Indian NGOs have created at least one million self-help groups with 17,000,000 members since the self-help group concept was developed by MYRADA in the late 1980s. India is unique in that banks are permitted to lend directly to unregistered self-help groups and by May 2001, banks and cooperatives had financed 461,478 of these groups, with almost 200,000 new self-help groups financed between May 2000 and May 2001, indicating an accelerated process of expansion. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) trains banks and refinances their loans. The key to NABARD's success is decentralization. Responsibility for group development and training is devolved to NABARD's 2,100 NGO partners and almost 450 banks and cooperatives provide banking services to the groups. According to the Microcredit Summit Report, 2,663,901 of the 6,651,701 active members of the groups financed through NABARD (most of them women) were categorized as "the poorest," making NABARD the largest microfinance initiative in Asia, with Grameen Bank a close second. (If the number of members of self-help groups not linked to bank financing are included, the number of the poorest being reached through self-help groups is at least double.) Local costs per group member to train and support a group until it can operate independently range between $4 and $12.
HL Trentelman, AA Anton Stoorvogel, Malo Hautus, Larry Dewell
9R15. Control Theory for Linear Systems. - HL Trentelman (Dept of Math, Univ of Groningen, PO Box 800, Groningen, 9700 AV, Netherlands), AA Stoorvogel, M Hautus (Dept of Math and Comput Sci, Eindhoven Univ of Tech, PO Box 513, Eindhoven, 5600 MB, Netherlands). Springer-Verlag London Ltd, Surrey, UK. 2001. 389 pp. ISBN 1-85233-316-2. $84.95.Reviewed by L Dewell (Adv Tech Center, Lockheed Martin Advanced Tech Center, 3251 Hanover St, Palo Alto CA 94304).In the preface of this book, the authors stake out a strikingly broad boundary: “the theory of feedback control design for linear, finite-dimensional, time-invariant state space systems with inputs and outputs.” It is a testament to the recent growth of this field that had such a title appeared in the early 1970s, it would scarcely require 100 pages, let alone the nearly 400 pages of this book. Indeed, such a wide scope of a book today may either elicit suspicions of the authors of either being overly cursory in their treatment or overly parochial in their interpretation of the subject. In this book, however, the authors treat the subject with a coherence and an organization that made the large scope seem perfectly natural and pleasantly illuminating. The book appears to be adapted primarily to a reader interested in the theory of control for finite-dimensional linear systems, as opposed to applied engineers or scientists. The very restriction of the subject to such systems, however, allows for the applied control systems analyst to gain insights into recent developments in the field. The focus is certainly towards the development of a tight theoretical basis for the results, rather than applied examples, case studies or exercises. The authors assume that the reader is proficient in the linear algebra tools to analyze state space linear systems. In the opinion of this reviewer, it is probably best that the reader approach the book with an existing knowledge of the major results of the past few decades on the control of state space systems—most particularly linear quadratic regulators (LQR) and the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) problem. This book can quite readily stand on its own as an introduction to the recent results of H-infinity control theory from this foundation. The authors approach their subject from the point of view of geometric control theory, which requires a particular nomenclature and foundation with which the reader may not initially be familiar. The authors spend the first two chapters building such a foundation. In the next two chapters, the authors deal with the problem of disturbance decoupling and the notions of controlled and conditioned invariant subspaces. These are very fascinating chapters which alone make the book a worthwhile read. The following three chapters delve deeply into the structural properties of linear control systems, including system zeros and system invertibility. The next five chapters “deliver the goods” that the authors advertised in their preface—tracking and regulation, LQ optimal control, stochastic optimal control, and H-infinity control in finite- and infinite-time, with full-state and with measurement feedback. Each chapter was superbly organized into an introduction, a presentation of ideas, and a set of concluding notes. The notes were particularly pleasant to read, as they give the reader a clear connection between the material and the work of others over the last several decades. The index of the book is excellent (it includes a symbol index, which is frequently overlooked), and all results are painstakingly supported by proofs. If there is one area where the book seems inconsistent, it is in the paucity of numerical examples or case studies to illustrate the material of the book. This was doubtless a conscious decision of the authors, but the decision resulted in the work having a certain opacity and theoretical detachment that was distracting at times. The authors motivate the book in Chapter 1 by discussing, in detail, a practical problem of stationkeeping control of a geosynchronous satellite. After such a strong practical introduction, it would seem appropriate to apply the theory to a practical problem, perhaps even to the satellite problem suggested by the authors. Moreover, the authors stress in Chapters 4 and 6 that a disturbance decoupling controller can actually be numerically computed by algorithms they provide. An actual demonstration of such a controller synthesis would have been very powerful. Control Theory for Linear Systems is a fine contribution to the literature of control theory of linear systems. It offers a powerful organization and structure to the very broad subject of the control of finite-dimension linear systems and brings the torrent of activity of this field over the last several decades to a tight focus and perspective that has been lacking heretofore. This book is highly recommended for purchase by libraries and researchers in the field.
Bob Searle, Jun Ma, Stefano Piperno, Ehtisham Ahmad
Intergovernmental equalization grants have been described as “the glue that holds a nation together.” Getting the grants system right is critical to countries as they decentralize. This paper illustrates general principles with an example based on Indonesia in 2000. A general grant should be used to supplement own revenues and to finance local service provision where there are no central mandates. The special needs of backward regions would be better provided for by specific grants. Specific grants need to be taken into account in the general grants scheme.
The voting plays important roles in a democratic country. Due to the problems of the existed voting m ethod, the new voting methods, electronic voting system, have been developing using the computer net work and cryptographic techniques. Many electronic voting schemes have been introduced for secure electronic voting systems. In this paper, we propose the secure electronic voting for absentee e-voting system. The absentee voting plays the important percentage in the existing voting system. But, the abs entee vote can not look forward to the security because of transmit by mail. The absentee does not kno w whether one’s voting is exactly counted or not. In this paper, we propose the absentee e-voting syste m based on security, completeness and verifiability. We use r-th residue cryptography for homomorphi c encryption, ZKIP (Zero-Knowledge interactive proofs), RSA algorithm. Also, we propose the ne w method of tallying for multi-candidate. The goals of out voting system are the absentee vot ing based on privacy, universal verifiability, reuseability and multi-candidate.
