The primary aim of the study was to design a model for changing teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills. Currently, information regarding the conceptualisation of this topic is inadequate and vague. In this study the nature of the complexities involved in the management and implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills were researched through a literature study and an empirical investigation. A model was then designed for the effective management of the implementation thereof. The findings from the research indicated that teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills to learners are negative. It also became evident that the school principal should manage the implementation of the teaching of critical thinking skills to learners. The focus of the proposed model is on how teachers' attitudes towards the value of teaching critical thinking skills can be changed to ensure quality educative teaching and learning in and outside of the classroom. The study therefore serves to present a useable model for the management of the implementation of teaching critical thinking skills to learners. The study is further based on a well balanced opinion as experiences of teachers in the senior phase (grades 7, 8, & 9) were investigated by means of structured questionnaires. Recommendations regarding research findings were made for stakeholders and education departmental officials to note. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

中共對台工作組織研究是兩岸關係研究課題的核心，值得就此議題，投注心力予以關注。本論文旨在針對中共對台工作運作過程，透過理論的闡述和案例的實證，試圖掌握中共決策行為發生的規律、決策規則的選擇，以及政策的實施等過程，進一步找出影響中共對台決策績效的真實原因，為我國與中共交手尋求對策。因此，本論文以政府過程為研究途徑，關注下列問題：中共對台決策權由哪些組織及何人控制？哪些組織或人得以參與對台決策過程？有哪些因素、哪些人影響中共對台決策過程？台灣民眾的利益是如何輸入中共的決策中樞？對台政策如何制定？政策制定的法定程序如何？有哪些實際過程？制定出來的政策如何執行？哪些組織或人控制著對台政策的執行過程？對台政策能否得到有效的執行？影響政策執行的因素為何？政策制定與執行如何互動？ 政府過程（process of government）是對政府活動的行為、運轉、程序，和構成要素如政治利益團體之間，以及它們與政府之間的交互關係，進行實證性的分析、研究和闡述。政府過程研究，強調用一種動態的方法，對政府體系與制度進行觀察、分析。政府過程的核心功能是政府決策和決策實施。過程是指政治要求與支持的輸入，轉化成權威性政策輸出的過程，包括利益表達（interest articulation）、利益綜合（interest aggregation）、政策制定（policy making）、政策執行（policy implementation）等，其中政策制定或政策執行是政治過程的關鍵性階段。本文假設中共的對台政策的制定依據，都來自於聽到、看到、想到：聽到台灣領導人、朝野政黨、社會意見領袖、學者專家、大眾傳媒怎麼說，看到台灣平面媒體怎麼寫，民意調查怎麼反應，以及政治、經濟、社會如何變化，中共決策制定者進而思索如何據此制定適當的對台政策。因此，本論文以為中共對台工作的政府過程，始自訊息的蒐集、綜合研析。 本論文探討的中共政府，有四個層次：一是狹義的政府，這是指中央政府的國務院及各級地方人民政府；二是廣義的政府，除了國務院及各級地方人民政府，還包括全國人民代表大會及各級地方人民代表大會；三是更廣義的政府，也就是除了第二類，尚包括中國共產黨各級組織、軍隊組織，以及中國人民政治協商會議各級組織等；四是包含上述之外，同時涵蓋民主黨派、人民團體，甚至企業、社團等，也就是所謂的政府體系。就宏觀面來看，本論文其實就是在探討中共政府體系的對台工作。 中共對台工作機制的建立，與其對台認知有關，當認知改變，對台政策隨即跟著改變，對台工作的方法，以及組織和人員也接著改變。因此，中共慣稱，政治路線決定組織路線，組織路線又決定幹部路線。政治路線是總方針、總政策，政策決定後，就須從其本質和需求，考慮何種組織體系以達成目標。同時，就政府過程探討中共對台組織結構，並不只是從規範層面就結構談結構，而是從實務運作上可以觀察到的功能進行分析，也就是以哪些政治結構實際上介入政府過程為標準。基本上，中共對台工作已經形成一個龐大的網絡，是以台辦系統為主幹，再佐以黨、政、軍、群等其他相關部門，構成網絡關係結構。綜合而言，中共對台工作機制，是中共為進行國家統一過程而設置的一種制度安排，並具有下列特點：一、黨的領導；二、黨政共治模式；三、軍隊角色特別突出；四、領導與協調小組普遍設置；五、社群參與政府過程運作；六、多元、多層次的複雜工作體系。 關鍵字：中共對台工作、政府過程、利益表達、利益綜合、政策制定、政策執行 / The research over Leading Group of Taiwan Affairs has been an important issue in the study of Cross-Strait Relations. This thesis attempts to find out the pattern of China’s policy over Taiwan Affairs through the process of decision making within Leading Group. At least seven research questions can be listed in this thesis. 1) Who and which group control policy over Taiwan Affair in China? 2) Who is involved in the process of decision making? 3) Which element can influence the change of policy? 4) How does China consider the interest of Taiwan’s people? 5) How to implement Taiwan’s Policy in reality? 6) Who has power over the implementation of Taiwan’s Policy? Finally, 7) how does the interaction between policy implementation and policy making in China? The research over process of government can be considered as the behavior, performance, procedure and formation of government, as well as the interaction and empirical analysis of political interest groups and government. It is a dynamic process over the investigation of governmental system. Process is defined as the input of political request and demand, as well as the output of authoritative policy, including interest articulation, interest aggregation, policy making, and policy implementation. The last two elements, especially, are the essence of policy process. By assuming China’s policy on Taiwan is formed by hearing, listening and deliberating of Taiwan: hearing the voices of Taiwan’s leaders, scholar, media; listening to the poll of Taiwanese people; and deliberating the evolutions on Taiwan’s political, economic and social changes; China’s decisions making in terms of Taiwan Affairs can be molded. This thesis will focus on the Chinese governmental process on Taiwan Affairs and discuss four levels of central governments in terms of decision making over this issue. The first and most narrow-defined level of central government refers to the State Council and its national branches. The second and less narrow-defined of central government refers to the first level governmental organs plus the National People’s Congress