There isn¡¦t any clear definition on the discussion of Local Democracy. There are some similar concepts that are easily confused with us, such as local government, local autonomy, localism, and local democracy¡Ketc. Therefore, it¡¦s necessary to clear and find out the relationship among them. In addition, the dichotomy of democracy in the UK polity is particularly conspicuous in relation to local government. Consequently, The challenge is that how we apply the theories to the reality. I will use the approach of historical institutionalism to illustrate the development of UK local democracy. Meanwhile, it¡¦s reasonable to base a normative theory of local government or local democracy on the concept of ¡¥limited democracy.¡¦ In the light of the complexity of local government levels, I will focus my study on England. Case study and document analysis will be the research method of this essay. The process of history should be included six stages. I will make a brief analysis on the institution, actors, and events of each stage. After that, I will synthesize the path and its relationship with the change of voters¡¦ attitudes. The research results included: As for UK polity, although local democracy is the catch phrase of New Labour¡¦s programme for local government, it should not be an unfamiliar concept. The concept of local democracy doesn¡¦t necessarily equate to local autonomy; to some extent, the interdependence between them cannot be ignored. The path of UK local democracy tends to step from the theoretical model of localism to economy and efficiency. When we observe the low turnout of UK local election recent years, the voters¡¦ apathy has been a social normal phenomenon. The reality seems to undermine the immutable and sacrosanct place for democracy in the institutions of local government. However, are the things ostensibly unreasonable really bad? From the enlightenment of the approach of historical institutionalism, the voters have been incorporated into UK polity. Under the constraint of UK polity, they play the role of ¡¥maximizing satisfiers¡¦, unless major issues. In a word, if we want to learn from the lesson of UK local democracy, we have to rethink it again and again. And then, we may have an audit of the health of local democracy in Britain

This text attempts to compare twp power elites how they obtain power within the historical framework of Han dynasty¡Aand how they got prosper within the political development of Han dynasty. That is, the political tradition and institution, how the two actors got close relations with the historical frames of Han dynasty. The historical institutionalism, being the school of New institutionalism, try to catch a clear mark of power elites and meaningful events, so we can have clear idea of Han history, because we are using a useful approach to study the political development of Han history. We think the most basic rule of ancient Chinese history is one man rule. Wang Mang use the popular concept of correlative cosmology, the school of yin and yang, to break one man rule of ancient Chinese history. But things are not exactly the same of eastern Han. Cao Cao has to fight to survive, because the rule of correlative cosmology was not working so well in eastern Han.

Why did the people of New Brunswick fail to accept the agreement between the governments of New Brunswick and Québec to sell NB Power to Hydro-Québec? This research seeks to answer that question by examining the arguments both for and against the proposed sale of NB Power using historical institutionalism. It determines that NB Power is on two concurrent paths that are linked, yet distinct. This research then determines that the agreement to sell NB Power was a critical juncture that failed, since it was never finalized, but succeeded in creating a new momentum for change in New Brunswick.

This thesis examines how national identities change and evolve through time. In that sense, it joins other studies that have studied the mechanisms for changes in national identities. While some authors have tended to focus on state structure, institutional changes (i.e. the creation of federal institutions that encourage regional identities) or belief systems, this study argues that political parties play an important role on national identity formulation. Essentially, this study will establish the argument that political parties have an impact on the direction of national identity. Using HI it will illustrate that the institutional framework in which political parties operate affects the direction that they will push national identity towards. Indeed, political actors have a vision for national identity and they will articulate and redefine how national identity is conceptualized but not freely. Rather, how institutions guide actors, preferences and ideas is central to understanding why national identity takes the form and direction that it does. Using the case study of Germany (1949-1969), it will demonstrate that the CDU sought to define German national identity as one based on Christian weltanschauung, integration with the west (westbindung) and social market economy (sozialen Marktwirtschaft) and that with each notion the influence of the Basic Law and previous political institutions could be felt as emphasis would be put on how each concept was related to “freedom”, “individual rights” and “democracy”.

