This paper moves beyond the democratization paradigm in studying post-communist political developments, and investigates how competitive elections affected ethnonationalism in Ukraine’s ethnically...Show moreThis paper moves beyond the democratization paradigm in studying post-communist political developments, and investigates how competitive elections affected ethnonationalism in Ukraine’s ethnically plural society (1991-2022). Based on Rabushka’s and Shepsle’s (1972) ethnic outbidding model, this paper hypothesizes that competitive elections incentivize candidates to use ethnonationalist appeals to maximally mobilize electoral support, which fuels centrifugal competition and ethnic polarization. This study has found that ethnolinguistic affiliations did structure electoral behavior in Ukraine. Most presidential election campaigns confirmed expectations based on the outbidding model. However, a comparison of the 2010 and 2004 elections challenges the outbidding theory, as the 2010 election campaign featured centripetal competition for the median voter. The existence of median voters amidst politicized ethnic divisions contradicts the outbidding model’s core assumption that middle-grounds between ethnic groups do not exist. Many voters, particularly among Russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians, did find themselves in-between two ethnic groups, making centripetal competition not only possible, but even a rational election-winning strategy. Furthermore, contrarily to the rational-choice-based outbidding theory, political elites were able to learn from prior mistakes and became better at co-existing peacefully over time, despite fierce electoral competition. However, without candidates’ commitment not to let competition escalate, centrifugal competition is always around the corner.Show less
Contemporary European politics has seen a surge of new political parties successfully gaining political representation across the national parliaments. However, many disintegrate soon after...Show moreContemporary European politics has seen a surge of new political parties successfully gaining political representation across the national parliaments. However, many disintegrate soon after recording their parliamentary breakthrough, but some manage to survive and establish themselves in their party systems. What can explain these contrasting fates? First, a brief review of the available literature on the topic is presented and various theories are examined, which leads to the specification of the research question: “Does the homogeneity of party elites’ social backgrounds increase the likelihood of new party survival?” This thesis aims to contribute to the empirical research on the survival of new parties and answer the research question using a qualitative analysis of an extensive dataset of party elites’ social backgrounds in five new political parties in Slovakia. The research did not find compelling evidence to support the hypothesis that the homogeneity of party elites’ social backgrounds increases the likelihood of new party survival. The thesis concludes by discussing the reasons for this, explores alternative explanations, addresses its limitations and identifies areas for further research.Show less
International climate finance (ICF) is part of a broader climate justice movement, which is concerned with the tension that while the developed states in the Global North pollute the most, the...Show moreInternational climate finance (ICF) is part of a broader climate justice movement, which is concerned with the tension that while the developed states in the Global North pollute the most, the developing states in the Global South have to bear the consequences. ICF not only aims at reducing emissions, but mostly focuses on reducing the vulnerability of populations in developing states, through financial transfers from the Global North to the Global South. Climate justice movements insist on bottom-up policymaking, whereby power is handed back to non-state actors (NSAs) from the Global South. While the role of NSAs in international climate policies has been researched, their role in the specific finance programmes has been largely overlooked up until now. This paper therefore tries to contribute to the field through researching what role NSAs play in the design, implementation and evaluation of ICF programmes. This is done on the basis of content analysis of four of the United Nation’s climate financing programmes as part of its Green Climate Fund (GCF). This research concludes that the role of communities is only limited in the design and implementation stage, but much more present in the evaluation stage. The projects still have a very top-down focus and the involvement of the communities is hampered because of cultural and practical reasons. Strict objectives help to formalise the involvement of communities. While models of democratic pluralism and functionalism are already in place, a neocorporatist model could help the GCF to overcome difficulties in involving NSAs and to make their policies more effective and legitimate.Show less
West Papua and Timor Leste were both annexed by Indonesia. However, Timor Leste has managed to become an independent country while West Papua is still considered to be part of Indonesia. Through a...Show moreWest Papua and Timor Leste were both annexed by Indonesia. However, Timor Leste has managed to become an independent country while West Papua is still considered to be part of Indonesia. Through a comparison of the nationalism, economic value, and third-party influences in the area, this thesis will argue that the difference in outcome is the result of the influence of third parties motivated by the presence of natural resources the conflicts. Compared to Timor Leste’s natural resources, West Papua’s are much more economically relevant. Timor Leste’s natural resources were not important enough to continue supporting the Indonesian claim over the area. Ethnonationalism in the areas has been very similar, in both areas it has come from a desire to be free from Indonesian rule. Therefore, while ethnonationalism is a basis for an independent country, it does not explain why Timor Leste is independent and West Papua is not.Show less
In the latest presidential elections of Turkey, which was realized on August 2014, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of pro-Kurdish ethnic party HDP, got 9,76% of the votes. Compared to previous...Show moreIn the latest presidential elections of Turkey, which was realized on August 2014, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of pro-Kurdish ethnic party HDP, got 9,76% of the votes. Compared to previous elections, this meant fifty percent increase in votes of the party. Thus, the main problem of the thesis is that in Turkey, considering the vote limitation of an ethnic party in a historical context, how could the noticeable rise in votes of HDP’s candidate Demirtas could be explained? The thesis will argue that there are several factors which contributed to the success of the HDP. First, for the last few years Kurdish political movement has been following a new strategy with which the party abandons Kurdish ethnic party claims and aims to become a party of Turkey, with increasing democratic modernization emphasis. Second, Gezi movement which occurred in 2013, showed the societal base of leftist movements in Turkey. Democratic modernization of HDP was in line with the ideals of Gezi movement and Demirtas successfully used the discourse of Gezi, whereby he enhanced the electorate base of his party. Lastly, the absence of 10% election threshold had an important role in voting behavior of the electorate and this factor had positive influence on the vote share of HDP.Show less
Events of extreme ethnic violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda shook up the international community in the 1990s. In the years after genocide and ethnic cleansing both countries employed in...Show moreEvents of extreme ethnic violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda shook up the international community in the 1990s. In the years after genocide and ethnic cleansing both countries employed in different strategies for rehabilitating ethnic groups and mitigating ethnic tensions. This thesis focuses on the electoral institutions, and thereby aims to contribute to the literature on power sharing institutions. In Bosnia international actors have attempted to reconcile ethnic groups by dividing power in the country’s most important political institutions along ethnic lines. Though Bosnia has remained peaceful in the last two decades, cooperation between the Bosniak, Croat and Serbian ethnic minorities has proven difficult. The Office of the High Representative has used his ‘Bonn powers’ frequently to pass legislation or remove politicians that frustrated the peace process. In Rwanda the story is entirely different. The Arusha Peace Agreement of 1993 entailed democratization and power sharing between the Hutu government and Tutsi rebels, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). However, in a society in civil war, where ethnic discrimination was prevalent, power sharing catalysed a genocide. Now the RPF are in firm control of Rwanda’s political institutions. The RPF aims to ban the notion of ethnicity from the political sphere.Show less
