In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a paradigmatic example of a transitional post-conflict society governed by an externally-driven process of neo-liberal state-building, police reforms have played an important role in supporting the transposition of a particular variant of liberal order through security governance at the national and sub-national levels. This order is primarily constructed to reflect the interests of BiH’s supranational architect and benefactor since 2003: the European Union. It is less responsive to the interests or the needs of BiH citizens or constitutionally established governing institutions (Chandler 1999). Historically, prescriptions for police reform in BiH have been defined by various representatives of the international community in BiH rather than domestic policy makers or practitioners. They have also been glocally-responsive in their design. In other words, they have been introduced to generate policy alignment and to support the harmonisation of local policing mentalities and practices with the EU’s security interests in the Western Balkans as well as dominant ‘European’ approaches to controlling crime (Juncos 2011; Ryan 2011). In practice, however, it is evident that the outputs and outcomes generated by police reforms in BiH regularly deviate from their initial design. This is particularly evident in relation to a handful of community policing initiatives introduced in BiH over the past decade (e.g. Deljkic and Lučić‐Ćatić 2011). Using a meso-level analysis of two community-oriented policing projects implemented in 2011, this research draws on the conceptual framework of ‘policy translation’ (Lendvai and Stubbs 2006) to illuminate the agentive capacities of international development workers and local police practitioners and their role in shaping the conceptual and programmatic contours of glocally-responsive policing reforms in BiH. My first case study examines the translational capacity of international development workers at a major multi-lateral international development agency in BiH using an ethnographic account of my three-month placement with the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) ‘Safer Communities’ project in BiH in 2011. My second case study is used to illustrate the translational capacities of police practitioners working to implement an externally-initiated community policing project in Sarajevo Canton. Drawing from these case studies, I determine that the international political economy of global liberal governance and the interests of powerful global actors play only a limited role in affecting outputs and outcomes generated by internationally-driven police reforms. Rather, I argue that the concept of policy translation demonstrates that relatively disempowered actors like international development workers and local police practitioners can draw upon their agency and institutional resources to shape these policy making processes and in doing so, potentially contribute to more democratically responsive policing outputs and structures. My findings further suggest that important opportunities do exist for motivated reformers to foster deliberative forms of security governance in weak and structurally dependent societies like BiH and recognising and enhancing these can help to alleviate the potential consequences of introducing contextually or culturally inappropriate Western policing models to these societies. This is significant because it highlights the prospect of addressing the structural inequalities associated with global and transnational policing (Bowling and Sheptycki 2012), police reforms pursued in the context of liberal state-building projects (Ryan 2011) and donor-driven international police development assistance projects (Ellison and Pino 2012).

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur storkommunreformen 1952 genomfördes i dåvarande Sunne landskommun, Västra Ämtervik, Östra Ämtervik och Sunne köping. Sammanslagningen undersöks utefter två konfliktlinjer som uppstod under 1947-1951. Den ena konfliktlinjen gäller relationen mellan de tre kommunerna och köpingen. Den andra konfliktlinjen belyser kommunernas process gentemot staten. Undersökningen är utformad som textanalys av kommunala handlingar och tidningsartiklar från läns- och lokaltidningen. Metoden är att gå igenom materialet utifrån en induktiv process och i den slutgiltiga analysen följa en deduktiv process gentemot hypoteser mot materialet. Utifrån forskningsläget byggs tre teoretiska ansatser upp som utgör grunden i denna analys och diskussion. I undersökningens analysdel sker en genomgång av materialet med de tre teoretiska ansatserna. Uppsatsens disposition i separata analys- och diskussionskapitel innebär att analyskapitlet är det renodlade resultatet av att läsa källmaterialet med teoretiska glasögon. I uppsatsens diskussions- och slutsatskapitel besvaras forskningsfrågorna, hypoteserna diskuteras och personliga reflektioner lyfts fram. I uppsatsen konstateras att konflikter fanns mellan landskommunerna och Sunne köping. Sunne landskommun var inbegripen i två konflikter med köpingen gällande infrastruktur och inkorporeringar. Konsensus mellan landskommunerna rådde i konflikten gentemot staten, särskilt när beslutet om sammanslagning blev definitivt. Uppsatsen visar också att det fanns en stark känsla av det mångfacetterade begreppet lokal identitet. Den lokala identiteten används både retoriskt och som sakargument, men blir mer framträdande ju närmare det yttre hotet om sammanslagning kommer. / The purpose of this essay is to investigate how the Swedish municipality reform of 1952 was performed in, of that time, the parish municipalities of Sunne, Västra Ämtervik, Östra Ämtervik and Sunne borough. The investigation is based upon two lines of conflict which emerged during 1947-1951. The first conflict is the relation between the three municipalities and the borough. The second conflict is the relation between the municipalities towards the state. The scientific method used is textual analysis of municipality documents and articles from the regional and local newspaper. Further, the method is to use an inductive view on the source material, followed by a deductive view in the final analysis and discussion. With the help of earlier research, three theoretical concepts are formed for use as foundation in the analysis. The thesis’ disposition in separate chapters for analysis and conclusion means the analytical chapter is the result of reading the source material using the three theoretical concepts as eyeglasses. Answers to the essays scientific questions, discussion of hypotheses and personal reflections are covered in the chapter of discussion and conclusion. The essay confirms conflict between the municipalities and the borough. Sunne (the parish) had two running conflicts with the borough regarding infrastructure and the boroughs’ take-over of territory. However, consensus prevailed between the municipalities towards the state, especially when the outer threat of merge became real. The essay also confirms a strong presence of ”local identity”, a concept defined in the essay. This local identity is used both as factual arguments and rhetorics, though it changes shape during the course of the merger.

