Organizations play key roles in modern societies. The importance of organizations for a society requires an understanding of organizations. In order to fully understand public organizations, it is necessary to recognize how organizational settings affect subjects of organizations and organizing. Although public and private organizations interrelate with each other, the two types are not identical. In this dissertation, I attempt to describe public organizations in their own setting by discussing three important topics in public organization theory: (1) innovation adoption in the public sector; (2) representative bureaucracy; and (3) decline and death of public organizations. In Chapter II, I scrutinize early adoption of innovations at the organizational level and explore which public organizations become early adopters in the diffusion process. The adoption of an innovation is directly related to the motivation to innovate. That is, organizations performing poorly will have a motivation to seek new solutions. I estimate the strength of the motivation by observing prior performance. The main finding of the second chapter is that performance-based motivation has a twofold impact on early innovation adoption: negative for organizations with low performance, but positive for those with very high performance. This study estimates top 3.8% as the turning point defining which organizations attain outstanding performance and show the positive relationship between performance and innovation adoption. In Chapter III, develop a theoretical framework for predicting and explaining active representation in bureaucracy and test two hypotheses from the framework to test its validity. First, active representation requires the loss of organizational rewards. Second, a minority group mobilizes external support to minimize the cost of active representation. These findings support that active representation is a political activity in which bargaining between formal and informal roles occurs. In addition, I add evidence to the literature demonstrating that the two prerequisites – policy discretion and a critical mass – must be satisfied for active representation to occur. In Chapter IV, I argue that organizational change is a result of a relationship between an organization and the environment. And, I suggest and advance the theory of organizational ecology for examining environment effect on organizational decline and death. The theory has been extensively studies in the business sector, so I advance the theory to be applicable to the public sector. First, I add political variables, such as change in the executive branch and the legislature, unified government, and hypothesize that (1) an organization established by a party other than the one in the executive branch in any given year will be more likely to be terminated or decline; that (2) an organization established by a party other than the one in the legislature in any given year will be more likely to be terminated or decline; and that (3) if an unfriendly party controls both the executive branch and the legislature, organizations established by other parties are more likely to be terminated or decline. Second, the effect of the economic environment on the life cycle of public organizations is not as straightforward and simple as their effect on business firms.

There are a myriad of factors that influence the teaching and assessment of English as a foreign language in Israel. One such factor is the change in perception of how the mind collects and processes information. The transition from behaviorist theories of learning to constructivist and cognitivist theories has resulted in a new concept of learning that recognises the pivotal role of the learner in the learning process. Another instrumental factor is the creation of standards in education that are intended to raise the level of academic achievement and provide equitable educational opportunities for all learners. Both of these factors have impacted the study of English as a foreign language. Countries around the world have assumed monumental changes in the way they approach foreign language study. Following the examples of foreign countries Israel has recently implemented a standards-based curriculum that supports alternative assessment. Since this is a relatively new concept, the principles underlying standards and assessment are unfamiliar to many EFL teachers. Novice teachers, as well as experienced teachers, are experiencing difficulty incorporating standards and alternative assessment into their lessons. In the light of the above it was clear that a need existed to investigate how English foreign language teachers relate to assessment and to examine the extent to which they implement alternative assessment in their teaching. The aim of the study is to explore teachers' understanding of alternative assessment and find out how teachers incorporate alternative assessment in their EFL classes. Against this background, an empirical investigation was undertaken. It comprised a textual analysis of ten assessment packages and two focus group interviews. The research produced a wealth of descriptive data that illuminated the subject. The findings magnified the disparity between the theory behind alternative assessment and actual practice. It was apparent that the assessment activities which EFL teachers employed, were not in sync with the principles that were being promoted by the new curriculum for EFL teaching and assessment in Israeli schools. The study discusses the results of the investigation, suggests the implications and presents recommendations. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