and its national branches. The third level of government is defined as the first and second levels of governmental organ plus the Chinese Communist Party, military organization and National Committee of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference. Whereas the fourth and widest-defined central government includes above organizations plus all kind of governmental bodies. From this aspect, this thesis aims to discuss Taiwan Affairs from all sorts of governmental bodies. The establishment of Policy on Taiwan Affairs is based on China’s perception on Taiwan issue. The change of perception will shift the direction of policy, which will also affect China’ attitude and arrangement of personnel. Therefore, China government used to argue—it is political direction determines organization direction, and it is organization direction decides cadre direction. Political direction is the mainstream of all kinds of principles and policies. When political direction is decided, organization direction should be adjusted in order to achieve political direction. In the meantime, the discussion over the process of government in terms of Taiwan Affairs should not be focused on the‘norm,’rather; it is the empirical analysis that matter. Basically, China’s affair on Taiwan Issue has formulated an enormous governmental network, which constitutes by the Chinese communist party, politic, military and many governmental divisions. All in all, six characteristics of Taiwan Affairs can be found in this thesis: 1) the dominate of the ruling party; 2) a model of join-governance; 3) the emphasis of the role on military; 4) a wide establishment of coordination committee; 5) various participations within governmental process; and 6) multi-variate and multi-levels working system. Key words: Taiwan affairs, Process of government, Interest articulation, Interest aggregation, Policy making, Policy implementation

The central issue of this study revolves around public participation in the making and implementation of policy in Mauritius, particularly at the Port Louis’ local government. Public participation is regarded as one of the milestones of democracy and local governance. Local government provides an ideal forum for allowing participatory democracy to flourish as it is closest to the inhabitants. The question of what are the levels of public participation in the making and implementation of policy in Mauritius with reference to the Port Louis’ local government formed the core element of the problem statement of the thesis. Following this, the hypothesis is stated. Attention is devoted on the four objectives of the research questions: What are the key concepts that relate to public participation in the making and implementation of policy at local government level; what impact does the Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius Amendment, 2003 (Act 124 of 2003) and the New Local Government Act, 2005 (Act 23 of 2005) have on public participation in the making and implementation of policy in Mauritius, particularly at the Port Louis’ local government and what modes of public participation are used in the making and implementation of policy at the Port Louis’ local government; and what are the main factors that influence public participation in the making and implementation of policy at the Port Louis’ local government? Within the thesis, the research findings obtained from the questionnaire; and the interviews are analysed and interpreted. Ultimately, in view of the arguments presented in this thesis an attempt was made to provide some recommendations on public participation in the making and implementation of policy in Mauritius, particularly at the Port Louis’ local government. / Public Administration / D.P.A)

The aim of this study was to develop an empowerment model that could be used to enhance nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development. The study explored the extent of nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development; built consensus on: essential leadership attributes and facilitators and barriers to nurse leaders participation in health policy development. A Delphi survey was applied which included the following criteria: expert panelists, iterative rounds, statistical analysis, and consensus building. The expert panelists were purposively selected and included national nurse leaders in leadership positions at the nursing professional associations, nursing regulatory bodies, ministries of health and universities in East Africa. The study was conducted in three iterative rounds. There were 78 expert panelists invited to participate in the study, the response rate was 47% for the first round, 65% for the second round and 100% for the third round. The data collection was done with the use of semi structured (first round) and structured questionnaires (second and third rounds). Data analysis for the first round was done by examining the data for the most commonly occurring categories. The second and third rounds were