Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
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The participation of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals have become more important in human rights issues in international politics in the past decades. Oftentimes NGOs in...Show moreThe participation of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals have become more important in human rights issues in international politics in the past decades. Oftentimes NGOs in different countries with similar issue concerns form ‘transnational advocacy networks’ with the believe that such cooperation is beneficial to achieve goals in their agenda. This thesis is based on Keck and Sikkink’s theory of transnational advocacy network, and engages in the analysis on how the East Asian transnational advocacy network on the comfort women issue emerged forty years after the War was over, and what brought the NGOs in different Asian countries together other than just the nationalities of the former comfort women, and formed the ‘boomerang pattern’. Next, it analyses on the strategies adopted by the East Asian transnational advocacy network on the comfort women issue, and their strategies are categorised by what Keck and Sikkink listed as information, symbolic, leverage, and accountability politics. It then turns to the international responses, most importantly, the responses from the Japanese government on the comfort women issue, also responses from other states. Last, it assesses the achievement and challenges faced by the comfort women movement based on the five criteria proposed by Keck and Sikkink in evaluating the result of transnational advocacy movements.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
open access
Te midden van het alsmaar groeiende aanbod van mediavormen, bronnen en beschikbare informatie bevindt zich de informed patient. Door de informed patient als ‘figure’ te gebruiken, als sociaal type...Show moreTe midden van het alsmaar groeiende aanbod van mediavormen, bronnen en beschikbare informatie bevindt zich de informed patient. Door de informed patient als ‘figure’ te gebruiken, als sociaal type kenmerkend voor een bepaald veld van processen en veranderingen, kan een huidige westerse informatiesamenleving worden bekeken aan de hand van specifieke en concrete beschrijvingen. Op die manier wordt duidelijk dat de informed patient zich zelfstandig een weg baant door de informatie middels een lijst van beoordelingscriteria, dat informatie en kennis hecht samenwerken, en dat sociale interacties en belangen, culturele standaarden en machtsrelaties zich geleidelijk ontwikkelen rondom de informed patient.Show less
Research master thesis | Political Science and Public Administration (research) (MSc)
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In the literature it is argued that the relationship between parliament and government has changed due to increased polarization and party competition. In the Netherlands this change occurred from...Show moreIn the literature it is argued that the relationship between parliament and government has changed due to increased polarization and party competition. In the Netherlands this change occurred from the mid-1960s onwards (Bovend’Eert and Kummeling, 2010; Andeweg, 1995). Party lines have become the main lines of political conflict, thus making the main form of executive-legislative interaction along party lines. According to scholars, commentators and the parliament itself, this has led to changed patterns of legislative oversight. This paper has two explicit goals: it offers a behavioral operationalization of King’s (1976) executive-legislative (party) modes and tests the hypothesis that executive-legislative relations have changed in the Netherlands. Contrary to the expectations, based on quantitative analysis of written questions in the period 1960-2011, no support is found for the hypothesis that the interparty modes have increased in this period in the Netherlands.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
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
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This thesis assesses the notion that liberal democracies make inherently poor counterinsurgents by conducting a most similar case comparison of the Algerian War (1954- 1962) and the Second Chechen...Show moreThis thesis assesses the notion that liberal democracies make inherently poor counterinsurgents by conducting a most similar case comparison of the Algerian War (1954- 1962) and the Second Chechen War (1999-2009). By comparing two cases where prominent variables were common, other than regime type and case outcome, this paper was able to determine that regime type does matter in small wars. Although both counterinsurgents were able to achieve military success through brutality, regime type was ultimately consequential to the outcomes of the small wars. Whereas the more authoritarian state (Russia) was relatively unimpeded in its war effort, the democratic state (France) ultimately lost the war due to the freedom of the media and its democratic institutions. In France, the media exposed the barbarisms of the army, generating condemnation at both domestic and international levels. This opposition to the war effort would prove insurmountable to the democratic state. Through coercion, France sought to suppress domestic criticism, but in doing so, eroded the democratic virtue of the state. Ultimately faced with the option of either preserving democracy or maintaining the brutal, but effective, counterinsurgency, France capitulated, ending its colonial rule in Algeria. Russia, on the other hand, was never held accountable due to an aggressive information operations campaign that precluded the war effort from becoming a prominent public issue. As the suppression of public criticism is unavailable to democratic states, democracies are found to be inherently less proficient at counterinsurgency.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
Personalisering in de media: een geloofwaardige mythe of waarheid? Is er sprake van personalisering door toedoen van de elektronische media, een analyse van lijsttrekkersdebatten vanaf 1989 tot en...Show morePersonalisering in de media: een geloofwaardige mythe of waarheid? Is er sprake van personalisering door toedoen van de elektronische media, een analyse van lijsttrekkersdebatten vanaf 1989 tot en met 2012Show less
Boheemse visie op basis van Duitstalige intellectuelen over de identiteit van Bohemen, of het als een Tsjechische of een Duitstalige regio omstreeks 1840 moest worden opgevat.
Het onderwerp van deze scriptie is het beeld van China in Nederlandse kranten. In het onderzoek wordt het Chinabeeld van het NRC Handelsblad, de Volkskrant en De Telegraaf in de jaren 1986 en 1992...Show moreHet onderwerp van deze scriptie is het beeld van China in Nederlandse kranten. In het onderzoek wordt het Chinabeeld van het NRC Handelsblad, de Volkskrant en De Telegraaf in de jaren 1986 en 1992 met elkaar vergeleken. In deze scriptie wordt gelet op wat de beeldvorming over China is en waar deze door beïnvloed wordt. Er wordt gekeken of ontwikkelingen in Nederland en het Westen invloed uitoefenen op het Chinabeeld. Ook wordt er gelet op de verschillen tussen de drie kranten in de manier waarop zij over China schrijven.Show less
