The aim of the study was to investigate the training of school governing bodies in the Free State Province from an education management point of view. Since 1994 the South African government has adopted a number of policy documents aimed at democratizing education in the country. The transformation of education in the new South African context encompasses the idea of partnership in which participants - such as parents, educators, learners (in secondary schools) play an active role in taking decisions on behalf of the school. The State alone cannot control schools, but has to share its power with other stakeholders. However, this can only happen if participants in school governance are trained to have power and the capacity to decide on matters affecting their schools. Hence, training is the cornerstone of affirming governors in the execution of their roles and responsibilities. Since school governing bodies are composed of a cross section of people with different ideologies, expectations and levels of education - training is necessary to prepare then for co-operative governance. Without adequate and on-going in-service training, it is unlikely that school governing body members can make informed decisions. The empirical method, namely qualitative research, was successful in obtaining information from participants about the training offered to them. It also established how participants felt and thought about their experiences and perceptions about the training they received, whether it built capacity or not. A number of recommendations were made with regard to the research findings for stakeholders to note. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The dissertation deals with the roots of civic apathy in local government, and the main emphasis is to establish the root cause/s of civic apathy. The hypothesis: 'civic apathy is a phenomenon intensified by ignorance and a feeling of powerlessness and frustration on the electorate' is tested in this study. To examine further specific aspects of civic apathy, including establishing the cause/s and effects of apathy, the author conducted a quantitative research in the Northern Metropolitan Area m Johannesburg, using questionnaires and literature study as the research method. The hypothesis advanced in the dissertation has been validated insofar as it has been argued and demonstrated that indeed people can feel powerless and frustrated if they are deliberately being excluded from, or denied the opportunity to participate actively in their local government activities. The main finding is that civic apathy is intensified by ignorance. However, the most important finding is that there ts a causal relationship between powerlessness, frustration and apathy. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Ayant pour ambition de « rendre la parole » aux populations déshéritées de la ville de Pikine, banlieue de la capitale sénégalaise, Débat local est l’émission politique interactive de la radio communautaire Air’Jeunes fondée à la fin des années quatre-vingt-dix à l’initiative des associations de jeunes de la région dakaroise avec le soutien d’une grande ONG canadienne. Cette thèse étudie les usages de cette émission par les citoyens locaux dans les trois domaines principaux où les militants et promoteurs de la démocratie participative s’attachent à développer des dispositifs d’action citoyenne visant à corriger les défauts et insuffisances du gouvernement représentatif au regard de l’idéal démocratique : la place des citoyens dans le système de production des biens publics locaux, les relations symboliques entre les élus et les électeurs et l’espace public de débat sur les politiques publiques et l’action des représentants. À partir d’une étude de terrain à caractère ethnographique menée en trois séquences de 2006 à 2011 dans les studios de la radio et sur les lieux d’écoute de l’émission, il apparaît que si l’émission a permis à des formes de contestation du pouvoir local de s’exprimer publiquement sans médiation, la réalisation du projet originel de l’émission s’est heurtée à un contexte local défavorable marqué par l’absence de moyens donnés aux élus locaux pour exercer leurs compétences récemment décentralisées et par un journalisme politique local polarisé autour de deux formes dominantes laissant peu de place au débat argumenté : le journalisme antagonique des grands groupes privés et de la petite presse du secteur informel et le journalisme légitimiste du groupe public. En dépit de leur attachement militant au projet, les responsables de la radio et les animateurs de l’émission dont les origines sociales et les formations scolaires les tenaient très éloignés des formes de consommation des biens informationnels des Pikinois ainsi que des activités des associations informelles de quartier très vivantes dans la banlieue dakaroise ont progressivement cédé aux forces d’attraction qu’exerçaient les radios privées ordinaires sur leur vision de leur avenir professionnel personnel et, corrélativement, sur leur pratique journalistique. / Aspiring to “give a voice” to the poor people of Pikine, a suburb of the Senegalese capital, “Local Debate” is an interactive political programme of the community radio Air’Jeunes, created in the late nineties at the initiative of youth associations in the Dakar region with support from a major Canadian NGO. This thesis explores the use of this programme by local citizens in three main areas where activists and proponents of participatory democracy are committed to developing citizen action mechanisms, aiming to correct the defects and shortcomings under the democratic ideal of representative government: the role of citizens in the production system of local public goods, symbolic relationships between elected leaders and electors, and the public space for debate on public policies and the actions of representatives. Based on an ethnographic field study conducted in three phases between 2006 and 2011 in the radio production studio and the show’s listening sites, it appears that, even if the programme has enabled forms of contestation of local authority to be voiced publicly without mediation, the realisation of the original project faced an unfavourable local context marked by the lack of resources given to local officials to exercise their newly decentralised powers and a local political journalism polarised around two dominant forms, leaving little room for debate: the antagonistic journalism of big private groups and small informal press, and the legitimising journalism of the public service group. Despite their militant commitment to the project, radio staff and hosts whose social origins and educational backgrounds distance them from the forms of consumption of information goods and activities of Pikine’s inhabitants, as well as the dynamic activities of informal neighbourhood associations in the suburbs of Dakar, have gradually yielded to forces of attraction exercised by mainstream private radios, influencing their vision of their professional future and, in turn, their journalistic practice .

