Quality citizen participation in processes of policy development is crucial to a democracy interested in equity of voice for all its citizens. Citizens with less political power, however, are often absent from policy development for a variety of reasons, despite legislative and advocacy efforts for inclusion. In policy development processes, community representatives are a mechanism for traditionally marginalized or disadvantaged citizens to have a voice; yet the question remains how to effectively utilize that voice. This question stems from research demonstrating an increase in quantity citizen participation but not in quality citizen participation, which is more interested in the process of policy development as opposed to a final product. To understand quality citizen participation, a critical ethnography guided by a socio-ecological perspective allowing for the investigation of contextual as well as individual factors impacting policy development processes was conducted to assist in advancing knowledge about the best practices necessary to facilitate quality citizen participation in policy development. The policy development process explored in this qualitative study was the context provided by three CHCs in a Midwestern state. Information was gathered about these three CHC boards from multiple sources to best represent the context surrounding participation on the boards and that participation experience from the perspective of board members. The data analyzed included: descriptive statistics of seven counties which comprised the patient community of the three CHCs participating in the study, descriptive statistics of the patient communities of those three CHCs, interviews with national and state policy experts, the clinic directors and board chairs of the three CHCs and interviews with 16 board members of the three CHCs. Analysis of these data identified individual, relational, organizational, community and public policy level factors which impacted the participation of board members of three CHCs. For example, the education and background experiences of board members (individual) as well as relationships between board members and the management teams of the clinics (relational) facilitated the quality of their participation on the boards. Contextual knowledge of economic, political, and cultural factors were discovered for each of the three clinics, and proved important to understanding the quality of participation of board members. Social work educators and practitioners will benefit from the advancement of knowledge about what factors facilitate the quality of citizen participation in policy development processes. The results of this study suggest that practitioners interested in empowering consumers to have a role in the provision of services need to understand what facilitates the quality of citizen participation to ensure that consumers have a legitimate voice in policy development and implementation processes. The results of this study also inform our understanding of citizen participation in multiple policy development processes. For example, because legislators will benefit when barriers to the quality of citizen participation are identified, educators teaching social work students about macro practice will have concrete lessons to draw from; practitioners who work with non-elected members of boards will benefit from barrier identification allowing them to assist in the empowerment of future board members engaged in policy development on a wide variety of boards; and finally actual board members, especially those representing traditionally disadvantaged or marginalized communities, will benefit from knowledge gleaned from similar experiences, and educators teaching social work students about the benefits of advocacy and empowerment could assist to make their participation more effective.

[pt] A dissertação ora apresentada tem como referência empírica uma experiência de assistência social realizada em órgão militar da Marinha do Brasil, a Base de Fuzileiros Navais da Ilha das Flores ( BFNIF). Tem como objetivo geral examinar o modo como a política de assistência social daquela instituição vem sendo percebida pelo usuário do serviço social e profissionais da área: um direito, ainda que compensatório, pelo fato de trabalhar na corporação, ou seja, uma prerrogativa que o servidor da Marinha possui par exigir da instituição determinados serviços; ou uma concessão, uma condescendência da instituição em favor daqueles que atravessam por problemas sociais. As informações dos principais agentes envolvidos com a problemática, os assistentes sociais e o público atendido pelo serviço social da BFNIF, foram captados de entrevistas abertas, pautadas em roteiros orientadores, e da aplicação de questionários. Utilizou-se como referência para análise dos discursos dos profissionais a contribuição de Abreu (2002) acerca dos perfis pedagógicos da prática do assistente social. O resultados da pesquisa revelam que é na perspectiva da concessão que vem se firmando a assistência social da corporação. / [en] The dissertation here presented has as a reference an experience of the social work held in a military organism of the Navy of Brazil, the Navy Marine Base of the Ilha das Flores Island (BFNIF). It has as general goal the examining of the way in which the social work policy of that institution has been perceived by the social work program users and professionals of the area: a right that, i. e, a prerogative that the servant of the navy has, in order to demand certain services from the institution; or a concession, a condescendence of the institution in favor of those who go through social problems. The information of the main agents involved in the problematic, the social workers and the public of the BFNIF, were collect in open interviews, listed in guide- books, and the use of questionnaires. The contribution of Abreu (2002) concerning the pedagogic practice profiles of the social worker was used as reference for analysis of the discourses of professionals. The results of the survey reveal that it is in the perspective of concession that the social work of the corporation has been consolidating itself.