quantitative and descriptive statistics were used. The consensus accepted for the second round was 90%, and for the third round consensus was 70%. The findings of the study indicate that nurse leaders participate in health policy development though participation is limited and not consistent across all the stages of health policy development. The study revealed consensus on essential leadership attributes required for nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development, including transformational attributes, political skills, interpersonal and communication skills. The facilitators to nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development pertain to: knowledge and skills, involvement, image of nursing, support, structures and processes. Whereas, the barriers relate to: involvement, image of nursing, structures and processes. An empowerment model for nurse leaders participation in health policy development was developed. Implementation of the model may lead to enhance nurse leaders participation in health policy development. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This dissertation examines the democratic participation in the formulation of the communal land policy in Namibia. The degree to which Government institutions allow public participation, cooperation with other sectors within government, and cooperate with other stakeholders such as Non-Governmental Organisations, is examined. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews and literature research. The analysis of data integrated both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Chapter One describes the background to the study, focusing on the history of democratic participation and land policies in Namibia. The literature review in Chapter Two gives a review of the relevant literature that exists on democracy, democratic participation and policymaking. Chapter Three provides a theoretical framework where the most important issues regarding policies relating to communal land were introduced. Chapter Four identified the tools and processes of conducting the study. Three regions in Namibia namely, Oshikoto, Hardap and Otjozondjupa were randomly selected to participate in this study. The findings of the study are discussed in Chapter Five and Chapter Six concludes the study. The study concluded that democratic participation in the formulation of the communal land policy in Namibia is very low. The major challenges that remain are to encourage public and inter-sectoral debate and to improve the ability of the relevant stakeholders to support development in Namibia and to clarify Namibia’s vision for democratic public participation. / Public Administration and Management / M. Tech. (Public Administration and Management)

In the new democratic dispensation, the Gauteng Education and Training Council (GETC) is the first statutory council instituted in South Africa, allowing civil society to participate in education policy-making. Against this background, this study explored the policy process and the participation of stakeholders. A literature study investigated the theory on policy and the participation of civil society in the policy process. The inception of the GETC was fully documented and a qualitative study undertaken to determine the role of the GETC in education policy-making. Data gathering was done mainly through semi-structured interviews with GETC members. The data was analysed, discussed and synthesised. The major findings were that stakeholders valued the opportunity to participate and members had high expectations of the contribution they could render in the policy-making process. Although most members had a good grasp of the policy process, lack of administrative resources and participative skills founded in the exclusion of large segments of society from partaking in such consultative structures in the past, was evident in some organisations. The function of the Administrative Secretary is deemed important in facilitating the functions of the GETC and training for this incumbent was emphasised. The lines of communication between the GETC and the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) need to be clearly structured in order to expedite the movement of documents between them. The I'vfEC needs to be more visible to GETC members. The GETC, MEC and the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) have to explore ways and means of establishing a sound relationship to serve the cause. Consensus between the GETC and the GDE should be reached regarding the role and place of the GETC in the GDE Policy Route. Areas for further investigation that would enhance the role of the GETC in the policy-making process have been identified. The study concluded that the GETC renders a valuable contribution empowering citizens to become involved in formal participative structures which will contribute towards broadening the basis of acceptance of responsibility for education, by society. This will assist in attaining its declared vision to improve the level of education in South Africa / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

