Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007.

O papel da polícia em uma sociedade democrática é auxiliar os cidadãos e fazer com que todos observem as leis. Por isso mesmo, a atividade policial não deve estar acima das leis. Como toda instituição republicana, a polícia deve prestar contas das suas atividades, ainda mais porque utiliza a força, podendo facilmente ultrapassar os limites da violência legítima. A experiência das ouvidorias de polícia mostra que a sua instalação faz diferença. As ouvidorias são instituições que incentivam a participação dos cidadãos. Trata-se de instituições recentes e inovadoras com grande potencial para ajudar a garantir os direitos humanos. / The role of the police in a democratic society is to help citizens and make them obey the law. For this reason, police activities should not be above the law. As with every institution of a republic, the police are expected to be accountable for their actions, even more so because they use force and may easily exceed the limits of justifiable violence. The experience of civilian oversight of the police shows that its existence makes a difference. Such oversight comes in the form of institutions that invite the involvement of citizens. These institutions are recent and innovative with great potential for helping and guaranteeing human rights.

Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctor Legum - LLD / The history of prison reform after 1994 was shaped by the relationship between governance and human rights standards; the requirements for both are set out in the Constitution and elaborated on in the Correctional Services Act. Good governance and human rights converge in five dimensions of a constitutional democracy: legitimacy, transparency, accountability, the rule of law; and resource utilisation. The new constitutional order established a set of governance and rights requirements for the prison system demanding fundamental reform. It de-legitimised the existing prison system and thus placed it in a crisis. This required its reinvention to establish a system compatible with constitutional demands. The thesis investigates whether constitutionalism provided the necessary transformative basis for prison reform in South Africa after 1994. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) senior management failed to anticipate this in the period 1990 to 1994. In the five years after 1994 senior management equally failed to initiate a fundamental reform process. This lack of vision, as well as a number of external factors relating to the state of the public service in the period 1994 to 2000, gave rise to a second crisis: the collapse of order and discipline in the DCS. By the late 1990s the state had lost control of the DCS and its internal workings can be described as a mess – a highly interactive set of problems in causal relationships. In many regards the problems beleaguering the prison system were created in the period 1994 – 1999. The leadership at the time did not recognize that the prison system was in crisis or that the crisis presented an opportunity for fundamental reform. The new democratic order demanded constitutional and political imagination, but this failed to materialise. Consequently, the role and function of imprisonment within the criminal justice system has remained fundamentally unchanged and there has not been a critical re-examination of its purpose, save that the criminal justice system has become more punitive. Several investigations (1998-2006) into the DCS found widespread corruption and rights violations. Organised labour understood transformation primarily as the racial transformation of the staff corps and embarked on an organised campaign to seize control of management and key positions. This introduced a culture of lawlessness, enabling widespread corruption. w leadership by 2001 and facing pressure from the national government, the DCS responded to the situation by focusing on corruption and on regaining control of the Department. A number of gains have been made since then, especially after 2004. Regaining control of the Department focused on addressing systemic weaknesses, enforcing the disciplinary code and defining a new employer-employee relationship. This has been a slow process with notable setbacks, but it continues to form part of the Department’s strategic direction. It is concluded that the DCS has engaged with and developed a deeper understanding of its constitutional obligations insofar as they pertain to governance requirements in the Constitution. However, compliance with human rights standards had not received the same attention and areas of substantial non-compliance remain in violation of the Constitution and subordinate legislation. Overcrowding, violations of personal safety, poor services and/or lack of access to services persist. Despite the detailed rights standards set out in the Correctional Services Act, there is little to indicate that legislative compliance is an overt focus for the DCS. While meeting the minimum standards of humane detention, as required by the Constitution, should have been the strategic focus of the DCS in relation to the prison population, the 2004 White Paper defines “offender rehabilitation” as the core business of the DCS. In many regards the DCS has assigned more prominence and weight to the White Paper than to its obligations under the Correctional Services Act. In an attempt to legitimise the prison system, the DCS defined for itself a goal that is required neither by the Constitution nor the Correctional Services Act. Compliance with the minimum standards of humane detention must be regarded as a prerequisite for successful interventions to reduce future criminality. After seven years, delivery results on the rehabilitation objective have been minimal and not objectively measurable. The noble and over-ambitious focus on rehabilitation at policy level distracted the DCS from its primary constitutional obligation, namely to ensure safe and humane custody under conditions of human dignity Throughout the period (1994 to 2012) the DCS has been suspicious if not dismissive of advice, guidance and at times orders (including court orders) offered or given by external stakeholders. Its relationship with civil society organisations remain strained and there is no formal structure for interaction. Since 2004 Parliament has reasserted its authority over the DCS, not hesitating to criticise poor decisions and sub-standard performance. Civil society organisations have increasingly used Parliament as a platform for raising concerns about prison reform. Litigation by civil society and prisoners has also been used on a growing scale to ensure legislative compliance. It is concluded that prison reform efforts needs to refocus on he rights requirements set out in the Correctional Services Act and approach this task in an inclusive, transparent and accountable manner. / South Africa

The thesis framework lies in the analysis of audit growth in the Czech Republic specifically in its legal modification. Initial analysis is based on statutory audit directive 2006/43/EC including new audit infrastructure such as public oversight and systems of quality assurance. Czech legislative acts before and after April 2009 are also considered with respect to digests 254/2000 and 93/2009. A study of the implemented legislation seen in directive 2006/43/EC and its effect in the Czech Republic is undertaken and reviewed.