The Methodist Mission Northern has provided social services to the community since 1851. The underpinning philosophy of Methodist Mission Northern’s service provision is that of being a Good Neighbour. The concept of Good Neighbour derives from the Old and the New Testaments of the Holy Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures and also public policy. A defining moment in the emergence of Christian universalism comes when the neighbour is asserted to include everyone, … while the Levite and the Cohen pass by the injured man… the Good Samaritan comes to his aid and proves himself the true neighbour of his (injured) neighbour [Zizek, Santner, & Reinhard, 2005, p. 6]. What does Good Neighbour entail in the context of so many people suffering owing to poverty, injustice and social exclusion? This study set out to examine how the concept of Good Neighbour has been put into practice and how that is relevant in contemporary public policy setting. This research was undertaken using phenomenological enquiry approach which explored the experiences of the key stakeholders namely the Board of Governors, the staff and the clients or service recipients of the Methodist Mission Northern to understand the impact of service delivery on clients. This was done through a review of the Minutes of the Board Meetings and Annual Reports over a twenty year period from 1986 to 2006. The study found that for the greater part of the history the operation of the concept of Good Neighbour by Methodist Mission Northern tended to focus on the charity model which provides for the day to day needs of the clients such as providing food, clothing and shelter and other immediate needs. For Methodist Mission Northern’s concept of Good Neighbour to reflect its underpinning philosophy more effectively the practice needs to move beyond the charity model into a community development model focussed on social change and transformation. This means meeting the needs of clients in ways that empower them to move towards independence and interdependent self sustainability.

This study identifies informal networks as the most accepted method of sharing information. Enhancing service delivery is shown as being a key trigger of coordination while rigid funding approaches are perceived to be a major inhibitor. Organisational type, position, practice approaches and location are shown to influence people's perception of coordination.

This thesis argues that native title rights are fundamental to Indigenous citizenship in Australia. It does this by developing a normative conception of citizenship in connection with a model of constitutionalism. Here, citizenship is more than a legal status. It refers to the norms of individual rights coupled with democratic responsibility that are attached to the person in a liberal-democracy. Constitutionalism provides the framework for understanding the manner in which Australian society realizes these norms. This thesis focuses on a society attempting to grapple with issues of postcolonialism. A fundamental question faced in these societies is the legitimacy of group rights based in pre-colonization norms. This thesis argues that these rights can be legitimized when constitutionalism is understood as originating in the deliberations connecting civil society with the state; which deliberations reconcile individual rights with group rights in such a way as to resolve the issue of their competing claims to legitimacy. Civil society is the social space in which politico-legal norms collide with action. The argument constructed here is that native title is built on norms that have the potential (it is a counterfactual argument) to contribute to a postcolonial civil society. This is one in which colonizer and colonized coordinate their action in a mutual search for acceptable solutions to the question 'how do we live together?'. The optimistic analysis is tempered by a consideration of the development of native title law. The jurisprudence of the High Court after the Wik's Case has undermined the potential of native title to play a transformative role. It has undermined Indigenous Australians' place in civil society, and their status as equal individuals and responsible citizens. In seeking to explain this, the thesis turns from jurisprudence to political sociology, and argues that an alternative model of constitutionalism and civil society has supplanted the postcolonial; viz., the neoliberal.

