published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study focussed on the transformation of the institutions of local government from deconcentration, delegation to devolution. This transformation can be looked at starting with the institutions inherited from the colonial era, which started after the Berlin Conference of 1884, which divided Africa among the western powers. Then the transformation, which took place immediately after independence / that is the period of 1960s, the changes made in the 1980s and finally the transformation taking place following the multiparty democracy in the 1990s. The study looked at decentralisation during the colonial period / decentralisation after independence, with a particular focus on the institutions under a single party system / transformation of local government under multiparty system. It also examined the challenges facing decentralisation in the SADC region.

This dissertation offers a new account of New York City's politics and government in the 1930s and 1940s. Focusing on the development of the functions and capacities of the municipal state, it examines three sets of interrelated political changes: the triumph of "municipal reform" over the institutions and practices of the Tammany Hall political machine and its outer-borough counterparts; the incorporation of hundreds of thousands of new voters into the electorate and into urban political life more broadly; and the development of an ambitious and capacious public sector--what Joshua Freeman has recently described as a "social democratic polity." It places these developments within the context of the national New Deal, showing how national officials, responding to the limitations of the American central state, utilized the planning and operational capacities of local governments to meet their own imperatives; and how national initiatives fed back into subnational politics, redrawing the bounds of what was possible in local government as well as altering the strength and orientation of local political organizations. The dissertation thus seeks not only to provide a more robust account of this crucial passage in the political history of America's largest city, but also to shed new light on the history of the national New Deal--in particular, its relation to the urban social reform movements of the Progressive Era, the long-term effects of short-lived programs such as work relief and price control, and the roles of federalism and localism in New Deal statecraft.

This is a study of the obvious and intimated causes of the Nez Perce War of 1877 in Idaho Territory and a collection of reasons explaining why the terms of surrender agreed upon by Chief Joseph and Colonel Nelson A. Miles were not honored by the United States government. There is a relationship between the events preceeding and following the war as they determined the history of the Nez Perce nation throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. National, state and territorial interests, cultural and religious differences, racial prejudices and white greed for Indian lands all contributed either directly or indirectly in determining those events, and, despite the Indians entreaties for fair treatment, molded the Nez Perce nation into the model desired by the white majority of the United States. Research for this study included an examination of the reports of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Interior, and the Board of Indian Commissioners from the years 1877 to 1893. The Congressional Record and the Senate Miscellaneous Documents from that period were also examined. An excellent source for local for local attitudes was the Lewiston Teller from the years 1875 to 1892. Copies of the newspaper are on file in the Lewiston, Idaho city library. Additional information was obtained from the newspaper files of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, on file in that newspaper’s office, and the Spokesman Review, filed at the Spokane, Washington city library. The director of the Nez Perce National Park kindly loaned me his microfilm copies of letters and reports from agents of the Lapwai, Lehmi and Fort Hall reservations and related correspondence from the years 1862 to 1880. The latter source is also on microfilm at the University of Idaho. Original sources, monographs and general works were researched in Multnomah County and the Oregon Historical Society libraries of Portland, Oregon.

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This thesis examines the possibilities for building a reconciliatory jurisprudence for the protection of indigenous rights under the Australian Constitution. The thesis first examines what could be meant by the term ???reconciliation??? in a legal context and argues that it requires (1) acknowledgement of and atonement for past wrongdoing, (2) the provision of recompense, and (3) the establishment of legal and constitutional structures designed to ensure that similar wrongs are not repeated in the future. The thesis focuses on the last of these three requirements. It is further argued that developing a reconciliatory jurisprudence first requires the courts to free themselves from the dominant paradigm of strict positivism so that they are liberated to pay due regard to questions of morality. Given this framework, the thesis then sets out to examine the purpose and scope of the race power (section 51(xxvi)) of the Australian Constitution, with particular regard to the case of Kartinyeri v Commonwealth in which the High Court directly considered the power. The thesis concludes that the majority of the Court had not, for various reasons, properly considered the nature of the power. An appropriate ruling, it is argued, should find that the power does not enable Parliament to discriminate adversely against racial minorities. The thesis then proceeds to consider whether there are implied terms under the Constitution that protect fundamental rights. It is argued that these rights are indeed protected because the Constitution is based upon the rule of law. In addition constitutional provisions are to be interpreted subject to the presumption that its terms are not to be understood as undermining fundamental rights unless a constitutional provision expressly states otherwise. The thesis also considers whether there is an implied right to equality under the Constitution. The conclusion drawn is that such a right exists and that it is both procedural and substantive in nature.

