order gain deeper insights about women‟s participation and representation in local politics. The study adopts a qualitative research strategy, due to the fact that it favours particular instruments that are suited to explore some of the experiences and practices of the main actors involved in local politics. It triangulates both secondary and primary sources of data gathered in South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 interviewees from two selected municipalities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and two sampled political parties as an endeavour to obtain a diversity of viewpoints about the political reforms. Furthermore, the secondary data from government sources and political parties‟ sources was used. Archival research was complemented with municipal reports and policies in order to establish the relationship between national directives and local implementation on institutional development. These methodological approaches were used due to the fact that they highlight the multiplicity and diversity of political institutions that exist even at local level. The findings show that there are political spaces opened through reforms for women to participate in political processes in local government politics. The study found that there are local municipalities led by women mayors and some were under women‟s political leadership from the beginning -- following the second reorganisation of local government. Nonetheless, the levels of state (national, provincial and local) and diverse interests of societal actors in local politics challenged the democratisation processes. Basically, the government has contradictory dominant roles in the reform processes. However, societal actors, which comprise political parties and traditional authorities influence reforms (in) directly. Further findings show contradictions among institutions, which favours other actors in local politics, while restricting women‟s long-term political careers. Overall, this study concludes that the reform process has achieved the objective in opening political spaces for women in local politics. However, these new spaces in a post-apartheid society seem to be depoliticised, which eclipses how the political system remains prone to the influence of multiple discourses of liberation, as well as the partial historical convergence of interests at the local political level.