Relationship building as integral to British activism: its impact on accountability in broadcasting

This study examines the strategies and impact of six activist groups concerned about British broadcasting policies and programming. Particular emphasis is placed on strategic relationship building, which played a central role in groups’ interactions with target publics, and on the activists’ perspective. The study is contextualized within the political culture of the United Kingdom and a changing broadcasting landscape. The data suggested that building strategic relationships is one of the major ways in which pressure groups have an impact on their targets. When assessing effectiveness, respondents looked beyond tangible gains by activists to long-term relationships with targets, which were contingent on critical dimensions. These included trust, mutual respect, openness and access. Groups bolstered their credibility by engaging in research and structuring educational events such as conferences and symposia, in which they enhanced the scope and quality of debate about broadcasting policy. Public relations has a role in facilitating both citizen debate within the public sphere of civil society and the relationships that make such debate possible. These groups may be a model for activists in other societies.     

Enabling careers, autonomy, and prosperity: Using community organizing and building approaches to improve the educational outcomes of people with mental illness

Objectives: The objective of this regional initiative was to develop access to educational opportunities for people with mental illness with a view to ultimately advancing their career prospects. Participants: The initiative engaged a broad range of community stakeholders including people with mental illness, their families, educators, mental health service providers and, policy analysts. Methods: The initiative used community organizing and development strategies to develop solutions to problems related to access to education. Results: The initiative was successful in mobilizing community participation, identifying priorities, and translating these priorities into action plans. Working groups of community stakeholders engaged in initiatives related to improving access to resources to support education, developing training for teachers in secondary schools, creating peer support systems, and developing a pilot supported education program as a partnership between a college and mental health service. Conclusion: Organized community building provided a foundation for a broad range of initiatives meant to improve access to educational opportunities for people with mental illness. Evaluation efforts will need to focus on the extent to which these initiatives ultimately ledto positive changes in the careers of people with mental illness.     

Evaluation capacity building in the nonformal education context: Challenges and strategies

Policymakers’ demand for increased accountability has compelled organizations to pay more attention to internal evaluation capacity building (ECB). The existing literature about ECB has focused on capacity building experiences and organizational research, with limited attention on challenges that internal evaluation specialists face in building organizational evaluative capacity. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a Delphi study with evaluation specialists in the United States’ Cooperative Extension Service and developed a consensus on the most pervasive ECB challenges as well as the most useful strategies for overcoming ECB challenges. Challenges identified in this study include limited time and resources, limited understanding of the value of evaluation, evaluation considered as an afterthought, and limited support and buy-in from administrators. Alternatively, strategies found in the study include a shift in an organizational culture where evaluation is appreciated, buy-in and support from administration, clarifying the importance of quality than quantity of evaluations, and a strategic approach to ECB. The challenges identified in this study have persisted for decades, meaning administrators must understand the persistence of these issues and make an earnest investment (financial and human resource) to make noticeable progress. The Delphi approach can be used more often to prioritize ECB efforts.     

Improving service approaches and outcomes for people with complex needs through consultation and involvement

Services have not always catered well for people with complex needs. The term 'complex needs' is used here to signify people who have cognitive impairments and communication difficulties that present major challenges for getting one's views and preferences heard and understood, and/or who may not fit into traditional categories of service provision. Current developments in policy and practice, such as the single shared assessment process, emphasise inclusion through user involvement. There is a danger, however, that people with complex needs will be seen as too difficult to involve, and will therefore remain effectively excluded from the decision-making process and from the opportunity to influence service provision. This article explores the current situation in relation to ensuring genuine involvement for people with complex needs, highlights obstacles to progress and examples of good practice, and identifies future directions for research and practice.     

Philanthropy and accountability in Europe

Philanthropy in Europe: A Rich Past, A Promising Future. Norine MacDonald and Luc Tayart de Borms, eds. London: Alliance Publishing Trust, 2008. 304 pp., free of charge from the European Foundation Centre, efc@efc.be.     

Relationship building as a retention strategy: linking relationship attitudes and satisfaction evaluations to behavioral outcomes

The practice of public relations historically has focused on managing communications. Within the past 5 years, however, an increasing number of scholars have started to conceptualize the practice of public relations as relationship management, and have centred their research efforts on examining the factors that affect organization–public relationships. Recent research has shown that effectively managed organization–public relationships affect key public member attitudes, evaluations, and behaviors. In the current investigation, 122 participants were surveyed to determine whether student–university relationship attitudes and satisfaction evaluations distinguished those who returned to a university from those who did not. The results show that respondent relationship attitudes differentiate those who returned to the university from those who did not, which provides a quantitative illustration of the benefits of incorporating a relationally-based grounding for the practice of public relations. Implications of the findings, suggestions for managing organization–public relationships, and limitations to the investigation also are presented.     

Learning contracts in the classroom: Tools for empowerment and accountability

This paper describes the results of a study investigating learning contracts as tools for empowerment and accountability. Students ( N = 100) enrolled in five, graduate-level courses completed a brief instrument measuring key concepts of empowerment. In each class students' mean, final scores, based on first and final drafts of assignments were compared. Students felt they had decision-making power, and reported a sense of personal responsibility for their learning experience. They also demonstrated significant improvements in performance ( p < 0.0001) after revising their assignments. The findings suggest that learning contracts are an effective tool for responsibly sharing power and promoting better performance outcomes.     

伊拉克重建中的美国优势和挑战

美国在伊拉克重建中有优势,也面临挑战.优势有地缘和经济优势;挑战主要体现在社会秩序、政治和经济重建三个方面.如美国继续撇开联合国和国际社会,不顾中东地区的宗教、种族、历史和文化等实际情况而大张旗鼓的改造、整合伊拉克,把伊重建打上"美国造"标记,必会遇到更多严峻挑战.     

伊拉克重建中的美国优势和挑战

美国在伊拉克重建中有优势，也面临挑战。优势有地缘和经济优势；挑战主要体现在社会秩序、政治和经济重建三个方面。如美国继续撇开联合国和国际社会，不顾中东地区的宗教、种族、历史和文化等实际情况而大张旗鼓的改造、整合伊拉克，把伊重建打上“美国造”标记，必会遇到更多严峻挑战。