Urban community organizations and local government: Exploring relationships and roles

There is an increasing interest in using local community organizations to assist in the development process. Observers who evaluate the contribution of such groups frequently classify them into two clusters: those which are closely tied to the government and focus on service delivery, and those which guard their autonomy and engage in development rather than service delivery. This dichotomy, however, downplays the developmental role of groups allied with local governments and obscures some important contributions they can offer. Three different models are proposed and two case studies of service-oriented groups in Cairo are presented. The cases suggest that an important criterion in assessing voluntary groups is the extent to which their service delivery role enables them to develop an organization. From this perspective their role is potentially much broader than expediting government services.     

La coopération à I'intérieur d'une région métropolitaine: éléments d'analysey†

Sommaire. Les relations inter-municipales, à l'intérieur d;une région métropolitaine, sont abordées dam cet article sous l'angle de la coopération qu'elles impliquent. L'auteur fait un tour d'horizon des principaux concepts qui sont utilisés dans l'étude de la coopération et de l'intégration, à l'aide des nombreux travaux publiées sur le sujet. Après avoir défini l'intégration, l'auteur précise les différentes modalités d'intégration, ainsi que les conditions favorables et les avantages de l'intégration au niveau municipal. Abstract. This article focuses on the relationship between municipalities within a regional area, from the point of view of the cooperation they imply. The author reviews the major concepts utilized in the study of cooperation and integration, using research material already published. The concept of integration is defined in the first part, followed by a review of the different modalities of integration and of the conditions to and advantages of integration at the municipal level.     

Bicommunal Systems: Guyana, Malaysia, Fiji

Drawing on the experiences of Guyana, Malaysia, and Fiji, thisarticle examines the hypothesis that bicommunal systems havea high potential for conflict, violence, and even disintegration.In all three countries there is segmentation along ethnic lines.Rather than a "balance" existing between the groups in eachcountry, one group is hegemonic. Nevertheless, although thereis not exact proportionality in the ethnic composition of thecabinet, civil service, and so on, there is some approach toit. Within the context of hegemony, some bargaining among groupsis permitted, though less so in Guyana, which has fewer economicresources and is more reliant on coercion. However, there canbe no bargaining about the existence of hegemony. Two otherfeatures have contributed to a relatively low degree of conflictin each of the three countries—recent happenings in Fijinotwithstanding: the absence of external intervention and thefact that the ethnic groups are not so greatly concentratedgeographically as to encourage demands for secession.     

Federalism and Social Policy: The Case of Domestic Violence

This paper challenges long standing critiques of federalism that suggest it stymies the development of progressive social policies. Through a case study of national domestic violence policies in Australia, this paper argues that not only can the curses of federalism – especially conservatism, duplication and overlap – be surmounted, but even more positively, under the right condition, federalism can enhance opportunities for the development of progressive social policy. While the Howard government has adopted a conservative approach to domestic violence, federal structures have made it possible to maintain an alternative discourse at the state level. Moreover, national policy coordination machinery has opened the path for policy learning and innovation between governments in this social policy area.     

The Roles of Women in Contemporary Political and Revolutionary Conflict: A Thematic Model

Global population-level patterns in female participation in contemporary political and revolutionary conflict remain largely unknown as systematic empirical research in the area is lacking. Accordingly, this study systematically documented the participation of a comprehensive sample of women involved in conflict around the world. A statistically derived model of female participation is proposed that consists of four thematic roles representing specific patterns of activity: active, representing fighting and leadership activities; caring, representing traditional feminine tasks; support, representing logistically based tasks, and; ideological, representing activities that propagate the ideology of the group. The contribution of the model to theory, research, and practice is considered.