Conceptualizing and measuring legislative significance - an application to the German Bundestag

What makes legislation significant? This dissertation explores new concepts and measures of legislative significance, and applies them empirically, to clarify this central phenomenon in legislative studies. This is an important research agenda because without a conceptual and empirical understanding of what makes laws significant, legislative production cannot be reliably assessed and the legislative performance of legislatures in general, or of particular governing coalitions, would remain out of reach. It is long known that individual laws differ in terms of their importance, impact, and consequentiality and thus contribute differently to the overall legislative performance. Laws also differ in terms of the importance attached to them and the extent to which they are perceived as important. Simply counting laws and treating each as equally important is therefore an inadequate way of assessing the work of legislatures. Moreover, since modern democracies are legally obliged to express all far-reaching political decisions as laws, the primary form of political expression would remain inaccessible to empirical political science without a justified specification of legislative significance. Any attempt to specify legislative significance must contend with the natural imprecision of this concept. Thus, despite the relevance of the concept, existing insights into legislative significance remain limited. In particular, a thorough conceptual specification that is consistent with measurement is hitherto lacking. This is because without a specified meaning of legislative significance, empirical studies of lawmaking must design measures without conceptual guidance. They can only rely on observed patterns in the data that are assumed to reflect significance. Without a clear priori conceptual specification, measurement approaches lack knowledge about the characteristics of individual laws that make them significant. Existing significance measures are thus only loosely conceptually embedded and remain empirically ad hoc. This dissertation follows a three-level approach to conceptualizing and measuring legislative significance. It increasingly clarifies significance across levels, ensuring that measures are embedded in concepts. In particular, it refers to the legislative contexts of actors and impacts for the specification of the concept. This leads to the identification of actors’ perceptions of importance and the policy change imposed by a law as the defining variables underlying actor-based and an impact-based significance. The two conceptions are then logically specified and precisely expressed in the form of spatial models of politics, thus preparing them for measurement. The measurement of actor-based significance relies on the observable parliamentary behaviors of speechmaking, selecting speechmakers and submitting bills and motions. The measurement of impact-based significance is based on the official legal amendment procedures of German law (Schade 2008), which captures policy change through the number of legal changes to individual provisions, to the number of amended laws, an official authorization to republish a law, and completely new formulations of laws. As a result, this dissertation’s successively increasing conceptual specification transforms the imprecise and elusive legislative significance into measurable, empirical quantities. The dissertation also evaluates the appropriateness of the measures under variation of influential factors. For the assessment, it uses the German legislature during 1991 – 2021, because this institutional setting provides useful variation in plausible predictors of both conceptions. The setting allows for observing whether the measures behave as expected in response to changes in the predictors. In addition, the relationship between actor-based and impact-based significance is assessed. The assessment confirms several actor-based measures that rely on parliamentary behaviors. A key finding of the dissertation is the identification of characteristics of the legal amendment procedures that validly capture the policy change imposed by a law. Furthermore, a special assessment shows that some of the impact-based measures also reliably capture the legislative productivity of the German Bundestag. Thus, the dissertation makes two key contributions. First, it introduces a conceptual understanding of legislative significance that can be practically applied to empirical assessments of the most important form of political expression in modern democracies. It clarifies the hitherto imprecise and elusive concept of legislative significance, making it accessible to empirical applications. Second, it introduces new and innovative measures of the policy change imposed by individual laws and importance perceptions held by legislative actors. These measures are useful for addressing a variety of research questions related to lawmaking and the effects of laws. Hence, the dissertation makes the paramount expression of democratic political decision-making accessible to empirical legislative studies

Does the timing of work integrated learning affect graduate employability outcomes?

Employability is a critical quality measure of student lifelong success that goes beyond grade achievement and often guides students’ choice of university and profession. Whilst studies highlighting the importance of work-integrated learning (WIL) in improving employability abound, there is a dearth of knowledge on the efficacy of timing of WIL as a variable in improving employability. The longitudinal study, carried out in a 3-year annual questionnaire-based survey, examines the effect of timing of WIL on employability status when student performance is held constant. Graduates possessing the same performance level (academic degree class 2.1) showed different levels of economic-engagement achievements depending on whether they engaged in WIL prior to their studies (Group A), throughout the learning period (Group B) or for nine months during the third year (Group C) of their studies. Although the findings revealed differences between timing of WIL and the nature of work engagement, all the graduates endorsed the critical role of WIL in building work-related competencies and thus improving employability. The findings are useful in promoting the necessary diversity in WIL curriculum design to facilitate quality and inclusive higher education

