Freshwater and brackish water ecosystems are arguably the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth, due to concentrated human developments in and around them. The Pontocaspian (PC) region located at the... Show moreFreshwater and brackish water ecosystems are arguably the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth, due to concentrated human developments in and around them. The Pontocaspian (PC) region located at the border of Europe and Asia contains a variety of brackish water ecosystems and unique inhabitants, known as the PC biota. The current status and trends in PC biodiversity are poorly known, however, deterioration of PC habitats is evident in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea Basins. This thesis aims to support an establishment of effective PC biodiversity conservation regime. I use the Black Sea Basin as a study system and outline current status and trends in PC biodiversity and assess the direct and indirect anthropogenic drivers of the PC biodiversity change. I show that PC biodiversity is severely declining as a result of human action. Identified direct drivers of decline include damming of rivers; habitat modifications; pollution and eutrophication; invasive alien species and climate change. Indirect drivers of PC biodiversity decline include current suboptimal legal arrangements, inadequate institutional design of environmental stakeholder organizations and non-inclusive governance systems, as well as the limited funding availability for PC biodiversity conservation, institutional instability and low recognition of the need for PC biodiversity conservation. Show less
This thesis focuses on the social dimensions of crane and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The focus is predominantly on the Grey Crowned Crane although one... Show moreThis thesis focuses on the social dimensions of crane and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The focus is predominantly on the Grey Crowned Crane although one chapter is dedicated to social dimensions of Wattled Crane conservation. Chapter 2 provides an overview of how social factors influence wetland management decision-making, drawing linkages between human actions and ecological changes associated with crane habitat loss. Chapter 3 outlines major human actions that impact Wattled Cranes and their habitats, elaborating the underlying social causations behind the actions. Chapter 4 draws lessons on the effectiveness of community-led conservation approaches through an evaluation of a community-led project in Kenya. Chapter 5 presents results of an evaluation of the institutional development process and the ensuing environmental conservation impacts at three sites where conservation projects were initiated in 2002 in Uganda. Chapter 6 synthesises key findings, addressing the question of what works for cranes and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in East and Southern Africa. The thesis contributes to an improved understanding of interactions between cranes and rural communities and provides insights into strategic approaches for addressing the decline of cranes within their range in East and Southern Africa. Show less
Wetlands provide many ecosystem goods and services which include fish production. The sustainability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) has received considerable attention in recent years because fish... Show moreWetlands provide many ecosystem goods and services which include fish production. The sustainability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) has received considerable attention in recent years because fish is one of the major sources of animal protein to a considerable fraction of the global population which is estimated to increase to about 9.5 billion by 2050. Most of this attention has evolved around the pressures to which SSF are increasingly subjected, emanating particularly from population growth, rural poverty, weak institutional mechanisms, market forces, climate change among others. This thesis focuses on designing a sustainable management institution for the Elephant Marsh Fishery in Southern Malawi. With fieldwork which started in May 2011 to June 2013, this PhD study uses empirical data to understand the socio-ecological system of the Elephant Marsh Fishery and propose an actor-based institutional design which would achieve long-term sustainability of the fishery. After the introductory chapter 1, the second part of this thesis (Chapter 2) brings into perspective a clear understanding of the socio-ecological and land use setting of the Elephant Marsh as well as the ecosystem-based development potentials that exist at the wetland. The second chapter also highlights the actors and local institutions pertaining to the management of the wetland. Just like many similar ecosystems across the globe, the Elephant Marsh has come under increasing pressure in recent years which threatens the future of the wetland. Currently, Malawi does not have either a national wetland policy or a climate change policy and wetland issues are only marginally present in the National Parks and Wildlife Policy of 2000 and National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy of 2001. As a result, the country lacks a framework that could be strong enough to achieve balanced and sustainable wetland management for multiple resource users. Chapter 2 of this study reveals that there are significant ecosystem-based development potentials at Elephant Marsh mainly in fisheries, recession agriculture, conservation, tourism and biomass for energy. Chapter 2 further shows that if these ecosystem-based development potentials are to be efficiently and effectively exploited at the Elephant Marsh, there is a need to rise above the institutional design principles of Ostrom which are based on nested enterprises and move towards real participatory approaches such as constitutionality (local people’s sense of ownership in bottom-up institution building). Certainly, as the present thesis suggests, there will be need to strike a balance between the local wetland management system, where pressure on the Elephant Marsh emanates mainly from poverty, and the national and international interests of biodiversity conservation as advocated by the Ramsar convention. Although enhanced production and maximum benefits from ecosystem good and services are central to any management system of the Elephant Marsh, it