Como alternativa para superar mais uma crise do capitalismo, no final do século XX configurou-se uma nova organização geopolítica e econômica mundial de cunho neoliberal. Ela atribui ao Estado de Bem-Estar Social a responsabilidade pela crise e pela ineficiência em responder às demandas sociais do mundo em transformação. Em resposta às críticas, nasce o movimento de reforma do Estado, que vem assumindo posições nas duas últimas décadas. Nos anos 80 predominou a concepção do Estado mínimo, que encarregou o mercado da responsabilidade pelo crescimento econômico e pelo atendimento às necessidades da sociedade. Na década seguinte questionou-se esse modelo. O ideário do Estado forte regulador e coordenador de políticas sociais respondeu aquele questionamento, deixando para o mercado e o terceiro setor a produção de bens e serviços. Influenciado pela nova administração pública, esse Estado é concebido como gerenciador do desenvolvimento social, incorporando mecanismos do setor privado para aperfeiçoar resultados, como retenção de gastos e controle de custos. Essa é a orientação do plano diretor de reforma do aparelho estatal implantado pelo Governo brasileiro a partir de 1995. Uma de suas principais estratégicas foi a criação das organizações sociais – estatuto legal que permite às instituições sem fins lucrativos desenvolverem funções sociais delegadas pelo Estado. A partir de 1998, a Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo tem repassado a gestão de hospitais para organizações sociais de saúde, mediante contratos de gestão,que discriminam objetivos e metas a serem alcançados na produção de serviços médico-hospitalares. Duas dessas experiências são analisadas aqui – os Hospitais Gerais de Itapecerica da Serra e do Itaim Paulista – com vistas a avaliar a capacidade do Estado de promover tal delegação, à luz do controle público e da garantia da eqüidade no acesso aos serviços de saúde. Empregou-se metodologia qualitativa, mediante estudo de caso. Foram realizadas trinta entrevistas com membros das equipes técnicas, das administrações e das mantenedoras dessas organizações, usuários dos serviços, representantes do Legislativo e do Executivo estadual. Procedeu-se à leitura de documentos e relatórios técnicos. Os resultados indicaram não haver incorporação do âmbito local na gestão dos serviços prestados; o principal coordenador e controlador das metas estabelecidas é a administração central da secretaria estadual. Para que se efetive a eqüidade no acesso, é fundamental a presença do Poder público local como articulador do sistema de saúde. O controle público expressa-se por ações fiscalizadoras mediante procedimentos contábil-financeiros do Tribunal de Contas do Estado ou das instâncias locais do controle social do Sistema Único de Saúde ou dos conselhos populares de saúde. A população não participa da formulação das ações de saúde. Nessa modalidade de gestão, o Poder público estadual assume presença marcante mediante financiamento global e controle administrativo dessas organizações, o que caracteriza uma desconcentração de função para instituições públicas não-estatais, responsáveis por uma lógica privada de gerenciamento por intermédio da contratação de recursos humanos e de administração financeira, aspectos limitantes da ação estatal. / At the end of the 20th century we had seen the come out of a new geopolitical and economical world configuration of neoliberal traces, as an alternative to overcome the capitalism crisis. The Welfare State is criticized by such conception, being assigned to it the responsibility for the crisis and the inefficiency to answer the social demands of a world that is constantly changing. In response to these critiques comes out the State reform movement that has assumed several propositions in the past two decades. The conception of minimum State that prevailed in the 80’s, leaving to the market the responsibility for the economical growing and caring of the society needs. In the next decade this model was questioned. Then comes the ideology of the strong State that must regulate and coordinate the social politics, leaving to the market and the non-governmental organizations the productions of goods and services. Influenced by the new public management, this State is conceived as a manager of social development, using mechanisms of the private sector to optimize results, as the retention of expenses and cost control. We observe this orientation in the director plan of reform of the governmental machine, presented by the Brazilian Govern since 1995. One of the main strategies was the creation of the Social Organizations ¾ legal statute that allows the non profit institutions to develop social functions delegated by the State. Since 1998, the Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo has repassed hospitals to Social Organizations of Health, through performance agreements, establishing goals to be reached