TY - THES A1 - von Kaphengst, Dragana T1 - Project’s management quality in development cooperation T1 - Managementqualität von Projekten in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit N2 - In light of the debate on the consequences of competitive contracting out of traditionally public services, this research compares two mechanisms used to allocate funds in development cooperation—direct awarding and competitive contracting out—aiming to identify their potential advantages and disadvantages. The agency theory is applied within the framework of rational-choice institutionalism to study the institutional arrangements that surround two different money allocation mechanisms, identify the incentives they create for the behavior of individual actors in the field, and examine how these then transfer into measurable differences in managerial quality of development aid projects. In this work, project management quality is seen as an important determinant of the overall project success. For data-gathering purposes, the German development agency, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), is used due to its unique way of work. Whereas the majority of projects receive funds via direct-award mechanism, there is a commercial department, GIZ International Services (GIZ IS) that has to compete for project funds. The data concerning project management practices on the GIZ and GIZ IS projects was gathered via a web-based, self-administered survey of project team leaders. Principal component analysis was applied to reduce the dimensionality of the independent variable to total of five components of project management. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis identified the differences between the separate components on these two project types. Enriched by qualitative data gathered via interviews, this thesis offers insights into everyday managerial practices in development cooperation and identifies the advantages and disadvantages of the two allocation mechanisms. The thesis first reiterates the responsibility of donors and implementers for overall aid effectiveness. It shows that the mechanism of competitive contracting out leads to better oversight and control of implementers, fosters deeper cooperation between the implementers and beneficiaries, and has a potential to strengthen ownership of recipient countries. On the other hand, it shows that the evaluation quality does not tremendously benefit from the competitive allocation mechanism and that the quality of the component knowledge management and learning is better when direct-award mechanisms are used. This raises questions about the lacking possibilities of actors in the field to learn about past mistakes and incorporate the finings into the future interventions, which is one of the fundamental issues of aid effectiveness. Finally, the findings show immense deficiencies in regard to oversight and control of individual projects in German development cooperation. KW - development cooperation KW - project management quality KW - evaluation KW - GIZ KW - knowledge management KW - Entwicklungszusammenarbeit KW - Qualität des Projektmanagements KW - Evaluierung KW - GIZ KW - Wissensmanagement Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-430992 ER - TY - THES A1 - Muriu, Abraham Rugo T1 - Performance management in Kenya's public service T1 - Leistungsmanagement in Kenias öffentlichem Dienst BT - a study on performance information use BT - eine Studie über Leistungsinformationen N2 - This study was inspired by the desire to contribute to literature on performance management from the context of a developing country. The guiding research questions were: How do managers use performance information in decision making? Why do managers use performance information the way they do? The study was based on theoretical strands of neo-patrimonialism and new institutionalism. The nature of the inquiry informed the choice of a qualitative case study research design. Data was assembled through face-to-face interviews, some observations, and collection of documents from managers at the levels of the directorate, division, and section/units. The managers who were the focus of this study are current or former staff members of the state departments in Kenya’s national Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries as well as from departments responsible for coordination of performance related reforms. The findings of this study show that performance information is regularly produced but its use by managers varies. Examples of use include preparing reports to external bodies, making decisions for resource re-allocation, making recommendations for rewards and sanctions, and policy advisory. On categorizing the forms of use as passive, purposeful, political or perverse, evidence shows that they overlap and that some of the forms are so closely related that it is difficult to separate them empirically. On what can explain the forms of use established, four factors namely; political will and leadership; organizational capacity; administrative culture; and managers’ interests and attitudes, were investigated. While acknowledging the interrelatedness and even overlapping of the factors, the study demonstrates that there is explanatory power to each though with varying depth and scope. The study thus concludes that: Inconsistent political will and leadership for performance management reforms explain forms of use that are passive, political and perverse. Low organizational capacity could best explain passive and some limited aspects of purposeful use. Informal, personal and competitive administrative culture is associated with purposeful use and mostly with political and perverse use. Limited interest and apprehensive attitude are best associated with passive use. The study contributes to the literature particularly in how institutions in a context of neo-patrimonialism shape performance information use. It recommends that further research is necessary to establish how neo-patrimonialism positively affects performance oriented reforms. This is interesting in particular given the emerging thinking on pockets of effectiveness and developmental patrimonialism. This is important since it is