is important to realize that there are always limits to growth. Any management program for the Elephant Marsh should therefore strive towards sustainable exploitation of the opportunities that lie in the wetland’s goods and services. Globally, institutions that manage small-scale fisheries can be locally based, state controlled or of a mixed, cross-scale nature. The latter arrangement, widely known as co-management, is generally believed to be the preferred approach for fishery sustainability. In Africa, fisheries management faces many challenges due to unstable governance systems (weak states) whose role has evolved tremendously over the last century. The changes in the role of the state have mainly surfaced from a cautious realization that social actors (humans) respond to underlying incentives and are therefore central for any management system to work at all. With close reference to rich literature from across the globe, Chapter 3 of this thesis employs a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) to examine cases of small-scale fisheries in several developing countries, in order to assess the degree of state involvement would be most relevant for designing a sustainable management for the Elephant Marsh Fishery. These degrees vary between: (a) strong top-down regulation irrespective of fishing community wishes, (b) a co-management mode of negotiation with fishing communities, (c) a merely supportive role of the state, or absence from the fishing scene. It was revealed that contrary to expectations, the sustainability of small-scale fisheries depended solely on the strength of collective social capital of the local communities at the resource scale. With weak local social capital, degrees of government involvement did not make any difference; the fisheries were unsustainable in all cases. The findings from this study have accentuated that the sustainability of SSF management in developing countries relies heavily on a strong collective social capital and a supportive government. Future practice and policy directions on fisheries management should understand the relevance of concrete community trust, networks, norms and values and strive to incorporate these in decision making and policy formulation. Governments, especially in developing countries, and their agents should realize the need to rise above the theoretical principles of “impose and control” and begin to take a more passive, non-conflictive position in designing working solutions for the sustainability of common pool resources such as small-scale fisheries. This can be done for example by encouraging civil engagement in transformative learning to reduce disadvantageous power differentials that exist in many fishing communities in developing countries. Chapter 4 uses the success and failure factors for SSF in developing countries which were identified in Chapter 3 to ascertain relevant factors for the sustainability of the Elephant Marsh Fishery. It is revealed that the Elephant Marsh Fishery sustainability depends on building strong local institutions with motivated leadership that can safeguard the interests of resource users. The present thesis therefore recommends that the government of Malawi should begin to take a more participatory position in designing locally crafted working institutions for the sustainability of common pool resources, such as small-scale fisheries at Elephant Marsh. In villages where fisheries fail due to weak local institutions or conflictive chiefs, the imposition of fishing rules is futile. The feasible government reaction then lies in (re)building collective social capital, especially the leadership of fisheries committees, and formally linking the established local institutions to the central government structure. In doing so an important inclusion would be the contextualization of key socio-causal dynamics of the management system at the Elephant Marsh. Cognizant of the importance of the socio-causal dynamics, Chapter 5 of this study used an actor-based framework (known as Action-in-Context) to unveil the issues that are crucial in devising a sustainable governance system for the Elephant Marsh Fishery. It was established that the key social variables for the designing a proposed three-pillared (locally based, weak and amorphous) resilient institution for sustainability of the Elephant Marsh Fishery are (i) the social reputation of the leaders of local fishery institutions and (ii) the power dynamics between traditional chiefs and these local fishery leaders. It is clearly evident from the present study that an actor-based multi-level analysis of rules and other mechanisms prevailing in a fishery can be instrumental in designing a cost-effective institution for the near future. For the design of longer-term institutional options, the assumptions underlying the actors-based method (Action-in-Context in our case) become weaker, e.g. because new types of actors may move in or because actor capacities and motivations may change or become more intertwined. This then necessitates a stronger reliance on both institutional theory and frameworks or (as has been my choice) the design of a flexible process of institutional development guided by an adaptive, learning organization. The last section of thesis (Chapter 6) synthesizes the main findings and proposes what needs to be done in designing a resilient management system for the Elephant Marsh Fishery. This PhD thesis ends by stimulating a style of thinking that may be fruitful for institutional science in general. Show less
The links between conservation and livelihood concerns remain much debated, and there is no agreement about the degree to which these concerns are linked, and how they should be tackled... Show more The links between conservation and livelihood concerns remain much debated, and there is no agreement about the degree to which these concerns are linked, and how they should be tackled together. The main objectives of this study are to uncover the local values of birds, the environment and conservation for rural people in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, and to increase insights into interventions that aim to achieve integrated (migrant bird) conservation and sustainable development objectives in this area. By focusing on issues like local perceptions, local participation, local institutional arrangements and the role of birds, this study adds new insights to the existing literature and knowledge. The study demonstrates that both birds and the environment are valued in many ways and are strongly linked with local livelihoods. At the same time, the study shows that serious environmental problems exist, and that both local livelihoods and birds are negatively impacted. This has created conservation incentives among the local population, which is a major contributing factor for conservation organizations seeking local motivation and participation to combat environmental issues. In fact, the study provides a strong argument for the need to increase local participation, and demonstrates several ways to do so. Show less
