title: Democratization, Press Freedom and Corruption Scandals in Vietnam: Causal Relations?

authors: Pham, Nam Hoai

subjects: Democratization

abstract: Vietnam started a renewal process named “Doi moi” in 1986 to liberalize its economy and improve its status in the world. This process has resulted in the country’s fast economic development with GDP growth of between 6 and 8 per cent in recent years. 
However, the rapid economic progress and social changes have brought about corruption, threatening the country’s growth and sustainability. Top leaders have therefore declared corruption as a national threat. Before the year of 2010, just two corruption scandals were reported. During the current period of 2010-2014, more than 10 corruption scandals have been investigated, revealed and re-ported in the mass media. Of them, 5 key scandals will be discussed. This thesis seeks to explore the central question: “Is Vietnam democratizing, and, if so, does the democratic transition explain the increasing number of corruption scandals to-day in the country?” The thesis starts with the political base to look into the origins of the issue.
The thesis examines aspects of democracy, democratization, corruption and media described by scholars and then studies whether the country is really in a democratization process and whether there is a relationship between democratization, press freedom and perceptions of corruption. Reported corruption scandals between 2010 and 2014, surveys and reports on corruptions by local and international NGOs and newspapers will be analyzed.
The thesis concludes that Vietnam is now democratizing with successes in mitigation of oppression and amplification of civil liberties, while in the nation’s government this process has seen a growing schism among top-ranking leaders. In particular, it is this democratization that reduces the levels of perceptions of corruption. This finding is totally different from previous findings made for other democratizing countries. The thesis also reveals that the democratic transition in Vietnam has increased press freedom. Vietnamese media now enjoy the right to spread news and information although some international watchdogs insist that the government is overly censoring the media. In turn, higher levels of press freedom, created by more democratization, heighten the number of corruption scandals revealed. The thesis concludes that there are causal relations between democratization, perceptions of corruption, press freedom and the number of corruption scandals in Vietnam.

text: Democratization, Press Freedom and Corruption Scandals in Vietnam: Causal Relations? Vietnam started a renewal process named “Doi moi” in 1986 to liberalize its economy and improve its status in the world. This process has resulted in the country’s fast economic development with GDP growth of between 6 and 8 per cent in recent years. 
However, the rapid economic progress and social changes have brought about corruption, threatening the country’s growth and sustainability. Top leaders have therefore declared corruption as a national threat. Before the year of 2010, just two corruption scandals were reported. During the current period of 2010-2014, more than 10 corruption scandals have been investigated, revealed and re-ported in the mass media. Of them, 5 key scandals will be discussed. This thesis seeks to explore the central question: “Is Vietnam democratizing, and, if so, does the democratic transition explain the increasing number of corruption scandals to-day in the country?” The thesis starts with the political base to look into the origins of the issue.
The thesis examines aspects of democracy, democratization, corruption and media described by scholars and then studies whether the country is really in a democratization process and whether there is a relationship between democratization, press freedom and perceptions of corruption. Reported corruption scandals between 2010 and 2014, surveys and reports on corruptions by local and international NGOs and newspapers will be analyzed.
The thesis concludes that Vietnam is now democratizing with successes in mitigation of oppression and amplification of civil liberties, while in the nation’s government this process has seen a growing schism among top-ranking leaders. In particular, it is this democratization that reduces the levels of perceptions of corruption. This finding is totally different from previous findings made for other democratizing countries. The thesis also reveals that the democratic transition in Vietnam has increased press freedom. Vietnamese media now enjoy the right to spread news and information although some international watchdogs insist that the government is overly censoring the media. In turn, higher levels of press freedom, created by more democratization, heighten the number of corruption scandals revealed. The thesis concludes that there are causal relations between democratization, perceptions of corruption, press freedom and the number of corruption scandals in Vietnam.

year: 2015

title: Analyzing library collections with starfield visualizations

authors: Sánchez, J. Alfredo

subjects: Collections

abstract: This paper presents a qualitative and formative study of the uses of a starfield-based visualization interface for analysis of library collections. The evaluation process has produced feedback that suggests ways to significantly improve starfield interfaces and the interaction process to improve their learnability and usability. The study also gave us clear indication of additional potential uses of starfield visualizations that can be exploited by further functionality and interface development.
 We report on resulting implications for the design and use of starfield visualizations that will impact their graphical interface features, their use for managing data quality and their potential for various forms of visual data mining. Although the current implementation and analysis focuses on the collection of a physical library, the most important contributions of our work will be in digital libraries, in which volume, complexity and dynamism of collections are increasing dramatically and tools are needed for visualization and analysis.

text: Analyzing library collections with starfield visualizations This paper presents a qualitative and formative study of the uses of a starfield-based visualization interface for analysis of library collections. The evaluation process has produced feedback that suggests ways to significantly improve starfield interfaces and the interaction process to improve their learnability and usability. The study also gave us clear indication of additional potential uses of starfield visualizations that can be exploited by further functionality and interface development.
 We report on resulting implications for the design and use of starfield visualizations that will impact their graphical interface features, their use for managing data quality and their potential for various forms of visual data mining. Although the current implementation and analysis focuses on the collection of a physical library, the most important contributions of our work will be in digital libraries, in which volume, complexity and dynamism of collections are increasing dramatically and tools are needed for visualization and analysis.

year: 2004-01-01

title: A literary and linguistic critique of a Māori lullaby

authors: August, Tipene

subjects: waiata Māori

abstract: Māori song poems surviving from pre-colonial times can provide a valuable source of information about the artistic and cultural heritage of Māoridom. However, they present a number of challenges for the contemporary analyst. On the basis of a stylistic analysis of a Māori lullaby, a number of hypotheses about Māori song poems in general, and the lullaby in particular, are put forward and it is suggested that these hypotheses could be tested in relation to a corpus of song poems. It is hoped that the approach to stylistic analysis adopted here will be of use to scholars of Māori song poems and, perhaps, also to others who are interested in indigenous art forms more generally.

text: A literary and linguistic critique of a Māori lullaby Māori song poems surviving from pre-colonial times can provide a valuable source of information about the artistic and cultural heritage of Māoridom. However, they present a number of challenges for the contemporary analyst. On the basis of a stylistic analysis of a Māori lullaby, a number of hypotheses about Māori song poems in general, and the lullaby in particular, are put forward and it is suggested that these hypotheses could be tested in relation to a corpus of song poems. It is hoped that the approach to stylistic analysis adopted here will be of use to scholars of Māori song poems and, perhaps, also to others who are interested in indigenous art forms more generally.

year: 2001-02