published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

No description available.

This dissertation explores why and how political advocacy emerged as a dominant organizational strategy for NGOs in the international development education field. In order to answer this central question, I adopt a comparative case-study approach, examining the evolution of policy advocacy positions at two leading NGOs in the field: ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE). Although these organizations differ in significant ways, both place political advocacy at the centre of their mandates, and both have secured prominent positions in global educational governance. Through comparative analysis, I shed light on why these organizations have assumed leadership roles in a global advocacy movement. I focus on how the shift to policy advocacy reflects the internal environment of each organization as well as broader trends in the international development field. Ideas of structure and agency are thus central to my analysis. I test the applicability of two structural theories of social change: world polity theory and political opportunity theory; as well as two constructivist approaches: strategic issue framing and international norm dynamics. I offer some thoughts on establishing a more dynamic relationship between structure and agency, drawing on Fligstein and McAdam’s concept of strategic action fields. In order to test the utility of these theoretical frameworks, the study begins with a historical account of how ActionAid and ASPBAE have shifted from service- and practice- oriented organizations into political advocates. These histories are woven into a broader story of normative change in the international development field. I then examine the development of a number of key advocacy strategies at each organization, tracing how decisions are made and implemented as well as how they are influenced by the broader environment. I find that while it is essential to understand how global trends and norms enable and constrain organizational strategy, the internal decision-making processes of each organization largely shape how strategies are crafted and implemented. These findings offer insight into the pursuit of advocacy as a political strategy and the role of NGOs in global social change.

The relationship between civil society organisations and donors in South Africa is dynamic, and takes different forms over time. This is attributed to a number of factors, including political landscape, domestic government policies and donor policies. These factors then affect the manner in which donors relate to civil society organisations and disburse development project funds. Prior to 1994 civil society organisations enjoyed abundant financial support from foreign donors, mainly due to the illegitimacy of the apartheid government policies and humanitarian crisis. This situation changed after the election of democratic government in 1994, as most of the donor funds were channelled through the government to support its policies and programmes, and partly because of bilateral agreements with some of the developed countries across the world. In this study the impact of donor policies, processes, and management systems on the work of civil society organisations was explored, using the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID) South Africa, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) and Sibambisene partnership. Themes explored included policies, processes, management systems and tools, partnership and power relations. The research methodology used included semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis, emailed questionnaires and telephone discussions. Theories on power, policy management frameworks, and partnership were reviewed, drawing on, for example, the views from the views of Lukes (1974), Parsons (1995), Brinkerhof & Cosby (2002), Howell & Pearce (2002) and Nchabeng (2001). The results of the study highlighted a number of issues. Firstly that there is unequal power within the partnership relationship and donor agencies, and this is mainly caused by the fact that donors control policies, management processes and systems, as well as the disbursement of project funds. Secondly, civil society organisations, particularly NGOs, are dependant on their donors, and as a result prioritise their programmes at the expense of communities they serve. Thirdly, both parties value and icontribute complementary services towards the achievement of partnership goals. The study also revealed that donors embrace principles of equal partnership, participation, flexibility and mutuality; but in practice this was found to be wanting. Thus donors are challenged to practice these principles, and NGOs to seek other strategies that would ensure their independence. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.) -University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The desire of modern democratic governments is to provide basic amenities for its citizenry and the present South African Government has indicated this in several of its documents including the document on Reconstruction and Development. The question of adequate shelter has been identified as one of the burning issues that require urgent and immediate attention. However, the question still remains: "Is the state the best organ of society to be directly involved in the actual provision of housing or is this function best left to the private sphere of society, above all, private society and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)?". This dissertation considers the methods and other related ways in which to assist the poorest of the poor in meeting their housing needs through the intervention of Non-Governmental Organisations. In attempting to do this, the study looks at a case study of an NGO that has been involvedin housing provision. The aim is to find out whether this sphere of housing activity is best suited for NGOs especially where the issues of the poorest of the poor are concerned. The thesis reviews various international as well as local cases pertaining to housing provision and contribution towards finding interventionist approaches to be adopted in order to realise the desires of the new democratic government in housing for all. / Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

