Adult Education Policy Formation and Implementation: A Global Perspective

Adult education policies around the world during the post-World War II period owe a debt to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) both in their conception and implementation. Four UNESCO-sponsored world conferences on adult education (UNESCO, 1949; UNESCO, 1963; UNESCO, 1972; UNESCO, 1985) and several other conference reports and surveys (Bhola, 1989b; Lowe, 1982; UNESCO, 1976) have contributed to adult education as an area of study, as a progressive movement in its own right and in developing adult education throughout the Third World, an area of special, but not exclusive, interest in this paper.     

Intergovernmental Challenges of the 1984 Olympic Games

Planning and managing the 1984 Olympic Games presented uniquefinancial and intergovernmental challenges for city officialsin Los Angeles, but governmental cooperation and an innovativepublic/private partnership to finance and run the Games provedto be successful. Under strict restrictions against spendinglocal tax dollars, the City of Los Angeles assigned managementof the Games to a non-profit committee which raised privatefunds to finance the Games. In cooperation with surroundingjurisdictions and the federal government, the city providedkey services (such as police and fire protection, transportationplanning, and visitor services) under contract to the OlympicCommittee and used two Olympic-related taxes to pay for theseservices, with the Olympic Committee paying for additional expenses.The 1984 Olympics resulted in an estimated economic impact of$3.3 billion on Southern California and left Los Angeles witha number of new and refurbished sports and cultural facilities.Moreover, the Olympic Organizing Committee accrued a surplusof over $215 million, 40 percent of which was targeted to benefityouth sports organizations in southern California.     

Does Membership in Civil Society Organizations Foster Social Integration? The Case of Danish Voluntary Sport Organizations

ABSTRACT

Voluntary organizations are generally perceived as important arenas in which social integration can be fostered. There is, however, no consensus on the meaning of such integration, and the empirical evidence for the claim is lacking. This article studies social integration within voluntary sport organizations, which make up a significant element of civil society in most Western societies. The article provides a theoretical framework well suited for the study of social integration, which differentiates members according to their levels of social interaction and emotional bonding across four community types: Strong, pragmatic, mediated, and weak. When applying this framework to the case of Danish sport organizations, the distribution of members among the four community types indicates that, although sport organizations are important arenas for the development of social integration, there is also a large minority of members who do not experience social integration. This article shows that both individual characteristics linked to members and organizational characteristics linked to sport organizations exert significant influence on the level and nature of social integration. Jointly, the results demonstrate that there are grounds to reassess the general conception that sport organizations are important arenas in which social integration can be fostered.     

Sport,civil society and social integration: The case of Norwegian voluntary sport organizations

Abstract

Voluntary sport organizations make up the largest part of voluntary sector in many countries. Yet, in light of the renewed social and political interest in civil society, we do not know very much about how sport organizations operate and function. Accordingly, this article addresses the question of how voluntary sport organizations contribute to social integration through differences in community structures. First a theoretical framework making it possible to distinguish between various forms of community structures—strong, weak, mediated and pragmatic communities—is developed. Then, the first empirical part describes how members in sport organizations belong to such various forms of communities. Next, the article explains differences in social integration through social background, variation in participation in sports and various recruitment channels. Finally, the article explores how differences in community structures matters for the experience of sport activity, for organizational democracy and social capital (trust and political interests).     

Preparing for Armageddon: Jic 1 (Final) and the Soviet Attack on Canada

From 1945 to 1947 Canada shifted from a dependency on Great Britain for wartime operational intelligence to a junior partnership with the United States in the production of strategic threat assessments of the Soviet Union. Working through the Military Cooperation Committee the primary objective of Canadian and American officials was to update the wartime Defence Plan (ABC-22), with a Basic Security Plan for the post-war defence of North America. Each country was to produce a detailed 'Implementation' based on an intelligence 'Appreciation' of the threats facing North America in the 'air-atomic age'. Towards this end, the Canadian Joint Intelligence Committee prepared JIC 1 (Final), a report on when, where, and in what capacity the Soviet Union would strike Canada in the event of the next major war. The basic problem facing the Canadian Joint Intelligence Committee was to incorporate American sources in the assessment of Soviet capabilities without simply producing a carbon copy version of the assessment of their continental ally. Moreover, the Canadians were particularly concerned that they produce a 'made in Canada' assessment of Soviet intentions. The report was completed and approved by Canadian and American defence officials in 1947 and updated versions became the basis for continental defence planning until the signing of the 1957 Norad agreement.     

