This dissertation examines the performance of various federal departments on the success of their integration of personnel based on race and gender. It determines if there are variations in the success rate and explores the reasons for the variations based on the literature review and data analysis. The data used are federal employee data compiled by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Merit System Protection Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission through use of personnel surveys from 1979 through 2002 and annual reports. The study uses a cross-sectional model to test whether women and minorities in General Schedule grades 13 -15 have benefited from the implementation of Affirmative Action policy in their prospective agency over time. The effect of department size and affirmative action on the success rate of women and minorities was observed. The data shows that women at the GS 13 -15 grades have made significant gains in their participation rates at all of the departments within the study from 1979 - 2002. The gains made by minorities at the GS 13 -15 grades were not at the same rate as women. In several departments, the participation rates were either flat or decreased. The regression model showed that there is a linear relationship between the success of women and the success of minorities at the GS 13 -15 grade levels within federal departments.

This research examines the use of innovative mechanisms for encouragement of citizen participation in the governance, policy, and decision making processes using case studies of Washington, DC, the United States and Seoul, South Korea for comparison. The research illustrates ways of encouraging development of citizen participation using innovative mechanisms through comparative study. This research used a comparative case study of the two cities which focuses on how the two governments apply ICTs and foster citizen participation, what similarities and differences there are between the two city governments' performance and practices, and what may cause these similarities and differences. For the research, websites and citizen participation practices of Washington, DC and Seoul using innovative technologies - Citizen Summit and Seoul Oasis - are reviewed and compared using the categories of general capacity, actor, legal aspect, management, and evaluation. As capitals of the United States and South Korea, Washington, DC and Seoul lead the encouragement of citizen participation, and the two cities' specific practices are recognized as exemplary. The findings describe encouragement of citizen participation using innovative technologies in governance, policy, and decision making processes of Washington, DC and Seoul as well as similarities and differences. Both cities commonly use Government 2.0. Through Government 2.0, citizens can participate and influence the results and effects of policy. Also, governments secure transparency, legitimacy, and efficiency through direct communication with citizens. The study illustrates how citizen participation using innovative technologies can support civic engagement in local government. Strong leadership of the mayor is a common driving force of the two cities in initiating and implementing the Citizen Summit and Seoul Oasis. Different contexts of the two cities influence ways to initiate and utilize innovative technologies. Washington, DC implemented a practice combining public meeting and small group discussion using innovative technologies. On the other hand, Seoul initiated a new citizen participation practice based on the Internet. The results of the research show that innovative mechanisms allow adopting new government-citizen relationships in both cities.