This study evaluates the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in educating people about participatory democracy in post apartheid South Africa. After the first democratic elections in 1994 the new government emphasised the importance of public participation in decision-making. The government has advocated this approach through Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) documents (Base Document and White Paper) and the South African Constitution Act 108 of 1996. However, because of public participation, novelty, and social exclusion, the majority of South African citizens still have very limited knowledge and need to be educated about the structures, systems and procedures of participatory democracy. In order to consolidate democratic government, there is a need to shift away from community outreach programmes as ‘road shows’, where there is no two-way ‘iterative and ongoing’ communication because of limited public political knowledge. Conversely, government appears to have done little to increase citizens’ political knowledge. By contrast, NGOs are playing a crucial role in this regard. This study evaluates the effectiveness of NGOs in improving optimal engagement in government and decisionmaking processes in KwaZulu-Natal. Given this scenario, the Centre for Public Participation (CPP) and the Democracy Development Programme (DDP) partnership serve as case studies for this research project. Interviews were conducted with the core facilitators and directors of the two organisations. Through comparative evaluation, the effectiveness of both organisations in promoting participatory democracy was qualitatively and quantitatively assessed using the constant comparative method (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994) and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software respectively. The results show that the trainees are more likely to participate in developmental issues at local levels compared to non-trainees. The implication of this is that education for participatory democracy is very important. However, it was found that NGOs are not achieving their goal of increasing participation by their target groups in most government processes due to NGO-public differences in what constitutes priorities. Encouraging is that the two NGOs were found to be ‘eye-openers’ for the trainees in that they equipped them with skills that would enable them to monitor local authorities and hold them accountable. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal,Durban, 2005.

The study examined the responses of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) within the victim empowerment sector in KwaZulu-Natal, to the needs and expectations of volunteer trauma support workers. The objectives of the study were to determine whether or not NGOs have volunteer care and support programmes and what challenges or constraints exist in providing such programmes. Systems and ecosystems theory were used as the theoretical framework guiding the study. Firstly, it provided a basis for understanding reciprocity between organisations and the environment. Secondly, it provided a framework for understanding the context in which volunteers and NGOs operate. A qualitative approach was used. This allowed the researcher to gather in-depth data necessary for the study. The study made use of non-probability sampling. Ten organisations were purposively sampled for the study. These included two organisations from Pietermaritzburg, and eight organisations from Durban. All organisations are affiliated to the Themba Lesizwe network. Data was collected by use of in-depth interviews, using an interview guide. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. The results of the study have shown that, although volunteers were recruited to provide trauma support work, they were also providing generic work including community interventions. The organisations' major reasons for utilizing the services of volunteers were shortage of staff and lack of funding to employ fulltime staff. The study found that whilst all organisations had care and support programmes in place to support volunteers, in the form of training, supervision and debriefing, these were uncoordinated and unstructured. The major finding of the study was that out of ten organisations, only one had a volunteer policy. All participants in the study agreed that there was a need for a volunteer policy and recommended that volunteer policies be developed. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The principles of adaptive water governance blends many of the components of adaptive and comanagement, specifically iterative and social learning to foster adaptation and collective action. While many of the principles of adaptive water governance are still evolving, organizations operating within these contexts can be positioned as boundary or bridging agents concentrating on the science-policy interface or more centrally positioned to facilitate the inclusion and consideration of the multi-stakeholder perspectives at play. This thesis uses a comparative case study combined with a modified grounded theory approach to explore organizational governance arrangements and the roles played by three major water-focused non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in decision-making in British Columbia. An understanding of the challenges and supporting conditions that enhance organizational and actor efficacy within case study NGOs will inform the broader water community of opportunities for collaboration, capacity-building and expanding the roles of NGOs through provincial water governance reform.