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No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGIS.pdf: 3988333 bytes, checksum: a681d0f291f122eb333cf27b8bd8845b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / The estimated housing deficit in Brazil was 5.6 million in 2008, in which 83.5% was in urban areas, wherein to meet such demand there is a need for industrialized construction. Prefabricated building systems with precast panels for residential buildings were largely applied in Europe after the Second World War and it has been applied recently in countries of Latin America and Asia. Although construction companies have been using building systems with precast panels for affordable housing in Brazil since the 80´s, the absence of a prescriptive code of practice for design of precast panels demands certification for each system, which needs to meet the performance requirements according to ABNT-NBR 15575:2013. In order to increase the application of prefabricated systems a new Brazilian Code of Practice for Precast Panels, based on international codes, has been concluded and it is now waiting for final approval. In order to achieve optimum performance, constructability and sustainability of the building project there is a need for integration between architectural and structural designs, as well the interaction between product and production, starting from product development based on the analysis of added value for each project until the rationalization of the processes. The level of prefabrication depends on the number and repetition of units. The aim of this research is to identify and define design guidelines based on performance for building systems with precast concrete panels for residential buildings. The literature revision was carried out starting from international references and codes until the study of the Brazilian codes of practice, including the new code for precast concrete panels. In addition, the research presents the main types of panels and typologies for residential buildings with potential to be applied in Brazil. Finally, an example of performance based design for precast concrete panels is presented with some discussions. This study demonstrate that architects and structural engineers can now design building systems with precast panels based on the new codes of practice and numeric simulations without the need of further tests for certification. / O déficit habitacional no Brasil era de 5,6 milhões em 2008, sendo 83,5% na área urbana, onde para atender esta demanda seria necessário o emprego da construção industrializada. Sistemas construtivos com painéis pré-moldados para residências foram amplamente aplicados na Europa após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, e também têm sido aplicados recentemente em países da América Latina e Ásia. Embora construtoras venham utilizando sistemas com painéis pré-moldados para habitações no Brasil desde a década de 80, a falta de normas prescritivas para projeto em painéis demanda certificações para cada sistema, que precisam atender aos requisitos de desempenho conforme a ABNT NBR 15575:2013. Com o objetivo de aumentar a aplicação de sistemas pré-fabricados, uma nova norma de prescrições brasileira, baseada em referências técnicas e normativas internacionais, foi concluída e aguarda sua aprovação final. Somente com integração entre os projetos das diferentes disciplinas é possível obter uma otimização de desempenho, construtibilidade e sustentabilidade da edificação, mas também deve haver a interação de projeto enquanto produto e produção, partindo do desenvolvimento do produto, com análise do valor agregado para cada solução de projeto até a racionalização do processo de produção, onde o nível de pré-fabricação depende do número e repetição das unidades a serem empreendidas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar e sistematizar diretrizes de projeto com base no desempenho para sistemas construtivos em painéis pré-moldados de concreto, com aplicação em edifícios habitacionais. A revisão da literatura foi desenvolvida a partir das referências e normas internacionais, passando pelo estudo de normas brasileiras, incluindo o projeto de norma de painéis pré-moldados de concreto. Além disso, esta pesquisa apresenta os principais tipos de painéis e principais tipologias com potencial de aplicação para construções residenciais no Brasil. Finalmente, apresenta-se um exemplo de aplicação de avaliação de desempenho com a discussão de alguns resultados. Este estudo demonstra que arquitetos e engenheiros estruturais poderão, com a aprovação da nova normalização brasileira, desenvolver projetos com painéis pré-moldados em concreto com base em prescrições técnicas e simulações numéricas, sem a necessidade de se realizar novos ensaios para certificação para cada nova aplicação de sistemas construtivos pré-fabricados com painéis.