In this paper, we propose the absentee e-voting system based on security, completeness and verifiability. We use r-th residue cryptography for homomorphic encryption, ZKIP (Zero-Knowledge interactive proofs), RSA algorithm for the secure absentee e-voting.
Introduction There is global consensus on speeding up action against HIV/AIDS to mitigate the impact of the epidemic as rapidly as possible. However, there are no common blueprints on how to organize and manage accelerated HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programmes to be followed by countries. Countries have tried to develop their intervention measures on the basis of local realities and international experiences available to them. The Ethiopia HIV/AIDS programme implementation process involves a high degree of the learning-by-doing approach, which capitalizes on positive lessons learned further to speed up action against HIV/AIDS. This article is a modest contribution and an example of what can be done in Africa in response to the epidemic in terms of project preparation and implementation (Table 1). It is hoped that some of these experiences can provide useful lessons for the preparation and implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes in other countries.Table 1: Landmarks in the history of HIV/AIDS interventions in Ethiopia. Brief history of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and rationale for intensified action AIDS is now the leading killer in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, Ethiopia has the sixteenth highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), after South Africa and India. The primary modes of transmission in Ethiopia are sexual contact (heterosexual) and perinatal/mother-to-child transmission. Although the magnitude of the problem has yet to be sufficiently assessed, harmful indigenous practices and unsafe needle injection may be considered to be mechanisms for the spread of the virus in view of the wide practice in Ethiopia. The first evidence of HIV in Ethiopia was noted in 1984, and the first two AIDS cases were reported in 1986. HIV prevalence remained low in the 1980s, but has increased rapidly since the early 1990s. HIV prevalence increased from 3.2% in 1993 to 7.3% in 2000 (Fig. 1) [1]. During the same period, increasing trends were noted among women attending antenatal clinics in sentinel surveillance sites with notable regional variations. Estimated adult HIV prevalence according to the Ministry of Health in November 2000 was 16.8, 13.4 and 5% for Addis Ababa (capital city), other urban areas and rural areas, respectively.Fig. 1.: Ethiopia – adult HIV/AIDS prevalence.Initial HIV/AIDS-related activities in Ethiopia A National Task Force for HIV/AIDS was established in 1985. Two medium-term HIV/AIDS prevention and control plans were designed and implemented between 1987 and 1996, with the emphasis on information, education and communication, condom promotion, surveillance, patient care and the expansion of HIV screening laboratories in different health institutions. However, the interventions were limited in scope and there was little involvement of communities, sector ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including religious organizations and private organizations. The extent of interventions did not correspond to the fast spreading nature of the infection. Factors leading to organizational changes in the management of HIV/AIDS programme Global evidence of the adverse effects of unchecked HIV/AIDS epidemics on the socioeconomic situation of countries and the international movement to scale up action against HIV/AIDS have in no small way influenced the Ethiopian government to take accelerated action against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Also, the First International Conference on AIDS in Ethiopia held in Addis Ababa on 7–10 November 1999 provided an additional forum for generating the support and commitment of high government officials to enhance HIV/AIDS interventions in Ethiopia. The government of Ethiopia became conscious of: (i) the devastating effects of the increasing infection rate that had reached epidemic proportions; (ii) the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS with the huge number of deaths severely straining the traditional social coping mechanism (the EDIR, a social organization created by communities to support families during funerals); (iii) the weaknesses of the existing organizational set-up to handle the rapid progress of the infection; and (iv) the common understanding that if the epidemic is left unchecked, it will alter the trajectory of the country's development by retarding growth, weakening human capital, discouraging investment, exacerbating poverty and increasing inequality. Ethiopia, therefore, in August 1998 approved a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy to provide guidance and direction to the preparation of a multi-sectoral and multi-partner HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme. A National HIV/AIDS Council composed of ministers, regional heads of state, civil society, religious leaders, NGOs and PLWHA was established under the chairmanship of the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in April 2000. The National Council has appointed the National Advisory Board, which meets monthly to provide direction and guidance to the implementation of the multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS control and prevention programme through the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat and its Project Coordinating Unit (PCU). Regional and local coordinating bodies were also established to facilitate the implementation of HIV/AIDS interventions at the community level. Influence of global HIV/AIDS movements on HIV/AIDS programmes in Ethiopia Globally, HIV/AIDS is now treated as an economic crisis and not merely a health problem. Successful HIV/AIDS interventions under such circumstances require actions as broad as the epidemic itself and intense enough to respond effectively to the level reached by the epidemic. The resource needs of such massive interventions are too enormous to be sufficiently addressed by many developing countries. A number of international agencies have expressed readiness to increase their commitment substantially in the fight against HIV. In order to realize this commitment, an International Partnership Against HIV/AIDS in Africa was formed, and UNAIDS was established co-sponsored initially by UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. The number of co-sponsors has since increased. The co-sponsors and UNAIDS secretariat met in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, on 19–20 January 1999, and agreed to work together to slow the spread of HIV in Africa drastically, and enhance a sustainable political and social mobilization at an unprecedented scale in order to reduced HIV transmission and suffering and to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. The World Bank, conscious of the crisis created by the epidemic and the consequences of inaction, and convinced that it could play a greater role in HIV/AIDS prevention and control, prepared a strategic document in May 1999 [2] entitled ‘Intensifying action against HIV/AIDS: responding to a development crisis'. The Bank's new strategic plan placed HIV/AIDS at the centre of its development agenda to combat the epidemic, in partnership with African governments and UNAIDS. To stimulate and support the implementation of the strategy, the World Bank took three major actions: (i) established a multi-sectoral AIDS Campaign Team for Africa (ACTAfrica); (ii) directed all bank projects to include an HIV/AIDS component; and (iii) made available an initial US$500 million fund to be drawn by African countries to scale-up their HIV/AIDS interventions. A second amount of US$500 million was recently approved by the board of the World Bank. The global mobilization efforts have to a great extent encouraged the government of Ethiopia to intensify the action against HIV/AIDS to reverse the tragic situation. Enabling environments (internal and external) created to scale-up HIV/AIDS interventions in Ethiopia The global movement to accelerate and expand action against HIV/AIDS has created a potential for the increased availability of essential resources to developing countries. In Ethiopia a number of international and bilateral donors (e.g. WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS, ILO, USAID, DFID, GZT, DANIDA, Irish Aid, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, the World Bank) have either provided support or are finalizing their project support. The