Why the NLD fails to consolidate democratic transition in Myanmar

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110392
Author(s):  
Zayar Lay Swe

The general populace in Myanmar, as well as international observers, have expected that the National League for Democracy (NLD) would be able to consolidate democratic transition, since the latter obtained a certain degree of support from home and abroad. During the five years of the NLD administration, transition has nevertheless been in regression instead of progression. All rating agencies (Freedom House, Bertelsmann, VDem) consider that Myanmar is not yet a democracy. Freedom House's report indicates that Myanmar's status changed from ‘Partly Free’ to ‘Not Free’ in 2020. Much of the existing literature argues that this stems from the NLD having had to operate within structural constraints and agency curbs. Therefore, this article will examine why the NLD is unable to overcome these barriers, under which structural factors and what kind of agency. The article argues that, instead of structure-altering, the NLD has reinforced structural barriers without seeking any considerable leeway within the bounds of existing constraints. In the context of structure, this article will examine the transition process itself, as well as constitutional arrangements, the economic system, and the political culture. The agency context will include the behaviours of the chief executive, the Tatmadaw, and the general populace.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Christer Hyggen ◽  
Janikke Solstad Vedeler

Using Work Training in Norway as a case, this article provides insight into motivation and structural factors that impact employer engagement with active labour market policies (ALMP) targeting young people. Drawing on mixed-methods data, we find a substantial proportion of Norwegian employers engage in Work Training. Both social responsibility and the economic interests of the company influence employers’ motivation for committing to Work Training. The findings reveal that the structural factors of business size and sector are crucial determinants of employer behaviour when it comes to hiring Work Training candidates. Although improved outreach activities by local job centres may be important, the article argues that efforts towards opening up sectors closed by sector-specific regulations on hiring, and increased awareness of structural constraints, are similarly important.


1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILL H. MOORE ◽  
DAVID R. DAVIS

In this article, the authors develop and empirically evaluate a general model of the linkages between domestic and international conflict behavior. Much of the literature on domestic international interactions has focused on the structural constraints of the international and domestic systems on leaders' foreign policy decisions. Rather than focusing on structural constraints, the present authors model the influence of the behavior of domestic and international rivals on leader decision making. The impact of rivals' behavior on conflict across the domestic-international nexus has been neglected relative to the role of structural factors. This study helps redress that imbalance. The authors test their model with a statistical analysis of Zaire during the period 1975 to 1992 and find substantial support for the model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Murray ◽  
Roger Loveless

Disabled people and their whänau have poorer outcomes across a wide range of wellbeing and living standards measures.1 Yet disability analysis does not appear to be well integrated into government decision making on wellbeing. This article builds a framework for understanding disability in a wellbeing context by using the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework and Sophie Mitra’s human development model for disability and health. One of the most important aspects of Mitra’s model is the interaction between resources and structural factors. Structural factors, such as an inaccessible built environment, force disabled people to spend more resources to get the same outcomes as nondisabled people. Publicly funded disability support is essential to counteract these structural factors. We also need to improve the usability of the four capitals for disabled people and their whänau to reduce these structural barriers.


Author(s):  
M. Steven Fish ◽  
Jason Wittenberg

This chapter examines key factors that lead to failed democratization. It first describes five categories of countries: established democracies, established autocracies, robust democratizers, tenuous democratizers, and failed democratizers. Using the Freedom House Index, it explains why some democratizers slid backwards while others did not. In particular, it looks at the conditions that undermine democracy and political actors, such as the chief executive, that contribute to democratization’s derailment. The chapter identifies several major structural factors that influence whether democratization succeeds fully, succeeds partially, or fails. These include poverty, a late history of national independence, a large Muslim population, economic reliance on oil and gas, and gender inequality. The chapter concludes by considering ways of reducing the hazards of democratic reversal and preventing relapses into authoritarianism, such as strengthening legislatures and curtailing executive power.


2018 ◽  
pp. 267-282
Author(s):  
M. Steven Fish ◽  
Jason Wittenberg ◽  
Laura Jakli

This chapter examines key factors that lead to failed democratization. It first describes five categories of countries: established democracies, established autocracies, robust democratizers, tenuous democratizers, and failed democratizers. Using the Freedom House Index, it explains why some democratizers slid backwards while others did not. In particular, it looks at the conditions that undermine democracy and political actors, such as the chief executive, that contribute to democratization’s derailment. The chapter identifies several major structural factors that influence whether democratization succeeds fully, succeeds partially, or fails. These include poverty, a late history of national independence, a large Muslim population, economic reliance on oil and gas, and gender inequality. The chapter concludes by considering ways of reducing the hazards of democratic reversal and preventing relapses into authoritarianism, such as strengthening legislatures and curtailing executive power.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. e001901
Author(s):  
Rachel King ◽  
Zubayiri Sebyala ◽  
Moses Ogwal ◽  
George Aluzimbi ◽  
Rose Apondi ◽  
...  