Thèse de doctorat de l’Université de Montréal en cotutelle avec l’Université Paris-Diderot. Présentée et soutenue publiquement à Paris le 3 juillet 2019. / Problématique : Le caractère polycentrique de la gouvernance de santé mondiale fait émerger depuis une vingtaine d’années des pôles d’influence politique de différents niveaux. Depuis la fin des années 2000, des acteurs influents appuient la mise en œuvre d’une réforme de financement de la santé : le financement basé sur la performance (FBP). Le FBP repose sur le transfert de ressources financières conditionnelles à la performance des prestataires de santé. En dépit d’une absence d’unanimité sur les preuves scientifiques de son efficacité, la politique a été expérimentée dans plus de 70% des 46 pays d’Afrique subsaharienne. Les projets de FBP sont promus par des réseaux d’experts transnationaux (nouveaux acteurs de la gouvernance polycentrique), financés par des bailleurs de fonds, et appuyés par des assistants techniques provenant le plus souvent d’Europe et d’Amérique du Nord. Au-delà du pouvoir financier, ces acteurs exercent d’autres formes de pouvoir moins visibles pour stimuler la diffusion de cette politique. Introduisant le concept d’“entrepreneurs de la diffusion”, nous utilisons une approche d’économie politique pour comprendre les interactions sociales en jeu dans le processus de diffusion entre les acteurs agissant aux niveaux global, continental et national, ainsi que les relations de pouvoir asymétriques inhérentes à ces interactions. Pour cela, nous réalisons une étude interprétative à niveaux d’analyse imbriqués (global, continental, national). Cadre conceptuel : Nous utilisons un cadre conceptuel interdisciplinaire empruntant aux champs des politiques publiques, des relations internationales, et de la santé mondiale. Nous analysons les caractéristiques des entrepreneurs de la diffusion – leurs systèmes de représentation (leur perception du monde et présupposés sous-jacents), ressources, types d’autorité, et motivations – et les stratégies qu’ils utilisent pour favoriser la diffusion du FBP. Ces stratégies incluent : l’ancrage idéationnel de la politique (policy framing), la stimulation de l’émulation par la constitution de réseaux (policy emulation), la conduite de l’agenda d’apprentissage sur le FBP (policy learning), et la fixation de standards et cadres de collaboration pour assurer une expérimentation réussie du FBP (policy experimentation). Méthodologie : L’objet principal de la thèse est la diffusion du FBP en Afrique subsaharienne, qui s’articule autour d’influents « entrepreneurs de la diffusion » (cinq organisations, trois réseaux transnationaux, et plus d’une vingtaine d’individus). Trois études ont été réalisées à trois niveaux différents : niveau global (arènes politiques de santé mondiale et instituts de recherche européens), niveau continental (Afrique subsaharienne), et niveau national (cas du Mali). L’approche d’analyse est principalement qualitative : nous avons collecté des données d’entretiens approfondis (N=57), d’observations participantes (N=13) et de documents (N=41). Dans l’étude à échelle continentale, ces données qualitatives sont complétées par des analyses de réseaux sociaux et des analyses sémantiques à partir de 1 346 messages de forum. Ces données quantitatives complètent la caractérisation de l’un des réseaux transnationaux et son influence sur la diffusion du FBP. Valeur de la recherche : Cette recherche constitue la première analyse d’économie politique détaillant des processus multiniveaux et protéiformes (discours, constitution en réseaux, et production et dissémination de multiples formes de savoirs) conduits par des acteurs influents – les entrepreneurs de la diffusion – afin de faciliter la diffusion d’une innovation politique (le FBP) dans le contexte particulier de la gouvernance polycentrique. Cette étude apporte d’importantes contributions théoriques et empiriques à la littérature. Premièrement, elle offre un cadre conceptuel novateur adapté au contexte de la santé mondiale et de la gouvernance polycentrique, qui peut être appliqué à divers types de recherche. Deuxièmement, elle fournit des analyses empiriques utiles sur les processus de gouvernance polycentrique, qui ont été jusqu’ici peu étudiés. Mettant en lumière