Challenging a long-held attachment to the medical model, this research develops a cultural model placing local governments at the center of policy making and refocusing policy attention on mobility, housing, the built environment and services. To examine the phenomenon of age friendly policy adoption by cities and the magnitude of adoption, a 21-question web-based survey was administered to a sample of 1,050 cities from the U.S. Census having a population over 10,000 and having at least 14% of their population aged 65 years and over. The goal of the questionnaire was to help identify what kind of policy objectives cities establish to facilitate the opportunity for older adults to live healthy and independent lives in their communities as they age. Multiple linear and ordinal regression models examined the likelihood of policy action by cities and provide evidence as to why some cities support more age friendly policy actions than others. Evidence illustrates theoretical advancement providing support for a cultural model of aging. The cultural model includes multiple factors including bureaucratic responsiveness reflected in the management values of the administration. Findings show variation in the integration of a cultural awareness of aging in the municipality's needs assessment, strategic goals, citizen engagement strategies, and budgetary principles. Cities with a cultural awareness of aging are more likely to adopt age friendly policies. Findings also provide support for the argument that the public administrator is not the driving sole factor in decision making. A shared spaced with mobilized citizen need of individuals 65 and over is identified.

No description available.

Welche Kommunikationsstrategien benutzen Koalitionsparteien während ihrer Zeit im Amt? Koalitionsparteien stehen vor einem Dilemma, dass sie zwar nach aussen Einheit demonstrieren sollen, sich aber gleichzeitig von ihren Partnern differenzieren müssen. Ich argumentiere, dass politische Kommunikation eine wichtige Rolle dabei spielt, wie Parteien versuchen, ihr individuelles Profil zu erhalten. Dazu habe ich drei Hauptstrategien definiert, die Parteien benutzen können. Basierend auf einem Datensatz von über 35'000 deutschen und niederländischen Pressemitteilungen von Koalitionsparteien analysiere ich, was Parteien in ihrer Strategiewahl beeinflusst. Meine Resultate zeigen, dass Personalisierung, definiert als ein verstärkter Fokus auf Individuen, davon beeinflusst wird, wie stark sich Koalitionsparteien ideologisch unterscheiden. Ich benutze einen supervised classification algorithm, um die deutschen Pressemitteilungen in verschiedene thematische Kategorien zu klassifizieren. Ich nutze diese Klassifizierung um zu analysieren, ob Parteien während dem Wahlkampf einen besonderen Fokus auf die Themen legen, die ihnen wichtig sind. Dies ist nicht der Fall, und meine Analysen zeigen, dass Parteien kurz vor einer Wahl sogar einen geringeren Schwerpunkt auf diese Themen legen, ungeachtet ideologischer Differenzen zwischen ihnen und ihren Koalitionspartnern. Schließlich analysiere ich die Präsenz von negativem Campaigning in deutschen Pressemitteilungen und in einer Auswahl von Episoden einer politischen Talkshow. Im Falle der Pressemitteilungen stelle ich fest, dass die Parteien mit zunehmender Wahrscheinlichkeit "feindlich gesinnte" Politiker erwähnen, je näher die Wahl rückt, und dass diese Erwähnungen mit einem generell negativerem sentiment der betreffenden Pressemitteilungen korrelieren. / What communication strategies do coalition parties use during their time in office? Coalition parties face a dilemma between unity and differentiation, because while they need to keep relations with their partners stable, they also have to keep up constant efforts to differentiate themselves sufficiently from them. I argue that political communication plays a key role in how parties try to maintain a strong individual profile. I have defined three main strategies that parties can use to achieve this. Based on a dataset that contains over 35'000 press releases by German and Dutch coalition parties, I analyze what influences the usage of the three strategies in question. I find that the usage personalization, which is defined as focusing on individual politicians, is affected by the ideological distance between coalition partners. I use a supervised classiffication algorithm to classify the press releases issued by German coalition parties into issue areas to analyze whether parties use election campaigns to emphasize issues that are already important to them. I find that this is not the case, and that parties actually de-emphasize these issues as an election approaches, regardless of ideological distance between them and their partners. Lastly, I analyze the presence of negative campaigning in German press releases and in a selection of episodes from a political talk show. In the case of press releases, I find that parties are more likely to specifically mention hostile politicians as an election approaches, and that these mentions correlate with a more negative sentiment of the press releases in question.