When it comes to voting in parliament, party group unity is the rule rather than the exception in most (European) parliamentary democracies. But how do individual MPs come to their decision to vote... Show moreWhen it comes to voting in parliament, party group unity is the rule rather than the exception in most (European) parliamentary democracies. But how do individual MPs come to their decision to vote according to the party group line? This book introduces a theoretical model of MP decision making in which the main decision-making mechanisms, derived from the existing literature on the pathways to party group unity __ cue-taking, agreement, loyalty and obedience __, are placed in a particular sequential order. The three empirical studies in this book assess the relative role of each of the mechanisms, both independent and when possible as a part of the sequential model, in getting MPs to toe the party group line and contribute to party group unity, and explore whether this varies not only between parliaments (chapter 4), but also by levels of government (chapter 5), and through time (chapter 6). Show less
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate social disclosure levels are determined by society. A social accounting methodology is applied, consisting of a hypothetico-deductive... Show moreThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate social disclosure levels are determined by society. A social accounting methodology is applied, consisting of a hypothetico-deductive approach. Social accounting research is a critical or interpretative branch of financial accounting research. The main difference from financial accounting is the unqualified acceptance of a social reality by social accounting researchers. Empirical evidence is assessed with the application of a system-oriented theoretical framework. The theoretical framework consists of a combination of theories: Stakeholder Theory, Legitimacy Theory and institutions from Institutional Theory. Research questions are developed out of the theoretical framework, which are input for the development of hypotheses. Stakeholder Theory and Legitimacy Theory are both suggested to explain corporate social disclosure levels and its relation with economic institutions, social institutions and political institutions. Prior research supports the suggested relationships, especially studies that take a similar outside-in approach; these studies suggest outside effects on the internal corporate social disclosure decision. Corporate social disclosure data are provided by Sustainalytics, which are similar to the often-studied KLD social performance data. Economic institutional variables applied are of legal origin, as a determinant of corporate governance systems and freedom of markets. Social institutional variables applied are national culture dimensions and combined measures. Political variables applied are political and civil freedom, national environmental and labour law indices. The sample tested consists of 600 large corporations from 22 countries. The corporations are part of what is known as Morgan Stanley Capital International index. They are all large corporations. Statistical testing with the use of bivariate correlations, t-tests and multivariate regression models largely support the hypotheses suggested. The main conclusion is that corporate social disclosure levels are related to the way society is organised. The outcomes of the study show several confirmations of theoretically suggested relationships. Economic institutions are weakly related to corporate social disclosure levels on the basis of a stakeholder orientation of societies, or communitarianism. The relationships that were suggested by theory and some of the prior literature were weakly and partially confirmed. The found relationship between corporate social disclosure levels and governmentally supported freedom of markets can be explained by stakeholder theory, especially communitarianism. Another variable related to communitarianism, the distinction between legal origins, which describes corporate governance systems, is not found to be relevant to explain corporate social disclosure levels. Legitimacy issues certainly play a role as a determinant of corporate social disclosure levels, but not with regard to economic institutions. The relationship described between corporate social disclosure levels and national cultures is consistent with the associations suggested by stakeholder theory. Legitimacy has been related in the past mainly with corporate characteristics, company size, and sensitive industry membership. As this study only applies data on large corporations measured by market capitalisation, sensitive industry membership remains as the main relevant corporate legitimacy variable. The sensitive industry membership variable causes the models with social institutional variables to improve. Political institutions are related to corporate social disclosure levels, though differentiated. The relationship between freedom and corporate social disclosure levels is described by applying stakeholder theory. Stakeholder theory states that the influence that stakeholders can have on the corporation depends on the salience of their needs. The relationship is confirmed, as expected. Political institutions are related to the way corporations deal with legitimacy issues. Clear relations are found between corporate environmental disclosure levels and national environmental performance indices. A relationship between corporate employment disclosure levels and national employment law indices is difficult to confirm. A generally valid relationship between corporate social disclosure levels and political institutions is not clearly found. A general conclusion is that meso-level institutions have shown to be relevant determinants of corporate social disclosure levels. The systems-oriented framework is found to be applicable in explaining relationships between levels of corporate social disclosure and the institutional environment. The conclusion that societal, institutional determinants are relevant for corporate social disclosures implicitly supports the acceptance of a social reality of social accounting, as institutions are social by definition. Show less