Student Voice: Embracing Student Activism as a Quality Improvement Tool in Higher Education

This chapter illustrates how student activism, taken in the context of the student voice, can be harnessed as a way of enhancing the quality of educational provision in higher education. Agenda 2063 of the African Commission recognizes equitable access to quality higher education as critical for national development. In the face of an increase in student protests and the resultant destruction of infrastructure and human life, it becomes imperative to find ways of creating positive and innovative teaching and learning environments that take full advantage of student activism. The chapter draws on existing literature on student activism and the value of student voice to inform the development of a model for incorporating the “student voice” as a way of harnessing the positive aspects of student activism

Potential of marker-assisted selection for Tobacco mosaic tobamovirus resistance in tobacco breeding

Tobacco mosaic tobamovirus (TMV) is one of the most destructive virus threatening worldwide tobacco production. Use of host resistance is the best method of control. The N-gene was introgressed into tobacco from Nicotiana glutinosa to confer hypersensitive resistance to TMV. Phenotypic selection of TMV resistant germplasm is expensive, slow and unreliable. Use of N-gene specific primers is efficient in selecting TMV resistant germplasm in marker-assisted breeding. This study aimed at assessing the utility of N-gene specific primers in flue cured and dark-fire cured tobacco breeding materials in Zimbabwe. Four specific primers namely N1/N2, AS1/AS2, E1/E2 and SD1/SD2 were used to detect the N-gene in flue cured and dark-fire cured tobacco. DNA was extracted from young leaves of tobacco plants and quantified by a spectrophotometer. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mix and amplifying conditions for the four specific primer pairs were optimized. Results show that out of the four sets of primers used, AS1/AS2 and SD1/SD2 did not produce expected band products, while N1/N2 and E1/E2 detected the N-gene in flue cured and dark-fire cured tobacco. Therefore, the use of N1/N2 and E1/E2 primers will be relatively cheap, effective and quick in the foreground selection of the N-gene.Keywords: N-gene, specific primers, resistance, molecular markers, Nicotiana tabacum.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(24), pp. 3783-378

The Impact of Involving Students in Managing the Quality of Higher Education Provision

This study was aimed at exploring the power of student involvement in improving quality of higher educational provision in private higher education instititions in Zimbabwe. A longitudinal approach involving two separate surveys and covering a period of three years was used. A preliminary survey aimed at assessing the issues that impact negatively on teaching and learning in five private universities was made from June 2011 to May 2012. In 2013, a follow-up survey was carried out to check whether the pertinent issues raised by students had been addressed promptly and adequately. Data collection included semi-structured self-administered questionnaires as well as focus group discussions with students and academic staff. The sample represented ten per cent of the enrolments of students at each university. The sample was representative of gender, study discipline and level of study. The issues that were prioritised as adversely affecting quality of teaching and learning were limited reading material; poorly qualified Lecturers; sub-standard teaching venues; inadequate assignments; part-time lecturers who abscond; sexual harassment and inadequate field trips and practical work. During the second survey, results showed that students were satisfied by the fact that all five higher education institutions had addressed most of the students’ concerns. However, continued increase in student enrolments perpetuated the problem of poor teaching venues. Part time lecturers continued to contribute negatively to the quality of teaching and learning. The study points to the need to continuously involve students as an effective way of improving quality of educational provision

Managing the Quality of Cross-Border Higher Education in Zimbabwe

A study on investigating the issues of quality associated with cross-border higher education was carried out using the case study approach focusing on Zimbabwe. The methodology involved document analysis of the cases of regulation and accreditation of cross-border higher education providers and assessment of qualifications acquired from foreign higher education providers as well as interviews with staff from the national quality assurance body. The findings revealed that internationalisation of higher education, does offer several prospects and advantages but it can also negatively impact on the quality of higher education provision if certain activities are left unchecked. These include sub-standard and dubious foreign higher education providers who often enrol students who do not meet the minimum entry requirements as well as degree mills who sell qualifications to clients who do not merit obtaining them. Out of all the qualifications assessed from 2009-2013, 28 percent where found not comparable with similar local qualifications in terms of curriculum content, rigor, duration of study and entry requirements. The lessons from the study include the need for higher education institutions to enrol students who meet nationally agreed entry requirements as well as introducing qualifying courses before admission of those who do not initially meet the required standards for entry. Quality assurance bodies and institutions of higher learning should continue to collaborate with similar bodies globally in order to share best practices on quality assurance issues and setting of minimum standards.