Global Regulation and Institutional Change in European Governance

The literature on institutional innovation in European governance has been dominated by an inward-looking focus on the European integration process. However, in the context of a highly integrated and interdependent world, it is not possible to understand the evolution of European governance without taking into account developments in the international institutional environment. This article aims to contribute to the study of the interaction between global and European modes of governance by examining the impact of EU's engagement with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and its predecessor the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) on the institutions of European accounting regulation. Following an analysis of the politics of international accounting harmonisation, it is demonstrated that EU's decisions to adopt the standards produced by the IASB, and to establish a new, differentiated European accounting regulatory mechanism, were driven by its desire to bolster European influence in the context of the IASC/IASB.     

Women and Sport in Scandinavia: Policy, Participation and Representation

Throughout the 20th century women have gradually gained access to sporting activities but it is only in recent decades that they have become widely represented in the decision-making bodies of sport. How can we account for this development and the weak position of women in sport? The perspective in this article is historical and three levels of explanation are considered. To what extent can the developments be explained as the result of public policy, the organization and policy of the voluntary associations and federations and by the action or predispositions of (groups of) women themselves. The article presents an overview of the state of the art in the research on women and sport in Scandinavia in the sense that new data have been collected and existing research and writings are being reviewed. By questioning central myths about sport and politics, and about the roles women play, it is shown that the role of women in sports is related bom to gaining access to the sporting activities per se and to the fora where decisions are being made, and that this access has been hampered as well as facilitated by government policies and policies of associations and interest organizations of the sports world. Government policies, however, cannot account for the remarkable changes in physical participation and democratic representation of women in sports which has taken place during the past century. The policies of the voluntary sports associations and federations are of greater importance. But the key to the understanding is found among the women themselves. So it is argued that physical performance and involvement in management and decision-making are dependent not only on formal structures and the policies of governments and interest organizations, but to a large extent upon the way in which women see themselves. This argumentation rests on the available data and a critical reading of the literature and research on women and sport in Scandinavia.     

State and Local Government Organizations and the Formation of the Help America Vote Act

Several state and local government organizations lobbied Congressduring the formation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Thisarticle distinguishes between "general" government organizations(those that represent the general interests of state and localgovernments) and "functionalist" organizations (those that implementspecific programs or functions). Whereas generalists soughtto advance "spatial" interests, functionalists sought to advance"administrative" interests. We also apply theories of congressionalorganization and committee leadership to explain the accessof state and local governments to Congress and their influenceover policy. The organizations had more access to, and influencein, the House Committee on Administration than in the SenateRules and Administration Committee. The differences were primarilythe result of three factors: informational demands, partisanconsiderations, and the personal qualities of committee leaders.     

Limits to non‐state market regulation: A qualitative comparative analysis of the international sport footwear industry and the Fair Labor Association

Non‐state market regulation has become a central focus and continues to receive scholarly attention. The present paper provides an assessment of the conditions under which multinational firms join a multi‐stakeholder certification initiative. The cases of the Fair labor Association and 17 international sport footwear companies have been selected for this purpose. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of the 17 cases is performed. The paper argues that the combination of sustained NGO pressure and public ownership of a firm is a necessary precondition for firms joining a multi‐stakeholder certification initiative. The theoretical and policy implications of this result are discussed.     

Consolidating ZIP Codes for Small Area Fair Market Rents: A Method for Implementing the New Rule

Fair Market Rents (FMRs), calculated for an entire metropolitan region, are used to establish payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. In response to recent criticism that FMRs do not represent rent disparity and restrict households from moving to high-opportunity areas, a new rule introducing Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) has been issued. SAFMRs are based on ZIP codes to reflect local market rents and increase the number of payment standards used to administer the HCV program. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the number of payment standards can be reduced by consolidating ZIP codes, while adhering to the primary objectives of the SAFMR rule. The ZIP code grouping process conducted offers one method for reducing the number of payment standards needed to implement the new rule; however, the rent analysis reveals the over- and underestimation of SAFMRs for some ZIP codes.     