government of Ethiopia approved a multi-sectoral and comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy that created an enabling environment for a wide range of HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities. The establishment of the National HIV/AIDS Council, the Advisory Board, National and Regional HIV/AIDS Secretariats, and their decentralized bodies have established potentially appropriate organization and management structures to lead expanded and intensified HIV/AIDS interventions throughout the country (Fig. 2).Fig. 2.: Organizational structure for HIV/AIDS management programme. NGOs, Non-governmental organizations.The World Bank has made funds available to countries including Ethiopia to draw from its initial allocated fund for HIV/AIDS. The Ethiopia Multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS Project (EMSAP) finances a 3-year (2000–2003) government HIV/AIDS strategic plan that is estimated initially to cost US$63.4 million [3,4]. The World Bank has approved US$59.7 million to help pay for the project, of which more than US$28 million is earmarked to support civil societies and community-driven HIV/AIDS initiatives. The process undertaken during the preparation of the Ethiopia Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Project After formulating the national HIV/AIDS policy and preparing the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework [5], the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia requested the World Bank to support its efforts to accelerate and expand action against the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the country. As the request was in line with the global commitment and strategic plan of the Bank, the Bank agreed to the Government's request as long as there were institutional arrangements in place, such as the formation of a National AIDS Council, the establishment of the National Secretariat and the appointment of a National Task Force to lead the process of project formulation and development. The National HIV/AIDS Council was inaugurated in April 2000, and the appointment of the head of the National Secretariat was announced in the same forum. The preparation of EMSAP started in July 2000. Again at the request of the Government of Ethiopia, a multi-donor HIV/AIDS identification and preparation mission was undertaken to facilitate the preparation of a fundable project for an HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme in Ethiopia. A preliminary consultation workshop was held early in July 2000 to assess the prevailing HIV/AIDS situation in the country, and suggest the scope and actions to be undertaken to address the epidemic. The participants included members of the newly formed National HIV/AIDS Council, representatives of major sector ministries, regional state representatives, NGOs, and members of the civil society (women, youth, PLWHA, religious organizations, academic institutions) and donors. On the basis of the briefing on the status of HIV/AIDS and discussions that followed, the meeting agreed on actions that needed to be taken to mitigate the effects of the epidemic rapidly. The meeting stressed the following points during its deliberations: That HIV/AIDS activities should be guided and directed by the highest authority in the Government and the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat should be directly under such an authority that commands respect for its directives by all concerned. HIV/AIDS activities should be community based and driven. A special emergency grant fund should be created to support civil society and community-based initiatives. The fund should flow directly to communities, circumventing the normally bureaucratic financial system of the Government. The establishment of such a financial system would help ensure a fast flow of funds to support communities to engage rapidly in scaled-up HIV/AIDS interventions. NGOs, private organizations, community-based organizations and PLWHA should be actively involved and supported to expand their HIV/AIDS interventions by directly providing grant funding to support their activities. The project should be designed in a way that provides flexibility. The participants of the meeting outlined the objectives, components and logical framework for EMSAP. On the basis of the strategic plan and the logical framework, the National AIDS Secretariat Task Force, with technical support from World Bank staff and other donors, developed a draft multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS Programme. The main objective of EMSAP is to help reduce the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, alleviate its impact, and increase access to treatment, care and support for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The components of the project were identified as including: (i) capacity building of public and private institutions; (ii) the Government multi-sectoral (iii) the response of communities, NGOs and the private sector to mitigate the and (iv) project and A draft project document was prepared and to a second The draft document was also for to of the during the initial meeting and an international mission composed of UNAIDS and bilateral institutions. The draft document was on the basis of the and provided by and a document was which the Government for funding to donors. Brief of components and activities The project components the scope of activities that have to meeting the agreed The country has a limited public capacity to the newly HIV/AIDS programme. It was to the institutional capacity of Government civil society and the private sector at and to accelerate the implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme. in this include the of human and other to the national and regional and and HIV/AIDS bodies in the were on EMSAP and were to the Project and other and the multi-sectoral implementation response of government agencies The of this is to support the multi-sectoral response of government organizations to scale up their interventions in the fight against the expansion of HIV/AIDS. The initial interventions prevention condom and and and care and support for those infected and affected of financial and support to PLWHA and in this government organizations at the level have established HIV/AIDS and their work plans and for and by the National Advisory the work plans and were approved and funds have to of (Table approved and for projects by non-governmental organizations, private organizations and people living with HIV/AIDS by the National HIV/AIDS The Ministry of has held and and HIV/AIDS for and and is the formation and of The Ministry of has up condom availability and the and of The authority has not the of HIV/AIDS interventions as and condom infection and as of the with but also is in the process of HIV/AIDS interventions among its and work regional sector have developed and their work plans and to the regional HIV/AIDS fund The emergency HIV/AIDS fund is an of EMSAP. A number of NGOs and community-based organizations in the country are to potential that could be by providing additional and including The is designed to support NGOs, the private religious organizations and community-based organizations to scale up their HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities in order to reduce the of the epidemic as fast as possible. The has two for and and the other for NGOs, private organizations, PLWHA and civil societies for all two with and NGOs religious and private organizations have from the of the fund (Table programmes and care and support to those infected and affected has increased in scale and scope in of the and communities supported by of funds by the Project Coordinating Unit to ministries, regional and HIV/AIDS Although there are in the country, International support for community-based programmes will be in for the There have to increase the number of support. The is not the of funds but the capacity to provide the support to The process of implementation also involves that require of the experiences the of an is to what has and what needs to be or The process involves a high degree of learning-by-doing a of experiences Project and management The main of this is to help develop a and management system that is of coordinating and the the National Secretariat is the management and is to a under the direction of the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat The is with structures that include programme and and The of funds to International Government of of NGOs, non-governmental National Project Coordinating people living with Regional The has established with the essential and The provides