Gendered barriers to education for refugee girls in Tongogara Camp, Zimbabwe

It is widely recognised that education plays a critical role in achieving gender equality, yet refugee girls face significant challenges in accessing education globally. This study, grounded on feminist theory, explores girls’ gendered barriers to education in Zimbabwe’s Tongogara Refugee Camp. Through focus group discussions and face-to-face interviews with 124 girls and boys, 45 parents/ guardians, and 30 key informants (Ministry officials, teachers, camp officials, and NGO workers), the study examines how gender intersects with the vulnerabilities of displacement to create a complex web of challenges. These include the prioritisation of boys’ education, increased domestic burdens on girls, limited access to menstrual hygiene products, and heightened protection risks. The study underscores the remarkable resilience of refugee girls to persevere in their education despite facing significant challenges. The findings emphasise the need for gender-transformative interventions that address the root causes of educational inequality and empower refugee girls to access quality education. The study proposes a model of gendered barriers to education. It recommends that policymakers, practitioners, and humanitarian actors promote educational equity and empowerment for refugee girls in Zimbabwe and beyond. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of the intersection of gender, displacement, and education, with implications for humanitarian interventions and educational policy in refugee settings

Leveraging academic-industry partnerships for inclusive virtual learning:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions to higher education institutions across the globe, prompting even the ill-prepared ones to embrace virtual teaching and learning approaches. Academic-industry partnerships remain an underutilised and under-researched mutually beneficial way of strengthening organisational performance. This study used the case of Zimbabwe to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the types and extent of cooperation between academic institutions and industry towards inclusive virtual learning in public and private universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used electronic questionnaires and virtual interviews to collect data from a sample of 100 university staff and executives in industry. The findings revealed major challenges concerning infrastructure, facilities, high cost of data and intermittent power cuts. At present, particularly in public universities, academic-industry synergies were focused on internet and data provision. However, no support was made available for infrastructure and related facilities. The study recommended the need for strong academic-industry partnerships towards funding infrastructure and facilities to enhance virtual teaching and learning

Repositioning of Africa in knowledge production: shaking off historical stigmas — introduction

Africa is recognised as the cradle of humankind with a proven record of creativity and innovation as evidenced by its great empires and kingdoms. It is thus an enigma that currently Africa contributes only 2% to global knowledge production, a situation that is widely believed to account for its underdevelopment. Even though scholarly disagreement cuts very deep here, it is mostly due to the reasons of the status quo rather than to disputing the poor showing of Africa in global knowledge production. The high quality of articles presented in this supplementary issue showcases our conviction that Africa can indeed shake off historical stigmas and reposition itself as a giant in knowledge production. This editorial introduces the contributions in the issue which interrogates the status quo and explores ways in which knowledge production can be enhanced. Three key thematic approaches are presented: a decolonial approach to legitimising African knowledge based on its needs, culture, and heritage; development of robust knowledge production and quality assurance institutions; and inclusive education and knowledge production

What can the African diaspora contribute to innovation and knowledge creation? The case study of Zimbabwean innovators

The importance of diaspora and transnational knowledge production, innovation, and development is of growing interest, particularly in the developing world. The phenomenal increase in high human capital migration from poor to rich countries has historically led to what is commonly known as brain drain, which has negatively impacted the capacity of such countries to innovate. Yet more recently the emergence of the phenomenon of transnationalism has demonstrated the potential to transform brain drain into brain circulation, for the mutual benefit of both sending and receiving contexts. This article uses the case of Zimbabwe to explore the role of diasporan professionals, scholars, and entrepreneurs in contributing to knowledge production, innovation, and development initiatives in their countries of origin. Zimbabwe is an example of many African countries that have experienced substantial attrition of highly qualified knowledge workers for various reasons. A qualitative approach, involving interviews and documentary evidence, enabled the researchers to engage with the Zimbabwean diaspora to capture their narratives regarding the challenges and opportunities, which were then used to develop successful transnational knowledge production initiatives.Keywords: Diaspora transnationalism, Zimbabwe, brain drain and brain circulation, country of origin