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This study examines the establishment of the national curriculum centre and the historical, political, social and educational factors which contributed to the decision of the Minister for Education on the recommendation of the Australian Education Council, to establish such a centre. This study looks at the historical background which resulted in States' responsibility for education, at the Australian Constitution which avoids any mention of education but which allows Commonwealth support for education through grants to the States. It briefly traces the development of an increasing Commonwealth involvement in education, notes the very significant inquiries at national level into areas of need resulting in reports such as the Murray Martin, Karmel and Kangan recommending Commonwealth funding for specific areas of education. Other significant institutions and influences are identified. These include bodies such as the Australian Council for Education Research, the Conference of Directors' General and the Australian Education Council. The Commonwealth Department of Education is seen to play a major part in the decision to establish a national curriculum centre supported as it has been in this policy, by all major political parties and by successive governments in office. Much of this concern for curriculum reflects an environment of change typical of the 60's both educationally and politically. It was a period when philosophies of education and attitudes to the whole process of schooling were being questioned. Some influence emerges from contact by Australian teachers and academics with major overseas curriculum centres, notably the Schools Council and from large scale curriculum projects both in the U.S. and the U.K., notably in the area of science. A variety of factors contributed to the Australian Science Education Project as a major national curriculum program which gave support to the view that all States and systems could and would co-operate, with some Commonwealth support, in the provision of curriculum materials and the development of curricula with relevance for all Australian students. UNESCO conferences such as that at Burwood in 1967 on the "Teaching of the Social Sciences at the Secondary Level" and the Sydney one concerned with the Teaching of English, among others, brought together a range of concerned teachers who were involved in the subsequent establishment of the National Committee on Social Science Teaching and the National Committee for Teaching English. A third Committee, the Asian Studies Co-ordinating Committee arose from a Commonwealth inquiry into the teaching of Asian language and culture. These three committees undertook programs in curriculum development which responded to the need for work in these areas, and for the need for such programs to involve all States and systems and to rationalise expenditure and utilise available expertise in the curriculum area. This study supports the view that the Curriculum Development Centre, established under a 1975 Act of Parliament by that name, is a unique step in the development of a national view of education and an example of a co-operative model of development of curriculum at a national level. It is not solely a funding body nor does it direct funds to State Departments. Its small budget maintains a secretariat and a curriculum staff with involvement and concern for national issues and the avoidance of overlaps and duplication, and for the rationalization of resources. Its decision making process requires involvement by all State departments, by Contact Officers from State, Catholic and Independent schools and an input from specialists in the field, from parents, academics, and the community. In this regard it represents a marked change from the strictly State based curriculum pattern in Australia. The role of the Australian Education Council, the Commonwealth Department of Education, the Australian Council for Education Research and two major UNESCO conferences are examined as significant influences. This study identifies other influences, political, social, educational and financial which were significant in the decision by the Government of the day to establish a national curriculum centre, and the persons and institutions which influenced that decision, and worked to achieve its establishment, The process of change is examined and the rational, re-educative and power co-ercive strategies used by those seeking to effect a change in school curriculum in Australia and to establish a national centre for curriculum development,are identified.

