Browsing by Subject "South Asia"
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Item Open Access Cooking Fuel “Stacking” Implications for Willingness to Switch to Clean Fuels in Peri-urban Kathmandu Valley, Nepal(2020) Rogers, BridgetCooking fuel “stacking,” or the use of multiple types of fuels, can be problematic in interventions when households are using both clean and dirty fuels at the same time. Dirty fuels such as firewood contribute to indoor air pollution, cause detrimental health effects, and are inefficient forms of energy. In this study, cooking fuel preference data was collected from 360 households in peripheral-urban Kathmandu, Nepal during August 2019. Respondents provided fuel information and gave economic preferences for a contingent valuation experiment on their reported primary fuel type. We explored two aims through multiple regression analyses: the relationship between fuel stacking behavior and willingness to pay (WTP), and the household characteristics associated with fuel stacking behavior. The analyses showed that stacking does not affect WTP, and household expenses are a significant factor associated with WTP only among households using LPG as their primary fuel. The secondary aim found that the main household characteristics associated with fuel stacking are household size, firewood gathering behavior, and if the household was affected by the 2015 LPG blockade. The relationships of these characteristics are complex and depend on whether the household is using more LPG or more firewood when stacking. More research is needed to better understand fuel stacking, and why most people in peri-urban Kathmandu prefer LPG as their primary fuel.
Item Open Access Democracy on the Commons: Political Competition and Local Cooperation for Natural Resource Management in India(2007-05-10T16:01:44Z) Chhatre, AshwiniThis dissertation explores the effects of democratic competition among political parties in India on natural resources and the ability of local communities to cooperate for natural resource management. A significant number of decentralization policies in developing countries depend for their success on local collective action for the provision of public goods. At the same time, democratization generates multiple impulses in society, and understanding its effects on the prospects for local cooperation is important for explaining the variation in success of decentralization policies for natural resource management. I use historical and ethnographic data to understand the influence of political competition on natural resource outcomes and local collective action. The descriptive analysis draws upon theoretical and empirical literatures on political competition, collective action, and property rights, and is used as the basis for generating hypotheses as well as specifying context-specific measurements of the relevant variables for statistical analysis. I test the hypotheses on two sets of dependent variables – local cooperation and forest condition – and three datasets covering community-based irrigation and forest management systems, co-management institutions for irrigation, soil conservation, and forest management, as well as state-managed forests as the null category without decentralized management. The findings show that an inclusive pattern of political mobilization and party competition have increased the salience of environment and forests in the public domain and democratic politics, with a positive effect on resource outcomes. Further, natural resources are better managed by decentralized institutions, compared to state management. However, communities located in highly competitive electoral districts find it significantly more difficult to cooperate due to interference from political parties. Moreover, communities that are heterogeneous along the salient issue dimension in democratic politics are the worst affected. On the other hand, better representation of sub-group interests in community affairs, prevalence of democratic practices, and linkages of community leaders to multiple political parties are associated with higher levels of local cooperation. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate that communities are better at natural resource management than state agencies, but the impulses generated by democratization can constrain the ability of local communities to manage natural resources.Item Open Access Energy, Economics, and Politics: An Analysis of Decisions to Pursue Large Hydropower Projects in Bhutan and Nepal(2017-11-15) Ridel, RobertLarge hydropower projects are on the rise. Once subject to universal condemnation by environmentalists and largely abandoned by international donors, these projects have been reborn as a critical component of “sustainable development” in the age of climate change. This resurgence of interest in large hydropower projects raises questions for policymakers about whether these projects provide a net benefit to their constituents. While rigorous economic analyses could provide guidance to the policymakers grappling with these questions, the complexity of this endeavor and the politics that almost always enmesh large infrastructure projects mean that decisions to pursue these projects are likely influenced by a different calculus—one that may vary across countries based on their unique history and political dynamics. Nepal and Bhutan, two developing countries that hold tremendous hydropower potential, provide an