support to the establishment of the regional The has more than for funding at a national and has the of some funds to the appropriate A and has established and a and has appointed in an to a and system for HIV/AIDS in the country. process and impact have identified to help the and of the an HIV/AIDS system has developed with the of The Ethiopian and with support from the is actively involved in HIV/AIDS the support of USAID, Health International is a on HIV/AIDS. of these are to to and the effects of the interventions. of the Ethiopian project EMSAP is by communities, NGOs and donors. the US$63.4 the is US$59.7 million The is to be by donors, NGOs and The financial management system two of the funds is provided through the government fund flow and the other is directly to that have established and financial control the of the preparation of many expressed a to support the project, but the created an that in a After the of in the a number of donors have to support the Government's HIV/AIDS programme. became on January this the World Bank is the major to the The major and experiences in the implementation of the project National and regional and have established and The and have formed in the first of and were appointed and are in and coordinating community-based activities. have funds from the centre and have started up HIV/AIDS interventions. activities have is as by the increase in the number of HIV/AIDS is with by private and public in a of in the for HIV/AIDS is through the UNAIDS In briefing are by the to on the status of implementation of the The financial and system and organization and have prepared to the management of the project at and other have provided to the and the regional to facilitate and activities. have placed for the of and to and the of by health institutions. for have prepared and In view of the by the of the epidemic, the management of the national and regional had to be rapidly and in a There was little for the and to and the implementation process of the project In the project has a a number of and which made In view of these the progress in implementation is not as fast as for an emergency The project is implemented by many and decentralized and were prepared and to coordinating and bodies to the implementation of the project the have useful in the implementation However, there is a to ensure to facilitate the of the to different The project by massive involvement of NGOs, the private sector and community-based organizations to scale up HIV/AIDS prevention and control interventions to mitigate the impact of the epidemic rapidly. This epidemic a coordinating mechanism at all as the government would to facilitate the of these in the and management capacity of the and regional have the of all those to be actively The of government is an of EMSAP. Although it is to that some sector have expanded their HIV/AIDS a number of require and support to increase the scope of their HIV/AIDS interventions. The development of the and system was special from the of the composed of national and international organizations in and was established to and provide for and development. A national and was and in and held in South Africa. action is needed to the and system a in the of an appropriate and system will the process of project actions are taken by all to enhance the establishment of a and learned The Ethiopia HIV/AIDS project was prepared a fast project preparation a fast preparation process was by the to resources for an emergency situation that had started economic and a on the existing social coping The of the project has not increased but has also the establishment of management structures essential for intervention international partnership was in and generating government to take action against HIV/AIDS. The Government of Ethiopia established a comprehensive HIV/AIDS a HIV/AIDS strategic and a multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS National Council, under the of the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In the government established a National HIV/AIDS Secretariat under the a under the National and a policy that the of all of which are essential for up HIV/AIDS interventions in the country. The government has that of activities in limited areas are to slow the rapidly increasing epidemic, and has up regional and that are now leading a against HIV/AIDS It is that in the epidemic an expansion of community-based interventions. The Government of Ethiopia has taken unprecedented measures to interventions at a community level by a to funds to flow directly to communities, and public funds available to support NGOs and private organizations. This action has made the rapid of to communities to help the rapid implementation of community-based which would have slow if the flow of funds had followed government As a of such a rapid progress has noted in some of the communities as by the increase in activities and support to those affected and infected the to all the during the first was The to the number of to has created a forum for what a learning-by-doing an to assess the in the and to the and of the intervention measures during the first learned during the first of implementation were to some of the in the of The level of and capacity of communities is in terms of their to The that communities are provided with and is not should be supported by community-based NGOs or other development to in the The the government has an implementation in has encouraged many donors to in HIV/AIDS interventions in the country. than donors are now a new commitment to provide additional technical and financial support. EMSAP is of the first two HIV/AIDS programme projects by the World Bank in sub-Saharan Africa. The of project preparation and of implementation have for many other HIV/AIDS projects in with of the scope and of the epidemic, and the readiness of many of the to fast action at the project level is and However, rapid project preparation and implementation and that to be addressed as early as possible. EMSAP the of the of the implementation process in order to and early measures to the project to its the adverse consequences of and conscious of the limited capacity of the existing the World Bank has taken special measures to support the national and regional and to accelerate the implementation of EMSAP. In to the support provided by the and the at the country a bank was to support the and the regional This has substantially to project implementation at all The National Secretariat and have with regional to assess progress and on actions to be taken during the following such have and the discussions and taken in these have created common understanding on project implementation and common to during The and the taken to an HIV/AIDS programme in Ethiopia can provide and for other developing countries on this public health A of the major the actions taken and are in The fast preparation process undertaken by this project in Ethiopia was in funds available to scale up intervention activities by communities, NGOs, private organizations and the public sector rapidly. The project a learning-by-doing than to programme in during which would have by of major action taken and the process project funds were directly to NGOs, community-based organizations, and communities to scale up rapid HIV/AIDS interventions at the local the are the of the project and the of of the the during the first are not the HIV/AIDS project in Ethiopia, a number of national and international organizations have now developed a partnership with the government by providing financial and support to the project to be in Ethiopia, trends have in and the expansion of care and support at the community level. A number of World Bank staff and international organizations have to the preparation and implementation of the project, and it is to all and organizations. The to the special contribution of the following in the and implementation of and The would also to their of the and support by the national and regional the Project and the international and bilateral organizations. the special support and to the by World Bank President for and the have support and guidance to the preparation and implementation of the