This thesis resituates the Community Development programme as the key social intervention attempted by the British Colonial Office in Africa in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A preference for planning, growing confidence in metropolitan intervention, and the gradualist determination of Fabian socialist politicians and experts resulted in a programme that stressed modernity, progressive individualism, initiative, cooperative communities and a new type of responsible citizenship. Eventual self-rule would be well-served by this new contract between colonial administrations and African citizens. The thesis focuses on the implementation of the Mass Education programme in Nyasaland, and, more specifically, on a small but significant Mass Education scheme at Domasi, that operated between 1949 and 1954 in Nyasaland??s south. The political and social context in which the Mass Education scheme was implemented in Nyasaland is important. The approach taken by the government of the Protectorate before the mid-1940s is discussed, and previous welfare interventions described and critically assessed. The initial approach to Mass Education in Nyasaland is also dwelt upon in some detail. The narrative concentrates upon the scheme itself. Three themes emerge and are discussed successively ?? the provision of social services adapted to the perceived needs of Africans, the enforcement of environmental restrictions and inappropriate social and agricultural models, and the attempted introduction of representative local government. All three interventions were intended to promote the precepts of Mass Education, but instead resulted in the extension of state administrative power. The manner in which this occurred is explored throughout the thesis. Mass Education at Domasi did not result in the creation of a new form of citizenship in Nyasaland. It contributed instead to a breakdown in the narrative of social development and eventual self-rule that had legitimised British rule. The riots that occurred in 1953 tore at the precepts that underpinned the Mass Education programme. The immediacy of self-rule and independence resulted in a shift in emphasis within the Colonial Office and the colonial government in Nyasaland from social intervention and to constitutional reform and political development. There simultaneously emerged a new rural transcript, one that privileged open opposition to the colonial social prescription over subtle and hidden rural resistance. At a time when nationalist politics was in disarray in Nyasaland, rural Africans spoke back to colonial power.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis examines the growing debate around the concept of social capital. The concept has been heralded by many as a means of uniting the social sciences, particularly economics and sociology, and of overcoming ideological divisions between left and right. However, critics argue that the concept is poorly theorised and provides little insight. More radical critics have claimed the concept may be a neo-liberal ‘Trojan horse’, a mechanism by which the atomistic thinking of neoclassical economics colonises social theory. I examine these more radical claims by exploring the origins of the concept of social capital within rational choice economics. I argue that we should differentiate between two types of potential colonisation. The first is a form of methodological colonisation, whereby overly abstract, reductionist and rationalist approaches (which I term modernist) are extended into social theory. The second is a form of ideological colonisation, whereby a normative commitment to individualism and the market is extended into social theory. I argue that the concept of social capital has been the product of a trend within rational choice economics away from the extremes of modernism. In this sense the concept represents an attempt to bring economics and social theory closer together, and a willingness on the part of rational choice theorists to take more seriously the techniques and insights of the other social sciences. However, I argue that this trend away from modernism has often been associated with a reaffirmation of rational choice theorists’ normative commitment to individualism and the market. In particular, I argue the concept of social capital has been strongly influenced by elements of the Austrian economic tradition, and forms part of a spontaneous order explanation of economic and social systems. I then apply these insights to the Australian social capital debate. I argue that initially the Australian social capital debate continued an earlier debate over economic rationalism and the merits of market-orientated economic reform. I argue that participants from both sides of the economic rationalism debate used the concept of social capital to move away from modernism, but continued to disagree over the role of individualism. Finally, I argue that confusion between moving away from modernism, and moving away from market ideology, has led some Third Way theorists to misconstrue the concept as a means to overcome ideology.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / ABSTRACT It is estimated that there are currently 3.9 million people living in urban poverty in Thailand, without the existence of an effective social assistance safety-net. This thesis presents an analysis of Thai governments’ urban poverty alleviation policy. The central aim of the thesis is to question whether Thai government policy on urban poverty alleviation can be effective for the poor and the poorest in urban slum communities. Qualitative methods are used, supported by documentary research, and the author’s own experience of being a community development worker and researcher in the urban slums of Thailand over a period of 18 years. I have endeavoured to elicit information from the range of stakeholders engaged with contemporary urban poverty alleviation policy in Bangkok. Thus the research includes the perspectives of policy makers, the poor, and the poorest. I distinguish between these latter two groups by describing those who have access to some government provision for the urban poor and those who are excluded from such provision. I interviewed 18 policy makers, 15 community savings groups committee members, and 65 of the excluded poorest. I investigated the development of policy relating to the urban poor through an analysis of key government reports and documents. I examined all of the government policy documents relating to policies for urban poverty alleviation and the Thai Governments’ five year National Economic and (later) Social Development Plans from 1961 to 2006. I also analysed each of the fifty four Government statements on their policies to the National Assembly covering this period. This research produced two major new vehicles for understanding and interpreting Thai government urban poverty alleviation policy. First, the policy document research enabled me to construct a critical account of the historical development of policy relating to the urban poor, particularly those in slum communities. Second, the interviews produced a unique view of the often desperate lives lived by some Thai citizens who are part of communities residing in what is estimated as 2,000 slums in Thailand. This view is seen through the eyes of both the urban poor and the policy makers. I found attitudes of the policy makers towards the urban poor contain a number of diverse stances, both negative and positive. The Government’s preferred way of helping, previously by housing improvements, and recently by promoting credit and loan schemes with a low interest rate to strengthen community-based organisations and emphasise self-reliance, does help some of the poor; it also excludes others. An important discussion in the thesis is about self-reliance. This is widely referred to by all stakeholders-from HM The King, through leading thinkers including Buddhist scholars, to the poorest in the slum communities. I analyse what such a concept means to each of these groups. I have found there may be little agreement, either on what is being spoken about, or what the implications of self-reliance are for helping Thailand’s poorest citizens. The thesis is also concerned with how to improve the situations of the poor. There is therefore a review of some curricula relating to the training of social/community workers to assess how well students are prepared for their work. The conclusions make some practical recommendations for change at a policy level, via civil society, and in professional education. The direct education and training of the poor is seen as crucial to any substantial improvements. My own experience, producing the thesis in a western country, is included throughout. This is in order to reflect on my learning and the challenges of researching within and outside the Thai social structure.

