Recent studies in political demography have concluded that young adults, when overrepresented in a country's population, form an obstacle to democracy. After performing linear regressions on a new...Show moreRecent studies in political demography have concluded that young adults, when overrepresented in a country's population, form an obstacle to democracy. After performing linear regressions on a new global database using data from Polity IV, UNPD, and IIASA/VID, it is demonstrated that the role of young adults cannot unanimously be dismissed as obstructive in the democratization process. Instead, a new variable indicating the percentage of a country’s population that is both young and highly educated is introduced. This variable is proved to offer stable predictions on that country's level of democracy across time and space.Show less
The main goal of this thesis is is to look for an answer to the question ”what motivates citizens to engage in politics using Facebook”. The thesis will discuss which benefits citizens are getting...Show moreThe main goal of this thesis is is to look for an answer to the question ”what motivates citizens to engage in politics using Facebook”. The thesis will discuss which benefits citizens are getting when they opt to political participation over social network sites, specifically Facebook. In order to answer this question so a survey was conducted, which examined the relationship between political participation on Facebook and three topics factors. The first was resources for political participation that citizens use or need to sacrifice if they want to engage with politics. The second was the sense of internal and external political efficacy, with which citizen estimate their ability to understand and discuss politics, along with the openesss of the political system for new idea. The third and last one was, self presentation of political impressions, how individuals presesnt their political identity to their peers. The survey found that Facebook does not overwhelmingly reduce costs of participation, and that citizens who engage in politics on Facebook would not necessarily assume that their activities would bring change in policy. However, citizens who do carry on political participation on Facebook may expect a high sense of internal political efficacy and would use Facebook not so much for changing government policy, but as a mobilizing tool, and as a stage for one’s display of an idealized political impression.Show less
Articles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States...Show moreArticles that investigate minority influence on foreign policy-making have mainly concentrated on minorities living in the United States. Research on national minorities outside the United States has been limited. This paper tries to compare two cases that are dissimilar to the United States, namely Turkey and Israel and this essay asks the question: to what extent do the Kurdish and Arabic minorities influence Turkish and Israeli foreign policy? There is a particular emphasis on foreign policy influence of Pro-Kurdish and Pro-Arabic political parties. The party websites of the Pro-Arabic, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and Meretz are looked into. With regard to Turkey, the party website of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is examined. The BDP has been established in 2008, which is considerably later compared to the pro-Arabic political parties in Israel. Unfortunately, it is impossible to investigate pro-Kurdish parties from before 2008, as these parties were banned by the Turkish Constitutional Court. It is argued in this paper that no proof can be found of pro-Arabic and pro-Kurdish political parties influencing foreign policy. Since Israel and Turkey are truly dissimilar to the United States, other cases need to be examined in order to find out whether minorities in other countries influence foreign policy. Moreover, international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the European Union, can play a role in accommodating minorities. More research is necessary to find out whether international organizations, as the Council of Europe and the EU, play a role in protecting minority rights.Show less
In late January 1996, Greece and Turkey were literally hours from conflict after the landing of a helicopter with Turkish journalists on one of the two rocky islets in Northeastern Aegean Sea which...Show moreIn late January 1996, Greece and Turkey were literally hours from conflict after the landing of a helicopter with Turkish journalists on one of the two rocky islets in Northeastern Aegean Sea which are known in Greek as Imia and in Turkish as Kardak. Turkey’s intentions to dispute the Greek sovereignty of those islets led to the biggest crisis between the two countries after the Turkish invasion to Cyprus. The mediation of the US finally brought the deterrence of the war which was really close as Greek and Turkish troops had gathered on the islets and close to them. The fact that there was political instability in both countries at the time of the crisis creates a big question that is still to be answered: where the reasons of this crisis political? Domestic problems sometimes lead to external conflicts and the probability of the existence of a relationship between the domestic unrest mainly in Turkey and incidentally in Greece and the Imia/Kardak crisis still remains vague. This research will try to clarify the reasons of the Imia/Kardak crisis and to examine whether the diversionary theory of war has an application in it or not. Through the analysis of this theory and the description of the political situation in both countries we will try to come to a conclusion about the political dimension of this crisis.Show less