Magistro darbe pateikiama Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių nevyriausybinių organizacijų ir kokybės valdymo teorinių ir praktinių tyrimų apžvalga, išskiriant nevyriausybinių organizacijų bruožus, veiklos principus bei jų įtaką visuomenės gyvenimo kokybei. Taip pat pateikiama kokybės vadybos samprata ir jos sistemos. Išskiriami visuotinės kokybės vadybos komponentai, principai ir jų taikymas viešajame sektoriuje. Analizuojama nevyriausybinių organizacijų vadybos kokybės standarto struktūra. Šiame darbe siekiama atskleisti vadybos kokybės standarto diegimo būdus, švietimo paslaugas teikiančiose, Šiaulių apskrities nevyriausybinėse organizacijose. Tam tikslui buvo sukurtas klausimynas, Lietuvos pradinio ugdymo pedagogų asociacijos (LPUPA)- Šiaulių ir Radviliškio skyrių, Lietuvos socialinių pedagogų asociacijos – Šiaulių ir Kuršėnų skyrių, Lietuvos logopedų asociacijos, Lietuvos muzikos mokytojų asociacijos – Šiaulių ir Joniškio skyrių, pedagogų pensininkų asociacijos ,,Šviesa“, asociacijos ,,Lieporių mokyklos bendruomenė“ nariams ir darbuotojams. Tyrimo metu paaiškėjo, kad švietimo paslaugas teikiančios nevyriausybinės organizacijos išsiskiria savo veiklos pobūdžiu, patirtimi, darbuotojų motyvacija, galimybėmis bei požiūriu siekti kokybės. Buvo patvirtinta iškelta hipotezė, kad vadybos kokybės standartas yra diegiamas Šiaulių apskrities nevyriausybinėse organizacijose, tačiau šio standarto taikymas yra nesistemingas. / The master thesis provides review of theoretical and practical investigations of non-governmental organizations quality management accomplished by Lithuanian and foreign authors by distinguishing features, principles of work of non-governmental organizations and their influence upon the quality of public life. There is also introduced conception of quality management and its systems. The components, principles of prevailing quality management and their use in public sector are distinguished. The structure of non-governmental organizations management quality standards is analysed. This paper aims to reveal the ways of implementation of management quality standards in non-governmental organizations of Šiauliai region providing educational services. For that purpose the questionnaire was composed for members and employees of Lithuanian Association of Primary Education Pedagogues (LAPEP) - in departments of Šiauliai and Radviliškis, Lithuanian Association of Social Pedagogues - in departments of Šiauliai and Kuršėnai, Lithuanian Logopedist Association, Lithuanian Association of Music Teachers – in departments of Šiauliai and Joniškis, Association of Pedagogues Pensioners “Šviesa”, Association “Lieporių mokyklos bendruomenė”. During the research it emerged that the non-governmental organizations providing educational services distinguish for the nature of their activity, experience, motivation of employees, potential and viewpoint to seek quality. The hypothesis that the... [to full text]

Ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslauga nėra naujas dalykas, tačiau į mūsų gyvenimą skverbiasi privatus verslas, t.y. privačios ugdymo įstaigos, kurios gauna pelną už paslaugų kokybę, išskirtinumą, prestižą. Tačiau įkurti nevalstybinę ugdymo įstaigą nėra taip paprasta, nors ugdymo paslaugų įvairovė rinkoje pageidautina ir sveikintina.Valstybė nekuria ekonominės sistemos skatinančios kurti privatų verslą švietime, kuris išspręstų visiems didiesiems Lietuvos miestams aktualią problemą – darželių trūkumą. Lietuvoje vyrauja valstybinis ikimokyklinis ir priešmokyklinis ugdymo sektorius. „Tėvai pageidauja ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugų prieinamumo ir įvairovės, įskaitant ir kūdikių bei vaikų iki trejų metų grupes. Praėjusių metų savivaldybių duomenimis, buvo nepatenkinti 27 tūkst. tėvų, besikreipiančių dėl ikimokyklinuko priėmimo į darželį, prašymų. Iš jų 15 tūkst. prašė priimti vaikus iki trejų metų“, - sako Švietimo ir mokslo ministerijos ikimokyklinio ir pradinio ugdymo skyriaus vedėja Gražina Šeibokienė.(2010) publikuotam straipsnyje „ Pirmą kart darželių plėtrai skiriamas solidus finansavimas“. Tai parodo, kad yra poreikis steigtis nevalstybinėms organizacijoms, nes valstybiniai darželiai nepatenkina visų tėvų poreikių. Visada yra pabrėžiama, kad ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugos turi būti prieinamos, lanksčios, kokybiškos, nebrangios. Šiai dienai nevalstybiniai darželiai yra labai brangūs, tačiau yra mokių tėvų ir visi veikiantys darželiai yra pilnos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Although preschool education is not a new phenomenon, we are observing private sector to emerge into our lives, i.e. private educational institutions, which receive payment for the quality of services, creativity and prestige. Although a wider variety of institutions which render educational services is much wanted and welcomed, establishing an independent educational institution is not an easy task. In our country, the inducement to found private kindergartens is not included among any priorities, although financial support for non-formal education is available. The financing, however, is very limited and lack of financial resources is constantly felt. The state does not attempt to create such an economic system that would encourage the foundation of private sector in education, which would solve the important problem of all the bigger cities of Lithuania, namely, the lack of kindergartens. Therefore, we will consider the foundation of an independent educational institution as an alternative to the traditional institution of preschool education. Problem: no information on the foundation of independent educational institutions in Lithuania is available whatsoever, no legal basis for that has been created, the enterprise of the educationalists is insufficient, the educational system does not finance the establishment of private kindergartens, there are no methodical guidelines for the independent education service providers, and intricate sanitary requirements are also an... [to full text]