In sub-Saharan Africa, men who have sex with men (MSM) are socially, largely hidden and face disproportionate risk for HIV infection. Attention to HIV epidemics among MSM in Uganda and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa has been obscured by repressive governmental policies, criminalisation, stigma and the lack of basic epidemiological data describing these epidemics. In this paper, we aim to explore healthcare access, experiences with HIV prevention services and structural barriers to using healthcare services in order to inform the acceptability of a combination HIV prevention package of services for men who have sex with men in Uganda. We held focus group discussions (FGDs) with both MSM and healthcare providers in Kampala, Uganda, to explore access to services and to inform prevention and care. Participants were recruited through theoretical sampling with criteria based on ability to answer the research questions. Descriptive thematic coding was used to analyse the FGD data. We described MSM experiences, both negative and positive, as they engaged with health services. Our findings showed that socio-structural factors, mediated by psychological and relational factors impacted MSM engagement in care. The socio-structural factors such as stigma, homophobia and policy issues emerged strongly as did the mediating factors such as relations with specific health staff and a social support structure. A combination intervention addressing structural, social and psychological barriers could have an impact even in the precarious policy environment where this study was conducted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Obrutsky ◽  
Emre Erturk

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the most common barriers facing the greater adoption of Agile approaches to project management, and ways to overcome these barriers during an Agile transition. First, based on a literature review, this paper describes the Agile approaches and practices in general. The review also covers the previous work around the adoption of Agile, which provides considerable information about the challenges of doing so. This includes some prerequisites, key decisions, transitional frameworks, and recommendations to overcome organisational, cultural, and structural barriers. Next, this paper reports on a recently conducted Agile project management survey. Using this method, this research project gathered information about the important issues that software development companies have to overcome in order to be successful in an Agile transition. The survey was given to Scrum masters, project managers, chief executive officers, and IT professionals, who have participated in companies that have migrated from a traditional methodology to an Agile methodology. Several barriers were highlighted: general organisational resistance to change, lack of user/customer availability, pre-existing rigid framework, not enough personnel with Agile experience, concerns about loss of management control, concerns about lack of upfront planning, insufficient management support, concerns about the ability to scale Agile, need for development team support, and the perceived time and cost to make the transition. Finally, the paper offers concise recommendations to overcome each of the barriers as well as ideas for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Claire Preston ◽  
Nick Drydakis ◽  
Suzanna Forwood ◽  
Suzanne Hughes ◽  
Catherine Meads

The rollback of the welfare state in countries such as the UK, coupled with population ageing, have contributed to a situation in which responsibility for older people’s wellbeing is placed more heavily on the individual. This is exemplified in the notion in popular and policy circles that individuals should plan for later life, particularly financially, and a corresponding concern that they are not doing so sufficiently. This scoping review aimed to identify the structural factors which inhibit people from engaging in planning for later life. For the purposes of this review, we characterised planning as the range of activities people deliberately pursue with the aim of achieving desired outcomes in later life. This entails a future, as opposed to shorter-term, goal orientation. In study selection, we focused on planning at mid-life (aged 40 to 60). Systematic and snowball searching identified 2,317 studies, of which 36 were included in the final qualitative synthesis. The review found that limited financial resources were a key barrier to planning. Related factors included: living in rented accommodation, informal caring, and working part-time. A lack of support from employers, industry, regulators and landlords was also found to inhibit planning. The findings suggest that certain sections of society are effectively excluded from planning. This is particularly problematic if popular and policy discourse comes to blame individuals for failing to plan. The review also provides a critical perspective on planning, highlighting a tendency in the literature towards individualistic and productivist interpretations of the concept.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-206
Author(s):  
Sidra Maqsood ◽  
Fauzia Maqsood

Females’ proportion is increasing at higher levels of education in Pakistan but educated female’s employment is not increasing in consonance with their level of education. The main purpose of the present research is to explore the structural barriers of educated females regarding their participation in labor market. A sample of 251 female respondents was selected from University of Gujrat through stratified random sampling technique to conduct survey. A well-structured questionnaire was administered by the researcher to collect data from the respondents. Logistic regression was applied to examine independent effect of variables. To find out significance of various independent variables, dependent variable was cross examined by using chi- square method. Findings of Logistic regression revealed that structural factors were 3.3 times more likely to exhibit favorable attitude towards female employment, whereas respondents with highly supportive family’s normative factors were 2.9 times more likely to have favorable attitude towards female employment. The study suggested that there is still need to do more studies as well as large scale cross sectional house hold national surveys on this topic and there should be a mechanism to develop awareness campaign strategies to create awareness by using different channels including media, NGOs, and some other concerned departments to minimize structural factors and enhance female labor force participation.


Author(s):  
Kevin Banning ◽  
Ravi Chinta

Entrepreneurial intentions have been shown to be a good predictor of entrepreneurial activity, and consequently have attracted the attention of many scholars and policy makers. Because entrepreneurial activity provides an economic engine for job growth, it is crucial to identify what drives entrepreneurial intentions. Extant literature has focused on such factors as the availability of capital, governmental support, individual networks, and culture. This study empirically investigates the expected linkage between attitudinal and structural factors and the intensity of intention to start a business for women entrepreneurs in the southeastern United States. Results from a survey of 1200 women intending to start a business in reveal that significant attitudinal and structural barriers remain for women entrepreneurs. The paper concludes with implications for women entrepreneurs, policy makers, and for future research.


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