The contribution of international accounting standards to implementing NPM in developing and developed countries

In recent years, numerous countries have undertaken administrative reforms to implement New Public Management (NPM) postulates. The implementation of NPM involves new information needs for decision taking by public managers. In this context, public sector accounting plays a key role as an information system for the successful implementation of NPM. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is undertaking an international accounting harmonisation project to establish high‐quality public sector standards to meet the new information requirements under NPM worldwide. This article examines the capability of IFAC accounting measurement bases to meet information needs under NPM postulates, in both developing and developed countries, analysing the differences between these types of countries. The National Accounting Standard Setters (NASS) of 47 countries were asked about the usefulness and viability of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) to implement NPM postulates, especially those concerning improved efficiency, enhanced information transparency and benchmarking analysis. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Violence against women and economic, social and cultural rights in Africa

International human rights treaties and declarations lay out the interconnection of civil and political rights with economic, social, and cultural rights. However, it was not until 1993 at the 2^nd UN Conference on Human Rights in Vienna that governments agreed that all of women’s rights are an integral part of human rights. Promoting women’s economic, social, and cultural rights is a critical human rights advocacy issue. Poverty leaves women more exposed to violence and less able to escape it, and severely restricts women’s ability to organize and fight for change. The article describes work by AI and other NGOs on violence against women and its connection with women's poverty and lack of education, healthcare, housing, and access to land in Africa. Besides the burgeoning of African women’s organizations calling for protection of all women’s human rights, a second hopeful development has been approval in July 2003 of an historic Protocol on the Rights of women in Africa.     

SOME ASPECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CITY OF GOLD COAST

The Administration appointed to take over the Gold Coast City Council was constituted as follows. An Administrator was appointed by the Governor in Council on 4 March 1978. He became Administrator and Chairman of the Executive Committee. The Administrator thus became the Council of the City of Gold Coast. Two Members of the Executive Committee were appointed on the same date by the Minister for Local Government and Main Roads to assist the Administrator. The initial term of appointment was to 30 June 1978, later extended to 30 September 1978, and finally extended to 31 March 1979 to coincide with the Triennial Local Government elections in the State of Queensland. In each case it was the Governor in Council who extended the term of the Administrator and the Minister who extended the terms of the Committee Members.     

All roads lead to Rome? The contingency factors of institutional integration: a comparative case study on environmental institutional reform in Guangdong,China

Abstract

As a reaction to structural fragmentation under New Public Management, many countries embarked on post-NPM reforms, such as merging public organizations. In China one such reform is the Super-Department Reform (SDR), launched in 2008. There are different ways to integrate public organizations following structural changes. In this study of two mergers of environmental agencies in the Chinese province of Guangdong, the focus is on the structural, cultural and symbolic features that affected the integration process. Our qualitative analyses reveal that Shunde Bureau of Environmental Transport and City Administration (SBETCA) is considered to have been more successful in integrating agencies and functions than Shenzhen Habitat Environment Committee (SHEC). Contingency factors, such as formal functional integration, leaders’ attention and participation, and leaders’ ability to influence cultural congruency, greatly influenced the success of the integration process. Symbols and media coverage also played a role.     

From Stockholm to Leiden: the CIA's role in the formation of the International Student Conference

This study contributes to the growing knowledge of CIA covert operations among non-governmental organizations during the Cold War by examining the formation of the International Student Conference (1950) and the creation of its Coordinating Secretariat (COSEC). The ISC objectives were global in scope — to organize the world's national student unions into a network that could deny the pro-Soviet International Union of Students its claim to represent the world student population. The CIA's reach depended heavily on the US National Student Association, which provided both a rationale for funding flows from the United States, and a steady stream of personnel. The structure of the relationship was complex and cumbersome, since the CIA had to work secretly through two organizations (NSA and ISC) whose legitimacy rested on democratic processes. This complexity suggests that issues of power and control require a more nuanced formulation than is usually presented in much Cold War political research.     

