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This thesis examines the debate on the future of voluntary social service following the establishment of the post-war welfare state, commonly regarded as a painful period of adjustment for voluntary organisations, and argues that this debate sheds light on the later resurgence of the voluntary sector. It assesses the policy instruments available to governments in managing the voluntary sector in the 1940s, and the influence of this regulatory framework on the institutional forms available to voluntary organisations. It explores the legal and ethical distinction between endowed charities and voluntary organisations which Labour inherited from the Liberal political tradition, and how this interacted with the conceptual framework articulated by leading proponents of voluntary social service. The nature of voluntary organisations meant that traditional theories of voluntarism were often at odds with the routine maintenance of extended organisational structures, especially with the methods required to finance voluntary organisations. A consensus on proposals to resolve this conflict emerged in the late 1940s and this reflected structural changes within the voluntary sector which had given rise to a class of professional managers whose views increasingly converged with those of Labour policy makers. The proposals included the creation of autonomous funding bodies to be financed partly from the assets of defunct charitable endowments, providing financial stability for voluntary organisations, satisfying the requirements of accountability without compromising the independenceo f voluntary organisations. The new funding bodies were not created, but a new framework of corporate governance for voluntary organisations was implemented in the 1960 Charities Act, which brought voluntary organisations within the regulatory regime governing charitable trusts. The assimilation of voluntarism to charity ensured that the Idealism that inspired voluntary social service organisations was tied to compliance with institutional and legal forms which impaired their capacity to express social criticism.

By 1966 it had become clear that the doctrine of individual ministerial responsibility, which lay at the heart of the British constitution, had failed to evolve in order to meet the requirements of modern government. This thesis puts forward a review of the doctrine's operation and theoretical basis over a seventeen year period, starting with the advent of new organs of parliamentary scrutiny under the second Wilson Government. It is argued that individual ministerial responsibility can best be understood with reference to four distinct, yet interlocking elements. One of these, accountability, was the focus of significant change between 1966 and 1983. During these years, it was possible to discern the emergence of a new regime of parliamentary accountability. Within this, the traditional methods of scrutiny continued to operate, but they were joined by new Select Committees and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. These new organs had the effect of increasing the quantity and enhancing the quality of scrutiny which could be brought to bear on ministers and civil servants. In a real sense, ministers became more accountable to Parliament for their role responsibilities, while the civil servants' accountability to their superiors in the administrative hierarchy, to their ministerial masters, and most importantly, to Parliament, was enhanced. In particular, the operation of the new Select Committees created a situation where the de lure statement of civil service non-accountability to Parliament came into obvious conflict with the emerging de facto accountability to this source. Individual ministerial responsibility remains a useful description of how British government is organised and operates. The doctrine should not be viewed as a constitutional myth, although one of its elements, sanctions, is nearer to myth than reality. The period 1966-83 witnessed no "revival" of this element, only a few false starts.

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In order for democracy to perform as it should, the press must provide citizens with a diverse range of information. The democratic process is enhanced, if the press is independent of both the state and the market. A study of the issues in state-press relations and how these relations may prevent the press from performing its democratic function, lies at the centre of this work. In an authoritarian society in transition such as Taiwan, where the press is subjected to state control, these issues are of central importance. This study aims to examine the democratic relationship between the press and politics in Taiwan and its relevance to the democratic process. It focuses on three areas: (1) what is the nature of state control over the press, (2) how have the boundaries of control shifted as the state is faced with a more vigorous civil society influenced by the development of the democratic movement as well as the growing role of market forces, and (3) to what extent the press has played a role in the development of Taiwanese democracy. A multi-method research design is set out in an attempt to understand the changing political and economic role of the press. Intensive library research and a detailed content analysis of administrative records were conducted in order to examine the mechanisms of press control exercised by the party-state over both the mainstream and alternative media. Moreover, an ethnographic approach is used to enable a study of state-press relations which focuses on the reporting of politics. We conclude that the confrontation between the partystate and civil society has altered the close links between the Nationalist Party, the Kuo Min Tang (KMT) and the press. The transformation of state-press relations marks a change from direct control by the party-state to a form of market censorship, with the party-state manipulation of the press shifting from regulation and censorship to news management. In the years before the rule of martial law, the party-state exercised power over the press by means of its licensing of newspapers, giving financial support to the press industry, and seducing proprietors through the provision of political and economic favours. By the late 1980s, the strategies of public relations had become important for a party-state which was undermined by an increasingly aware populace and was faced with a less manageable press. Finally, we suggest that unless newspaper barons are willing to distance themselves from the party-state and divert power to journalists; and the journalists are willing to rely on professional judgement and to energetically pursue facts, the press will exercise little impact on making the party-state more accountable to the public during Taiwan's transition to a democratic society.

In 1964 the government of Kuwait established the Central Tenders Committee (CTC). Its aims were fivefold: 1) to control the major areas of government spending on services and development projects; 2) to reduce the expenses of government departments when buying from private suppliers and to ensure the highest quality of provision; 3) to organise, standardise and unite all tendering procedures for all government departments through the CTC; 4) to avoid breach of trust between government departments and employees; 5) to treat all contractors who tender with fairness and avoid favouritism throughout the tender procedures. The thesis evaluates the economic role of central tendering within a particular sociopolitical context: that of Kuwait, and highlights the organisational nature of the slow responding and highly bureaucratic CTC. The implications of this for a dynamic business culture are stressed, and the differences between the CTC as formal model and the reality are discussed. Further attention is paid to the question of who benefits from this process of tendering. It is clear that the impact on the state of this system is variable, despite the initial hopes for the CTC, but there is no obvious pattern of advantage for particular types of companies or countries. A questionnaire was circulated to a sample of CTC employees, clients, customers, and suppliers. Little has been attempted elsewhere to evaluate a CTC approach, leading to a lack of information and research. It was hoped that by the tool of the questionnaire method, light could be thrown on the relative advantagesa nd caseo f use of the CTC mechanism. The five fold aims of the CTC are recognised as being worthy and relevant, with evidence that with some exceptions all are being met to a greater or lesser degree, but that simplification of the procedures and a speeding up of the process would release many more benefits.

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