This study has been partly inspired by the fact that historical narratives on the evolution of the South African Electricity Supply Industry (ESI), have for the most part focused on the national vertically integrated utility, Eskom; with far less attention being paid to the role that the municipal electricity undertakings (MEU's) have, and continue to, play. Indeed, this is somewhat surprising if one considers that MEU's began operating more than 20 years before Eskom's 1923 formation; and perhaps this lack of focus on MEU's is compounded by Eskom's operational crisis from 2006 (threatening its ongoing viability), which has overshadowed the perilous situation that MEU's have found themselves in. The research thus has two objectives. The first is to provide a detailed historical account of the role of MEU's and their contribution to the country's ESI from their genesis; while demonstrating the linkages between Eskom, MEU's and the three tiers of government. The second then examines how from the formation of the Union (1910), two fundamental but diametrically opposing objectives continue to prevail: 1) An over-burdened, financially ‘self-sufficient', local government, whose limited scope to collect revenue means electricity surpluses must be maximised to cross-subsidise its operations; and, 2) A vertically integrated utility, mandated to generate electricity at the lowest unit price, so as to provide the energy intensive economy with a competitive advantage. These contradictions, which have endured for many decades, reached fever pitch in the last 20 years, contributing significantly to the demise of ESI reforms initiated in 2000 and abandoned in 2010. Simultaneously, they have worsened the crisis of local government, which is constitutionally mandated to deliver basic services to its constituents, whose failure to do so, in many instances now threatens national government legitimacy at the most fundamental level. Within this context, the research, (based on the premise that history and institutions matter), employs the theoretical framework of new institutionalism, as applied through the lens of historical institutionalism (HI). Here, application of HI's core tenets revolves around identifying and explaining the critical junctures which create path dependency and institutional lock-in, while also accounting for incremental change which undoubtedly exists over a 120-year period. However, the unjust social and economic history of the country, where political decisions (pre and post-apartheid) have had a disproportional impact on state entities, requires closer scrutiny. For this, a detailed conceptual framework is employed to disentangle the complex relationship that has developed between the three tiers of government and their respective interacting powers. Ultimately, in delivering a detailed historiography of municipal electricity supply, the research posits that the ESI requires deeper fundamental reform than envisaged in 2000; and that most importantly, this must take cognisance of the extent to which MEU's are embedded within local government. This, the research believes, will increase the likelihood of local government participation and acceptance; perhaps pointing to an as yet unexplored path forward out of the South African ESI's current quandary.

This dissertation contends that to appropriately address the state of political equality and pursue democratic interest(s) in an increasingly commodified world, we must understand the more complex, socio-legal, and interdependent actions, actors, discourse, laws, and ideas which have grown increasingly important within campaign finance judicial out-comes, as these impact political equality and democratic governance. Consequently, this dissertation examines the largely underexplored factors that shape judicial outcomes and practical application of campaign finance policy which are explanatory of the distribution of electoral participatory power. This electoral participatory power is a key indicator of political equality in democratic nation states. The underexplored factors that I examine include corporate identity as an analytical concept and power resource, commodification of political speech, constitutional constraints, intergovernmental dialogue, regulatory ac-tors, and varied judicial and legislative commitments to democracy. To do so, the thesis utilizes and modifies insights from historical institutionalism, power resources models, neopluralism, and dialogue theory literature, to contribute to knowledge about how and why campaign finance policies and electoral participatory power of individuals, groups, and corporations have changed over time through judicial outcomes, practical administration, and related reforms. Through this demonstration, the analysis of this thesis opens up space to explore and identify sources and modes of gradual institutional change within the context of campaign finance judicial outcomes. Specifically, this thesis documents and critically examines the actions, actors, discourse, laws, and ideas which have permeated judicial conflicts in Canada and the United States over several decades and illustrates how they have determined the scope of corporate constitutional rights and freedoms, potential for money in politics, and the distribution of political equality in these two advanced democracies. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation examines the sources and modes of gradual institutional change within the context of judicial campaign finance conflicts and related reforms. It argues that the scope of corporate constitutional rights, the commodification of political speech, and the distribution of electoral participatory power are best understood through an analysis that utilizes and modifies insights from historical institutionalism, power resources models, neopluralism, and dialogue theory literature. To demonstrate this, this thesis critically examines the complex, socio-legal, and interdependent actions, actors, discourse, laws, and ideas which have grown increasingly important within campaign finance judicial out-comes, as these impact political equality and democratic governance. Consequently, this thesis illustrates how the scope of corporate constitutional rights and freedoms, potential for money in politics, and the distribution of political equality in the context of elections in Canada and the United States have changed over time, and the reasons for which they have.