l’exercice du pouvoir d’acteurs européens et nord-américains dans leur interaction avec des consultants et décideurs africains, cette étude ouvre également la voie à d’autres recherches, notamment sur le phénomène de fabrique d’une expertise africaine. / Background: Over the past 20 years, the polycentric nature of global health governance has shaped the emergence of autonomous actors with political influence at different levels. Since the late 2000s, influential policy actors have been supporting the implementation of a health financing reform: Performance-based financing (PBF). PBF relies on the transfer of financial resources conditional on the performance of health providers. In contrast to input financing systems, this mechanism focuses on achieving results based on performance targets. Despite a lack of consensus on the scientific evidence of its effectiveness, the policy has been tested in more than 70% of 46 sub-Saharan African countries. PBF projects are promoted by transnational expert networks (i.e., autonomous actors of polycentric governance), funded by donors, and supported by technical assistants, mostly coming from Europe and North America. Beyond their financial power, these actors exert other less visible forms of power to stimulate the diffusion of PBF. Introducing the concept of diffusion entrepreneurs, we use a political economy approach to explore the social interactions at play in the diffusion process between actors across global/continental/national levels, and the asymmetrical power relations embedded within those interactions. To do so, we carry out an interpretative study with nested analysis levels (global, continental, national). Conceptual Framework: We use an interdisciplinary conceptual framework borrowing from the fields of public policy, international relations, and global health. We analyse the characteristics of diffusion entrepreneurs — their representation systems (their underlying assumptions about the world), resources, types of authority, and motivations — and the strategies they use to promote the diffusion of PBF. These strategies include: policy framing, stimulating emulation through policy emulation, driving the learning agenda on policy learning (FBP), and the setting of standards and frameworks of collaboration to ensure a successful experimentation of the FBP (policy experimentation). Methods: The thesis research object is the diffusion of PBF in sub-Saharan Africa, which involves influential diffusion entrepreneurs (five organisations, three transnational networks, and about two dozen individuals). Three studies were conducted at three different levels: global level (global health policy arenas and European research institutes), continental level (sub-Saharan Africa), and national level (Mali case). The analysis approach is mainly qualitative: we collected data from in-depth interviews (N = 57), participant observations (N = 13) and documents (N = 41). In the study on continental-level diffusion, qualitative data are supplemented by social network analyses and semantic discourse analyses based on 1,346 forum posts. These quantitative data complement the characterisation of a transnational network’s structure and how it influences policy diffusion. Research value: This research is the first political economy analysis detailing multilevel and multifaceted processes (discourse, networks, and production and dissemination of multiple forms of knowledge) led by influential policy actors — diffusion entrepreneurs — to foster the expansion of a policy innovation (PBF) in the specific context of polycentric governance. This study makes important theoretical and empirical contributions to the literature. First, it offers an innovative conceptual framework adapted to the contexts of global health and polycentric governance. The framework can be applied to a variety of research designs. Second, it provides useful insights on the processes of policy diffusion in polycentric governance, thereby filling a research gap on the phenomenon of polycentrism. By highlighting European and North American actors’ exercise of power in their interaction with African consultants and policymakers, this study also paves the way for future research — particularly on the phenomenon of the making of an African expertise.

