Recognition has been established as a right in political theory, with the argument that it is connected to justice since misrecognition can inflict injury to one’s identity. Meanwhile in political...Show moreRecognition has been established as a right in political theory, with the argument that it is connected to justice since misrecognition can inflict injury to one’s identity. Meanwhile in political theory there is debate about whether recognition drives out redistribution or that redistribution will eventually follow from recognition, however empirical evidence is scarce. One cross-national analysis by Banting et al. (2006) analysed the effect of multicultural recognition policies on redistribution, but concluded that there was no correlation between recognition and redistribution. Nancy Fraser (2000) made a distinction between two different kinds of recognition politics: status and identity politics. She claims that the latter drives out redistribution, while status politics does not. This thesis looks at whether the difference between identity politics and status politics can explain why recognition and redistribution are not correlated in the study by Banting et al., and if identity recognition policies indeed drive out redistribution. The performed cross-national statistical analysis does not support the hypothesis that multicultural identity policies drive out redistribution. However the data does hint in this direction.Show less
Political corruption is a more or less universal phenomenon, but occurs much more frequently in some places than in others. This variation has been attributed to a range of factors on which...Show morePolitical corruption is a more or less universal phenomenon, but occurs much more frequently in some places than in others. This variation has been attributed to a range of factors on which countries perform either poorly or well. Yet, political corruption also occurs in countries that seem to perform well on most known indicators. As this has been an object of little scholarly attention, it remains largely unclear how we can explain the occurrence of political corruption in ‘unlikely places’; countries where such corruption is theoretically least likely to occur. This study explores the contours of an explanation by investigating a particular case in-depth: the case of Jos van Rey. The results suggest four potential explanations, that range from conceptual issues to the possibility that political corruption in unlikely places is to some extent unique, and driven by a distinct set of factors.Show less