Submitted by CARLA MARIA GOULART DE MORAES (carlagm) on 2015-06-24T18:22:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 VirginiaIcleDireito.pdf: 919455 bytes, checksum: 652d8c36d0e378644606e95ab56970b0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-24T18:22:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 VirginiaIcleDireito.pdf: 919455 bytes, checksum: 652d8c36d0e378644606e95ab56970b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-27 / Nenhuma / A proposta em desenvolver os processos judiciais sem dilações indevidas deve ser desenvolvida mediante práticas que estejam em concordância com os ditames Constitucionais. Para a concretização da tutela jurisdicional, é necessário que tais práticas, além de estarem em conformidade com a segurança do ordenamento jurídico e, capazes de efetivarem o direito fundamental a razoável duração do processo, contribuam, de forma efetiva, com os objetivos traçados pela Constituição. A audiência preliminar será investigada como um instrumento processual capaz de evitar dilações indevidas no decorrer dos processos, seja mediante a possibilidade de conciliação entre as partes, seja por meio do saneamento do processo. Permite a participação mais ativa dos agentes do processo, através do uso da oralidade. Neste sentido, compõe um sistema processual dinâmico, permitindo o “acesso à justiça” em sentido amplo, contemplando ao povo, a adjetivação de cidadão e difundindo a democracia participativa como proposta de Estado a ser adotada para a sociedade contemporânea. Nesse contexto, se pode vislumbrar que o dispositivo do art.331 do Código de Processo Civil Brasileiro, contribui com a efetividade do direito fundamental à razoável duração do processo, objetivando a redução da demora processual injustificável. Para tanto, cabe aos magistrados utilizarem-se de uma interpretação hermenêutica dos ditames constitucionais conjugada com os fatores externos que irão influenciá-lo. A problematização em questão pretende estudar a sociedade no momento atual, onde anseia pela consagração do direito fundamental ao processo em tempo razoável, o qual deve ser promovido por parte do Estado, já que o mesmo lhe consagrou constitucionalmente com o advento da EC 45/2004. Nesse contexto, cabe ao Estado responder pela demora injustificada dos tempos processuais. E a reparação deve manifestar-se através da indenização em favor do cidadão que teve seu direito tolhido, por conseqüência de um ato estatal, ou, no caso da audiência preliminar, sua inércia. / The proposal to develop the judicial procedures without undue delay should be developed through practices that are in accordance with the constitutional dictates. For the completion of judicial review, it is necessary that such practices, and comply with the safety of the legal system and able to enforce the fundamental right to a reasonable duration of the process, contribute, effectively, to the goals set by Constitution. The preliminary hearing will be investigated as a procedural tool that will prevent undue delays during the process, either through the possibility of conciliation between the parties, either through the restructuring process. Allows more active participation of the process’s, through the use of orality. In this sense, forms a dynamic procedural system, allowing "access to justice" in a broad sense, covering the people, the adjective of citizen participatory democracy and spreading as a proposed rule to be adopted to contemporary society. In this context, we can see that the machinery of article 331 of the Brazilian Civil Procedure Code, contributes to the effectiveness of the fundamental right of a reasonable duration of the process, aiming at the reduction of procedural delay unjustifiable. For this, use it to judges is a hermeneutic interpretation of constitutional principles coupled with external factors which will influence him, adopting the theory as formalism evaluative procedures. The questioning concerned intends to study the society at present, which yearns for the consecration of the fundamental right to process in reasonable time, which should be promoted by the state, since the constitutionally enshrined it even with the advent of constitutional emendment 45/2004. In this context, the State must answer for the undue delay of the procedural time. And the repair should be manifested through indemnity in favor of the citizen who had checked his right, as a consequence of a state act, or, if the preliminary hearing, his inertia.