In der vorliegenden Publikation wird die Entstehung der leistungsbezogenen Hochschulfinanzierung im englischen Universitätssektor untersucht. Leistungsbezogene Hochschulfinanzierung wird in vielen Ländern als geeigneter Lösungsansatz für das Problem der gerechten Verteilung von staatlichen Finanzmitteln an individuelle Hochschulen diskutiert. Das englische Beispiel zeigt sich als sehr lehrreich für die Diskussion um die Umsetzung und die Konsequenzen eines solchen Lösungsansatzes. Der größte Teil der staatlichen Finanzmittel wurde den Universitäten seit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts als globale Zuweisung zugeteilt. Die Entscheidung über die Höhe der Summe dieses Geldes wurde ursprünglich von einem nicht-amtlichen Organ, dessen Mitglieder mehrheitlich Akademiker waren, bestimmt. Veränderungen der Mitgliedschaft und Verfahren dieses Organs und dessen Nachfolger-Organe haben wesentliche indirekte Implikationen und direkte Folgen für die Universitäten in England hervorgebracht. Die Verfahren zur Bewertung der Qualität der Leistung einer Universität sowie zur Verteilung von Finanzmitteln entsprechend dieser Leistung stellen das Instrumentarium für einen neuen steuernden Einfluss des Staates dar. Da die Höhe der staatlichen Finanzmittel für die Universitäten indessen seit Anfang der 80er Jahre stark abgenommen hat, müssen die Universitäten sich gleichzeitig erfolgreich auf dem Markt behaupten können. Die Universitäten müssen also innerhalb eines gestalterischen Raumes agieren, der zwischen Markt und Staat -- als die wesentlichen Einflussgrößen -- aufgespannt ist. Das Grundverhältnis zwischen dem Staat und den Universitäten zeigt sich entsprechend als höchst komplex. Dabei müssen die Universitäten eine Managementkompetenz entwickeln, die eine Maximierung an Finanzierung verspricht, während sie gleichzeitig die Grundaufgaben der Lehre und Forschung vor allzu negativen Konsequenzen dieser Wirtschaftsorientierung bewahren soll. Die Publikation belegt anhand einer Fallstudie, dass nicht alle Universitäten hierzu in der Lage sind und, dass die Implikationen und Folgen des sogenannten "Finanzierungsregimes" für deren Aufgabenerfüllung nachteilig sein können. Es wird deutlich, dass die konkreten Verfahren der Hochschulfinanzierung und, hier insbesondere, leistungsbezogene Ansätze nicht allein als technische Lösungen betrachtet werden können, sondern sie sollen nur im Zusammenhang mit einer Vorstellung von der idealen Universität gesehen werden, denn diese Verfahren beeinflussen die Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten einer Universität in direkter und indirekter Weise. / This publication investigates the emergence of performance-based funding in the English university sector. Performance-based funding of higher education institutions is discussed in many countries as an appropriate solution to the problem of distributing public funding to individual universities in a fair manner. The English example proves to be very instructive to the discussion with regards to the implementation, and then the implications, of such a proposal. From the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of public funding was distributed as a lump sum to individual universities in England. Decisions on the amount of funding were originally determined by a non-governmental body, whose members were mainly academics. Changes to this membership and to the procedures of this body have had a number of indirect implications for and direct effects on universities in England. Procedures for assessing the qualitative performance of universities, together with procedures which distribute funding according to this assessment provide the instruments of a new steering-influence utilised by the State, a new form of Public Management. As the amount of public state funding for universities has been reduced drastically since the beginning of the 1980's, universities have had to strive concurrently for funds on the open market. Universities are thus being forced to act within an area defined by the market and the State - the two strongest influences on the university sector. The fundamental relationship between the State and its universities has accordingly become highly complex. Universities, for their part, must develop management competencies, which promise a maximisation of funding, whilst at the same time aiming to protect a university's vital tasks of teaching and research from the more negative consequences of business-orientation. In a concluding case study, some evidence is provided which shows that not all universities are in a position to do this and that the implications and effects of the so-called "funding regime" are disadvantageous, in such cases, for their fulfilment of this entrepreneurial challenge. It becomes clear that the concrete procedures for funding higher education institutions and, in particular, performance-based models cannot been seen solely as technical solutions, but must instead be seen in combination with an idea of the ideal university, since these procedures influence the strategic options of a university both directly and indirectly.