Since the 1980s, private sector spending on Research and Development (RandD) has outpaced federal RandD spending. For example, while the Department of Defense (DoD) spent $64 billion on RandD in fiscal year 2015, the private sector spent $260 billion. DoD relies on the private sector to develop advanced technologies for defense requirements. However, some innovative businesses are hesitant to work with DoD because of the perceived bureaucracy of the DoD procurement system. Recognizing this problem, in 1989, Congress created a new type of non-procurement agreement for DoD called Other Transactions Agreements (OTs). OTs are excluded from most laws and regulations that govern traditional procurement agreements. OTs can be written to meet the needs of the parties and the project, enabling agreements that resemble commercial contracting. Congress has expanded OT authority, and DoD has issued OT guidance to its employees. But DoD has not used OTs as widely as expected. This is puzzling because commentators find OTs are helpful to DoD and the private sector in reducing the legal and regulatory compliance costs associated with the DoD procurement system. Using qualitative methods, and drawing on the OT and historical institutionalism literature, this study explores institutional factors that may explain why DoD has not more widely used OTs. The study relied on interviews with DoD employees and contractors. OT case studies were used to triangulate the interview findings. Potential causal mechanisms are identified to support future research of the DoD OT program using causal process tracing. The study findings are used to offer policy recommendations to support the wider use of OTs by DoD. / Ph. D. / Some innovative businesses are reluctant to work with the Department of Defense (DoD) due to the perceived bureaucracy of the DoD procurement system. Recognizing this problem, in 1989, Congress created a new type of non-procurement agreement for DoD called Other Transactions Agreements (OTs). Unlike traditional procurement agreements, OTs are excluded from many of the laws and regulations that reportedly deter the private sector from doing business with DoD. OTs enable agreements that more closely resemble commercial contracting. The terms and conditions of the OT can be written to meet the needs of the parties and the OT project. Thus, OTs are a flexible tool to help attract innovative businesses that would not otherwise work for DoD under traditional procurement agreements. Congress has expanded OT authority to encourage DoD to use OTs more widely. DoD has issued guidance to help its employees negotiate and administer OTs. But DoD has not used OTs as much as expected. This is puzzling because procurement and policy experts find that OTs are helpful to DoD and the private sector in reducing the legal and regulatory compliance costs often associated with the DoD procurement system. This study explores institutional and other factors that may help explain why DoD has not more widely used OTs. The study relied on interviews with DoD employees and contractors. OT case studies were used to corroborate the interview findings. The study findings are used to offer policy recommendations to support the wider use of OTs by DoD.

Before this study was conducted, there was a research gap in the current field of international relations. The purpose of this study was to examine why the EU has not established a common defence policy and a common defence. In order to address this, a theoretical framework based on realism and liberalism was created. Taken together, this study thus filled that gap and provided new insight on EU’s defence policy. The method that was used to conduct the research was a case study and the material consisted of the Treaty of Lisbon, EU key documents, as well as numerous of theoretical works concerning realism and liberalism. The study is of an explaining nature and the analysis seeks to explain the research question by testing it on the theoretical framework. The study concludes that the theoretical framework is able to explain the research question. Both realism and liberalism contributed with significant insight on why the EU has not established a common defence policy and a common defence. The main result shows that realism answers the research question by pointing out the role that member states play, and that liberalism, in contrast, points at the role EU as a unitary institution plays.

