This thesis is a qualitative study based on interviews conducted in early 2007 and aims at getting an understanding of the political environment from an opposition party’s point of view in Northern Sudan. The study is also trying to illustrate how good governance and democracy are building on each other and that good governance is a pre-requisite for democracy. In this perspective Sudan has a long way to go. The main assumption is that women are key to good governance and internal democracy and a democratic society. If the party excludes women, it can not be representative, participatory or equitable and inclusive. The thesis is therefore looking at the structures of one opposition party, the Umma Party, and women’s political participation in the party. This description is then analysed in light of Good Governance’s characteristics of participation, representativeness, equity and inclusiveness in the political society arena. The following questions were asked and answered: • What are the basic features of the political environment within which Sudanese opposition parties operate? • What are the leadership structures and decision making processes of the Umma Party in North Sudan? • How do women access these structures and processes? The main finding is that the Umma Party and Sudan do not fulfill the characteristics or the indicators to claim good governance or democracy – not within the party and not within the country.

Since 1996, the president of Taiwan's implementation of universal suffrage since 2010 in 14 years, There have been twice to replace the regime of peace, Taiwan's policy toward mainland China in the political division of the two major political parties - the KMT and DDP and also so the identity of the ruling and opposition parties quickly converted twice. Taiwan's political environment has undergone an unprecedented rapid changes. This article by David Easton's system theory as a general theory and approaches, Looks forward to further establishing a political party as the core of the local theory, Analysis of Taiwan's political parties since 1996 in the "internal and external environment ¡÷ demand and input ¡÷ feedback and output ¡÷ re-enter to the internal and external environment" and what role in the political process? As well as how the policies of mainland China affected? ¡@This article has found, political parties in the system theory are not only pressure groups for Political authority, And active in the political system's internal, external and boundary, And can be further repression of political authority, the completion of its own expectations of mainland policy. Political parties, both ruling party or opposition parties or unified government or divided government, the political parties can control congress, congressional paralysis, cooperation with other political system, increased support by social mobilization, the creation of political controversy and use other methods to pressure on the political authority. Finally, this article believes that with the cooperation of the KMT and the China Communist Party platform, the KMT has similar status of political authority in Taiwan's policy toward mainland China.

<p>This thesis is a qualitative study based on interviews conducted in early 2007 and aims at getting an understanding of the political environment from an opposition party’s point of view in Northern Sudan.</p><p>The study is also trying to illustrate how good governance and democracy are building on each other and that good governance is a pre-requisite for democracy. In this perspective</p><p>Sudan has a long way to go. The main assumption is that women are key to good governance and internal democracy and a democratic society. If the party excludes women, it can not be representative, participatory or equitable and inclusive.</p><p>The thesis is therefore looking at the structures of one opposition party, the Umma Party, and women’s political participation in the party. This description is then analysed in light of Good Governance’s characteristics of participation, representativeness, equity and inclusiveness in the political society arena. The following questions were asked and answered:</p><p>• What are the basic features of the political environment within which Sudanese opposition parties operate?</p><p>• What are the leadership structures and decision making processes of the Umma Party in North Sudan?</p><p>• How do women access these structures and processes?</p><p>The main finding is that the Umma Party and Sudan do not fulfill the characteristics or the indicators to claim good governance or democracy – not within the party and not within the country.</p>

No description available.

No description available.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil

As a culturally distinctive region, Asia was chosen as the sample for this study. This empirical study investigated what the major trends of democratisation were in Asia between 1981 and 2005: why some countries became democratic while other countries failed to follow suit during that period. The main research hypothesis was: “That is it was mainly economic development that drove democratisation in Asia between 1981 and 2005”. Although some studies have studied the impact of economic development on democratisation in Asia, their findings have been inconclusive and focuses sometimes different. [To investigate the research hypothesis, 24 Asian countries were selected…measurement tools used etc…] For this research work, statistical and case study methods were applied. The data used in the analyses were collected from established data sources e.g. Freedom House (Freedom in the World, n.d.) and United Nations Statistics Division (UN Stat, n.d.). Repeated Measures in Linear Mixed Modeling (LMM) were used to analyse the quantitative data. Three case studies supplemented the findings of statistical analyses. Historical information and institutional and legal facts were also used in the case studies. This study found that increases in the level of economic development along with its equitable distribution in society and positive roles of political actors increase the level of democratisation in Asia. Some pro-democratic political and social institutions, such as tradition of parliamentarianism, and international organisations, for example Bretton wood institutions, also led to democratisation. A low extent of national political divide was found to result in a considerably high level of democratisation in a country where confrontation between major political forces is the main feature of politics. This study also found that a partial democracy with Asian values, economic legitimacy, a lack of corruption and a “systematic control” over opposition politicians can survive, and is not prone to higher level of democratisation. The Taiwan case revealed that, amongst other factors, the role of political actors and economic equity along with economic development is also vital for democratisation. The Singapore case explained how a “hybrid regime” in a rich country outsmarts democratisation. The study of Bangladesh provides an idea about other elements, e.g. lower level of political confrontation, that push for higher levels of democratisation.