in the production of hospitalar services. Two of these experiences were analysed ¾ the General Hospitals from Itapecerica da Serra and from Itaim Paulista ¾ with the intention to evaluate the ability of the State in promoting such delegation, under the public control and the guarantee of equity in the access to he health services. We used qualitative methodology, through the technique of study of case. There were thirty interviews done, involving members from the technical staff, from the administration and from the owners of these organizations, users of the services, and representatives of the Legislative and Executive of the State. We did read the documents and technical reports. The results indicated that there is no incorporation at the local level in the management of the services done, and that the central level of the Secretaria Estadual is the main coordinator and controller of the goals established. As to the equity in the access, is fundamental the presence of the local Public Power to its effectiveness, in the articulation of the health system, as we have seen in the Itapecerica da Serra experience. The public control is made by inspection actions, through financial procedures of the Tribunal de Contas do Estado, or the local instances of social control of the Sistema Único de Saúde or of the popular counsils of health. There is no participation of the population in the formulation of health actions. In this kind of management the Public Power of the state of the São Paulo has a fundamental role, through the global financing and administrative control of these Organizations, characterizing a desconcentration of function for non governmental public institutions, that is responsible for a private logic of managing, through the contract of human resources and financial administration, limiting aspects of the action of the State.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of implementing capacity building strategies on the provision of health services in the central region of Malawi. The study intended to determine why a lack of quality services is still prevailing in the health services in the central region despite implementing capacity building strategies aimed at improving the delivery of health services. In addition to this, to come up with recommendations to improve the implementation of the existing capacity building strategies so that the implementation results in the intended impact, that is efficient and effective provision of health services in the central region of Malawi. The studies reviewed what various scholars have written on capacity building in order to ground capacity building in Public Administration and provide the study with a conceptual, theoretical and legislative framework. This enabled the researcher to describe the nature and place of capacity building in Public Administration. It was evident from the review that the implementation of capacity building strategies is a systematic process which requires that chief officials follow all the steps in order to effectively and efficiently implement the capacity building strategies so that the intended impact is achieved. In this regard, capacity building is a management function which requires that chief officials play an enabling role by providing the necessary resources (both human and financial) and policies that support the implementation of capacity building strategies. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods whereby thirty-five respondents composed of political office-bearers and chief officials from Lilongwe, Dedza, Mchinji and Dowa districts and Ministry of Health Headquarters in the central region of Malawi were given self-administered questionnaires to complete. Face-to-face interviews and document analysis were also used as research methods. The intention was to determine the problems that are being experienced in the implementation of the existing capacity building strategies and find out if the strategies are resulting in the intended impact. The study findings confirmed that there are indeed problems being experienced in the implementation of the existing capacity building strategies, namely: inadequate human and financial resources, corruption, political interference, lack of consultation with stakeholders and lack of political will to make sure that the implementation of the capacity building strategies is effectively and efficiently done. It was also revealed that the implementation of the existing capacity building strategies is impacting negatively on the provision of health services in the central region of Malawi, hence indicating a need to change in approach. The study concludes that in order for the capacity building strategies to achieve the intended impact there is a need to broaden the scope of the legal framework on health capacity building strategies in Malawi, enforce the use of performance standards and improve the operational framework to gain efficiencies and effectiveness from current investments in capacity building.