This thesis provides a Marxist analysis of the political economy of contemporary Maori protest politics in the years from 1968 to 1995. It is argued that Maori protest politics embraces a range of competing political ideologies, which are informed by different assumptions about the causes of Maori inequality in wider society, and in turn, different sets of strategies for ameliorating and transcending that inequality. Overall, the thesis has two central concerns: firstly, it identifies the critical economic, political and ideological conditions and context that have allowed particular competing political ideologies and strategies to dominate contemporary Maori protest politics. This involves a particular focus on understanding and explaining the rise of identity politics and cultural nationalism as the dominant political strategy within Maori protest politics. This involves a particular focus on understanding and explaining the rise of identity politics and cultural nationalism as the dominant political strategy within Maori protest politics. Secondly, the thesis critically assesses the effectiveness of contemporary Maori struggles against racism and oppression on the basis of whether they involve, or are likely to contribute towards, the transformation of the generative structures that give rise to manifest inequalities between Maori and non-Maori. It is argued that the systematic alienation of land and the inequality that exists between Maori and non-Maori are not simply the result of the underlying cultural values of individual non-Maori but are rather the result of the historical process of capitalist development in Aotearoa and the economic, political and ideological requirements necessary for the generalised commodification of indigenous labour-power. The thesis explores how the politics and practice of Maori protest has been shaped and influenced to a large extent by the underlying social, economic, political and ideological forces of global capitalism. It is argued that the international collapse of the long boom, the global upturn in class struggle and the emergence of the New Left internationally from the late 1960s had an enormous influence on the political direction of Maori protest in the New Zealand context. The success of the working class offensive and the growing political influence of rank and file Maori workers ensured that Maori protest groups formed part of the progressive social movements of the time. Indeed, although some were explicitly nationalist in their orientation, these movements were consciously part of the Left. The balance of political forces within the Maori protest movement changed considerably during the late 1970s and early 1980s with the rise of the New Right as a political force internationally together with the rise of employer militancy, the defeat and demoralization of the working class movement internationally, the decline of the social movements and the absence of mass struggle. This had important implications for the influence of the various ideological factions that co-existed uneasily in the Maori political milieu from the early 1970s onwards. The downturn in militant mass struggle saw the rise in the influence of identity politics as cultural nationalist strategies came to dominate Maori protest politics, representing a fundamental retreat from Left-wing ideas. In practice this entailed a rejection of the class politics and mass struggle that had informed the politics and strategies of Maori protest groups from the late 1960s, and its replacement with a politics of cross-class alliances and a personal rejection of �Pakeha society�. In practice this was a recipe for passivity and divisiveness within the Maori protest movement itself. The politics of cultural nationalism left Maori ill-equipped to resist the ruling class counter-offensive and the anti-working class policies that successive governments introduced to restore the conditions for profitable capital accumulation. In particular, the rejection of a class analysis of Maori inequality in capitalist society has undermined the capacity of working class Maori to resist the neo-liberal agenda and a Treaty of Waitangi settlement process that has resulted in a substantial shift in resources to those sections of Maori society already wealthy and powerful. Although the settlement process represented an important concession by the state, it has never compensated for the anti-working class policies of governments since 1984, which have widened the social and economic inequalities in New Zealand society. In this way, the emphasis on cultural identity alone as the determining factor in Maori oppression has been counter-productive for working class Maori as successive governments shifted the costs of the economic crisis on to the weakest sections of the community. As New Zealand entered a new period of economic and social crisis in the 1990s, the commercial interests of Maori tribal executives, Maori corporate enterprises, and the Maori bureaucracy were clearly at odds with the material interests of the vast majority of working class Maori families. This fundamental conflict in class interests was to set the scene for a revival of militancy on scale not seen since the 1970s.

