Browsing by Author "Davis, Rebecca H."
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- The British Labour Party in Opposition, 1979-1997: Structures, Agency, and Party ChangeAllan, James P. (Virginia Tech, 1997-04-24)The British Labour Party has spent eighteen years in opposition since 1979. During that time it lost four consecutive general elections to the Conservative Party. In 1997, however, it now looks set to win its first election since 1974. This thesis examines the Labour Party in opposition since 1979, using a theoretical framework informed by Anthony Giddens' structuration theory. Based on a dialectical notion of the structure and agency linkage, a two-tiered framework is constructed which at one level views a political party as consisting of a set of structures which can constrain and enable party leaders in their attempts to make the party electorally successful, and at another level the party is regarded as a collective agent in its own right, which in turn is subject to the effects of larger external structures. By comparing the strategies adopted by the Labour Party and its leaders since 1979, the thesis demonstrates that the apparent recovery in the Party's electoral fortunes has corresponded with an increase in the ability of agents to successfully negotiate structural constraints, whilst taking advantage of enabling structures. However, it is also clear that the transformation of Labour into an electorally viable party in 1997 is not solely the product of agency in the period since the last election; rather, it is the culmination of a longer-term process of party change.
- Czechoslovakia: A State of Perceived BiasSeiler, Danielle M.S. (Virginia Tech, 1998-04-28)This thesis explores the circumstances behind the dissolution of the state of Czechoslovakia. Unlike previous works, this paper contends that the Velvet Divorce was not simply a result of the expulsion of Communism, but rather the end product of a multitude of forces, both interior and exterior to the state's boundaries. The transition from Communism was merely the catalyst. In examining the attitudinal and eventual physical division between the majority of Czechs and Slovaks, this paper extends the criteria for consensus articulated by George Schöpflin (1993) into the context of Czechoslovakia. Schöpflin contends that support for the state in the post-Communist period is based on three characteristics: faith in the nation, belief in economic reform, and hatred for all things Communist. This thesis contends that most Czechs and Slovaks in Czechoslovakia were divided on the basis of whether they believed that their nation's right to self-determination had been fulfilled, whether they advocated more socialist or capitalist policies, and whether they benefitted from the experience of Communism. These fundamental differences contributed to the failure to reach agreement in 1992 concerning the shape of the "new" or "revived" Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, this paper will show that the Velvet Divorce was not merely a product of internal disagreements. The creation, existence, and even dissolution of the state were influenced by global forces. Events such as the French Revolution, World War II, and even the Independence of Croatia had an impact in Czechoslovakia. The state was not born into a bubble; its borders were chronically permeable.
- A Design Methodology for Physical Design for TestabilityAlmajdoub, Salahuddin A. (Virginia Tech, 1996-07-01)Physical design for testability (PDFT) is a strategy to design circuits in a way to avoid or reduce realistic physical faults. The goal of this work is to define and establish a speci c methodology for PDFT. The proposed design methodology includes techniques to reduce potential bridging faults in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. To compare faults, the design process utilizes a new parameter called the fault index. The fault index for a particular fault is the probability of occurrence of the fault divided by the testability of the fault. Faults with the highest fault indices are considered the worst faults and are targeted by the PDFT design process to eliminate them or reduce their probability of occurrence. An implementation of the PDFT design process is constructed using several new tools in addition to other "off-the-shelf" tools. The first tool developed in this work is a testability measure tool for bridging faults. Two other tools are developed to eliminate or reduce the probability of occurrence of bridging faults with high fault indices. The row enhancer targets faults inside the logic elements of the circuit, while the channel enhancer targets faults inside the routing part of the circuit. To demonstrate the capabilities and test the eff ectiveness of the PDFT design process, this work conducts an experiment which includes designing three CMOS circuits from the ISCAS 1985 benchmark circuits. Several layouts are generated for every circuit. Every layout, except the rst one, utilizes information from the previous layout to minimize the probability of occurrence for faults with high fault indices. Experimental results show that the PDFT design process successfully achieves two goals of PDFT, providing layouts with fewer faults and minimizing the probability of occurrence of hard-to-test faults. Improvement in the total fault index was about 40 percent in some cases, while improvement in total critical area was about 30 percent in some cases. However, virtually all the improvements came from using the row enhancer; the channel enhancer provided only marginal improvements.