Since the 1960’s, American schools have been under especial scrutiny for their capacity to educate youth effectively. Although school reform and improvement have always been national concerns (the Progressive era at the turn of the last century, for example), the launching of Sputnik in 1957, at a time when the Cold War shaped American fears, spurred alarm about the state of schooling in the country. If the Russians, who appeared to live under less prosperous conditions, were capable of such a scientific feat, citizens wondered, why had Americans not launched the first orbital satellite? One of the most frequently cited answers was that United States schools were not educating students sufficiently, particularly in subject areas of increasing prominence, such as math and science. The launch of Sputnik proved pivotal in our ongoing and contemporary concern with school improvement. A number of school improvement trends have arisen since the 1960s in attempts to improve American education, each offering particular antidotes to educational troubles. Decentralization efforts in the 1960s and 1970s were approaches that sought to encourage local control of curriculum and finance, and to increase community participation in matters of education. Ultimately, however, many of these efforts became ineffective in terms of school improvement as involvement of community members was often token, or dominated only by the most influential community leaders (deMarrais & LeCompte, 1999). In the 1990s, site-based management and shared decision-making were successors to the earlier decentralization efforts. These school improvement approaches sought again to render schools more responsive to community concerns. Nonetheless, participants with relatively little power continued to face obstacles to their full involvement, and research revealed little impact of site-based management or shared decision making on academic indicators (deMarrais & LeCompte, 1999; Riordan, 1997). Another wave of school improvement efforts, in response to the 1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education’s report A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform, focused on raising standards for students and teachers. This approach entailed establishing performance requirements for students and linking teacher accountability to student achievement on standardized tests. The standards movement continues to play a significant role in contemporary debate about how to improve education (Riordan, 1997). The Effective Schools movement was an attempt to discover what might make some schools better equipped than others to produce high performing students. According to this research (Levine & Lezotte, 1995), effective schools evidence specific characteristics, such as a clear mission, high academic expectations for all students, a safe school environment, and strong instructional leadership from administrators. However, this area of research failed to provide insight into how schools developed such characteristics. School improvement is increasingly viewed as an ongoing and comprehensive process. Recent legislation has encouraged the adoption of such a view, with the 1998 appropriation of $150 million by Congress to states for allocation to schools undertaking research-based schoolwide reform programs through the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (CSRD). Earlier, in 1994, Congress altered regulations to allow schools receiving Title I funds, with free and reduced lunch 50% and above, to use such funds for whole school improvement (American Institutes for Research, 1999).
On 14 November 1904, El Mundo, Havana’s conservative newspaper, reported the “mysterious disappearance of Zoila,” a four-year-old white girl, from her home in El Gabriel, a small town outside of Havana.1 Over the course of a year, the newspaper would devote a great deal of attention to the story. Eduardo Varela Zequiera, the story’s reporter who would eventually build a career based on his reporting on issues of race, publicly surmised, along with his reporting of the facts, that the child had been a victim of brujería. At the same time, El Gabriel’s increasingly alarmed and vocal residents demonstrated before the courthouse and police station, demanding thorough searches of every household in the vicinity until the brujos were found and detained. Suspicion settled on Pablo and Juana Tabares, a black couple living together, and on Domingo Boucourt, a former slave known in the area for his African-derived healing and religious practices. They were detained briefly, but released after questioning for lack of evidence. The same month a parallel case involving the death of Celia, another little girl, and the arrest of a black man named Tin-Tan also occupied the front pages of the newspapers. About two weeks after Zoila’s disappearance, the police found a body. A gruesome description of its condition communicated, in all its details, the allegedly barbaric nature of the crime. A large portion of the torso and extremities were missing skin and flesh. Yet the feet were intact, including shoes and socks that were still on the body. The heart had been extracted, according to forensic doctors, with a sharp instrument. After a lengthy investigation in which the number of accused grew to a dozen, the following story began to emerge. Boucourt was said to be the leader of a group of brujos who gathered regularly to enact rituals and healings. Juana Tabares, whose children suffered from ill health, had sought Boucourt’s help, and since his remedy required the blood of a white child, he was said to have demanded that someone in the group kill one and bring him the corpse. The investigation had failed to pin down the actual murderer, although suspicion rested on Victor Molina and another man of African descent. But it had confirmed (or so it claimed) the instigating role of brujería.By January 1905, Boucourt and Victor Molina had received the death penalty for murder. They were executed amidst a great deal of attention from the press in 1906. After the execution, the brains of Molina and Boucourt were sent to Luis Montané, professor of anthropology at the University of Havana, to be put on display at the Museo Antropológico Montané on campus. There, they took their places alongside ñáñigo suits, ritual objects and archaeological findings, adding to the collection of “criminal brains” examined by students of anthropology for morphological evidence of violent tendencies.Zoila was the first of a series of public, sensational brujería scares that shook early Republican Cuba. As this brief example suggests, the unfolding of events reverberated, beyond the families and towns most immediately affected, into courts of law and elite intellectual spheres. In the courts, both prosecutors and defendants exploited the contradictions arising from a changing legal system. Long investigations and trials tested the elusive boundaries among brujería, ñañiguismo, asociación ilícita, and delinquency against changing notions of legal responsibility and new codifications of rights to freedom of religion and association. For intellectuals monitoring Cuba’s imbibement of modernity, evidence of practices deemed primitive threatened the achievements of political autonomy and universal manhood suffrage and aspirations to social order.In the earliest moment of the republic the contours of criminality and citizenship had been subject to contention. A hybrid and evolving legal system both codified and added ambiguities to the definitions of brujería, ñañiguismo, and asociación ilícita. Although authorities often conflated them of of practices to African-derived brujería and were legal a of often and violent the of asociación the in a that it in practices from to to in of a had the In the early of the authorities had to brujería the of both asociación and health, which had been in the of the The for freedom of religion and of a of after the In accused of brujería and new they freedom of religion in their the both legal and of African-derived religious practices into a of this from and also by elusive boundaries at the took it to and the of they practices of African descent. The with its of and added new to the of and and new into the in the first two of the in this in which legal and social on one and in which the scares a of and its codified but of a with the who to the against of of Cuba’s of and political The of a religious and social of former and their along with political a from in the At was to the of the for and the republic from and black political with the its to the at the first of new political contours have the for of the the first two of the of their As political for the black in both and were for both and and although the to which they black their in a In to political from and their in a number of including the both in the and black newspapers. that and but them a with which to and to the of black intellectuals in the press and in of the of brujería and since brujería had before been with and a of the of practices to the of the of republic they As they and on and of the A on and in Republican with