This master thesis looks at the impact of participation in Social Networking Sites (SNSs) by voters on their voting decisions during the Dutch parliamentary elections in 2012. Both the use and...Show moreThis master thesis looks at the impact of participation in Social Networking Sites (SNSs) by voters on their voting decisions during the Dutch parliamentary elections in 2012. Both the use and activity on SNSs are compared with the decision to participate in the elections and the moment a voter had decided for a party and person. The quantative analysis of a survey among train travelers and SNS users showed interesting results, but could not support the hypotheses that increased use relates to increased electoral participation. On the other hand, SNS use showed a strong significant positive correlation with the delayed choice for a party and person. SNS activity showed a strong significant positive correlation with a delayed choice for a person only. But, in the presence of stronger influences with multiple control variables the significance of the correlation disappeared, while the coefficient still remained positive. Other political communication variables like traditional media and face-to-face discussions did not show significant relationships with delayed decisions. Some of these results are interesting because they suggest that the use of SNSs has a certain impact on the decision making process of citizens during elections. A more extensive research may reveil the impact on a wider scale and must focus on specific causes of the impact, like content and specific political communication.Show less
Wars have substantial consequences for the consolidation of democracy, and have caused demographic, socio-economic and social problems in the countries of the Former Yugoslavia. However, what is...Show moreWars have substantial consequences for the consolidation of democracy, and have caused demographic, socio-economic and social problems in the countries of the Former Yugoslavia. However, what is striking is that not only has their Europeanization process differed from other Central and Eastern European countries, but also that among them a differentiated form of integration has taken place. On the one hand there are countries like Slovenia, a full EU member state, and Croatia, an acceding country set to join in July 2013, and on the other hand, countries like Serbia, a candidate country, and Bosnia i Herzegovina, a potential candidate, which have a long way to go on the path to membership. What are the reasons for these differences? How can we explain such variation in degrees of EU membership given that these countries were part of the same state a mere twenty-two years ago? What factors explain the quick democratic consolidation and compliance with EU conditionality of some FY states, on one hand, and the fragmented, problematic and generally slow Europeanization process of other FY states on the other? In order to answer these questions, this thesis examines the role of two key factors in determining different degrees of EU membership – the role of ethnicity, and the legacy of civil war in the internal political environment.Show less
One of the foremost controversies apparent following the 2011 intervention in Libya, was the outcome of regime change. Critics charge the facilitation of the Gadaffi regime's overthrow was not...Show moreOne of the foremost controversies apparent following the 2011 intervention in Libya, was the outcome of regime change. Critics charge the facilitation of the Gadaffi regime's overthrow was not justifiable under the United Nations mandate, not justifiable under the prominent 'Responsibility to Protect' norm and may have undermined efforts to resolve the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria. However, it is asserted that in situations where intervention is undertaken to stop atrocities committed by a government, the removal of that regime is necessary in achieving its aims. In exploring this link between humanitarian intervention and regime change, this piece analyses how the academic literature can justify the enactment of regime change in instances of intervention. This relationship otherwise lacks a sustained analysis in the academic literature. Whilst regime change is often difficult to justify in instances of humanitarian intervention, and inevitably controversial, this analysis will demonstrate that it is also often a necessity in achieving an intervention's humanitarian goals.Show less
The question of minority treatment, and illiberal minority treatment in particular, is an often contended subject among political philosophers. As most Western liberal democracies are multicultural...Show moreThe question of minority treatment, and illiberal minority treatment in particular, is an often contended subject among political philosophers. As most Western liberal democracies are multicultural it seems that this topic will remain relevant for a long time to come. This thesis presents the arguments of both autonomy liberalism and toleration liberalism in respect to the treatment of illiberal cultures within a liberal democratic state. While the arguments for toleration-based approach to liberalism are acknowledged and discussed, I devote a significant portion of this work to the defence of personal autonomy as the fundamental value within liberalism, as well as a value necessary to be acknowledged even by illiberal immigrant groups residing within a liberal democracy. Literature on the subject by well-established political philosophers is often focused solely on examples relevant to the United States of America, Canada or United Kingdom. The scope of this thesis is aimed at cases and national minorities relevant to Western Europe. The limits to toleration of illiberal minorities, which I establish in chapter 3, are in large part influenced by my understanding of personal autonomy as the fundamental value of liberalism, as well as by my interpretation of Raz's perception of personal value in both liberal and illiberal states. The differentiation of national minorities relevant to Europe from those relevant to the American continent is the focus for selecting the guiding principles for the evaluation of self-government claims of said minorities, a topic to which the entire chapter 4 is devoted.Show less