Budgetering är en central del för att planera och styra kommunala finanser, vars utveckling är beroende av samhällsekonomisk utveckling. Under 2020 drabbades världen av en pandemi som orsakade en ekonomisk kris världen över, med undantag från bland annat svenska kommuner. Tidigare forskning kring kommunal budgetering i ekonomiskt svåra tider tyder på att stram budgetering är en viktig faktor för att klara ekonomiska kriser medan andra menar att sådana åtgärder ofta undviks. Tidigare forskning pekar även på kommuners beroende av statliga bidrag ökar vilket även hämmar benägenheten att tillta åtstramande åtgärder. Studien har syftat till att undersöka om och i sådana fall hur Covid-19-pandemin har påverkat västsvenska kommuners budgetprocess och budget som planerings- och styrverktyg. För att uppnå detta genomfördes en kvalitativ multipel fallstudie på fem västsvenska kommuner, med intervjuer och en kompletterande dokumentanalys. Resultatet visade att varken budgetprocessen, eller budget som planerings- eller styrverktyg har påverkats i så stor utsträckning utav Covid-19. Resultatet visade även att de statliga bidragen till följd av Covid-19 har haft en hämmande effekt på åtgärder. Vidare visar studien att budgetmetodiken inte förändrats. / Budgeting is a central part of planning and controlling municipal finances, where growth is dependent on macroeconomic factors. During 2020 the world was hit by a pandemic that caused an economic crisis across the world, with an exception from Swedish municipalities. Earlier research on municipal budgeting in times of economic crisis suggest that a tight budgeting is an important factor when it comes to managing economic crisis while others suggest that such measures often get avoided. Earlier research also suggests that municipalities spending and dependency on governmental grants increase when the latter increase, which also inhibits tightening measures. The purpose of this study has been to examine if and if so, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the budget process, budget as a tool for control and planning for municipalities in western Sweden. To achieve this, we have conducted a qualitative multiple case study in five western Swedish municipalities through interviews and complementary content analysis. The results show that neither the budget process nor the budget as a tool for planning or control has been affected by Covid-19 to such an extent. The results also showed that the governmental grants due to Covid-19 has had a mitigating effect on measures. Moreover, the study shows that the budget methodology has not changed.

Enabled by new technologies, firms are starting to shift from selling products to selling outcome-based services. In an outcome-based business model, providers deliver outcomes and work in close cooperation with end-customers to create superior value, more efficient and more sustainable solutions. Research has explored the boundaries to the adoption of outcome-based business models, but does not provide an approach to overcome these boundaries. To address this research gap, this degree project examines how the consulting industry can boost outcome-based business models by facilitating their adoption. To explore how consultancies can profit from projects related to outcome-based business models by generating valuable services to clients, a representative case study at Capgemini Invent, a large strategy and technology consultancy, was conducted. Semi-structured interviews with twelve experienced consultants from different backgrounds lead to the finding, that the shift of industrial firms towards selling outcome- based services, provides large potential for consultancies as they can sell a full range of services related to generating an understanding for the value created by outcome-based business models, supporting the value definition and value proposition within such a business model, and delivering alternative services in the post-implementation-phase of an outcome-based business model. I also find that consultancies have the capabilities and, due to the existent potential, motivation to offer services to facilitate the adoption of outcome-based business models but are nevertheless focused on generating short-term profits rather than actively trying to promote solutions because they provide social value. This project contributes to literature, by providing a perspective on how the development of outcome-based business models can be facilitated, which in turn is likely to lead to increased sustainability and social value. It also points out that consultancies – as knowledgeable leaders - have a major responsibility to take a lead on developing sustainable business practices to help solve some of our generations most difficult challenges. Let us hope they take on this responsibility.

For the most recent and correct article, please click here: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784412787.086 This study examines the use of performance-based approaches in liquefaction hazard analysis. Two new methods of performance-based liquefaction initiation analysis are proposed which use the works of Juang et al. (2012) and Boulanger and Idriss (2012). Further advances are made by incorporating the performance-based magnitude scaling factors as proposed by Cetin et al. (2012). Using these new equations a comparative study is made between the three methods. Further comparisons are made between the performance-based approaches and the more widely used deterministic approaches. The comparisons reveal that on average for the 11 sites used in this study, the performance-based approaches tend to be slightly less conservative than deterministic approaches overall, with large differences possible for some locations in the country. They also reveal that the newer performance-based approaches are generally less conservative than the approach proposed by Kramer and Mayfield (2007). Some cases where this relationship does not hold true and the new relationships are more conservative are outlined.