Despite the prevalence of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models applied to tax changes of varying types, little work has been done focusing on state level comprehensive tax reform or on tax reform in countries undergoing a regime change. This research develops and applies methodologies for analyzing fiscal policy changes under these two very different economic scenarios. The findings for each application are relevant to policy makers as they weigh the effects of tax reform. The models developed for the two scenarios offer guidance to future modelers in studying similar economies and the contrast of the two provides a framework for thinking about model design and application. Finally, the results, when compared to each other, allow us to see the relative effectiveness of the two tax reform policies given their very different economies.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The United States has faced a number of medical malpractice crises over the past four decades. In response to these crises, state legislatures have enacted a variety of tort reforms of varying strength. This paper seeks to explore the determinants of such reforms. This study uses a dataset composed of state tort reforms, indicators of political partisanship, healthcare campaign finance contributions, malpractice payments, and malpractice lawsuits. This paper finds that political partisanship is a key determinant of the relative strength of reforms, with Republicans likely to pass hard reforms of economic significance and Democrats likely to pass soft reforms with little impact.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe tiriama Jungtinių Tautų Saugumo Tarybos veikla 2003–2013 m., siekiant įvertinti institucijos efektyvumą palaikant tarptautinę taiką ir saugumą. Darbą sudaro keturi skyriai. Pirmajame skyriuje aptariami instituciniai Saugumo Tarybos požymiai, Jungtinių Tautų Chartijoje nustatyti įgaliojimai ir pagrindiniai veiklos po Šaltojo karo bruožai. Antrajame skyriuje, remiantis išsamia surengtų posėdžių ir priimtų sprendimų analize, nagrinėjama Saugumo Tarybos veikla 2003–2013 m. Trečiajame skyriuje analizuojama pastebėtų veiklos tendencijų ir sprendimų priėmimo proceso įtaka Saugumo Tarybos efektyvumui. Atsižvelgiant į vykstančias diskusijas dėl Saugumo Tarybos reformos, pristatomi pagrindiniai reformos aspektai siekiant stiprinti efektyvumą. Ketvirtasis skyrius yra skirtas apžvelgti Lietuvos santykį su Saugumo Taryba, atkreipiant dėmesį į Saugumo Tarybos veiklą Lietuvos pirmininkavimo 2014 m. vasario mėnesį metu ir Lietuvos poziciją dėl Saugumo Tarybos reformos. / This Master Thesis examines the activity of the United Nations Security Council during the period of 2003–2013, in order to assess the effectiveness of the institution in maintaining international peace and security. The paper consists of four chapters. The first chapter presents the institutional character of the Security Council, its powers established by the United Nations Charter and the key features of post-Cold War activity. Based on the extensive analysis of the meetings held and decisions taken, the second part of this paper examines the activity of the Security Council during the period of 2003–2013. The third chapter assesses the effectiveness of the Security Council based on the observed trends of actions and the decision making processes. In light of the ongoing discussions on the reform of the Security Council, the main aspects of the reform are presented, taking into account the stated aim of strengthening the effectiveness. The fourth chapter is devoted to an overview of Lithuania’s relationship with the Security Council, with the focus on the activity of the Security Council during the Lithuanian Presidency in February 2014 as well as the official position of Lithuania on the Security Council reform.

Marknad och politisk styrning genom organisering antas ofta vara två skiljda och svårförenliga former av koordinering, men trots detta finns det många marknader som utgår från politiska beslut med en ambition att styra marknadsskapande politiskt. Hur det ändå är möjligt att skapa sådana marknader är den övergripande frågan som denna avhandling tar sig an, med den europeiska marknaden för handel med utsläppsrätter som det empiriska exemplet. Ett särkilt fokus ligger på marknadens mätningar och administration av utsläpp bland företag för att skapa dess handelsvara, samt den politiska organisering som var riktad mot marknadens mätningspraktik. Studien anlägger ett organisationsteoretiskt perspektiv på marknadsskapande och fokuserar på dess politiska organisering. I avhandlingen anläggs dessutom ett reformpersperspektiv, varvid marknaden studeras som en organisationsreform som ska implementeras. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2014</p>

Objective: The overall aim of the work is to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics between health sector reform policies and practices as well as the factors that determine and shape the thinking about global public health; and to try out a framework for understanding the inter-linkages and interactions between the determinants for and the elements of health sector reforms and their implementation. Methods: The object of study was a contemporary phenomenon, consisting of a diverse array of interventions in many different directions and fields within a complex political, social and economic environment. It is difficult to attribute the effects of the reforms to any single intervention or to establish exact boundaries between the phenomenon and the context. Therefore, a multi-stage case study research strategy, based on the work of R.K.Yin, was chosen. The study involved two major sub-units of analysis, i.e., the macro and the micro level. Each of these involved several sub-units of analysis. The analysis of the micro level further comprised a cross-case analysis of 10 individual case studies conducted in six developing countries. Results: Clear linkages were found between the greater societal processes and the shape and results of reforms during the decade. The reforms had not been completed in any of the countries studied, but appeared to be stuck with undesired effects, lacking energy to move forward. Contributing to this was the diminishing role of the state, which bordered abdication from public health in most of the countries, leaving the drive to the market and individual demands and interests. The net effect could well be a reversal of some of the public health achievements of the past - however, it was also found that reverting to dedicated disease control programmes would not be the answer, as these were found unsustainable and undermining the health systems. Conclusion: There is a divide between libertarian and utilitarian values on the one side and communitarian and egalitarian values on the other. Thus, it is not just about public health practitioners not being good enough to implement, it is more so about what we want to achieve and what it acceptable respectively not acceptable and reaching compromises. This place the societal processes at centre-stage for public health. However, it is also about implementation, it is about how public health policy-makers and reformers can effectively dialogue and facilitate achieving consensus and translate the societal 'wants' and 'want nots' into managerial bites. Implementation becomes a process of constant adjustment and readjustment oscillating between political and technocratic levels

This study focuses on the demographic history of the island of Paros in the period 1894-1998. Two main villages of Paros, namely Naoussa and Kostos, have been chosen as a case study for a more insightful investigation of the demographic behaviour of the island population. The method of family reconstitution has been applied to civil and parish registers of Naoussa and Kostos in order to study in depth issues related to the demographic transition in the island. Moreover, the thesis, by means of aggregate analysis based on official statistics dated back to 1860 and on primary data collected on the field, constitutes a comparative study in four administrative levels: at the level of the nation (Greece), the district (the Cyclades), the prefecture (Paros) and the community (Naoussa and Kostos). In every case the results of the analysis of all levels are compared with each other and especially with that of Greece, placing the island populations in a national context and drawing some conclusions concerning the differences and similarities between island populations and their metropolis. The main findings showed that marital fertility in Paros was natural up to the late 1920s. The level of fertility at the beginning of the twentieth century, however, was rather moderate, mainly due to a relatively prolonged period of breast-feeding. Infant and childhood mortality were lower than the national average in the first decades of the twentieth century, but the difference diminished, or even reversed around 1950. The marriage pattern, which up to the 1980s demonstrated certain characteristics of the Mediterranean pattern, cannot be characterised as typically Mediterranean because of the moderately high levels of permanent celibacy that were exhibited throughout most of the study period. Migration was the main regulatory factor of the demographic equilibrium in the island.

No description available.