/library/oar/handle/123456789/8964 2025-12-28T15:19:22Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/10746 Title: Policy transfer and adaptation : a case study on the youth guarantee council recommendation Abstract: Due to globalisation, the concept of policy transfer became easier and faster. As a result, policy-makers and international institutions such as the European Union are constantly relying upon policy transfer. The purpose of this research was to study how European Union policies on youth unemployment such as the Youth Guarantee Recommendation transfer to Member States. Following the high youth unemployment rates in a number of European Member States such as Spain, Greece and Italy, on the 22nd April 2013, the European Union issued a Council Recommendation on establishing a Youth Guarantee. All Member States were encouraged to transfer this policy to their local arenas and design a National Youth Implementation Plan to address the high rates of youth unemployment and inactivity in their countries. The policy transfer framework adopted for this research was the one developed by Dolowitz and Marsh in 1996 and revisited in 2000. The European Commission confirmed that due to the alarming situation of high rates of youth unemployment and inactivity, action had to be taken. The European Commission drew lessons from the Nordic Countries and Austria and vertically transferred the policy to the Member States through a Council Recommendation. A qualitative analysis was implemented by conducting a number of elite interviews with key stakeholders. As a case study, the research analysed how Malta’s Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan and measures were realised and adapted. The adaptation analysis was based on the ‘strategic-projection’ model of Europeanisation developed by Scott. The ‘strategic-projection’ model of Europeanisation in this study was based on supranational learning. The monitoring and evaluation stages of the policy-making cycle also emerged as being fundamental in ensuring that the policy transfer led to successful results. Description: M.A.PUBLIC POLICY 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/10684 Title: Indigenous cultures and the human rights charter : the eradication of child marriage Abstract: Rights are protected by various forms of laws such as treaties, customary law and international law. International human rights are there to protect societies from their governments, if and only if, their rights are not being seen to ‘locally’. It also obligates governments not to act in certain ways such as capital punishment and to encourage and promote human rights and fundamental freedom. Principle of universality of human rights was first emphasized during the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, in 1948, and has kept its significance throughout the years. During the Vienna World Conference, in 1993, it was noted the great importance that all States require to protect and promote such rights. All of the States have ratified a core human right treaty whilst 80% of them ratified minimum of four. There are seven core treaties which spell out the basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights. Some rights have a universal protection through customary international law. Only a few rights may not be followed under certain circumstances such as the right to liberty if found guilty for a crime. Human Rights advocate agree that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights today is still a dream and not a reality as violations of Human Rights still exist in every part of the world. Amnesty International 2014 World Report shows War Crimes or other violations of the ‘laws of war’ were carried in at least eighteen countries, Armed groups committed in at least 35 countries, Refugees and Migrants were at particular risk in 2014, Almost three quarters of the governments restricted freedom of speech, More than a third of government locked up prisoners of conscience, 58% of trials conducted unfair trials, 82% of the countries tortured or ill‐treated the people, 28 countries around the world have laws which completely ban abortion even in cases where a women’s life is in danger and in cases of rape and Seventy eight countries have laws in effect that are used to criminalise consensual sexual relationships between adults of the same sex. Culture and Human Rights Culture is a characteristic of a group of people defined by their language, religion, social habits, cuisine and art. Culture is a shared pattern of behaviours and interactions which are learned by socialising. This is seen as the growth of an identity of a particular group. Culture is derived from the Latin word ‘colere’, meaning cultivation and nurture. Culture is a forceful statement for the human values. Culture is not universal and varies from one country to another. This means that human rights are rather culturally relative rather than a universal issue. When culture is taken to its extreme it poses a dangerous threat to put into effect the international law and the international system of human rights. If abuse and violation of human rights are given legitimacy, international laws are disregarded. Protection of human rights is interpreted as culturally relative if they are subject to State’s decisions in certain matters. If States decide to reject their legal obligations, States may then raise their own cultural norms which will be above international standards. One may ask is human rights universal? Description: H.DIP.POLITICAL STUD. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/10680 Title: External influences on Malta’s energy sector : a study of multilevel governance at work on the option of waste-to-energy Abstract: The use of energy has been a major component in the development of the society and the adaptation to the environment. Since, this sector encompasses other issues such as climate change and sustainable energy which can affect the human being and the environment, assistance from international organizations is perceived inevitable. A multilateral system in this case is inevitable (Esty, 2006). Since Malta is a full member of the European Union and the United Nations, it has emerged into a larger political arena and as a result it has altered public policy in Malta. Through an OECD/IEA Multilevel governance framework, the thesis aims to explore the linkages between regional, national and local politics to address waste-to -energy (waste management). The issue on waste management as another possible source of energy (waste to energy) is chosen as a case study to explore how MLG is being adapted. Consequently, through the formulation of two original hypotheses, the study aims to demonstrate two realties in Maltese contemporary politics. The data collection obtained from the official documents and the perspective views of the interviewees are the research tools utilized to test the original hypotheses. Findings indicate that the subject of waste management is considered both at EU and national level as another important source of renewable energy. Europeanisation of policy-making and European integration are the themes which are mostly associated to the changes incurred to the Maltese mode of governance. The inclusion of multiple actors at all levels of governance and coordination between the actors in the policy-making particularly in environmental issues has also featured as the turning point to obtain the desired outcome. Finally, this thesis identifies how the adaptation of MLG approach have shaped the Maltese polity, politics and policies in relation to waste management and through such data tests the original hypotheses. Description: M.A.PUBLIC POLICY 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/10679 Title: Bridging boundaries : the case of cross-sector collaboration in the youth policy field Abstract: In an effort to deal with the complexity of today’s public policy problems, public administrations have been increasingly engaging in collaborative efforts with actors beyond the public sector boundaries. Such collaboration between the public, private and non-profit sectors, known as cross-sector collaboration (CSC), has come to be understood as an optimal governance apparatus when tackling wicked policy issues. However, CSC is hardly easy. Managing an alliance between different social sectors can be as complex as the problems it aims to solve, and many CSCs fail to deliver. This study investigates the state of play of CSC, taking the youth policy field as a context. It highlights the benefits and challenges experienced during CSC. The study also examines the organisational environment that needs to be nurtured so that, given the right opportunities, the youth policy field would capitalise on such benefits and minimise the challenges. Using a qualitative approach this study adopted a case study design, making use of both primary and secondary data sources. The former was collected during 23 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from public, private and non-profit sectors. The latter was collected through a document analysis of all five national youth policies published to date. The data was eventually analysed thematically. This study presents a number of findings. First, CSC in the youth policy field, is perceived as desirable and is commended both by key stakeholders and in policy documents. This is due to a number of benefits that CSC confers, namely, added public value; access to otherwise unavailable resources; increased legitimacy and decreased organisational uncertainty. However, this study also revealed that such a positive perception does not automatically find currency in actual successful CSC. Collaboration across sectors is a relatively recent phenomenon and it is not yet considered the natural way of organising, it is rather a last resort option. In this regard, examples of CSC in the youth policy field are few, sparse and largely uncoordinated resulting in what could be described as ‘ad hoc collaboration arrangements’. This study posits that this is due to a number of challenges experienced during CSC such as limited resources; power asymmetries; scale and incompatible values. Interestingly however, this study also reveals that a number of actions could counter such challenges amongst which are identifying common grounds, setting clearer roles and responsibilities; investing in collaborative capacity and boundary spanning skills and trust development. Finally, the study puts forward a number of recommendations that could help create an optimal organisational environment where to foster successful CSC in particular through a lead-organisation network arrangement. Description: M.A.PUBLIC POLICY 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z