Browsing by Subject "decentralization"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Fact, Fiction, or Fragile: The Globalization and Populism Hypothesis
    (2023) Eichinger, Aphisith
    A dominant claim in political science is that globalization in advanced democracies is the culprit for the rise in populism and far right nationalism. The hypothesis has been tested dozens of times in economics and political science and with the many rigorous methodological approaches. But as advanced as the models are there are plenty that do not account for issues like worker selection into trade-exposed industries or exogenous political environments like the terrorism atmosphere of the 2010s and the creeping threat of Russia into Eastern Europe. Moreover, many of the studies confuse core concepts like populism and far right nationalism, which usually interferes with how the primary dependent variable is measured in empirical studies. I take these issues in mind and design a series of research papers that alternatively test the globalization and populism hypothesis. I study (1) voting just before and after the global financial crisis of 2008 when there was no threat of terrorism or Russian aggression, (2) decentralization and populism after 2008 but before 2013, and (3) populism, nationalism, and immigration preferences after defining “populism” in a more suitable fashion. I find overwhelmingly that globalization and populism have a fragile relationship at best and a fictional relationship at worst.
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    A qualitative study of Minnesota forestry based on logger experiences and the development of county land departments
    (2022-01) Spence, Marissa
    I use mixed social science methods to explore the Minnesota forest economy through two distinct but related parts. In part one I explore Minnesota logger challenges and adaptation strategies and find that Minnesota loggers face difficulties which are structural, including rising equipment costs, reduced business profitability, and timber market uncertainty. However, the actors within the forestry supply chain can improve market functioning through discretionary choices that promote individual and collective stability of the forest economy. In part two I explore the history and development of Minnesota county land departments to understand what policy choices over time have shaped the retention versus disposal of county land and how the decentralization of natural resource management has been implemented in Minnesota county forests. I found that local forestry will not work in all places and can take decades to flourish. Such programs require among other things long-term support and capacity building and markets to make the retention of the resource financially viable and compelling to local leaders. However, once developed, such programs can provide enduring benefits to under-resourced communities and may be an asset to state and regional economies. Collectively, this research will interest natural resource practitioners and policymakers who care about logger livelihoods and the fate of timber-dependent workers, as well as those seeking to improve the effectiveness of local forestry programs.
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    Serving China through Agricultural Science: American-Trained Chinese Scholars and “Scientific Nationalism” in Decentralized China (1911-1945)
    (2015-08) Geng, Xuan
    Throughout the Republican era in China (1911-1949), American-trained Chinese scholars played critical roles in establishing Chinese institutions for agricultural education, research, and extension. This dissertation argues that it was the sense of "belonging to China"� as a cultural and social entity-not a political one-that motivated Chinese scientists to study in the U.S. and to return to China, to apply their knowledge to the social problems of their homeland. Based on the American model, the scientific institutions established by these scholars nonetheless developed into a pattern uniquely adapted to the Chinese situation. This dissertation also explores the motivations and strategies used by these American-trained Chinese scholars to fulfil their desire of serving China by developing hybrid agricultural ideas, practices, and institutions. Due to political decentralization in Republican China, scholars with similar motivations and goals adopted diverse strategies, which was unusual for nationalistic scholars in other historical contexts. I demonstrate the flexibility of their ideas and practices, which proved adaptive to the dynamic social and natural environments in which they worked (from the Northeast to the Southwest, and from the early "warlord period"� through the turmoil of war in the 1940s). Hoping to improve the lives of Chinese people and to strengthen China's international status, these scientists not only survived during this turbulent era and established a new model for agricultural research and education, but also succeeded in creating and circulating agricultural knowledge for global scientific communities.