This paper examines the recurrence of three main views on disability in policy-making to understand general discourses and perspectives affecting (disability) employment policies and societal...Show moreThis paper examines the recurrence of three main views on disability in policy-making to understand general discourses and perspectives affecting (disability) employment policies and societal mindset. The most similar case study of Flanders and the Netherlands, combining critical discourse and thematic (content) analysis on plenary debates, demonstrates that the view of disability as an individual’s issue rather than a society’s responsibility was commonplace. Particularly in the case of the Netherlands. Nonetheless, the social and human rights models also re-occurred. Therefore, it illustrates how employment policies affecting individuals with disabilities consist of a mixture of views and goals, which entangle in practice and policies.Show less
This thesis evaluates the reasons behind the failure of the EU - Mercosur negotiations through a comparative analysis of two periods in the process, via five variables: Political will, regional...Show moreThis thesis evaluates the reasons behind the failure of the EU - Mercosur negotiations through a comparative analysis of two periods in the process, via five variables: Political will, regional institutional capacity, special and sectoral interest, simultaneous trade negotiations and economic shocks. The study suggests the negotiations have not been successful due to a lack of political will from both the EU and Mercosur and the absence of sufficient institutional capacity in Mercosur on both negotiations terms.Show less
This thesis is concerned with the question why social democratic parties in Western Europe have shifted their socio-economic policies towards the right of the political spectrum in the 1990s. In...Show moreThis thesis is concerned with the question why social democratic parties in Western Europe have shifted their socio-economic policies towards the right of the political spectrum in the 1990s. In particular, labour market reforms that substantially conflict with social democratic ideology and conduce to the gradual erosion of the welfare state are under scrutiny. Building on the theoretical innovations of discursive institutionalism, it contributes to the academic effort of resolving the research gap on the motivation of social democratic parties legitimising this shift by focussing on the communicative discourse of social democratic parties governing in the Netherlands (PvdA) and Germany (SPD). Moreover, communicative discourse is posed as the independent variable explaining the strong difference in the degree of societal protest to the respective national reforms – within a timeframe of similar socio-economic challenges and with (ideologically) similar reforms. The thesis concludes, firstly, that the motivation of the PvdA and the SPD are generally alike in terms of their emphasis on the necessity to reform/modernise the labour market given internal and external challenges to the welfare state. Secondly, subtle but significant differences in the consistency, cognitive soundness and considerateness of the conveyance of the respective discourses explains why public protest in Germany was stronger than in the Netherlands.Show less