Since the end of the twentieth century a broad and persistent movement away from centralized patterns of governance has become one of the defining trends in politics. In many new democracies the... Show moreSince the end of the twentieth century a broad and persistent movement away from centralized patterns of governance has become one of the defining trends in politics. In many new democracies the return to electoral politics has coincided with institutional reforms to promote decentralization. In Latin America, with its long and well-documented history of centralism, decentralization constitutes a departure from previous patterns of governance. This study seeks to shed light on the relationship between decentralization and political organization in Latin America, and aims to contribute to our understanding of how decentralization influences the way that conflicts in society are expressed, structured and managed through parties and party systems. Drawing on an in-depth study of Mexico as well as a comparative analysis of Latin American countries, it develops the argument that decentralization challenges political organization at the levels of party systems and organizations. The central contention is that a high level of decentralization can undermine the formation of nationalized party systems and cohesive parties. Decentralization affects the distribution of political and financial resources in the state and makes more resources available locally, and thus reshapes the context within which parties organize. Show less
This research is about the representatives of the count of Holland and Zeeland in the Habsburg period (1483-1558).The questions which are addressed concern who the representatives of the count... Show moreThis research is about the representatives of the count of Holland and Zeeland in the Habsburg period (1483-1558).The questions which are addressed concern who the representatives of the count were, how they acquired their office, what their duties were and how they performed them, and what this meant for the relationship between the prince and his subjects. In a society which could not yet fully function with strict rules imposed by the centre, the officers played the role of brokers, smoothing the relations between prince and subjects through the use of informal means. The first half of the sixteenth century saw a stricter living by the rules, formalisation of procedures and the separation of the different spheres of influence, slowly carried out and sometimes reversed again in a complicated dance between prince, Council and States. During that process the foundations which held the relations between sovereign and subjects together, the possibilities of princely officers to act as intermediaries, were gradually eroded. Those foundations were needed more than ever in a time when taxes, trade impediments and the prosecution of heretics caused most feelings of resistance among the subjects. When William of Orange led the Revolt in 1568, the count lacked a group of Holland officials who could form a successful counterpoise. Show less
Het einde van de Koude Oorlog betekende niet noodzakelijkerwijs het einde van de dienstplicht in Westerse democratie_n. De reactie van verschillende landen op het einde van de Koude Oorlog (of: de... Show moreHet einde van de Koude Oorlog betekende niet noodzakelijkerwijs het einde van de dienstplicht in Westerse democratie_n. De reactie van verschillende landen op het einde van de Koude Oorlog (of: de val van het IJzeren Gordijn) wordt gekenmerkt door een grote mate van variatie. Nederland en Zweden hebben ten opzichte van elkaar zeer verschillend gereageerd ten aanzien van de dienstplicht. Terwijl Nederland al in 1993 besloot de opkomstplicht op te schorten (wat de facto de afschaffing van de dienstplicht betekende) houdt Zweden tot op de dag van vandaag aan deze militaire institutie vast. De empirische vraag van dit onderzoek luidt dan ook: Waarom heeft Nederland de dienstplicht (vrij) snel na de Koude Oorlog afgeschaft en Zweden niet? De veronderstelling die in deze studie centraal staat is dat na de Koude Oorlog grote legers voor de landsverdediging overbodig werden. Dit stelde de defensieorganisaties voor grote uitdagingen. Daarom wordt het onderzoek in de bredere context van crises en hervormingsliteratuur geplaatst. De vraag is hoe de actoren binnen de organisaties op de veranderende veiligheidsomgeving hebben gereageerd. Het is de verwachting dat de beantwoording van de empirische vraag nieuwe inzichten verschaft in complexe hervormingen en beleidsveranderingen binnen consensus democratie _n. Een bijzondere rol binnen deze veranderingsprocessen wordt hierbij aan leiders toegeschreven. Het argument luidt dat de relatie tussen politieke en administratieve leiders een belangrijke factor is voor de timing, snelheid en omvang van hervormingen in de defensiesectoren van Nederland en Zweden. Bovendien wordt verondersteld dat de meeste leiders voor een conservatieve strategie kiezen. Dat wil zeggen dat zij de status-quo en de integriteit van een institutie zo lang mogelijk willen bewaren en hooguit incrementele verandering nastreven. Het onderzoek concentreert zich op de vragen waarom leiders hervormen, hoe zij het doen en wat de uitkomsten zijn, met betrekking tot beleidsveranderingen en de effectiviteit van crisismanagement. Show less
In deze studie wordt de invloed van instituties en cultuur op het overheidsbeleid onderzocht. Aan de hand van twee case-studies naar het automobiliteitsbeleid in de steden Birmingham en München... Show moreIn deze studie wordt de invloed van instituties en cultuur op het overheidsbeleid onderzocht. Aan de hand van twee case-studies naar het automobiliteitsbeleid in de steden Birmingham en München wordt duidelijk dat lokale beleidsinstituties en culturen voor een grote mate van invloed zijn op de keuze voor het automobiliteitsbeleid. Een link wordt gelegd met de Nederlandse situatie en het thema van bestuurlijke vernieuwing. Show less
