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Viscoelastic liquid coacervate phases that are highly enriched in nonconjugated polyelectrolytes are currently the subject of highly active research from biological and soft-materials perspectives. However, formation of a liquid, electronically active coacervate has proved highly elusive, since extended π-electron interactions strongly favor the solid state. Herein we show that a conjugated polyelectrolyte can be rationally designed to undergo aqueous liquid/liquid phase separation to form a liquid coacervate phase. This result is significant both because it adds to the fundamental understanding of liquid/liquid phase separation but also because it opens intriguing applications in light harvesting and beyond. We find that the semiconducting coacervate is intrinsically excitonically coupled, allowing for long-range exciton diffusion in a strongly correlated, fluctuating environment. The emergent excitonic states are comprised of both excimers and H-aggregates.

The ability to assemble artificial systems that mimic aspects of natural light-harvesting functions is fascinating and attractive for materials design. Given the complexity of such a system, a simple design pathway is desirable. Here, we argue that associative phase separation of oppositely charged conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) can provide such a path in an environmentally benign medium: water. We find that complexation between an exciton-donor and acceptor CPE leads to formation of a complex fluid. We interrogate exciton transfer from the donor to the acceptor CPE within the complex fluid and find that transfer is highly efficient. We also find that excess molecular ions can tune the modulus of the inter-CPE complex fluid. Even at high ion concentrations, CPEs remain complexed with significantly delocalized electronic wavefunctions. Our work lays the rational foundation for complex, tunable aqueous light-harvesting systems via the intrinsic thermodynamics of associative phase separation.

Local government reform in Jamaica aims (i) to refocus local authorities to providing leadership and a coordinating framework for the collective efforts of the people towards local development and (ii) to assess local service distribution modalities between central and local governments, the private sector and CSOs for more cost-effective arrangements. The institutional context in which these objectives are to be pursued is characterized by a new local governance framework populated by ‘a federated system of development committees’. Development committees are expected to work in partnership with local authorities in pursuit of economic transformation of geographic spaces. Participatory development that development committees exemplify conjures up images of ownership of local [economic] development projects and an empowered citizenry that has the capacity to direct resources in their favour. Development committees represent a differentiated method of local economic governance. But the concern is: Are development committees fit for purpose? This is the fundamental question with which this research is concerned. A survey of parish development committees (PDCs) was conducted to determine the extent to which the organizations are giving effect to their mandate. The study is exploratory in design and relies on qualitative methodologies. The results of the study will be important for assisting the local governance reform process currently underway in Jamaica but should contribute to the discourse on the alternative approaches to managing development in developing countries.

In Jamaica, a “new” local governance framework comprises a federated system of development committees (community development committees [CDCs], development area committees [DACs], and parish development committees [PDCs]) purportedly working in partnership with local authorities. Local governance is thus premised on the idea that utilization of local skills, knowledge, assets, and initiatives will lead to economic transformation. Focus has also shifted to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), given their local embeddedness and potential to foster local economic growth. This chapter investigates the extent to which local economic development (LED) model implementation is supported by appropriate governance structures. It argues that implementation of an LED model represents a decisive shift from local governance to local economic governance, which currently lacks a cohesive policy framework. The consequent effect is nothing more than atomized organizational actions that engender competition among localities and communities rather than a clear growth strategy at the local level.

The presumption underlying current policy discourse in the Caribbean – that local government represents a “convenient” political realm for the practice of democratic governance –resurrects a long-standing debate about the proximity of local government and democracy, and highlights the difficulty facing local governments in the region to “vindicate their democratic credentials,” especially given a pervasive view that local governments are the final frontiers of populism and patronage. This chapter employs a constructivist framework to analyze the extent to which popularly elected mayor, introduced in Jamaica in 2003, achieves a balance between democratic governance, populism, and patronage. Apart from its theorized democratic role, local government performs other subsidiary but critical functions dictated by the nature of the political environment. If democratic values are to predominate, innovations such as popularly elected mayor and the process of municipalization require sustained institutional support to minimize competition between old and new politico-administrative values.

Issues of local governance have dominated Caribbean policy agenda for the past two decades, prompting considerable thought and action on local government reform by scholars, local government practitioners and policy makers, alike. No reforms have been as ubiquitous as those of local government. Permitted by an international reformist agenda, local government reform policy is linked positively to efforts to redress incapacities of public management and administration. This article examines conceptual and empirical issues relating to implementation of local government reform in two Caribbean countries, Jamaica and Trinidad. It analyses how the vision for local governance is articulated through specific reform taxonomies and argues that, although local government reform is normatively a policy aimed at fundamental changes in intergovernmental relations, in Jamaica and Trinidad reform has led merely to adjustments in the internal administration of local government. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.