This thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its...Show moreThis thesis explores how the Christian Democratic Appeal’s (CDA) attitude towards the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has affected the party’s understanding of its key principle solidarity during its most prominent years in government between 1980 and 2010. By analyzing primary source material in the form of personal statements from key CDA members, election programs and official party documentation, it focusses on two aspects of the CDA’s identity: (1) its membership of a family of Christian democratic parties, whose political identity is based on an explicit appeal to Christian values in general; and (2) its primary objective of both “nationally and internationally appealing to the responsibility of the strong to show solidarity with the weak” as laid out in the party’s Statement of Principles in 1980. This thesis concludes that the CDA, throughout its years in government, has been gradually drifting away from these aspects of its Christian democratic identity, because of (1) the CDA’s core principle of solidarity being originally inspired by Catholic social doctrine, (2) the Israel-Palestine conflict having been an internally dividing topic ever since the start of the CDA, and (3) the increasing support of the secular vote having made the party’s successes possible in the first place. This combination of factors has often made room for circumstances in which not always the content of the party’s foundational Statement of Principles was of the utmost priority. Moreover, it has often resulted in a negligence of the protection of those Christian values and traditions in places where Christian solidarity was actually needed the most. While this research gives an interesting insight into the CDA’s developing understanding of solidarity towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, future research on the connection between Christian democratic politics and threatened Christian communities in the rest of the world might be a welcome addition to the discussion.Show less
This thesis aims to show how authoritarian regimes opt for using small-scale violence against minority out-groups to counteract any regime instability. Essentially it argues that authoritarian...Show moreThis thesis aims to show how authoritarian regimes opt for using small-scale violence against minority out-groups to counteract any regime instability. Essentially it argues that authoritarian leaders change out-group treatment according to the needs of their stability. It is a within-case study, focused on the Coptic christian minority in Egypt. It traces the treatment of Copts under Sadat and under Mubarak. The thesis found that the biggest need or factor in determining out-group treatment is domestic legitimacy. By bringing various theories on authoritarian regimes and minority treatment together, this thesis proposes the stoking fire theory. By allowing violence to be perpetrated against minority groups, regimes stoke a small fire and keep it burning for a regime's own survival. It is the first step in arguing that low-level violence, perpetrated by state and citizen, is used for strategic purposes, as others have argued for mass violence. The insights in the nexus between the three factors (domestic legitimacy, an out-groups refusal to be co-opted and external support) for out-group treatment can help foreign policy makers in determining finding the best timing to pressure regimes for democratization, if that is truly their pursuit, and when to support an out-group without becoming the topic of rumored ‘evil’ relations between out-group and democratic supporter. More importantly, by understanding how their position is used by autocrats, out-groups may better understand their predicament at a given time. Understanding their behavior and the changing needs of an authoritarian regime, they may be better able to see increased violence coming, giving them the chance to defend themselves against it.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
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Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acquired power in 2014 many pro-Hindu regulations have been gone into a fast track. One of these regulations is a...Show moreEver since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, acquired power in 2014 many pro-Hindu regulations have been gone into a fast track. One of these regulations is a ban on the consumption and possession of beef, which is a legal offence. This ban on beef is viewed as an attack on the citizenship of India’s largest of minority groups; the Dalits and Muslims. This thesis questions how a ban like this contradicts with the secular identity of India. The citizenship of the minority groups will be examined by having an historical overview of their struggles to reach equality within a society with changing interpretations of secularism. Why has there occurred discrepancies in the theory and practice in Indian secularism? And how does this weaken the citizenship of the minorities? Can India , with the expansion of the beef ban explain the development of the large beef export industry on the grounds of secularism? This thesis develops an understanding that pluralistic societies use their secular identity only when it fits their political agenda.Show less