No description available.

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews. The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality. The most striking result is that involving the citizens in the process of forming a climate and energy plan made the final plan more explicit and ambitious. However regarding the representativity the decisions can’t be considered fully representative from a political equality point of view. Despite this the decisions that have been made can be regarded as more legitimate because the citizens have been a part of the decision-making. The study argues in a careful way that increased participation in environmental decision-making in the form of citizens panels can be one of several approaches to both overcome the problems with the representative democracy and solve the environmental problems. / Den representativa demokratin har under de senaste årtiondena blivit försvagad. Detta samtidigt som FN vid Rio de Janeiro mötet 1992 deklarerade att miljöproblemen bäst kan lösas med att involvera alla berörda medborgare i beslutsfattandet. Syftet med denna undersökning har i huvudsak varit att se närmare på om medborgarpaneler kan vara ett sätt att involvera medborgarna i miljöfrågor och vilken effekt det kan få. Vidare har studien också undersökt vilken inverkan deltagandet fått på miljöpolitiken och hur representativt resultatet varit. Detta har skett genom att undersöka Piteåpanelen i Piteå kommun med genomförandet av intervjuer. Studiens resultat visar att involverandet av medborgarna i beslutsfattandet har påverkat kommunens miljöpolitik. Framförallt visar det sig att i arbetet med att ta fram en klimat och energiplan bidrog deltagandet till att den slutgiltiga planen blev mer tydlig och ambitiös. Gällande representativiteten visar det sig dock att resultaten ifrån panelen inte kan anses fullt representativa utifrån aspekten politisk jämlikhet. Trots detta har dock besluten som fattats fått en större legitimitet på grund av att medborgarna fått vara med i beslutsprocessen. Studien ställer sig försiktigt positiv till att ett ökat deltagande i miljöfrågor i form av medborgar-paneler kan vara ett av flera tillvägagångssätt i att både överbrygga problemen med den representativa demokratin samt lösa de miljöproblem som finns.

Il Bilancio Partecipativo (BP) è probabilmente l’esempio più famoso ed interessante di governance locale per i suoi effetti democratici e redistributivi. Per via del coinvolgimento diretto dei cittadini nel processo decisionale, il BP è considerato una forma di democrazia diretta capace di ovviare agli attuali limiti della democrazia rappresentativa moderna. Tuttavia, ad un’attenta analisi, è possibile identificare nel suo funzionamento anche degli elementi rappresentativi che non sono mai stati presi molto in seria considerazione. Infatti, poiché la partecipazione avviene solitamente attraverso gruppi ed associazioni, nuove forme di rappresentanza e nuovi rappresentanti emergono in competizione con quelli tradizionali politici in termini di consenso, sostegno popolare e dunque legittimità. Il presente lavoro vuole andare oltre il pensiero corrente e proporre un’interpretazione originale del modello istituzionale del BP come una forma nuova ed alternativa di democrazia rappresentativa, in cui le organizzazioni della società civile assumono un ruolo centrale: dietro al BP vi sarebbe una sorta di democrazia ‘civile’. Questo punto di vista alternativo non solo può stimolare un ulteriore dibattito in letteratura, ma aprire anche degli scenari interessanti in relazione ai temi più generali della crisi delle istituzioni liberal-democratiche e del ruolo e dell’identità della società civile. / Participatory Budgeting (PB) is probably the most famous and interesting example of innovative local governance for its redistributive and democratic effects. Due to the direct involvement of citizens in the decision-making process, PB is celebrated as an example of direct democracy which can help to deal with the limits of representative democracy. However, on closer analysis, it is possible to identify elements of representation in its functioning, which are taken into little consideration and which could probably modify the prevalent theoretical belief. In fact, as citizens usually participate through their groups and associations, new representatives emerge challenging the traditional channels of political representation in terms of popular approval, consensus, hence legitimacy. This work aims to go beyond the prevailing narrative and propose an original interpretation of the PB’s institutional model as a new and alternative representative democracy, where the main political actors become organizations from the civil society: behind PB there seems to lie a sort of ‘civil’ democracy. Hence, introducing this alternative viewpoint can, not only further questions which are never fully considered in the literature, but also open interesting scenarios in the debate over the crisis of liberal-democratic institutions and the role and the identity of civil society.

