Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1942. / Bibliography: p. 237-240.

Inaug.-Diss.--Freiburg i.B. / Lebenslauf.

Inaug.-Diss.--Strassburg. / Lebenslauf.

Thèse--Faculté de droit de Paris. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Doktorwürde)--Königliche Universität zu Münster, 1905? / Spine title: Verfassung der Stadt Münster 1802-1813. Includes bibliographical references (p. [2]-4).

Magister Legum - LLM / The political context that prompted the formation of district municipalities in the present form can be summarized as follows: before 1994, there were a few sporadic Regional Services Councils and Joint Services Boards responsible mainly for bulk service provision in rural areas. In many rural areas, the acute imbalances in personal wealth, physical infrastructure and the provision of services were most patent. Provinces decided which of the local government models best suited their province. Consequently, it was possible for the institutions of local government to differ from province to province and there would be a two-tier system of local councils and region-wide district councils throughout non-metropolitan South Africa. The aim of this study was two-fold. FIrst to analyze the key causes of conflict that arise within the two-tiered system. Second, to determine whether district intergovernmental forums will be able to address the key causes of conflict identifies and assist in making the relationship between district and local municipalities more co-operative. / South Africa

China’s transition from planned economy to market economy (economic liberalization) has catalyzed the private sector’s emergence and growth, as well as given birth to new forms of business associations within the private sector, such as Non-local Chambers of Commerce (NCCs, hereafter). NCCs emerged from mid-1990s, and have proliferated rapidly across China’s localities and industries. Unlike traditional official business associations, NCCs have significantly participated in local governance and demonstrated new types of state-society relations. However, they have not yet reached the attention of scholarly researchers, and have been understudied within and outside of China. At the same time, political scientists working on policy processes have begun to include China as a case to enrich their theory, but find it hard to adapt established models to China’s policymaking system. Research on the Chinese policy process have gone from elite politics in the 1950-1960s, to “fragmented authoritarianism” in the 1970-1980s, then to “fragmented authoritarianism 2.0” after 2000. During the evolution of these theories, it has been noticed that more and more non-bureaucratic actors have been involved into the policymaking process if not being the prominent actors. There have been studies on “policy entrepreneur”, environmental NGOs, international NGOs, Chinese think-tanks and different forms of business lobbying. However, within the spectrum of business lobbying, there is a gap in understanding business associations’ influence in policy processes, especially the new type of so claimed “grass-roots” business associations. This thesis sheds lights on this new type of private sector business association - NCCs and their influence in the local urban policy process. NCCs have been widely involved in local governance and political engagement. However, their political participation shows great variation due to differences in regions, organizational forms, industries and policy spheres. So the question of what lead to the variation of NCCs’ policy influence has become the highlights of this research project. By using the empirical materials from participant observation and interviews, this thesis aims to answer two main questions: How did NCCs influence the local policy process and what explains the difference in their policy influence? In this thesis, I develop a typology for NCCs by using the dimensions of “origins” and “networks”. Thus all the NCCs have been categorized into four types: “Dependent NCCs”, “Independent NCCs”, “Coupling NCCs” and “Decoupling NCCs”. Through in-depth case analysis, I argue that NCCs’ networks and their ability to mobilize resources within their networks determine their policy impact. In terms of NCCs’ network orientation, the state networks of NCCs directly affect their access to policy lobbying, while the business networks directly affect the resources for their lobbying, thus determine NCCs’ lobbying capacity in the local policy process. In terms of NCCs’ network strategy, network span influences policy making while network intensity influences policy implementations. To be specific, NCCs with network span strategy could influence more general policy agendas and policy spheres, while NCCs with network intensity strategy could exert more influence in specific policies especially in the policy implementation stage.

No description available.

This thesis constitutes a new approach to the study of labour movement opposition and resistance to Conservative Government policy and practice toward local government in the 1980s. In contrast to previous analyses, for example, this exploration of labour movement activity considers trade union involvement, does not use artificial frameworks, such as New Urban Left, or evaluate subject matter against a priori standards. Examination of the campaigns studied is undertaken within the framework of society as a whole, so that the development of campaign practices and conceptual principles, identified in relation to campaign aims of defending local government services, jobs, and local democracy, are subjected to reciprocal processes of interrogation. This is achieved by examining events within an historical context, that begins with the expansion of local service provision and employment in the 1960s, includes retrenchment of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and concludes with labour movement campaigns against rate capping in the mid-1980s. This period also includes: changes in local democratic practice, in both constitutional and labour movement terms; developments in the composition, organisation, and outlook of constitutive labour movement bodies; and, labour movement responses to attempts to reduce public expenditure, local government service provision, and local government employment. The interrelations between these factors, changing socio-economic developments, conceptual principles and practice within the labour movement, and government policy and practice are all identified and explored as part of this thesis. Similarly, an integral part of this process involves the consideration afforded to interrelations between labour movement officers, leaders, activists, members, and the broader populace; in terms of conceptual principles, the use and development of labour movement structures, and democratic practice. Thus, by exploring the interrelations between the areas identified, as opposed to imposing dichotomous or causalistic interpretations, the fate of the campaigns against rate capping are explained.

As the first study focusing on the implementation of the constitutions and quality of government (QoG) in Kurdistan from a practical point of view, this thesis examines the question why the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) fails to deliver the constitutions in a way that strengthens its democracy and produces a good QoG. From analyses of the data gleaned from 41 semi-structured interviews the thesis identifies the main factors that affect the implementation of the constitutions and QoG with particular reference to the 2005 Iraqi constitution and the Kurdistan draft constitution of 2009. The study also outlines the reform process in the Kurdistan Region and explains how a system of political checks and balances in a democratic society can improve QoG and democracy. This research considers the main obstacle to the establishment of a good and democratic government in the region to be political influence on all state institutions, including the executive, parliament, the judiciary, military forces, police and security services, and use of these institutions for political and personal benefits. Other obstacles identified are a reliance on oil products, a culture of corruption, poor administration, a low-quality legal system, Kurdish disputes with the central Iraqi government, the absence of a clear, enforceable regional constitution, the lack of experience with democracy and, more importantly, the absence of political will for reform by the ruling parties. In this light, the study recommends strengthening the state institutions, reducing political influence over them and establishing a process of political checks and balances – as exists in democratic states – as extremely important to improving QoG. However, it also argues that these aims will not be achieved without a genuine political will for reform. Thus, this thesis stands as the first detailed research in this field that qualitatively investigates the effect of the implementation of democratic constitutions in a region that has gone through conflict and violence; attempts to set out the factors that form obstacles to such implementation; and puts forward recommendations for the improvement of QoG in the light of the constitutions. This study therefore, can help the government and politicians to take action in terms of reforms to improve QoG in the region and develop the democratic process. This research will also contribute to future study on a similar theme.