<p>Immigration is a policy area that is becoming increasingly relevant among researchers in international relations and comparative politics as they address the difficulty advanced industrialized countries have in controlling their borders. Most research on immigration policy examines this issue by focusing on external and macro level internal factors which influence policy choices and policy outcomes. While these explanations are useful, they neglect the manner into which policy choices are translated at the implementation stage by officers in the field. This dissertation suggests that field officers have a great impact on policies and on their outcomes as they are the ones who are responsible for interpreting and implementing the policies designed by policy makers. It is argued that a micro approach utilizing interactive theories of public policy and public administration which takes into consideration the discretion of the individual civil servant is a useful supplement to macro and meso theories about immigration. This conclusion is reached by a study of two countries (Canada and the United States) and one province (Quebec). The dissertation considers the external selection process and examines the circumstances under which field level discretion is exercised. Its conclusion is that Canadian officials operate with a higher level of discretion than their US counterparts, while Quebec agents enjoy an even higher level of discretion. These differences, it is suggested, are explained by variations in political institutions, organizational structure, organizational resources and the degree of importance attached to some overriding goal--in this case the concern for social and cultural integration in Quebec.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Nearly thirty years after the introduction of water pollution management legislation in Canada and the United States, water pollution remains an important public policy problem. Very basically, water pollution problems can be divided into two types: point source and non-point source. Point source categorizes those cases where inputs into natural ecosystems come from easily identifiable sources such as industrial effluent and municipal sewage treatment outfalls. Non-point source water pollution characterizes inputs into natural ecosystems that are dispersed and multi-sourced such as urban and agricultural runoff, overflow sewage inputs and groundwater contamination. Although in many industrialized states non-point sources are recognized as the primary barrier to meeting water quality objectives, jurisdictions internationally have tended to limit the scope and focus of water pollution management efforts to more easily identifiable point-sources. This dissertation examines intergovernmental institutional arrangements and policy instrument strategies being implemented in Canada and the U.S. to address non-point source water pollution. This research indicates that an important determinant of instrument choice, design and comparative policy effectiveness is institutional capacity. More specifically, jurisdictions that have higher levels of vertical (intergovernmental), horizontal (cross-medium), stakeholder, monitoring and evaluation capacity are more likely to have effective policy instrument strategies. Based on six case studies examining three different policy instrument strategies, the dissertation provides evidence that jurisdictions in the U.S. have higher levels of institutional capacity to manage these complex water pollution problems than jurisdictions in Canada.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Master of Arts (MA)

Name of Thesis: Research on the political participation of the Aboriginal Tribes, Taking Taiwu Hsiang for Example Type of Program in School: Special Master Program of the Graduate School of Politics of National Sun Yat-sen University Time of Graduation and Type of Synopsis: Synopsis of Master Degree Thesis for the Second Semester of Academic Year 2001 Graduate: HO, Hsin-An Counseling Professor: Professor TSENG, Yi-jen Contents of Thesis Synopsis: Among the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, the Paiwan Tribe owns not only their typical social systems and abundant cultural art, but a set of refined traditional political systems. For the first time, substantial change took place on the traditional political system of the aboriginal tribe in Taiwu Hsiang, Pingtung County during the Japanese Occupancy Period when it accepted the political operation of the Japanese police. Secondly, after Taiwan was restored by the National Government, the democratic politics was taken into effect. The KMT Party attained their object to take control of the Taiwu Hsiang by way of the election and eroded and disintegrated the basis of its traditional political system. The research of this thesis strives to explore the local politics of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwu Hsiang in terms of the historical development of the aboriginal tribe¡¦s participation in politics in Taiwu Hsiang, its internal and external environment. This thesis is mainly composed of five special articles on ¡§Research on the political participation of the Aboriginal Tribes, Taking Taiwu Hsiang for Example¡¨. Its focus is concurrently put on historical and future way of thinking; its scope of dissertation includes as possibly as it can the traditional and modern development of the political participation in Taiwu Hsiang and all subject matters of the relevant topic research. Chapter I is an introduction, discussing the research motivation of this thesis, the research objective, the research scope, and the research method and structure. Chapter II concerns ¡§the historical development of the political participation in Taiwu Hsiang¡¨, designed to understand the historical development and change of the Taiwu Hsiang aboriginal tribe¡¦s participation in politics all the way from the Japanese Occupancy Period through the time when the martial restriction was released in Taiwan up to date. Chapter III, the Internal Environment of the Development of the Taiwu Hsiang¡¦s Political Participation, investigates an overview of the changes of such internal scenario as the traditional political system, political culture and the local segments in Taiwu Hsiang. Chapter IV relates to the external environment of the Taiwu Hsiang¡¦s political participation and development, mainly exploring the political operation of the KMT Party and Democratic Progress Party as well as the analysis on the tendency of the Taiwu Hsiang¡¦s political participation and development and the significance it suggests. Chapter V is the conclusion which brings forward the synthetic viewpoints and theoretical implication of the Taiwu Hsiang¡¦s political participation and development under the influence of the transition of the traditional political system, evolution of the internal environment and the external surroundings. In the meantime, it proposes the suggestions based on the future research prospect. Key word¡GAboriginal¡Fpolitical participation¡Fpolitical culture¡Fpolitical party.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-202). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3018371.

Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-122). Also available via the Internet.

Traditionally political donating behavior has been explained using socio-demographic and socialization-based models. The dramatic increase in the number of donors between 2000 and 2008 and the virtual elimination of structural barriers that limited donating to a select few suggest that this explanation is no longer adequate. What differentiates individuals who donate from those who do not? To answer this question I expand the traditional funnel of causality to develop a theoretical model that integrates biological, psychological, political behavior, and rational choice approaches. Using five samples, three nationally representative and two population-based surveys collected in 1990 and 2008, I investigate each level of the new funnel of causality using empirical models. I find that the best predictors of political donating are personality and attitudes, with a small role of context in the form of direct contact from parties. This new model explains more of the variance in political donating than the traditional model, and represents the most theoretically and empirically complete models in the literature.

The main aim of the study was to compare the state of women's political representation in the leadership structures of South Africa and Cameroon after almost two decades of multi-party politics in these two African states. The objectives were: to examine the structures and mechanisms that have been put in place in both countries to promote and advance gender equality and women's empowerment; to find out the obstacles which inhibit women's political representation or their advancement; and to explore whether improved women's representation could change Africa's political culture. The study has been conceptualized within the theories of leadership, liberal feminism, patriarchy and social dominance. The unit of analysis was women in leadership structures of parliament, political parties and government. The study used a qualitative research approach, and designs used were comparative case-study, phenomenology and historical designs. A stratified purposive sampling approach was used in the selection of 120 participants from political parties, NGOs and academia. There were 75 participants in South Africa and 45 in Cameroon, inclusive of males and females. A collective case or triangulation method of data collection was also utilized which consisted of interviews, a focus group discussion, an open-ended questionnaire, observation and secondary data. The study found that comparatively, there were many more women represented in political leadership in South Africa than in Cameroon. In addition, many structures and mechanisms have been put in place in South Africa to cater for gender equality and women's empowerment. However, even with a high number of women at the helm of government, this has not made the South African society less patriarchal. Indeed, women in both countries still face many obstacles in their quest for advancement in the political arena. Ultimately, the study found that, evidence from South Africa, Rwanda and Liberia showed that increased women's representation in political leadership positions could obviously change Africa's political culture. Indicators raised were that, women in politics would be involved in development and peace issues, gender-sensitive policies, women's empowerment and there would be participatory democracy. The study recommends among other things that, though gender equity is commendable, women's voices and grassroots opinions of both women and men should guide processes of putting women in leadership positions. Moreover, gender equality and women's empowerment at the community level is still a struggle. Hence the need for educational and consciousness-raising programmes aimed at communities which still regard women as incompetent and unable to contribute positively to their societies. / Thesis (Phd in Peace studies) North west University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012.

No description available.

My dissertation uses several different methods to examine the role of compassion in politics, both at the citizen and elite level. I explore elite appeals to compassion through a content analysis of a selection of congressional and presidential speeches, finding that politicians often appeal to concern for others in need but that the parties differ widely in their use of these appeals. I combine this with an analysis of several waves of the General Social Survey to understand how individuals connect compassion to their political preferences. I find that proclivities toward compassion do not differ between partisans in the public but that partisan differences emerge in the effects of compassion. I find that highly compassionate Democrats have more liberal views on issues for which Democratic elites have made compassion more relevant, as outlined in my content work, such as capital punishment and help for the poor. Likewise, highly compassionate Republicans have more pro-life views, in accordance with the messages of compassion for unborn children by Republican elites. Highly compassionate individuals of both parties are more charitable in the private sector, indicating that compassion has similar effects on partisans when it is not tied to politics. I link these approaches with a sequence of experiments that reveal that compassionate rhetoric by elites activates individualsâ compassion. Perceptions of controllability might also influence whether or not people connect compassion to their preferences. I begin to test this hypothesis in my second experiment, and I find some evidence suggesting that perceptions of controllability are also influential in explaining political divisions.