Political parties are topics well known to women and men of the XXI century that live in both democratic and authoritarian regimes. Even though political parties originally emerged in order to represent people’s claims and to organize popular participation, today they seem to be relegated to the «Palace» or places where political power can be found. They have weak social roots, but exert a wide control of the State. This article retraces the parabola of political parties, highlighting their nature as complex organizations. Parties have to face four «organizational problems» related to: internal participation, organizational structure, mobility of resources and relations with their environment (strategic problem). Generally, parties adopt strategies to maximize their votes, presence in office and policy seeking, or their mix. These strategies usually affect the ways to face and eventually solve other organizational problems. The same historical party types will be examined through the analysis of these external and internal organizational problems. / Apreciados o no, lo cierto es que los partidos se han vuelto un asunto familiar para las mujeres y los hombres del siglo XXI, así hayan vivido en regímenes democráticos o autoritarios. Los partidos políticos nacieron para representar las demandas procedentes de abajo y para orga- nizar la participación popular. Sin embargo, hoy en día parecen estar relegados en el «Palacio»; es decir, en los sitios de poder político. A pesar de tener un débil arraigo social, tienen un gran alcance en términos de control del Estado. Este artículo propone una relectura de la parábola de los partidos políticos resaltando su carácter de organizaciones complejas. Estos partidos, en realidad, tienen que afrontar cuatro «problemas organizativos» relacionados con la participación interna, la articulación organizativa, la movilización de los recursos fundamentales y las relacio- nes con el entorno (problema estratégico). En general, las estrategias que los partidos utilizan en relación con su entorno (task environment) pueden ser vote, office y policy seeking o su mezcla, y en general influyen en las maneras en las que se afrontan y, eventualmente, resuelven los otros problemas organizativos. Los mismos tipos históricos de partido se explican a través del análisis de estos problemas organizativos internos y externos.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / South Africa

73f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-24T14:23:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Almeida, Gustavo.pdf: 558930 bytes, checksum: 9359cb2ec2079fcd2078a7ced369c692 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora Lopes(silopes@ufba.br) on 2013-05-03T19:19:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Almeida, Gustavo.pdf: 558930 bytes, checksum: 9359cb2ec2079fcd2078a7ced369c692 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-03T19:19:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Almeida, Gustavo.pdf: 558930 bytes, checksum: 9359cb2ec2079fcd2078a7ced369c692 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Esta tese surgiu das vivências propiciadas pela atuação do seu autor como professor da Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), ao longo da década de 1990 no município de Itaberaba-Bahia, no que se refere a ter assistido a inúmeros comícios partidários nos quais observava a facilidade com que autoridades constituídas e candidatos a cargos eletivos prometiam instalar faculdades nos municípios por eles visitados. Ao longo desse período, pôde assistir a mais de uma dezena desses comícios realizados por partidos diversos, e em todos eles presenciado a mesma promessa de criação de faculdades para garantir à população a possibilidade de realização de cursos universitários que lhe permitisse formação acadêmica para ingresso no mercado de trabalho. Conhecedor da difícil realidade em que vivia a Universidade citada, caracterizada pela crônica escassez de recursos, espantava-se cada vez que ouvia aquelas promessas, e se indagava que condições tinha o governo do Estado para manter tantas faculdades que vinham sendo criadas, e as que estavam sendo prometidas, sem que os recursos financeiros para seu custeio sofressem um grande incremento. Tal preocupação foi o elemento primordial com vistas a iniciar a investigação a respeito de como o governo do Estado procedia para determinar a expansão da oferta de vagas no ensino superior pela UNEB. A opção foi a de realizar um estudo baseado na busca de fontes que esclarecessem as intenções governamentais de expandir a oferta de vagas, o que poderia constar dos planos de governo, divulgados no início de cada administração, os quais não foram encontrados. A solução encontrada foi recorrer aos depoimentos de sujeitos que estiveram envolvidos com os processos de criação/implantação dessas faculdades, o que efetivamente foi realizado através de entrevistas. Foram ouvidos todos os reitores das quatro universidades estaduais, quadros docentes que tiveram assento no Conselho Superior Universitário (CONSU), da UNEB, e munícipes membros de comissões de implantação. O estudo intenta descobrir quais critérios orientaram a ação do governo estadual, em diversas administrações, a promover a expansão da oferta de vagas na UNEB. Para tanto, procedeu-se a uma caracterização da contemporaneidade, em termos dos rumos que tem tomado a sociedade planetária, sejam eles econômico-políticos sejam socioculturais mostrando, em seguida, as funções da instituição universitária e sua importância, passando então a discutir a expansão da oferta de vagas pela UNEB nos anos 90, sob o prisma dos critérios que nortearam tal expansão. Conclui-se, desta investigação, que o viés político-partidário foi o fator determinante a conduzir a expansão aludida e que, embora tenha havido depoimentos informais sobre o reconhecimento da melhoria da qualidade do desempenho de egressos de alguns desses cursos, a instituição universitária em tela continua a padecer de sérios problemas derivados dessa grande expansão. / Salvador