A good and functioning accounting system is vital for public sector entities, therefore, they have to observe all requirements and disclosures that are recommended in the accounting standards of financial reporting. When a public sector entity acts and follows the legislation correctly it will affect the citizens’ participation, which in turn will also lead to increased democracy. Because of the IPSAS’s and the SCMA’s standards which in turn are influenced by the business accounting standards (IAS and IFRS), the public sector entities have had issues whether to follow some of the standards. One example of this issue is the evaluation of assets which has been problematic, therefore, the imitation of the private sector has been criticized by academics, like for example Mautz (1981) and Pallot (1992). The main objective with this study is to explore to which extent Swedish municipalities are following the recommendations from SCMA regarding the evaluation of the assets. The purpose of the article is also to compare two municipalities and explore differences and similarities between them. Further we can explore if the quality of the financial information is affected by the size of the municipality, that is, if a small municipality does have a poorer quality in comparison to a bigger one; which many assume. We also want to discover the main similarities and differences between the IPSAS and SCMA, that is, when it comes to the standards regarding the evaluation of assets. To achieve the purpose of this case study, we will interview two people from two different municipalities, that is, two employees on the financial department who have accounting and the annual report as their main tasks. This study shows that there are mostly similarities and not major differences between these two municipalities regarding the evaluation of assets. Hence, both municipalities follow the national standards from the SCMA, but with very few exceptions when it comes to assets evaluation. This study also showed that the IPSASB and the SCMA recommend different methods when measuring the value of an asset, therefore, there is a difference between them two in this matter. In brief, the SCMA rather recommends the cost method; the IPSASB on the other hand proposes the fair value method as the most appropriate. This study shows that there are no major deviations between the two municipalities when it comes to following the standards regarding the evaluation of assets, hence, the quality mostly does not differ.

Abstract Since the 2006 election the country of Sweden is governed by four Liberal and Conservative parties. Parties that by cooperating maintain power in office and forms a so called coalition. A coalition that not only can be seen at the national but also at the local level. According to pervious research coalitions that holds control of the seats in the government at the national level tends to increase the total expenditures compared to other types of government formations. Can a similar connection be seen at the local level? This the fundamental issue of this essay. The study is a multiple case study of the Swedish local governments and their expenditures. The purpose of the study is to examine if Swedish local governments governed by a coalition of parties tend to spend more money than other types of local government formations. The hypothesis is that coalitions tend to increase the local expenditures compared to other government formations in the local governments due to the result of previous research at the national level. The empiric investigation examine the Swedish local governments after the 1994 and 2006 elections. The government formations are then compared with different types of measures of local expenditure. The investigation shows that local governments governed by a coalition of parties not tend to have increased expenditures compared to local governments governed by other types of government formations.

There are different types of cultures with increasing of immigrant brides to bring lots of impacts on Taiwan. However, those female spouses have never got the respect from Taiwan¡¦s society, no matter how they strive for keeping their existence value. Besides discriminative reports from media, the difficulties those female spouses meet are also caused by deficient policy planning and implementation. There are two research methods as secondary data analysis and in-depth interview in the study to discuss the role played by local governments in Taiwan on the immigrant brides policy implementation and other related issues. The study intends to figure out social policy implementation of immigrant brides and its substances. Moreover, it also discusses the process while the policy is being planned and executed to realize formation and response of such a social issue in local governments in Taiwan with feminism and multiculturalism in the study. With multiculturalism, the study shows out real existence value and positive meaning of new immigrants. Furthermore, as exploration and analysis mentioned as above, it hopes to offer and promote development and active view of social policy of new immigrants to actually practice multivalue in the policy further in the study.

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<p>Abstract</p><p>Since the 2006 election the country of Sweden is governed by four Liberal and Conservative parties. Parties that by cooperating maintain power in office and forms a so called coalition. A coalition that not only can be seen at the national but also at the local level. According to pervious research coalitions that holds control of the seats in the government at the national level tends to increase the total expenditures compared to other types of government formations. Can a similar connection be seen at the local level? This the fundamental issue of this essay. The study is a multiple case study of the Swedish local governments and their expenditures. The purpose of the study is to examine if Swedish local governments governed by a coalition of parties tend to spend more money than other types of local government formations. The hypothesis is that coalitions tend to increase the local expenditures compared to other government formations in the local governments due to the result of previous research at the national level. The empiric investigation examine the Swedish local governments after the 1994 and 2006 elections. The government formations are then compared with different types of measures of local expenditure. The investigation shows that local governments governed by a coalition of parties not tend to have increased expenditures compared to local governments governed by other types of government formations.</p>

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-193).