Political Science - Theses, Dissertations, and other Required Graduate Degree Essays

The rise of the modern private military industry in the 1990s is explained and claims about the benefits and hazards of privatized military force are evaluated from a public interest perspective. Evidence about the cost effectiveness of employing private military companies (PMCs) is found to be inconclusive, although outsourcing has the potential to increase military flexibility and provide states with newly emerging capabilities in the short run. Governments are shown to have "hidden" motives for outsourcing military functions. It is argued that most benefits of privatization are conditional and that PMC-related hazards threaten to do long-term damage to the rule of law (both nationally and internationally), to the militaries which most rely on private contractors and to the fabric of constitutional democracy.

The public involvement process has attracted a great deal of interest as a means of including the public in important decisions and providing innovative solutions to challenging issues. However, there has not been a sufficient amount of inquiry into the influence public involvement actually has on policy outcomes. This research project addresses this issue by examining four public involvement cases in British Columbia to assess what forms of public involvement are most influential. The evidence in the cases reveal that the design of the process as well as the stage that public involvement occurs in the policy cycle are important variables that result in policy influence. The findings indicate that public involvement is a useful policy instrument that for designing policy. Policymakers should consider using this method when public input is necessary for policy alteration.