to the of in and on the and of the of to that with of the of the of a arising of the of in a of and to the in which both and black criminality of race, and spheres. of in the social and in the courts into of the republic with to In they that and and practices but were also to one legal and political of the for of the by this to that the of black criminality into Cuba’s a often in and intellectuals on of of and with to the of the a whose according to a on intellectuals and and a for and whose course on one of the most at the University of Havana, and the to the two most and for the of all to they had a for based on and to had and lack of to the In that this and had the a a political The for a to and that were for that universal suffrage had been a that and was a and that the was by of the of social the of whose from that of For black Havana’s in Cuba’s social from he the But the was and social on the increasingly of and and that sought a he the for Cuba’s along with its its and its of Cuba’s that the to the of autonomy and attention to a series of violent race, African into the of the black on this subject reported in the press and to his that had been from the the press that brujería and to a them a the the for that The reporting was and Long on the of the and and new evidence of its with the and of the little new was The also of the of the of the accused and their the its were the of the execution, were with of the As of the and a of brujería and a of the the one black often with African-derived religious white children in to their blood for ritual The accused in a by was of Varela that and barbaric was in and in the of the and Varela that the of the black was most a barbaric a that social would and Yet he Varela them for his that was for it was of the be to the a in of of by at the role of and in evidence a and of in the early of the had been of since the early with the first press in In the had (or with to their and including black and the of had a for and of to with one the early the and of grew a of changing A in of for in that it was to to and by In since were at the same time, of were At two El and reported the have that he had a for along with his reporting of the facts, his of the of the The was of but a of a and from the Cuba’s he on his of religious at that they were and he that the of to in and brujería was and at the heart of the was a great The of was a for but it one of the by the so by to to in the of a of had to of its he this and was by the of its in the and its to with its practices the and was before a religion a against of The and practices of brujos at the a to and a to a and to the of the of Boucourt’s and a man who would in intellectual his to Varela the the of and for a of Boucourt and a of the the system the would be with in of of was a he that the was to be he would have been a had he one of the most known to his African and his role a in the with a and were that would have by of evidence for the of a first of since Boucourt to was a of his his had been a by and he the to Zoila,” he so that his although a was and according to the he had from and had to which the of In to Varela of to the and of Boucourt’s he had the that he by the he had so the of his him on the of the white it was his primitive and the of his and to his in his and a of he the primitive and of his of the it was a of a but of religious the and for that had in the the of a white But his to was the of that was the of the was and so African were in a A was of in who his according to the with their of and a in for his to to the that this the of its social and the course of a of would be to that in the course of from to it was which him and his in the in the first of they to a his of the with to and and including and on to his The of with had his in in the of the of the new of of and two and them to on one that were to a primitive and they had On the he that be to and from both and the of with the of that a with African with was that had been by of that they had been a group to by the of was on a Varela of the of Although brujería still a he it had a of its with Cuba’s of The for was on the of on the of the of the the Cuba’s and the of brujos of They were but of one had so that brujería so of it was with the of that one the the of their required investigation and still in a would it to that this of would to they to the and and following the of another with but with the of the the in which would the had the of ritual and into evidence of he was to his to which had its but of the African At the of his that Boucourt was of his a that the had a for his in In a had a for and who to him in the of a for his to be of he “criminal was in a had at the University of and and to in to in In a the of the a to the of him a in he was in had a brief the of to in a by the intellectual who was to his was of the the case the press and public, he to have attention from after the story in the he had the on which he would brujos the that the on the of the was and of the on the of Boucourt’s execution, its the of the and of the race, and crime. Yet the beyond the in its of and In and and and for brujos was a new of for a sensational series of events into the of a and the social that on the of by At the same it career a of and a with with intellectual including and the on to the on in and evidence both to to the of brujería and to a case for As social were to the was a that of the Cuba’s was to for the of African into the the was based on the of on criminality and delinquency it rested on and notions of was the of the Yet brujos at on of on of their and objects and on the and to their on first which the of Cuba’s with a of and its on the he it to race, in by their to in a was of the of a which and the of to the the the black which to and the white its that into from the of his and were for for at that time, but The of and criminality was from but from he his from of and to reporter of from newspaper that of brujería the and 1906. the the story of child would on after the of practices and to brujería in pages The healing and ritual from which objects were and in one case the of a black from a one story of reported the of a child, from of which in his and it was one of the that the with child in the and that the case of was the for the the A of the of he on and the religious system he to the brujos and the practices of the and a of the of in African and so that the practices and their criminality to be a for the of brujería, with in and were also with a of the African the be a following the of on the the of would a Yet The with a for first in the against brujería be to the them from their with brujería have their and their their all the of that its to the barbaric of be to to their from the of and to of In to of and of African in to the of brujos were in their in of and subject to the of and a number of from the for attention The the that a race, and criminality it to brujos was a The of in this case of and was in the case and he the he on and for with the newspaper gathered and sent to him in the case his he was with brujería. by police of the small town of and police from the town of of of and and of of on the the by the in of and into in the of social of of The police would for social but for legal his with in and a of thorough and first in to it was and by of brujos in political and of most that their from the of the had They of that with in a of Cuba’s in the They also and to to in El on with the his and the of in so a and the attention the and had received from had been for Cuba’s put his on the and found the of and that have but have in brujos and two of two of against this his subject for this by began with but a of to with his in to of he and from he that of his based on with were and a of from the in that he the but was of for the whose intellectual so the that of new for of and intellectual In findings, he on their to and on role in by took on and of religious and that the had been to and brujería, and that brujería had so of the new to the the for and to that the was a and with for that he was the one that and to to social so that they be according to the of The of to social and to the of of the to who had a and the of it The and a at the University of evidence from the in his on in a a by his of brujos of a and in El in it to the and the of to the of at and from of the in to on a and the a of intellectual on a number of issues be gathered the of and with a number of social of from and also of intellectual and his of for the of the republic have to of and for their to in the and and of a number of new the had race, and social this a in the of and to social took University of one home