What does it mean to be lawful in a secular age? Reincarnating Law in the Cosmos orbits around such a humanistic inquiry, offering a local contribution to a global jurisprudence by theorizing contemporary Indigenous and state laws in Canada in reciprocal relation to secular modernity. In this context, the study marks the first substantive engagement with Val Napoleon’s Ayook: Gitksan Legal Order, Law, and Legal Theory (2009). The study interprets Napoleon’s reification thesis on Gitxsan law and society as part of a historical disembedding process and evaluates it with reference to a 2016 pipeline agreement signed between a segment of Gitxsan hereditary leaders and the province of British Columbia. Translating Charles Taylor’s concept of excarnation for the legal sphere, it then expands upon Napoleon’s thesis by postulating the steady disembodying and disenchanting reduction of Gitxsan lawful life. To address this dilemma, the study supplements the active and reasoned sense of Gitxsan citizenship posited in Ayook by recasting it in phenomenological terms as a distinctly embodied form of legal agency. To clarify this aspect of agency, the study applies critical race feminist Preeti Dhaliwal’s legal research and playwriting method known as jurisprudential theatre. Dhaliwal’s method shapes the study in two significant ways. First, her impetus for developing the method draws from her own witnessing and overcoming of excarnation in the Canadian law school and immigration system, demonstrating it to be a larger problem traversing multi-juridical borders. To address this problem, the method, in turn, enables the innovation of a new Gitxsan concept of legal agency – the ‘wii bil’ust (giant star) – and an original drama that reveals the real-world struggle and heroism of reincarnating the Gitxsan legal order across generations over the past century. To encourage the broader reincarnation of law, and building on Jeremy Webber’s critique of the functionalist account of customary law, the study points towards a shared grammar of incarnational law. That is, a grammar deepened by embodied modes of relationality, reimagined cosmologies attuned to our earthly predicaments, and creative fluency in multiple languages and traditions, among other habitable zones. / Graduate / 2023-07-15

One of the most difficult tasks towards designing earthquake resistant structures is the determination of critical earthquakes. Conceptually, these are the ground motions that would induce the critical response in the structures being designed. The quantification of this concept, however, is not easy. Unlike the linear response of a structure, which can often be obtained by using a single spectrally modified ground acceleration history, the nonlinear response is strongly dependent on the phasing of ground motion and the detailed shape of its spectrum. This necessitates the use of a suite (bin) of ground acceleration histories having phasing and spectral shapes appropriate for the characteristics of the earthquake source, wave propagation path, and site conditions that control the design spectrum. Further, these suites of records may have to be scaled to match the design spectrum over a period range of interest, rotated into strike-normal and strike-parallel directions for near-fault effects, and modified for local site conditions before they can be input into time-domain nonlinear analysis of structures. The generation of these acceleration histories is cumbersome and daunting. This is especially so due to the sheer magnitude of the data processing involved. The purpose of this thesis is the development and documentation of PC-based computational tools (hereinafter called EQTools) to provide a rapid and consistent means towards systematic assembly of representative strong ground motions and their characterization, evaluation, and modification within a performance-based seismic design framework. The application is graphics-intensive and every effort has been made to make it as user-friendly as possible. The application seeks to provide processed data which will help the user address the problem of determination of the critical earthquakes. The various computational tools developed in EQTools facilitate the identification of severity and damage potential of more than 700 components of recorded earthquake ground motions. The application also includes computational tools to estimate the ground motion parameters for different geographical and tectonic environments, and perform one-dimensional linear/nonlinear site response analysis as a means to predict ground surface motions at sites where soft soils overlay the bedrock. While EQTools may be used for professional practice or academic research, the fundamental purpose behind the development of the software is to make available a classroom/laboratory tool that provides a visual basis for learning the principles behind the selection of ground motion histories and their scaling/modification for input into time domain nonlinear (or linear) analysis of structures. EQTools, in association with NONLIN, a Microsoft Windows based application for the dynamic analysis of single- and multi-degree-of-freedom structural systems (Charney, 2003), may be used for learning the concepts of earthquake engineering, particularly as related to structural dynamics, damping, ductility, and energy dissipation. / Master of Science