This thesis aims to contribute to the academic discussion and deepen the understanding of tensions in the relationship between social movements, and governmental actors. This has been done by examining discrepancies in the discourse, between governmental actors and social movements, on spatial justice-related issues in Cape Town and how tensions remain to exist whilst working for similar causes. Discrepancies were found using the discourse analysis approach What’s the Problem Represented to be. The material analyzed was collected from governmental policy documents, reports from the social movements, and complementary interviews were held with social movements. Three detected discrepancies were found around: insufficient living environments, the role of economic growth and ideological beliefs, and the understanding of meaningful engagement. The results show that the legacies of Apartheid and post-Apartheid structures also shape the tensions in the relationship between social movements and the government. The conclusion is followed by arguing for a need for attentiveness to power structures and meaningful participatory processes to overcome inequalities. Identifiers, as found in our study on spatial injustice in Cape Town, for understanding tension in the relationship between governments and social movement can be found in similar structures in a wider context.

Many scholars perceive state sovereignty as absolute, inviolable, indivisible, final, binding and stagnant. That perception emanates from inter alia political, social, cultural and environmental contexts of the modern era. Most literature converge that the doctrine of sovereignty first received official codification at the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Contemporary international norms, particularly the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, are arguably an environment and culture of current global politics. With human rights and democracy having taken centre-stage in contemporary political discourses, sovereignty is affected and influenced by such developments in international politics. Hence the argument that globalisation, among others, has eroded, weakened and rendered the doctrine of sovereignty obsolete. This study, using Zimbabwe‟s Operation Murambatsvina as a case study, demonstrates that sovereignty is neither unitary in practice, nor sacrosanct; it is dynamic and evolves, thus, in need of constant reconfiguration. To this end, the study uses the qualitative research methodology. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

Cette thèse étudie les variations et les continuités dans la négociation des scènes médiatiques entre les gouvernements de gauche sud-américains et les grands groupes médiatiques nationaux au début du vingt-et-unième siècle. Elle se concentre sur deux cas principaux. D’une part, les deux premières présidences du Frente Amplio, en Uruguay : celles de Tabaré Vázquez (2005-2010) et de José Mujica (2010-2015). De l’autre, les présidences du kirchnérisme en Argentine : celle de Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) et les deux mandats de Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015). Finalement, on les compare avec un troisième cas : les deux premiers gouvernements d’Evo Morales, en Bolivie (2006-2015).L’approche théorico-méthodologique comporte trois dimensions. La première caractérise les systèmes médiatiques nationaux et se divise en deux plans. D’un côté, la structuration du champ politique : le poids relatif de l’Etat sur les médias et la centralité de la médiation des partis. D’autre coté, la structuration du champ médiatique : la configuration des principales entreprises médiatiques, ainsi que les cultures dominantes du journalisme politique. La seconde dimension est la communication politique, que l’on analyse au travers des stratégies d’apparition médiatique des gouvernements et des scènes des grands groupes médiatiques nationaux sur la politique nationale. La troisième dimension s’arrête sur les politiques de communication. Elle les analyse à partir de l’interaction entre les actions de réforme et d’intervention des gouvernements sur le secteur médiatique et les stratégies politiques et commerciales des grands groupes médiatiques nationaux.Cette thèse démontre que, dans des contextes marqués par une confrontation publique entre les élites politiques et les élites médiatiques, la négociation des scènes médiatiques a été fermement conditionnée par la corrélation des forces entre les acteurs, mais aussi par leurs idéologies et leurs répertoires d’action dans chaque pays. / This dissertation examines variations and continuities in the negotiation of media scenes between South America leftist governments and the large national media groups at the start of the 21st century through two main cases. First, the initial two presidencies of the Frente Amplio in Uruguay (those of Tabaré Vázquez (2005-2010) and José Mujica (2010-2015)). Second, the Kirchnerist presidencies in Argentina (that of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and the two of Cristina Fernández (2007-2015)). In the conclusion, it compares them with a third case: that of the first two governments of Evo Morales in Bolivia (2006-2015).The theoretical-methodological approach consists of three dimensions. The first characterizes the national media systems, divided in two levels. One, the structure of the political field: the relative weight of the State over the media and the centrality of party mediation. Two, the structure of the media field: the configuration of the main media companies, as well as the dominant culture of political journalism. The second dimension is political communication, explored through the governments’ media strategies and the scenes of large national media groups on national politics. The third dimension focuses on communication policies, analyzing them through the governments’ reforms and interventions in the media sector, and the political and commercial strategies of the large national media groups.In contexts characterized by a public confrontation between political and media elites, this thesis shows that the negotiation of media scenes was strongly conditioned by the correlation of forces between the actors, their ideology and their repertoires of action in each country. / Esta tesis estudia las variaciones y continuidades en la negociación de las escenas mediáticas entre los gobiernos de izquierda sudamericanos y los grandes grupos mediáticos nacionales a principios del siglo XXI. Para hacerlo se focaliza en dos casos principales. Por un lado, en las dos primeras presidencias del Frente Amplio en Uruguay: las de Tabaré Vázquez (2005-2010) y José Mujica (2010-2015). Por otro lado, en las presidencias del kirchnerismo en la Argentina: la de Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) y las dos de Cristina Fernández (2007-2015). En las conclusiones, los compara con un tercer caso: el de los primeros dos gobiernos de Evo Morales en Bolivia (2006-2015).El abordaje teórico-metodológico consta de tres dimensiones. La primera caracteriza los sistemas mediáticos nacionales y se divide en dos planos. Uno, la estructuración del campo político: el peso relativo del Estado sobre los medios y la centralidad de la mediación partidaria. Dos, la estructuración del campo mediático: la configuración de las principales empresas mediáticas, la estabilidad histórica de su línea editorial y de su propiedad, así como las culturas dominantes del periodismo político. La segunda dimensión es la comunicación política, a la que se indaga a través de las estrategias de aparición mediática de los gobiernos y de las escenas de los grandes grupos mediáticos nacionales sobre la política nacional. La tercera dimensión se detiene en las políticas de comunicación. Se las analiza a partir de la interacción entre las acciones de reforma e intervención de los gobiernos sobre el sector mediático y de las estrategias políticas y comerciales de los grandes grupos mediáticos nacionales.En contextos caracterizados por un enfrentamiento público entre élites políticas y élites mediáticas, esta tesis demuestra que la negociación de las escenas mediáticas estuvo fuertemente condicionada por la ideología de los actores, pero también por la correlación de fuerzas entre ellos y sus repertorios de acción en cada país.