Youth organizations as a Battlefield in the Cold War

In the late 1960s it was revealed that ever since 1952 the CIA had financed and was still financing, by way of a whole series of ‘screen’ foundations, the overwhelming majority of youth and student organizations, not only in the United States, but throughout the free world. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as respectable as the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), Pax Romana and the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) had benefited, at various times in their history, from the generosity and ‘liberalism’ of the CIA. The key to understanding this paradoxical American involvement in leftist organizations lies in the Soviet Union's policy of systematically infiltrating Western civil society and international organizations. Its constant aim, relentlessly pursued and never openly avowed, was to control Western opinion and further the goals of Soviet foreign policy. By 1950 the communists had succeeded in effectively controlling all the international mass organizations. This study deals with the crucial Berlin Youth Festival of 1951 and the East-West struggle for dominance in the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students (IUS).     

Agent heterogeneity and consensual decision making on the Federal Open Market Committee

The consensual aspects of decision making are essential for understanding policy made by administrative organizations that take the form of a commision or board. Consensual decision making reflects the degree of policy cohesion exhibited by high-level officials within administrative organizations. It is proposed here that this type of behavior may differ between heterogeneous agents. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve System serves as a salient setting for testing these propositions in a time series context. The empirical results indicate that major intra-institutional differences exist between Board of Governor (BOG) and Regional Bank President (RBP) members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) regarding consensual behavior. In terms of policy decision making, the econometric evidence clearly demonstrates that the consensual behavior of these agents are fundamentally different from one another. This in turn has important implications for the study of other commission and board policy making bodies that consist of agents who are not all homogeneous.     

Hybridity and Friction in Organizational Politics: New Perspectives on the African Security Regime Complex

ABSTRACT

Security governance in Africa constitutes a web of interactions between national, regional, and international organizations. This emerging ‘African security regime complex' receives growing attention in International Relations debates on international organizations (IOs). Most analysis, however, follows institutionalist and problem-solving approaches, centred on regulatory concerns. We offer a different perspective. Moving beyond dominant perspectives on organizations as either pre-given institutional ‘wholes' or rationalized ‘tools' of states, we instead unpack the ‘politics of organizations’, understood as the multiple processes and forms of agency through which organizations emerge, diversify and transform. In doing so, we bring IO analysis into conversation with debates on hybridity, friction and translocality.     

Corporate governance and political impediments to regional harmonization: cases from East Asia

Abstract

Is the harmonization of financial regulatory regimes possible in East Asia? Focusing on corporate governance, which many see as a critical part of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and which is also seen as unresponsive to calls for change, this paper argues that such harmonization is possible, but that it will not be according to the standards advocated by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and other international organizations. At present, actors generally feign compliance with these international rules and standards. The pattern of noncompliance is reflective of two types of regulatory models at work in East Asia, which correspond to democratic and nondemocratic regimes. The manner by which these political institutions mediate the influence of key actors determines corporate governance outcomes. Three cases illustrate the key dynamics: Singapore (nondemocracy), South Korea (democracy), and pre- and post-World War II Japan (change from nondemocracy to democracy). By identifying the key actors that determine regulatory outcomes, this paper points to a more realistic regulatory framework. This alternative framework is a compromise between the standards advocated by international organizations and the domestic political realities of East Asia.     

International agencies and the art of the possible: The case of the IEA

Although contemporary international organizations are often perceived as rule-making and rule-enforcing bodies, their more important function is to serve as facilitators of agreement among governments. Actions of the International Energy Agency during 1979–1980 illustrate this point. In the oil crises of those years, the IEA did not make use of its formal emergency powers, nor did it develop new sets of rules governing state action. Instead, it engaged in extensive informal negotiations designed to persuade governments and oil companies to restrain demand for oil, help to redistribute shortages equitably, and manage oil stocks in a stabilizing manner. This emphasis on informal bargaining reflected a sophisticated awareness, on the part of the IEA secretariat and many governmental representatives, both of the constraints on international organizations and of their value as a catalyst for coalitions of public and private officials. International organizations do not transform the interstate system; but they can contribute, at the margin, to increased cooperation.