Best practices for the management of knowledge for conflict resolution: Lessons learned from the Great Lakes region of Africa

Abstract

This article deals with the management of knowledge for conflict resolution and innovation in Africa. After a brief discussion of the research methodology followed, a feedback is provided on the field study conducted from 2006 to 2008 in northern Uganda and Rwanda and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, and in the DRC. As a result of the field study, certain principles and practices were identified whereby the challenges facing Africa could be examined. The author found five ‘realms’ in which knowledge management can take place and that traditional knowledge practices, if merged with more modern knowledge management practices, provide a valuable framework for using knowledge management for conflict resolution and innovation in Africa. Best practices that were identified include an intra-connected and collective knowledge production system and the production of tacit knowledge, especially among the new generation or youth. Furthermore, the importance of intellectual capital (in the form of value-driven leadership, competent managers and expert knowledge workers) and the activation of an intervention into the continuous spiral of violent conflict which will ultimately lead to the innovative transformation of African society are discussed. Finally, some recommendations are offered as possible solutions for conflict resolution and innovation in Africa.     

On the front lines of democracy: perceptions of electoral officials and democratic elections

Electoral officials play a crucial role in instilling confidence in elections and democracy. They are involved in the most important tasks of running elections, from registering voters to counting the ballots. This article employs survey data from 35 countries from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey (2010–2014) which asks respondents about their perceptions of electoral integrity and the quality of democracy in their country. The analysis demonstrates the relationship between perceptions of the fairness of electoral officials and two important outcomes: confidence in the fairness of the vote count, and perceptions of the overall quality of democracy. It additionally considers under which circumstances this relationship is most pronounced and shows that the relationship between an individual’s perceptions of electoral officials and perceptions of electoral integrity is more pronounced in countries where there is a low liberal democracy index.     

Agreement and Disagreement in Group Deliberation: Effects on Deliberation Satisfaction,Future Engagement,and Decision Legitimacy

While research on democratic deliberation has burgeoned, little systematic work has been done on the effects of the communication content of deliberations. We examine how expressions of agreement and disagreement during online deliberation affect participants' evaluations of their experience, including satisfaction, reevaluation of opinions, and expected future participation. The effects of these evaluations on perceived legitimacy and opinion ambivalence also are considered. Several alternative hypotheses are entertained, including avoidance, in which high disagreement reduces evaluations; reevaluation, in which high disagreement enhances evaluations; sociability, in which high agreement enhances evaluations; balance, which suggests that a balance of agreement and disagreement would enhance evaluations; and disequilibrium, which indicates that high agreement and low disagreement and the reverse yield good evaluations. The hypotheses are tested with survey data and a discussion content analysis of a representative sample of 179 individuals who participated in a deliberation experiment. Findings indicate that deliberation evaluations are important for decision legitimacy and ambivalence. Also, the sociability hypothesis is strongly confirmed for satisfaction. The disequilibrium hypothesis is confirmed for future engagement. The avoidance hypothesis is not supported, contesting the prevalent view that people seek to avoid political disagreements.     

交通警察人际信任现状分析

文章以北京市交通警察常态工作状况下人际信任和工作满意度问卷调查数据为基础,采用层次分析方法将人际信任分为对社会制度和政治的信任以及对同伴或家庭的信任两个维度,将此两个维度归因为性别、年龄、文化程度、婚姻状况、从警时间、职务等个人属性。采用统计检验方法,分析了交通警察在常态工作下的人际信任现状及其与工作满意度的相关性。     

Nonprofit Cultural Alliances: Initiatory Qualitative and Empirical Examinations of an Emergent U.S. Phenomenon

This study examines the recent spontaneous emergence of nonprofit cultural alliance organizations in the U.S. Cultural alliances are community-based associations, formed by arts/cultural organization members, which provide member interaction, collaboration, networking, resource sharing, and professional education opportunities. This research accomplishes three objectives: (1) generation of a body of knowledge about cultural alliances, (2) development of a cultural alliance member satisfaction model, and (3) quantitative analysis of member survey data to assess services provided, service quality, and member satisfaction. The results indicate that the survey instrument is an important assessment tool for use by association boards of directors and executive directors.     

日本民主党实现政权交替可能性分析

"政党不信"与民主党突起,2003年日本众议院选举形成了民主党与自民党对峙的两大政党格局。然而,从众议院选举以及政党的分化过程来看,民主党实现政权交替的条件尚未成熟。其一,民主党的选举纲领,与英国政党比较,基本沿用了传统的"选举后模式",还未能向"政策选择可能性"的政权纲领转换;其二,由于在野党分崩离析与整合困境,民主党尚未形成强大的政权交替的推动力量;其三,在以小选举区制为中心的选举制度下,自民党"一党超强"地位仍未改变。     

Inter-Municipal Cooperation and Satisfaction with Services: Evidence from the Norwegian Citizen Study

We investigate the effects of inter-municipal cooperation on citizen satisfaction with fire services and refuse handling. While there is a growing interest in cooperation as a way of providing municipal services, little is known of the effect on citizen satisfaction. Through a multilevel analysis combining individual and municipal data, we find that inter-municipal cooperation has a negative effect on satisfaction with fire services, no effect on refuse collection but a positive effect on satisfaction with source separation. The results, we argue, show how the organizational form may affect satisfaction in different ways depending on service characteristics.     

加拿大高等教育的突出特色

加拿大各级政府在高等教育方面颇具战略眼光,对教育质量特别重视。加拿大高等院校具有鲜明的民主思想和强烈的人文关怀意识,其灵活的办学体制提高了教育效益,高度的学生自治培养了学生的创新能力。     

略论孟子民本思想的当代价值

以孟子为代表的民本思想是中国传统政治文化中最具进步性的永恒的思想主题,它是以人民为国家政治本体的一种思想体系,是近现代民主的原初观念形态。民贵君轻、民心向背决定政治成败是孟子民本思想的基本理念。孟子为提倡民权提供了一条很好的思路,并提出了以保民、养民、富民、教民为基本内涵的民生主张。从这些政治理念中必将得出具有政治实践意义的结论：为政一切从人民利益出发,一切政治措施必须以人民的利益为归宿,否则就是离民背本。     

New members as party modernisers: The case of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland

Amid the literature on members of political parties, surprisingly little has been written on the potential or actual impacts that can be made upon party strategy or policies by a rapid influx of new members. New joiners may have different outlooks and desires than long-standing members. Although already sympathetic to the party they are joining, new arrivals, if signing up in large numbers, may hold sufficiently revisionist views to be able to re-orientate a political party in a direction not previously taken. Using data from the first-ever membership survey of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2003 and the fourth largest UK parliamentary party since 2005, this article analyses whether more recent joiners of the Party have brought greater pragmatism and moderation to an organisation previously dominated by hardline political, religious and ethnic attitudes. Modernisation from outsiders who become insiders can be a key aspect of party development. The DUP offers one of the stiffest tests of modernisation, given its history of opposition to moderation. This article shows that newer members have tempered beliefs in one of the most robustly ethno-religious parties in Europe.