Many scholars perceive state sovereignty as absolute, inviolable, indivisible, final, binding and stagnant. That perception emanates from inter alia political, social, cultural and environmental contexts of the modern era. Most literature converge that the doctrine of sovereignty first received official codification at the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Contemporary international norms, particularly the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, are arguably an environment and culture of current global politics. With human rights and democracy having taken centre-stage in contemporary political discourses, sovereignty is affected and influenced by such developments in international politics. Hence the argument that globalisation, among others, has eroded, weakened and rendered the doctrine of sovereignty obsolete. This study, using Zimbabwe‟s Operation Murambatsvina as a case study, demonstrates that sovereignty is neither unitary in practice, nor sacrosanct; it is dynamic and evolves, thus, in need of constant reconfiguration. To this end, the study uses the qualitative research methodology. / Political Sciences / M. A. (International Politics)

No description available.

A fines de los años 80' varios gobiernos locales, europeos y latinoamericanos, comienzan a poner en práctica mecanismos innovadores de participación ciudadana en las agendas y en la formación de las políticas públicas municipales. Barcelona, primero, y mucho después, Buenos Aires, iniciaron este camino de la renovación democrática. Sin embargo, las causas que podrían explicar esta apuesta por la innovación democrática difieren mucho según atendamos al comportamiento de dos variables fundamentales: el contexto político-institucional y la cultura política. En esta Tesis se presenta un análisis detallado, en primer lugar, de la relevancia del contexto político y de sus implicancias sobre el surgimiento y la dinámica que asume la participación ciudadana y, en segundo lugar, de los discursos culturales que sostienen y nutren a la participación Buenos Aires y Barcelona. / By the end of the eighties, several European and Latin American local governments began to put into practice innovating mechanisms of citizen participation in the agendas and the development of municipal public policies. This process of democratic renovation started first in Barcelona and much later in Buenos Aires. Potential causes of this bet on democratic innovation vary much according to two fundamental variables: the political-institutional context and the political culture. This Thesis dissertation presents first a detailed analysis of the relevance of the political context and its implications in the appearance and dynamics of citizen participation. Second, it offers an analysis of the cultural discourses supporting and nourishing citizen participation in both Barcelona and Buenos Aires.

From the Proceedings of the 1974 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 19-20, 1974, Flagstaff, Arizona / Four sources of water supply for desert cities are rainfall, runoff, groundwater, and imported water, and the potential use for each varies. The government can institute various policy changes to eliminate or reduce the imbalance between water supply and demand. Restrictions should be placed on water-use luxuries such as swimming pools, subdivision lakes, fountains, etc. Water pricing should be progressive; each unit of increased use above a reasonable minimum should be charged for at an increasing rate. Runoff from individual properties, homes, storage, and supermarkets should be minimized through the use of onsite recharge wells, and various collection methods should be initiated. A campaign to acquaint the general public with a new water policy must be inaugurated.