for the of After the of was in the Luis Montané, of the of and professor of anthropology and of the two of a course on the and of the of at the time, his to from a number of he his course first course on for the law to students in the of anthropology to The of and of the and in course description to the of of The that both and be subject to his his students the of of The of from the of the a and he them the of of also a on of the for and by the were in in with his and although by the they had to The for students in the of the and of into its Montané of the of the in and in and the and of with of a the anthropology for law students and for and a of and one of The to a with new on and and on the of in legal with new on of the a of and legal of the On of the of the and to students also in to Havana’s and that they the and of the of from the in students to in the adding the of and to the he the responsibility the among by who of a with his on the of received a deal of attention in and would to a role in the system At was the to which be for their by of to by In the this was a often of accused brujos and of this course the same until at For the of until he in the were in the of from with to on the of took the after he most of the of the it adding a on the that had been in the press and since 1906. In to the in in the University of Havana’s he his on the of he most of that his in that his The most of a child reported the year, demonstrated the of the to with the death of Although with Varela his were have of the who with been one of the most and social in the to which his of the in and the in including and and to new in the and and a in which the social were to and social The with which they of their in the of that the would on political and in all the a of that they and Yet of their of a of health, the role of the in and the of with to the and the of by and and on the of they also a for of intellectual of in the of law and in the their to social deemed The of in this also a and in law and and from a of were were on and on by in and doctors, of them political of the intellectual elite group to the of Cuba’s social and In the and were to a of and that in a in the in and of this intellectual to of at the in both the and be As the of been and the of social and social a of The early intellectuals on by and in both in the and in In the that be a of and In demonstrated that a and that his were the of in to a to and intellectuals with began with the notions of social and of of social and social with the of in their in a of responsibility in a healing of the In the of and and of Havana’s in that of the that be from and to so to the and to be most and his for the and and and with and to be a of of The of in which he eventually one of the in which they of the most on race, one of the most to a with and anthropology after from in the with which the African-derived religious and practices social to the and crime. The a from his of at the University of his was new to their was in legal and in intellectual was and on his before the of of and early in two had a on the of Havana’s for his to be a for the of the same he was by the of to in the for in the of took the race, and that had and the of was to that brujos they so of a of their from their from to and social two of he black he the of from the of he he it in the to in his The from which was that a by his a ñáñigo that Although brujos were by and they had the who were by their for the of their the the would have been for the of had been social to this by his pages with at the of to criminality their In a he that of their the and elusive of the The the it to of of and of and Yet his on a that the to was to that although he was that would of the and of he the was so in by the ambiguities of intellectual to in But a changing and to his objects of his objects A by the of the in a on of the evidence. and the which he the and of the black on the of his for his career in would be and In he of the of In he the to of of which he was also a which El El all of which received from the which received the from the in in and in the and gathered for the of anthropology to law and a and in one of into the of the of the black was to a number of social and social to with a of to that would and in their social Yet the and put of black criminality in and their in the of The of this of the in which the and criminality in the of In the courts, black criminality the for the of in the hybrid legal system. In the of the had been most the black intellectuals a against which to their and notions of the its in the press and its in the social brujería in the was law against at were by rights the of a of autonomy of the legal and social spheres. and according to were of accused of white children of reported in the In of in in and in the black accused were released of to the including were released for lack of evidence. The accused in the in were by the amidst a was the case in which the accused were found and of rights by the in a case in against and for asociación ilícita. In this case the of and Luis Montané were for the to the the objects in rituals of The the of religion and the that of the objects was a crime. The case before the so the but the the boundaries of and practices in which the and a of the social and the legal system. A case against and black according to the for asociación in the of the legal of and the and crime. also the and role of gathered by law of by that have been the police had objects their of the The which named and two of for with the of said a of a large named another named another of the another the of and two whose against the of the accused that they were by of evidence for the to that they to be detained and the to the of the objects and their with to the and of the the police to investigation to the accused were to they and its practices and rituals by and to have the for they the of for that although it was a known that were at ñáñigo in Havana, their of it to that one of the he was and that the had gathered on added that following the death of one of their in to which of and in Havana, and it was to the of their of that the police were this he a that the accused of the of and the police a but it to that all of the were was that they in healing practices and with that they at the In his of the case the to by of have for it the of a of a group of to that events the of to accused for the of the had the for both and the sought to from the legal system with of his on the that of the law against asociación of the to in the were political which had to be to by on the to on of the ñáñigo of to he they had he the to a and of the the of a who sought to the same his subject in the most until it was into the to of said to political The and of his he to of its from with to said a of the and including the of which the by a of his of the of this by a great deal of and with a of the that had to after the of that had failed to ñañiguismo, it he to a and political of the he the that at the case also a by of the Luis which with the and crime. the by the of the investigation and them in his their by the that were But for it their that the most of of have been and so that they by of in by all that from the to the case to the for a with a of for one year, and at which had Boucourt and was Cuba’s first black and and in a The
Carlos Centeno, S. Hernansanz, Luis Alberto Flores, Álvaro Sanz Rubiales · 5 authors
Abstract This chapter offers an in-depth look at health politics and the tax-financed, universal health system in Spain. It traces the development of the Spanish healthcare system, focusing in particular on its double transition in the 1980s and 1990s from a centralized social insurance system, mostly funded through workers’ and employers’ contributions, to a decentralized universal model financed by general taxation. The new national health system aimed at covering all residents and transferred healthcare competences to the regions, i.e. the seventeen Autonomous Communities, a process completed in 2001. Key issues include rationalization, harmonization, and territorial equity-building of the decentralized healthcare system; efficiency improvement through the introduction of private management elements; and cost containment to bolster the system’s financial sustainability in the context of growing demand and scarce resources. As the chapter argues, these challenges along with the remarkable changes in the political party system have increased the political salience of healthcare in public debate in the 2010s, but the prospects for developing consensual healthcare policies have worsened, such that structural problems are likely to persist.