The expression of public opinion varies depending on the issue. This variation could be linked to highly salient issues. We argue that public opinion will be more involved in the case of highly...Show moreThe expression of public opinion varies depending on the issue. This variation could be linked to highly salient issues. We argue that public opinion will be more involved in the case of highly salient issues. In such circumstances, it would be interesting to examine if a higher saliency leads to a more accountable government. While some scholars link foreign policy with domestic debate, few of them link accountability with saliency as a means to verify the importance of domestic factors. Therefore, we will add new elements to the existing literature by focusing on this link. The question guiding our research will try to confirm that governments give more account when facing a salient issue within public opinion. Our question is the following: Does the high salience of a foreign policy issue have an influence on the extent of account-giving by democratic governments to citizens?Show less
Despite the extensive literature on the democratisation in the post-Soviet region, little effort has been dedicated to the issue of historical institutional legacies. Many designs stress national...Show moreDespite the extensive literature on the democratisation in the post-Soviet region, little effort has been dedicated to the issue of historical institutional legacies. Many designs stress national-level variation in performance and therefore cannot easily explain the differences among the countries emerging from the former Soviet Union. This paper uses process-tracing in a case study of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to test the variable of institutional legacies as a possible causal mechanism that aids the transition from authoritarian rule to consolidation of democracy. The analysis aims to contribute to the post-communist democratisation literature by extending the scope to new, unexplored cases and by stressing the importance of pre-communist historical legacy factor for modern institutional design. The analysis finds that the restoration of democratic institutions has pushed the character of the states toward consolidated democracies. Lasting effective governance, with the possible exception of citizenship laws, has in due course been achieved as the character of democratic values has survived Soviet homogenising polices. The conclusion proposes an analysis to measure significant variation between cases with regard to strength of legacy and strength of democratic consolidation in the post-Soviet region and predicts a correlation between these variables.Show less
In ‘de rol van de kerk op het politieke toneel’ wordt een mogelijke revitalisering van de kerkelijke lobbyactiviteit meetbaar gemaakt. Het onderzoek sluit hiermee nauw aan op de maatschappelijke...Show moreIn ‘de rol van de kerk op het politieke toneel’ wordt een mogelijke revitalisering van de kerkelijke lobbyactiviteit meetbaar gemaakt. Het onderzoek sluit hiermee nauw aan op de maatschappelijke discussie, die er bestaat over de toenemende zichtbaarheid van religie in de publieke ruimte. Met het onderzoek wordt ook de ‘traditionele secularisatiethese’ in twijfel getrokken. De traditionele secularisatiethese veronderstelt namelijk dat seculiere differentiatie (de opdeling van het leven in verschillende sferen), ontkerkelijking en privatisering van religie gelijk tred houden, terwijl de revitaliseringsthese seculiere differentiatie en ontkerkelijking juist ziet als katalysatoren van deprivatisering van religie.Show less
The body of liberalism needs defending in a world increasingly hostile to liberal states, but the soul of liberalism is equally under threat, by the increasingly vociferous claims for recognition...Show moreThe body of liberalism needs defending in a world increasingly hostile to liberal states, but the soul of liberalism is equally under threat, by the increasingly vociferous claims for recognition of group difference from the multicultural milieu, which are often in conflict, within its borders. How must a liberal respond to the conflict of values and claims for special recognition? The central focus of this work is to counter arguments that liberalism ought to respond by promoting personal autonomy, i.e., developing liberal individuals and institutions. Rather, in returning to the foundational basis of liberalism - that the irreducibly individual nature of moral reasoning and the fact of diversity demands liberty of conscience - it reasserts the primacy of the principle of toleration and the corollary freedom of association (and exit), as the only theoretically justifiable and coherent liberal response to diversity. This is founded on the universal human value of living according to, or not against, conscience and the striving for peaceable coexistence. A free society then, is one where different groups, illiberal or otherwise, coexist in mutual toleration and where the relevant individual freedom is the right to live according to conscience (howsoever culturally formed or defined) against external interference and, in circumstances of conflict or dissent, the freedom to exit. The implications of this conclusion are that only norms of civility developed by modus operandi may constrain 'illiberal' cultural practices. The liberal state is not invested with this power any more than it is with authority over moral questions; the state is a tyrant by policy when it is granted that authority by principle.Show less