Research on policy implementation suggests that many education reforms designed to improve the quality of education in general have been more rhetorical than substantive in their impact on the organisation of schools and classrooms. Schools and classrooms do change, but the extent and directions of change are not always consistent with the intention of policy initiatives. This same argument applies to the South African education policy process, where a substantial body of literature has documented the gaps between the intention of policy makers (intended policy) and their implementation (implemented policy) in schools. The gap has been especially relevant for those policies focusing on the change of the knowledge, skills and competency levels of teachers through accountability and professional development policies. The purpose of this investigative and descriptive study originated in a hypothesis that the lack of orientation, knowledge sharing, understanding and the capacity building of teachers on policy intentions make it difficult for teachers to implement policies. I assumed therefore that through information and workshop sessions the gap between the policy intentions and the practice of teachers can be solved. In particular, my involvement in the drafting of the Developmental Appraisal System (DAS) policy gave me the sense that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the policy, but that the lack of capacity building among teachers is what is undermining the implementation of the policy in schools. The study therefore intended to investigate the impact of a five-day information session on the implementation process of the DAS policy at Cape Flats Secondary School (CFSS) – this is a pseudo name. These sessions were facilitated by me during the last semester of 2001. Thereafter, the school was given a year to implement the policy during 2002. Regular contact with the chairperson of the Staff Development Team (SDT) to ascertain the progress of implementation brought me to the realisation after eighteen months and still no implementation that the focus of my study had to change to understand the challenges of implementation at the school. As a member of the Policy Formulation team, I could not understand why a policy with such immense potential in enhancing professional development among teachers could not be implemented in a school where staff members publicly stated their commitment to implement the policy. This school (CFSS) in particular, had a high number of union leaders involved at numerous levels within the union who researched and developed the initial ideas and proposals of the DAS policy. The study is therefore guided by the following questions: 1. What made it difficult for the staff of Cape Flats Secondary School to implement the DAS policy, despite a high level of stated commitment to implement the policy and a thorough five-day information session (both theoretical and practical) on how to implement the policy? a) What was the expected level, scope or depth of the policy change, envisaged by policy formulators, necessary by the school to implement the policy? b) Which elements of the policy and the conditions at the school needed to be supported by implementation support agents (national, provincial and district officials) to facilitate the implementation at school level? and c) What was the level of functionality of the school to facilitate the successful implementation of this policy? This research explains how the different levels of functionality of schools affect the potential of implementation of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy. In particular, I reflect on the deliberations which inform the features of the DAS policy, during the policy formulation stage. I furthermore pay special attention to what interviewees called the ‘what was going on’ at the school, as if ‘outsiders’ don’t know what was going on in the school. The research therefore focuses on the functionality of the school through the lenses of ten school functionality components. Teachers at CFSS believe that policy makers do not understand and know what is going on at their school and therefore the effect, relevance and implementability of their policies are disconnected from the operational implementation contexts of schools. The data was collected over a period of six months. In this regard, I used multiple methods of data collection which include critical engagement with the entire staff through information workshop sessions, semi-structured interviews, critical engagements with the strategic liaison team, structured questionnaires, document analysis and photographic records. The main insights of the study include the following: -- Policy makers have to re-assess and re-conceptualise the current policy making paradigm in operation in developing ‘professional’ policy; -- The influence and power relations of employers and employee parties in the policy-making process must be re-assessed and re-conceptualised in order to clarify the policy-making process in South Africa; -- The lack of systems (both technical and human), at different levels of education, makes it impossible to monitor and evaluate the effective and efficient implementation of the DAS policy; -- Understanding schools as individual organisations with unique characteristics, is a key pre-requisite for developing policies that are aimed at addressing real problems at specific schools; -- Leadership and management skills are seriously lacking at South African schools; -- Educators should implement reform policies around clear performance standards and accountability expectations; -- Intervention support agents should help schools make informed choices among a variety of implementation strategies; -- Policy makers should allocate target funding to encourage adoption of proven change practice; -- Policy makers should focus on schools that are ready for change with an expectation that many schools not ready for change this year may in the normal course of events become ready within a few years. The key insights of this research make this study unique and offer critical advice to policy makers. In particular, the re-organisation of the literature on policy-practice gaps (PPG) is insightful. The utilisation of both qualitative and quantitative data adds validity and reliability to the study. More importantly, the study shows that quantitative data can contribute towards understanding the policy implementation challenges in schools. Finally, my ‘insider’ experience of the policy-making process shares rare deliberations of what are the ‘trade-offs’ during the policy formulation stage. / Thesis (PhD (Education Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The Master's thesis "Food Waste in the United States as an Issue of Federal Public Policy Making" analyzes the role of the federal government in dealing with food waste. It mainly focuses on federal legislation, but it also examines actions on the state level to illustrate the contrast between the two. In the thesis, the author examines the causes and sources of food waste, federal jurisdiction for intervention, and the history of passed legislation, as well as proposed legislation, and solutions. The main goal of the thesis is to demonstrate that federal involvement is fundamental in achieving any significant change, but so far has failed to do so. Primary literature consisting largely of bills, materials published by federal agencies, and reports by non-profit organizations were used to uncover the character of passed legislation. Academic secondary literature in the form of articles, reports, and factsheets offered context to understand the scope and impacts of the legislation. Analysis of those sources revealed federal authority to deal with the issue, as well as possible obstacles standing in the way of an extensive federal intervention. Research also showed that in the absence of federal action, some states have stepped up to introduce legislation to reduce food waste, but this legislation is...