expected that performance related reforms will continue to be advocated in developing countries in the foreseeable future. N2 - Diese Studie wurde von dem Wunsch inspiriert einen Beitrag zu der Performance Management Literatur zu leisten und zwar aus dem Kontext eines Entwicklungslandes. Die Fragen, die diese Forschung geleitet haben waren: Wie nutzen Manager Performance Information in der Entscheidungsfindung? Warum nutzen Manager Performance Informationen auf eine bestimmte Weise? Die Studie basiert auf theoretischen Strömungen des Neo-Patrimonialismus und des Neo-Institutionalismus. Die Art der Untersuchung und Fragestellung verlangten nach einem qualitativen Forschungsdesign und einer Fallstudie. Die Datenerhebung stützte sich auf Interviews, Beobachtungen und Dokumente von 50 Managern auf Direktoratsebene, Abteilungsebene und Referatsebene. Die Manager, die im Fokus dieser Untersuchung standen, sind derzeitige und ehemalige Mitarbeiter in Kenias Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Viehzucht und Fischerei, sowie der Abteilung zuständig für die Koordination von Performancebezogenen Reformen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen, dass Performanceinformationen regelmäßig produziert, jedoch unterschiedlich genutzt werden. Die Erstellung von Berichten für externe Stellen, Entscheidungen zur Ressourcenverteilung, Empfehlungen für Belohnungen und Sanktionen, sowie für Richtlinien sind Beispiele für die Nutzung von Performanceinformationen. Eine Kategorisierung dieser Nutzungsarten in passiv, intendiert, politisch oder pervertiert, zeigt dass diese überlappen und zum Teil so sehr miteinander verbunden sind, dass sie nur sehr schwer empirisch zu trennen sind. Hinsichtlich der Einflussfaktoren auf die Nutzung hat diese Studie vier Faktoren untersucht: Politischer Wille und Führungsverhalten; Kapazität der Organisation; administrative Kultur; Interessen und Einstellungen der Führungskräfte. Obwohl diese Faktoren zusammenhängen und sogar überlappen zeigt diese Studie, dass jeder einzelne Faktor Erklärungskraft besitzt, wenn auch zu unterschiedlichem Grad. Aus dieser Studie lässt sich folgern, dass inkonsistenter politischer Wille und Führungsverhalten in Bezug auf Reformen des Performance Managements passive, politische und pervertierte Formen der Nutzung erklären. Niedrige Kapazität der Organisation erklärt passive Nutzung sowie Teilaspekte von intendierter Nutzung. Eine informale, persönliche und kompetitive Administrationskultur ist verknüpft mit intendierter Nutzung, hauptsächlich aber mit politischer und pervertierter Nutzung. Eingeschränktes Interesse und ablehnende Einstellung wird mit passiver Nutzung in Verbindung gebracht. Diese Studie trägt zu Literatur bei, die sich damit befasst, inwieweit Institutionen in einem von Neo-Patrimonialismus geprägten Kontext die Nutzung von Performanceinformation beeinflusst. Weitere Forschung ist notwendig, um zu untersuchen wie Neo-Patrimonialismus performanceorientierte Reformen positiv beeinflusst. Dies ist besonders in Anbetracht von Nischen der Effektivität und Entwicklungspatrimonialismus bedeutsam. Dies ist besonders relevant, da davon ausgegangen werden kann, dass Performance-bezogene Reformen auch in Zukunft weiter in Entwicklungsländern verbreitet werden. KW - performance management KW - performance information use KW - Kenya public service KW - Leistungsmanagement KW - Leistungsinformationen verwenden KW - Kenias öffentlicher Dienst Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-403281 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Debre, Maria Josepha T1 - Clubs of autocrats BT - regional organizations and authoritarian survival JF - The review of international organizations N2 - While scholars have argued that membership in Regional Organizations (ROs) can increase the likelihood of democratization, we see many autocratic regimes surviving in power albeit being members of several ROs. This article argues that this is the case because these regimes are often members in "Clubs of Autocrats" that supply material and ideational resources to strengthen domestic survival politics and shield members from external interference during moments of political turmoil. The argument is supported by survival analysis testing the effect of membership in autocratic ROs on regime survival between 1946 to 2010. It finds that membership in ROs composed of more autocratic member states does in fact raise the likelihood of regime survival by protecting incumbents against democratic challenges such as civil unrest or political dissent. However, autocratic RO membership does not help to prevent regime breakdown due to autocratic challenges like military coups, potentially because these types of threats are less likely to diffuse to other member states. The article thereby adds to our understanding of the limits of democratization and potential reverse effects of international cooperation, and contributes to the literature addressing interdependences of international and domestic politics in autocratic regimes. KW - regional organizations KW - authoritarian resilience KW - democratization KW - survival analysis KW - domestic politics Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-021-09428-y SN - 1559-7431 SN - 1559-744X VL - 17 IS - 3 SP - 485 EP - 511 PB - Springer CY - Boston ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khalil, Samir A1 - Kohler, Ulrich A1 - Tjaden, Jasper Dag T1 - Is There a Rural Penalty in Language Acquisition? Evidence From Germany's Refugee Allocation Policy JF - Frontiers in Sociology N2 - Emerging evidence has highlighted the important role of local contexts for integration trajectories of asylum seekers and refugees. Germany's policy of randomly allocating asylum seekers across Germany may advantage some and disadvantage others in terms of opportunities for equal participation in society. This study explores the question whether asylum seekers that have been allocated to rural areas experience disadvantages in terms of language acquisition compared to those allocated to urban areas. We derive testable assumptions using a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) which are then tested using large-N survey data (IAB-BAMF-SOEP refugee