Communitarianism is an internationally contentious anti-liberal theory which is becoming increasingly popular in political philosophy. It commonly is employed to motivate and legitimate �identity politics� - a politics which is used to defend the rights of disadvantaged aboriginal minorities to maintain their traditional ways. Recently �identity politics� has been exploited in mainstream poltical/educational academic literature in New Zealand, especially in literature that deals with Maori issues. This is significant because in the recent history of New Zealand, liberal political theory has been dominant. Notions of rights and of fairness are fundamental to communitarianism and to liberalism, but communitarians and liberals hold very different ideas about what these notions involve. My PhD thesis compares their ideas and relates them to New Zealand. It views certain social and political issues in New Zealand, by way of liberal and then communitarian theories. It examines how liberalism and communitarianism have been, and can be, used to support and to legitimate particular policies and practices in terms of �fairness� and �justice�. My work considers the explanatory and the practical application of communitarianism and liberalism with respect to their conceptions of human nature, political ideals, rights and rationality. It defends liberalism against the communities the protections they �need� in order to flourish. With respect to New Zealand it recognises that Maori have been treated unjustly by the crown, but argues that much of the injustice happened, not because of liberalism, but because liberal values were not upheld. The thesis concludes that liberalism is better equipped than communitarianism to describe Maori and Pakeha relations, and to formulate a framework for positive and constructive trans-cultural policies that will respect both Maori and Pakeha cultures.

<p>This paper has two aims. The first aim is to study and describe the manifest ideology of the EU's social policy. The second aim is to analyse to what extent the manifest ideology might be a part of building a common European identity - by finding common solutions to commonEuropean problems (problems, more or less constructed as common). The research is a critical ideology analysis, made up of a qualitative text analysis of EU social policy documents and National strategy reports (NSR). I ask two questions. Firstly, which are the main features in the manifest ideology of EU social policy as described in the texts? Secondly, what picture of a European identity is visible when reading the EU social policy texts and the National Strategy Reports? I have found five main features of the manifest ideology. These revolve around: how the world and change in the world are described according to the EU; the mutual interaction between the Lisbon objectives and greater social cohesion; the creating of social cohesion; the importance of how policies are constructed and implemented and the EU's self-image. The texts offer either two quite different pictures with regards to the question of a European identity or ones that is partly incoherent. The analysed EU policy texts put across a picture of a uniform Europe, suggest that there is something genuinely European and a common European identity. However, the picture obtained when reading the NSRs and the collected picture of the EU policy texts and the NSRs is much less coherent. The paper argues that the manifest ideology could be a part of building a European identity, but it does not manage to prove that it actually is.</p>