The aim of the study was to investigate the training of school governing bodies in the Free State Province from an education management point of view. Since 1994 the South African government has adopted a number of policy documents aimed at democratizing education in the country. The transformation of education in the new South African context encompasses the idea of partnership in which participants - such as parents, educators, learners (in secondary schools) play an active role in taking decisions on behalf of the school. The State alone cannot control schools, but has to share its power with other stakeholders. However, this can only happen if participants in school governance are trained to have power and the capacity to decide on matters affecting their schools. Hence, training is the cornerstone of affirming governors in the execution of their roles and responsibilities. Since school governing bodies are composed of a cross section of people with different ideologies, expectations and levels of education - training is necessary to prepare then for co-operative governance. Without adequate and on-going in-service training, it is unlikely that school governing body members can make informed decisions. The empirical method, namely qualitative research, was successful in obtaining information from participants about the training offered to them. It also established how participants felt and thought about their experiences and perceptions about the training they received, whether it built capacity or not. A number of recommendations were made with regard to the research findings for stakeholders to note. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The dissertation deals with the roots of civic apathy in local government, and the main emphasis is to establish the root cause/s of civic apathy. The hypothesis: 'civic apathy is a phenomenon intensified by ignorance and a feeling of powerlessness and frustration on the electorate' is tested in this study. To examine further specific aspects of civic apathy, including establishing the cause/s and effects of apathy, the author conducted a quantitative research in the Northern Metropolitan Area m Johannesburg, using questionnaires and literature study as the research method. The hypothesis advanced in the dissertation has been validated insofar as it has been argued and demonstrated that indeed people can feel powerless and frustrated if they are deliberately being excluded from, or denied the opportunity to participate actively in their local government activities. The main finding is that civic apathy is intensified by ignorance. However, the most important finding is that there ts a causal relationship between powerlessness, frustration and apathy. / Public Administration and Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Trois jours avant les élections nationales de 2010 au Royaume-Uni, l’association London Citizens réunit les trois principaux prétendants à la fonction de Premier Ministre. Parmi les 2 200 personnes présentes dans la salle, certaines défilent sur scène et confrontent les candidats à des revendications (portant sur le salaire minimum, les droits des immigrés, les logements abordables et l’accès au crédit), tout en les enjoignant à reconnaître et à promouvoir le rôle de la « société civile » dans la gouvernance londonienne. À la pointe de ce combat, London Citizens représente un très large éventail d’organisations - congrégations religieuses, établissements scolaires, syndicats et autres associations - qui cherchent collectivement à faire entendre leur voix en interpellant les responsables politiques, mais également les acteurs économiques, bousculant ainsi les règles du jeu politique traditionnel. Construite sur le modèle du Broad-Based Community Organizing initié par Saul Alinsky dans les années 1940 à Chicago, London Citizens cherche à mobiliser un très grand nombre de communautés et d’habitants de Londres. Encadrés par des « organisateurs », les différents membres se rencontrent régulièrement et mènent ensemble des actions collectives sur des territoires et des sujets variés. « Démocratique » sous bien des aspects, l’action de London Citizens est aussi ambigüe au regard de sa conception de l’émancipation citoyenne et des changements sociaux visés. C’est une approche pragmatique de la citoyenneté et de la démocratie qui est alors mise en avant. / Three days before the general elections of 2010 in the UK, the organisation called London Citizens brings together the leaders of the three main parties. Among the 2,200 people in the room, some come on stage and confront the candidates with their demands (on the minimum wage, immigrant rights, affordable housing and access to credit), while urging them to recognize and promote the role of "civil society" in the governance of London. At the forefront of this fight, London Citizens represents a very wide range of organizations - religious congregations, schools, trade unions and other associations - which collectively seek to make their voices heard by politicians, but also economic actors, upsetting the traditional rules of politics. Built on the model of broad-based community organizing initiated by Saul Alinsky in the 1940s in Chicago, London Citizens seeks to mobilize a large number of London communities and residents. Supervised by "organizers", the various members meet on a regular basis and conduct collective actions, big and small, on different issues. "Democratic" in many ways, the work of London Citizens is also ambiguous with regard to its conception of citizen empowerment and targeted social changes. In so doing, it promotes a pragmatic approach to citizenship and democracy.