survey). We find that living in a rural area has no negative total effect on language skills. Further the findings suggest that the “null effect” is the result of two processes which offset each other: while asylum seekers in rural areas have slightly lower access for formal, federally organized language courses, they have more regular exposure to German speakers. KW - refugees KW - allocation policies KW - rural KW - language acquisition KW - intergroup contacts KW - language courses KW - integration Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.841775 SN - 2297-7775 VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - GEN A1 - Khalil, Samir A1 - Kohler, Ulrich A1 - Tjaden, Jasper Dag T1 - Is There a Rural Penalty in Language Acquisition? Evidence From Germany's Refugee Allocation Policy T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Emerging evidence has highlighted the important role of local contexts for integration trajectories of asylum seekers and refugees. Germany's policy of randomly allocating asylum seekers across Germany may advantage some and disadvantage others in terms of opportunities for equal participation in society. This study explores the question whether asylum seekers that have been allocated to rural areas experience disadvantages in terms of language acquisition compared to those allocated to urban areas. We derive testable assumptions using a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) which are then tested using large-N survey data (IAB-BAMF-SOEP refugee survey). We find that living in a rural area has no negative total effect on language skills. Further the findings suggest that the “null effect” is the result of two processes which offset each other: while asylum seekers in rural areas have slightly lower access for formal, federally organized language courses, they have more regular exposure to German speakers. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 151 KW - refugees KW - allocation policies KW - rural KW - language acquisition KW - intergroup contacts KW - language courses KW - integration Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-566264 SN - 1867-5808 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Schmidt, Max Oliver T1 - Umkämpftes Asyl BT - Seenotrettung und Kirchenasyl als organisationale Strategien zur Usurpation des EU-Grenzregimes und zwischengesellschaftlicher Schließungssysteme Y1 - ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ganghof, Steffen A1 - Eppner, Sebastian A1 - Pörschke, Alexander T1 - Semi-parliamentary government in perspective BT - concepts, values, and designs JF - Australian Journal of Political Science N2 - The article responds to four commentaries on the concept of semi-parliamentary government and its application to Australian bicameralism. It highlights four main points: (1) Our preferred typology is not more ‘normative’ than existing approaches, but applies the criterion of ‘direct election’ equally to executive and legislature; (2) While the evolution of semi-parliamentary government had contingent elements, it plausibly also reflects the ‘equilibrium’ nature of certain institutional configurations; (3) The idea that a pure parliamentary system with pure proportional representation has absolute normative priority over ‘instrumentalist’ concerns about cabinet stability, identifiability and responsibility is questionable; and (4) The reforms we discuss may be unlikely to occur in Australia, but deserve consideration by scholars and institutional reformers in other democratic systems. KW - Executive-legislative relations KW - bicameralism KW - visions of democracy KW - parliamentary government KW - presidential government Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2018.1451488 SN - 1036-1146 SN - 1363-030X VL - 53 IS - 2 SP - 264 EP - 269 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Juchler, Ingo ED - Jungwirth, Martin T1 - Demokratische Aufbrüche in Berlin BT - Lernen an historischen Erinnerungsorten T2 - Forschen.Lernen.Lehren an öffentlichen Orten - The Wider View Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-3-95987-136-5 SN - 978-3-95987-135-8 U6 - https://doi.org/10.37626/GA9783959871365.0 SP - 155 EP - 160 PB - WTM-Verlag CY - Münster ER - TY - GEN A1 - Juchler, Ingo T1 - Narrationen in der fächerübergreifenden politischen Bildung N2 - In welchem Verhältnis stehen Literatur und das Politische? Fördert narrative politische Bildung Ambiguitätstoleranz und Mehrstimmigkeit? Der Beitrag diskutiert aktuelle didaktische Theorien und Beispiele. Y1 - 2022 UR - https://www.bpb.de/lernen/kulturelle-bildung/505903/narrationen-in-der-faecheruebergreifenden-politischen-bildung/ PB - bbp, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung CY - Bonn ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ganghof, Steffen A1 - Eppner, Sebastian A1 - Pörschke, Alexander T1 - Australian bicameralism as semi-parliamentarism BT - patterns of majority formation in 29 democracies JF - Australian Journal of Political Science N2 - The article analyses the type of bicameralism we find in Australia as a distinct executive-legislative system – a hybrid between parliamentary and presidential government – which we call ‘semi-parliamentary government’. We argue that this hybrid presents an important and underappreciated alternative to pure parliamentary government as well as presidential forms of the power-separation, and that it can achieve a certain balance between competing models or visions of democracy. We specify theoretically how the semi-parliamentary separation of powers contributes to the balancing of democratic visions and propose a conceptual framework for comparing democratic visions. We use this framework to locate the Australian Commonwealth, all Australian states and 22 advanced democratic nation-states on a two-dimensional empirical map of democratic patterns for the period from 1995 to 2015. KW - Executive-legislative relations KW - bicameralism KW - parliamentary government KW - presidential government KW - visions of democracy Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2018.1451487 SN - 1036-1146 SN - 1363-030X VL - 53 IS - 2 SP - 211 EP - 233 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER -