College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Rejuvenating the Developmental State in Taiwan: the Impacts of the EIA as an Environmental Governance (2006-2011)(2011) Chen, Ying-Feng; Kastner, Scott; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Asian Tigers were sometimes referred to "developmental states" for they were capable of designing successful development agendas and implementing these plans with the compliance of private capital instead of simply regulating the market. However, with the fast democratic transition during the 1990s, the developmental state encountered serious challenges from business sectors, opposition parties and civil groups. Some literature suggested that this infiltration of private sector jeopardized the state's autonomy in formulating long-term plans. The chaotic policy process at the early stage of democratic transition revealed Taiwan state's capability in controlling developmental agendas has been weakened. If the developmental state of Taiwan ceased to function, in what way did it evolve? This dissertation aimed to answer this question by examining the role of the Taiwan state in promoting three major investments, the Formosa Steel-making Plant, the Central Taiwan Science Park in Holi-Chixing and Erlin, and the Eighth Petrochemical Plant, from 2006 to 2010. While developmental states were often argued incompatible with democratic regimes, this dissertation demonstrated that the status of Taiwan's developmental state remained firm after democratic transition given that the state was still autonomous in terms of defining and preserving national interests. Furthermore, it WAS the public participation and environmental institutional monitoring brought by democratic transition that reinforced the developmental state in Taiwan by correcting the state's errors in promoting those inefficient projects. Through the interdependent governance in the review mechanisms, these industrial programs based on outdated development agendas were smoothly postponed. Some programs were even called off by the corporations themselves. The democratic transition did not lessen politicians' pursuit of constant national economic development; moreover, it brought in correcting mechanisms and thus further reinforced the capacity of the developmental state in choosing developmental agendas.Item MANAGEMENT MATTER? EFFECTS OF CHARCOAL PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT ON WOODLAND REGENERATION IN SENEGAL(2010) Wurster, Karl; Defries, Ruth; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In Senegal, as in many parts of Africa, nearly 95% of its growing urban population depends on charcoal as their primary cooking energy. Extraction of wood for charcoal production is perceived to drive forest degradation. The Senegalese government and international donor agencies have created different forest management types with the ultimate goal of sustainably managing forests. This research combines local ecological knowledge, ecological surveys and remote sensing analysis to better understand questions related to how extraction for charcoal production and forest management affect Senegalese forests. Information derived from 36 semi-structured interviews suggests that the forests are degrading, but are depended on for income, grazing and energy. Interviewees understand the rules governing forest management types, but felt they had limited power or responsibility to enforce forest regulations. Ecological survey results confirmed that plots harvested for charcoal production are significantly different in forest structure and tree species composition than undisturbed sites. Across harvested and undisturbed and within forest management types the Combretum glutinosum species dominated (53% of all individuals and the primary species used for charcoal production) and demonstrated robust regenerative capacity. Few large, hardwood or fruiting trees were observed and had insufficient regenerative capacity to replace current populations. Species diversity was higher in co-managed areas, but declined after wood was harvested for charcoal production. Proximity to villages, roads and park edges in harvested and undisturbed plots and within forest management types had little impact on forest structure and tree diversity patterns with the harvesting of trees for charcoal spread consistently throughout the landscape. Remote sensing analysis with the MISR derived k(red) parameter demonstrated its ability to accurately classify broad land classes and showed potential when differentiating between pre- and post-harvest conditions over a three year time period, but could not accurately detect subtle changes in forest cover of known harvest time since last harvest in a single MISR scene. This research demonstrated the utility of multidisciplinary research in assessing the effects of charcoal production and forest management types on Senegalese forests; concluding that the effects of charcoal production on forest characteristics and regenerative capacity are consistent throughout all forest management types.