illustration of how these decisions are being carried out and what is driving them. This paper examines the political discourse surrounding hydropower projects in each country and how the projects fit within their development narrative. It also includes a cost-benefit analysis of two large projects that were recently pushed forward, Punatsangchhu I (or “Puna I”) in Bhutan and Arun III in Nepal. This paper concludes that the overwhelming economic benefit of the hydropower generated by these projects has driven and will continue to drive development in both Bhutan and Nepal, with the potential to bring substantial net benefits to the region. As a result, people who are concerned about the social and environmental costs of projects may be more successful in arguing for stronger safeguards for projects rather than a complete halt in their development. The economic value of clean energy for an area that has not been fully electrified is simply too large for policymakers to ignore. This paper also considers the role of political and international dynamics in development choices and the shadow price of capital, and how these factors could explain why Bhutan has made more progress in hydropower development than Nepal.Item Open Access Selling America: U.S. Public Diplomacy Programs in the Middle East and South Asia in a Post 9/11 Environment(2009-12-04) Berger, ElanaSince the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, foreign policy experts and U.S. government officials have emphasized the importance of public diplomacy in combating terrorism and ensuring national security. In the current climate of anti-American sentiment, “the war of ideas is more challenging than ever” and strong negative public opinion about the United States is pervasive (Pilon). Public diplomacy attempts to combat anti-American sentiment, focusing on Arab and Muslim populations where attitudes about America are particularly negative. Public diplomacy, “the promotion of America’s interests, culture and policies by informing and influencing foreign populations,” includes three categories of activities: international information programs, educational and cultural exchanges, and international nonmilitary broadcasting. While there is disagreement among foreign policy experts and government officials about how to best structure and improve public diplomacy programs, there is a general consensus that effective public diplomacy is essential to national security. Nevertheless, although many critics cite public opinion polls as evidence for the inefficacy of public diplomacy programs, it is not possible to know whether or not these programs are accomplishing their goals without proper evaluation methods that tie measurable results directly to programs. Therefore, determining whether or not there are effective evaluation techniques in place to measure the results of these programs is the necessary first step to assessing whether or not the programs accomplish their goals. There have been various programs, strategies and messages used since the September 11th attacks in 2001, in U.S. public diplomacy efforts in predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and South Asia. I analyzed evaluations of four public diplomacy programs in this region to address the following question: How are public diplomacy programs evaluated and do evaluations of these programs accurately reflect the quality of the programs? I chose these programs because they fit into the scope of my research, as far as geographic region and time frame, and because complete evaluations of these programs were publically-available. Since my research focuses on the quality of the evaluations and not the efficacy of the programs themselves, I needed to choose programs for which complete, thorough evaluations were available.Item Open Access "Where Liberty is Not, There is my Country” —Nineteenth Century American Abolitionist Writings on India(2022-04-20) Qiu, YueThis thesis examines nineteenth century American abolitionist writings on India. My sources include abolitionist newspapers, primarily focusing on William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper the Liberator, but also incorporating other abolitionist newspapers, such as the Friend of Man, the Principia, and the National Era and publications of individual abolitionists, like Lydia Maria Child’s The History of the Condition of Women, in Various Ages and Nations. By looking at their writings on Christian missionary activities in India, Indian women, and British rule in India, I argue that although many abolitionists Orientalized India, they at the same time found many parallels between Indian society and the US, which blurred the boundaries between the self and the Other. Although they did not develop a full criticism towards colonialism in the antebellum period, their criticism towards Empire matured by the early twentieth century. My scholarly intervention centers on acknowledging the hitherto unknown role of abolitionist writings on India in the intellectual history of American abolitionism and the US-India transnational history. By not fully engaging India, the scholarship on US-India relations and abolitionism misses a critical dimension of abolitionist movement’s intimate relationship with related causes of feminism, anti-clericalism, and anti-imperialism. Most importantly, this thesis demonstrates that abolitionist writings on India far exceeded Orientalism as the only frame of understanding.