How can one detect and understand change in the face of apparent continuity? This is the question which has been asked by some scholars of institutionalism. One way of answering this is to make analytical room for incremental change as an endogenous source of institutional transformation. Put bluntly, one does not always need spectacular exogenous events, such as wars and revolutions, to explain institutional change. The present thesis is a qualitative case study of Japan’s immigration policy towards economic migrants since the 1980s. Its aim is to uncover a causal mechanism behind the policy development by drawing on a model of institutional change put forward by James Mahoney, Wolfgang Streeck and Kathleen Thelen. At first, the inquiry may seem ill-founded for Japan is neither an immigration country nor an immigrant-receiving country. Indeed, the country still lacks an immigration policy to speak of, and immigrants continue to be called gaikokujin (foreigners) as opposed to imin (immigrants). A closer examination of the recent policy development, however, shows that the content and practice of Japanese immigration policy simply belie its self-description. Since 2012 the Japanese government has admitted highly-skilled migrants as potential permanent residents using a points-based system and has incorporated foreigners into the resident register system for Japanese citizens in order to facilitate their integration into Japanese society. The central claim of the present research is that Japanese immigration policy has become increasingly settlement-oriented as an unexpected consequence of earlier policy decisions and that the change has been endogenously effected without dismantling the pre-existing institution of immigration management. In making this claim, I particularly draw attention to the way in which a cumulative effect of minor changes eventually transformed the basic nature of the policy institution.

For a decade, the EU and NATO have both claimed to have a relationship purported to be a Strategic Partnership. However, this relationship is widely understood by both academics and practitioners to be problematic. Although not denying that the relationship is problematic, it is claimed here that the argument, whereby the EU and NATO simply do not cooperate, is very limited in its value. In fact, it is argued that the two organisations cooperate far more, albeit less efficiently, outside of the formal Agreed Framework for cooperation. According to the formal rules of Berlin Plus/Agreed Framework (BP/AF), the EU and NATO should not cooperate at all outside of the Bosnia Herzegovina (ALTHEA) context. This is clearly not the case. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to investigate how this cooperation - beyond the BP/AF has emerged. Above all, it asks, within a context where formal EU-NATO cooperation is ruled out, what type of cooperation is emerging? This thesis attempts to explain the creation and performance of the informal EU-NATO institutional relationship beyond Berlin Plus. This thesis, drawing on insights from historical institutionalist theory and by investigating EU-NATO cooperation in counter-piracy, Kosovo and Afghanistan, puts forward three general arguments. First, in order for informal EU-NATO cooperation to take place outside of the BP/AF, cooperation is driven spatially away from the central political tools of Brussels, towards the common operational areas and hierarchically downwards to the international staffs and, in particular, towards the operational personnel. Second, although the key assumptions of historical institutionalism (path dependency, punctuated equilibrium and critical junctures) help to explain the stasis of the EU-NATO relationship at the broad political and strategic level, a more complete understanding of the relationship is warranted. Including theoretical assumptions of incremental change helps to explain the informal cooperation that is now driving EU-NATO relations beyond Berlin Plus. Finally, this thesis makes the fundamental claim that the processes of incremental change through informal cooperation reinforce the current static formal political and strategic relationship. Events and operational necessity are driving incremental change far more than any theoretical debates about where the EU ends and NATO begins. Until events force a situation whereby both organisations must revisit the formal structures of cooperation, the static relationship will continue to exist, reinforced by sporadically releasing the political pressure valve expedited through the processes of informal cooperation. If the EU and NATO are to truly achieve a Strategic Partnership , it will stem from an existential security critical juncture and not from internal evolutionary processes.