This study explores Security Sector Reform as a concept to address peace building or post-conflict reconstruction in a country attaining independence or emerging from a major conflict as in the case of South Sudan. Although various descriptions for a security sector exist, it is a common term applied to refer to structures, institutions, and personnel who are responsible for managing, providing, and overseeing security within a state. In general it refers to the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, national intelligence agencies, border control agencies, and civil protection entities. SSR refers to actions aimed at strengthening legitimate institutions and governance to provide citizens security, justice, and jobs which is crucial to break the cycle of violence. SSR is also conceptualised within the enlarged definition of security which includes human security. This emphasises the approach that SSR is not only restricted to defence and the role of law and order, but is also included in wider political, economic, and social issues. Within the concept of SSR, various prerequisites are stated for the effective execution of SSR within a state. For an analysis of effective SSR in South Sudan, the following aspects were identified to apply as a theoretical model to analyse the execution of SSR in South Sudan. These aspects were the necessity of a formalised peace agreement; the execution of a clear and effective DDR programme; the importance of foreign involvement and international military involvement; the importance of the institutionalisation of security sector structures, and civil oversight. The study concludes that certain aspects of the SSR plan contributed to peace building and post-conflict reconstruction such as certain provisions of the peace agreement, the involvement of the international community, and financial support. However, SSR in South Sudan mainly failed due to a failure of the DDR process, the inability of the international involvement to address outstanding security issues, a failure to address border demarcations, and a total failure to install effective security sectors and civil oversight mechanisms over the military. The study on the other hand suggests SSR as a concept for post-conflict reconstruction, specifically within a state acquiring independence such as South Sudan, should be viewed as a workable concept. As a model to address peace building or post-conflict reconstruction, SSR can indeed be effective. It provides for a wide spectrum of measures to address security, political, and economic disparities within a state emerging from a conflict and aspiring to democratise as a new state such as in the case of South Sudan. The failure of the SSR concept in South Sudan is not ascribed to an insufficient SSR process or plan, but due to the non-adherence of the provisions of the plan by the signatories of the plan and the socioeconomic, ethnic, and security challenges in independent South Sudan that would have complicated any SSR attempt. SSR as a concept can be applied for peacebuilding if certain conditions such as enforced DDR, commitment by international role players, the enforcement of provisions of the peace agreement, and effective measures to institute the de-politisation of the military are provided. / Mini-dissertation (MSecurity Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Political Sciences / MSecurity Studies / Unrestricted

Congressional reporting requirements are an integral part of congressional oversight. These oversight-reporting activities are an important element of the concept of a legislative-centered public administration (Rosenbloom, 2000) "derived from the major discussions, decisions, and actions taken by Congress with regard to federal administration." This dissertation first describes the development of congressional reporting requirements by presenting selected agency cases. Based on these cases, common themes are identified that help in understanding the requirements and the problems associated with congressional reporting. The dissertation then makes specific recommendations for enhancing reporting requirement activities (e.g., tracking, monitoring and feedback) as part of the congressional oversight process. A proposed management approach to improve the congressional oversight process to build a legislative-centered public administration is presented at the conclusion of the dissertation. The dissertation process used a research approach that included selected cases, interviews with key individuals in the reporting process and analysis of data, including databases maintained by the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate. The dissertation is composed of three parts with two chapters in each part. Part I covers background information about congressional reporting requirements, the objectives and approach used in writing the dissertation, and the key theoretical literature that underpins the discussion of congressional reporting requirements. Part II of the dissertation discusses management and growth of reporting requirements. Part III of the dissertation discusses ways to gain control of congressional reporting requirements and increase their usefulness. The dissertation concludes that there is little evidence to indicate that congressional reporting requirements are being systematically managed in a way that achieves the objective for which they are created. The most serious substantive shortcoming is the lack of an institutional process to support and encourage discussion between Congress and the agencies preparing reports to provide for feedback and to identify reporting requirements that are no longer necessary. A comprehensive and systematic management approach is needed and a proposed management approach is discussed. Comprehensive and systematic management will bring about greater collaboration between congressional committees and their agency partners in an enhanced legislative-centered public administration. / Ph. D.

All companies are subject to some degree of regulatory oversight of their operations. Economics, finance, and government research demonstrate that operational regulatory oversight (for example, provided by the EPA or FDA) imposes financial and operating burdens on regulated firms. My study examines how auditors respond to their clients’ operational regulatory oversight with additional audit costs, as reflected in audit fees. I focus on operational regulatory oversight from six federal regulatory agencies with authority to regulate companies in any industry. I find that operational regulatory oversight intensity, measured by number of regulators, occurrences of regulator-specific disclosures, and regulatory fragmentation, is positively associated with audit fees. Cross-sectional tests show that operational oversight from “continuous” regulators (i.e., regulators that maintain routine oversight) significantly weakens the positive association between operational regulatory oversight and audit fees. Further analyses provide no evidence that the higher audit fees are accompanied by changes in auditor effort. Lastly, my results are robust to an audit fee change model and an alternative measure of regulatory fragmentation. / Business Administration/Accounting

Over the past two decades there has been a rapid decline in public oversight of state and local governments. From 2003 to 2014, the number of journalists assigned to cover the proceedings in state houses has declined by more than 30\%. During the same time period, non-profit projects such as Digital Democracy sought to collect and store legislative bill and hearing information on behalf of the public. More recently, AI4Reporters, an offshoot of Digital Democracy, seeks to actively summarize interesting legislative data. This thesis presents STRAINER, a parallel project with AI4Reporters, as an active data retrieval and filtering system for surfacing newsworthy legislative data. Within STRAINER we define and implement a process pipeline by which information regarding legislative bill discussion events can be collected from a variety of sources and aggregated into feature sets suitable for machine learning. Utilizing two independent labeling techniques we trained a variety of SVM and Logistic Regression models to predict the newsworthiness of bill discussions that took place in the California State Legislature during the 2017-2018 session year. We found that our models were able to correctly retrieve more than 80\% of newsworthy discussions.

Yes