This paper introduces quantum analogues of non-interactive perfect and statistical zero-knowledge proof systems. Similar to the classical cases, it is shown that sharing randomness or entanglement is necessary for non-trivial protocols of non-interactive quantum perfect and statistical zero-knowledge. It is also shown that, with sharing EPR pairs a priori, the class of languages having one-sided bounded error non-interactive quantum perfect zero-knowledge proof systems has a natural complete problem. Non-triviality of such a proof system is based on the fact proved in this paper that the Graph Non-Automorphism problem, which is not known in BQP, can be reduced to our complete problem. Our results may be the first non-trivial quantum zero-knowledge proofs secure even against dishonest quantum verifiers, since our protocols are non-interactive, and thus the zero-knowledge property does not depend on whether the verifier in the protocol is honest or not. A restricted version of our complete problem derives a natural complete problem for BQP.
[I]t is the transformation of custom into customary law—into something that State courts will recognize, enforce and require—that disrupts the continuity of the indigenous systems. In pre-colonial times … [the settlement of disputes] … depended … on the mutual processes of negotiation and compromise. There is no need to romanticize these processes…. But the important point in this context is that norms play a very different part in negotiations to that which they play in legal processes. They may be used to stake out negotiating positions as a starting point from which to proceed or as a sounding board as to the correct procedure in the cultural and symbolic sense, but they cannot be cited as rules or conditions that will be imposed. 1
Recent research on federalism is extremely divided. While some tout the benefits of “market-preserving” federalism, others point to the fragmentation and incoherence of policy in federal states. This research bridges the divide by analyzing the political andfiscalstructures that are likely to account for the highly divergent economic experiences of federal systems around die world. To test these propositions, the authors use an original data set to conduct analyses of budget balance and inflation infifteenfederationsaround the world from 1978 through 1996. The empirical research suggests that the level of fiscal decentralization, the nature of intergovernmental finance, and vertical partisan relations all influence macroeconomic outcomes. The find- ings have broad implications for the widespread move toward greater decentralization and for the theoretical literatures on federalism and macroeconomics.
The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Second World War – preliminary notes on the influence of ideology on the relationship between Church and StateVery little has been written on this specific topic. The period and topic under discussion represents a highly emotional one and many of those who experienced it are still alive. We are therefore aware of our responsibility regarding objectivity since this field of study is still young in historiographical sense. This article can only be regarded as an exploration in this field with the purpose to focus on the effect of ideology on the role the church or at least church leaders played in relationship to the state. This article will also proof evident that Church Historiography cannot be practised in isolation. In this regard the interaction between sosio-political and ecclesiological matters are at stake.
The competitive position of companies is increasingly linked to their capacity to attract and retain competent personnel. Human resources management, in particular compensation, is a crucial component of this quest for competencies. Yet companies must choose between several types of compensation policies. They must determine on which basis to select a policy so as to maximize the effectiveness of the compensation system. These choices may be linked to external strategies of the company, e.g. diversification, differentiation, or internal strategies such as autonomous work teams, total quality and participative management. This article therefore attempts to analyze the extent to which external and internal strategies identified by companies dictate their choice of compensation policies. In other words, do companies that adopt particular external and internal strategies also opt for differentiated compensation policies?The data were collected by a questionnaire mailed to vice-presidents and human resources managers of Quebec companies in competitive sectors. We received 252 usable questionnaires, equal to an 11.4% response rate. The variables have been grouped into four main categories: compensation policies, external strategies, internal strategies and control variables. By means of a multiple regression analysis using the forced entry method we have tested the contribution of each category of variables, thus allowing for verification of the hypotheses formulated. The control variables were entered first in a single block, followed by the external strategies and internal strategies. Utility tests were performed to verify whether the order of entry of the variables influenced the results obtained.The principal findings suggest that internal strategies dictate the choice of compensation policy to a much greater extent than do external strategies. In effect, companies seek above all to create internal coherence among their HR policies and organizational development strategies. For example, companies that rely heavily on autonomous work teams, engage in more participative management and promote quality management have compensation systems that are less traditional and characterized by a greater emphasis on performance, transparency of information provided to employees and, to a lesser extent, leader pay policies and decentralization of decision-making, which is consistent with the literature. Regarding the impact of external strategies, our results are more mitigated. Only competitive strategies emanating from business units exert a slight influence on the choice of compensation policies. Moreover, corporate strategies such as degree of diversification do not affect the choice of compensation policies. This type of strategy is apparently too far removed from the concerns of HR managers. Lastly, of the control variables examined, unionization plays the most determining role in the choice of compensation policies. In fact, this variable is the most consequential in our analytical model. This result raises important questions about the importance of the strategic approach to human resources management and reinforces the relevance of exploring institutional approaches to compensation policies.
The opening page of this book says that, in recent decades, there has been a ‘substantial increase in the mobility of capital and population between the individual jurisdictions of long‐established federal states (such as Canada, Germany and the USA) and among the formerly independent member countries of the European Union.' It adds that the book will seek to show that the results of this increasing mobility are that fiscal decentralization is essentially beneficial for resource allocation, at least for local public goods, but not for income distribution. It would be apt to start such a book with some data illustrating the ‘substantial increase' in the mobility of population and capital in the places cited. However, the author gives no information for Canada or Germany. For the USA, his data show that inter‐state population mobility has actually fallen since 1970; and while he seems to infer from the falling inter‐regional distribution of incomes in the USA between 1900 and 1990 that capital mobility has increased, this fall might reflect the effects of sustained rather than accelerating migration. For the EU, he accepts that the mobility of labour between member countries is still very low. So the only clear evidence given for increased mobility seems to be that of capital within the EU.
Society has become more emancipated and far more demanding. The same applies to patients. The media is confronting physicians with this trend every day. Telling proof of this tendency is the growing number of damage claims. This creates the impression that physicians and others rendering assistance and care to patients are treading in a minefield while practising their profession. It seems as if they must tie themselves in numerous knots in order to respect their professional ethical code and all relevant legislation. Is this a correct impression? Can one speak of a medical ‘malaise’? Is the liability of a physician immediately at stake when a treatment or surgery causes damage to a patient or won’t it come to that in such a hurry?