Summary: It is probably true that the Anglo-Maori Wars have received more attention from historians than any other single topic in New Zealand history. This is as it should be, because that event was a watershed - albeit an unhappy one - in the settlement in this country. I therefore make no apology for adding another piece of research which includes a consideration of events in 1859 and 1860. I first �discovered� C.W. Richmond when asked to present a tutorial on him whilst engaged in post-graduate studies at the University of Otago. Regular histories of the period of the Anglo-Maori Wars were consulted, but they dealt with Richmond only in passing. It was at this point that G.H. Scholefield�s two volume edition of the Richmond-Atkinson family papers came to my attention and I discovered in them a wealth of information hitherto unrevealed about the Minister for Native Affairs. Accordingly, I was attracted to a study of the man, and the present paper is the result. The wonder is that so little has been written on a man who played a key role (one could argue the key role) in the Waitara dispute which led the Anglo-Maori Wars. One thesis was written on him in 1948, and W.D. Stewart wrote a short book on him in 1947.

This paper examines the effects of federal policies on the health and health care system of the Coquille Indian Tribe. A historical framework is provided within which the nature and magnitude of these effects can be assessed. This paper provides a discussion of the effects of federal termination policy on the health of the Coquille tribe. The health of the Coquille tribe is compared to that of other Indians, and to the Oregon All Races group. The effect of efforts by the Indian Health Service to improve the health of Indian people in the United States is appraised. Efforts of the Coquille Tribe to address the long-standing problem of inadequate health care for its tribal members are documented. Particular attention is given to the achievements of the Coquille Tribal Health Department since 1989, when recognition of the Coquille Tribe's sovereign status was restored by Congress. Secondary research employed both archival and library sources. The primary research consisted of compilation of data from unpublished Coquille tribal documents and interviews. The interviews were conducted with staff members of the Coquille Tribal Health Department and with elders of the Coquille tribe old enough to remember the health care systems prior to termination. Additional interviews were conducted with elders from other Oregon tribes and with staff of the Indian Health Service clinic in Salem, Oregon. The major conclusions are that though the federal government passed its termination laws in 1954, for the Coquille "termination" was actually a process that began in the 1850s and continued on for over one hundred years. Termination for the Coquille only gained "official" recognition by Congress in 1954. The negative health effects upon the Coquille people were due to the actual termination, not the official termination. Since the Coquille tribe gained restoration of its federal recognition it has established a solid base for a health care system for its members. Plans for the growth of this health department and the expansion of the services it offers should, when implemented, provide for the health care needs of the tribe and other Indians in the area. / Graduation date: 1996

Discretion is commonly analyzed as the scope for choice set by formal superiors. This study aims at developing an alternative theory of discretion which also takes into account the assumptions of the actors in implementing positions. The theory is constructed with the purpose of being an empirical tool for analyzing discretion on a nation-wide basis and in a central-local government context. It concerns two main questions: to what extent does discretion vary and how can this variation be explained? The theory section concludes with a number of empirically testable hypotheses. The concept of discretion is defined as the scope for choice available to actors, in formally subordinate positions, vis-à-vis their superiors. It is seen as a special case of autonomy, as it is attributed to subordinates and primarily concerns one dimension of autonomy, namely freedom of action. In the second half of the study, the theory is applied empirically to the discretion available to Swedish local government Education Committees. A questionnaire study of all Education Committee Chairpersons and Chief Education Officers and in-depth interviews of a selected sample of these have been undertaken. The empirical study clearly indicates that there is variation in discretion. In spite of the uniformity of the system of governing local education, it is found that the limits for discretion are set differently by different Education Committee representatives. The variation follows a pattern which has been, at least partly, reconstructed. Variables which appear as important in explaining variation include: the extent to which the control system is regarded as efficient; the size and population density of the local authority; and individual traits such as length of experience and gender. However, our analysis also shows that these explanations are more valid in certain contexts than in others, which points the way for further research. / digitalisering@umu