Purpose: This paper explores a district government's role in using school networks to transform turnaround schools in rural Shanghai, China. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative case studies were conducted. Findings: Findings showed that the C District government varied its power in initiating school networks; collaborative networks were…

While active citizenship education programs are assumed to have positive benefits for the active citizenship practice of participants (UNESCO, 2009, p. 4), there is actually little evidence that programs do (de Weerd, Gemmeke, Rigter & van Riji, 2005, p. vii). This paper discusses a research project that aimed to determine and increase the…

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 ushered in a period of change in higher-education systems across the former Eastern bloc. Reform-minded leaders in the region sought to introduce western models and policies promoted by foreign development aid agendas. Private higher-education institutions emerged. This qualitative multiple case study examines…

This paper explores the practices of one small non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Mindanao working innovatively to challenge power and interests by linking resources to local communities who control their productivity. While this may seem like social capital, I suggest that the agency over production, and the deeply political and ideological…

This paper provides a critical interpretation of food security politics in the UK. It applies the notion of food security collective action frames to assess how specific action frames are maintained and contested. The interdependency between scale and framing in food security discourse is also scrutinised. It does this through an examination of…

Urbanization almost invariably accompanies development, and the cities of India and China are experiencing spectacular increases in population. The concentration of millions of people in a small mass creates challenges for public policy, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, public health, traffic congestion, and often law enforcement…

Although the determinants of trust in governments have received significant attention in the literature on political trust, there has been no attention paid to whether environmental concerns affect governmental trust. Yet, if individuals are worried about local and global environmental degradation, they may think that the government has failed in…

America is on the precipice of ruining its foundation for success. The movement toward a centralized education system through federal mandates and common curriculum and testing is threatening the very system that has contributed to America's success and that holds the potential for its future success: that is a decentralized, diverse, largely…

Geographical indications (GIs) are place-based names that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. GIs are unique, in that they provide a means of ensuring that control over production and sales of a product stays within a local area, but at the same time they make use of extralocal…

This paper views seeking the optimal balance between state strengths and the scope of state functions for "good governance" as the formation of a homogenization-heterogenization matrix of policy initiatives in different social settings. Homogenization refers to a global tendency for institutional changes and governance framework to…

This document contains the text of a Congressional oversight hearing on Public Law 98-621, the St. Elizabeths Hospital and District of Columbia Mental Health Services Act, which became law in November 1984 and which transferred St. Elizabeths Hospital from federal control to that of the government of the District of Columbia. The text of Public…

Addresses the conflicting pressures facing plurilingual societies, focusing on (1) geopolitical changes such as language decline, international languages, and the pressures of globalization and the dominance of English; (2) access to or surrender of power; and (3) the choice of which language policy to pursue. (CMK)

Outlines the challenge to both government monopoly and community participation posed by the rise of local private stations in Italy. Local broadcasters represent democratic participation and a new vehicle of political, social, and cultural growth.

This report contains an executive summary and is based on a survey of 278 American cities with populations over 50,000, concerns problems facing families and children. The survey focused on pressing needs of children and families as seen by city officials, the prominence of these needs in community life, the involvement of city governments in…

This book of case studies highlights 26 municipalities involved in activities related to child care. Cities selected were of different sizes; were located in different parts of the country; and used diverse approaches for developing ways to improve access to affordable, high-quality child care. Each case study was developed through a telephone…