By integrating the theoretical frameworks of goal-setting theory and collaborative governance, this study explores the relationship between goal core properties (goal-clarity and goal-difficulty)...Show moreBy integrating the theoretical frameworks of goal-setting theory and collaborative governance, this study explores the relationship between goal core properties (goal-clarity and goal-difficulty) and work motivation among employees in collaborative public services. It does so by using a case of the Focalized Prevention Program (PPF) within the National Service for Specialized Protection of Children in Chile. A single-case qualitative design was adopted, and data was collected through eight semi-structured in-depth interviews with professionals at all levels in the PPF. The findings reveal that while job-goals are perceived as clear “on paper”, and job-goals are always perceived as very challenging, their direct influence on work motivation is complex. Collaborative structures involving multiple stakeholders introduce ambiguity, making goal clarity less influential, and goal-difficulty detrimental to work motivation, based on a very low sense of self-efficacy. The sector-specific unpredictable and pressing demands of Child Protection Services require high levels of adaptability, challenging the assumption of clear goals as the primary motivator. This research offers a nuanced perspective, adding new insights to goal setting theory and opening new paths for its integration with frameworks such as collaborative governance and Public Service Motivation.Show less
In every democratic country in the world, elections are a very common occurrence. In modern times, the electoral systems change too, resulting in the emergence of electronic voting. This research...Show moreIn every democratic country in the world, elections are a very common occurrence. In modern times, the electoral systems change too, resulting in the emergence of electronic voting. This research distinguishes voting on voting machines and Internet voting and compares the cases of the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia to understand the most important factors to drive implementation of digital voting initiatives. The technological aspects of this have been researched enough by other authors, so this research focusses on the success factors generated by the Enacting Electronic Government Success (EEGS) framework. To place it in a historical perspective, the Historical Institutionalist view is added. The unique contribution of this research is to derive success factors of digital voting from the perspective of frameworks closely related to e-Governance, that have not yet researched digital voting.Show less
This paper sought to find out how public healthcare employees with an ethnic minority background experience more job stress than their native Dutch counterparts. Based on existing literature it was...Show moreThis paper sought to find out how public healthcare employees with an ethnic minority background experience more job stress than their native Dutch counterparts. Based on existing literature it was expected that ethnic minority public healthcare staff has less job resources and more job demands due to their experiences with differential treatment at work, resulting in higher levels of job stress. The research question was answered through deductive qualitative research with interviews. The empirical findings confirmed the theoretical expectations. Generally, the cultural distance felt by ethnic minority employees made them lack social support in job settings with predominantly native Dutch colleagues, leading to less job resources. Furthermore, experiences with differential treatment at any intensity increased emotional demand from work, leading to more job demands. The enlarged imbalance between job resources and demands increased job stress. These effects were experienced by respondents in various degrees. Overall, respondents could be categorised into three groups: Those who felt their ethnic background strongly has a negative impact on their job stress, those who felt their ethnic background may sometimes have a negative impact on their job stress and those who did not feel as though their ethnic background significantly impacts their job stress.Show less
This paper provides evidence for a correlation between social trust and people’s preference for government ownership of businesses and industries using regression analysis. The model of analysis is...Show moreThis paper provides evidence for a correlation between social trust and people’s preference for government ownership of businesses and industries using regression analysis. The model of analysis is built using theoretical elements previously presented in the already existing literature. In large part, this study looks at Elinor Ostrom’s Theory of Collective Action as a reference (1998). After analysis of the results, the conclusion is that this correlation operates through a lack of incentivisation for free riding, enabled by the social elements of reputation, reciprocity and trust. These conclusions ought to be taken into account together with the literature which studies the relationship between social capital and calls for redistribution.Show less
The main research question of this thesis is “to what extent has the position of women within Afghan society regressed since the 2021 Taliban takeover?” This paper will analyse how the recent shift...Show moreThe main research question of this thesis is “to what extent has the position of women within Afghan society regressed since the 2021 Taliban takeover?” This paper will analyse how the recent shift in Afghan governance has impacted the social status of women in Afghanistan. The social status indicators will be “labour force participation,” political participation,” “education,” and “healthcare”. In contrast to many other studies in the field, this thesis also highlights the importance of the cultural and historical context of Afghanistan since its independence in 1919. Using a variety of literature, research, and reports, this thesis’ findings show that most of the progress made post-2001 has almost completely disappeared since the 2021 government shift in Afghanistan.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to conduct research on challenges to the effectiveness of the WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team (WNWT) ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’ in The Hague, as a security network....Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to conduct research on challenges to the effectiveness of the WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team (WNWT) ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’ in The Hague, as a security network. WhatsApp neighbourhood watch teams are continuing to increase in number and use, especially with the shift into a ‘smartphone society’. Relevance lies in the necessity to understand whether this growth of WNWT’s and their use is justified, or if they primarily make the lives of participating member-residents harder. The research question ‘What are the challenges to the effectiveness of a WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team?’ has been answered. The method used for research conducting consists of a mixed method approach, involving five semi-structured interviews with members of ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’, and a document analysis regarding the groups’ messages. The analysis had displayed multiple challenges findings to the effectiveness of a WNWT. Firstly, ‘non-safety’ related messages, and messages deemed as panicking and/or false alarm. Furthermore, information overload inside of the group, the size of the group, and emerging confrontations inside the group. Lastly, distrust amongst the WNWT’s members and lack of actual action taking by the groups’ residents form the final revealed challenges. While the thought of a neighbourhood watch team seems terrific, there are multiple challenges to its effectiveness that cause problems. These existing challenges take away (some) value of ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’. Recommendations to tackle some challenges hear: creating an alternate (WNWT) group inside of the neighbourhood, and the assessing of some members as actual action takers so the lack of action-taking will dissolve. Limitations lie in the fact that this study cannot quantify its effect in large scales study hence the relatively short period and therefore small data samples.Show less
Dear reader, This thesis uses levels and indicators of effectiveness and legitimacy intending to identify challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the National Coordinator of...Show moreDear reader, This thesis uses levels and indicators of effectiveness and legitimacy intending to identify challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the National Coordinator of Counterterrorism in the Netherlands (NCTV). A literature review is conducted to assess different scholars’ work on measuring the effectiveness and legitimacy of security networks. This literature review develops the indicators that are utilized in the thesis. The indicators for effectiveness are a controlling state actor, goal consensus, and network structure. Whereas the indicators for legitimacy are democratic (parliamentary authority), legal (a clear legal framework), and social legitimacy (transparency). Afterward, to identify the challenges, this thesis implements document analysis. By the latter, this thesis identifies and explains challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the NCTV by using news articles, and parliamentary documents, e.g., a debate concerning the NCTV. Using the indicators, the challenges are identified. Ultimately, these challenges are discussed using quotes and pieces from hearings, debates, and news articles. It is significant to identify the challenges to effectiveness and legitimacy as this lays the groundwork for further research on NCTV’s activities.Show less
The shaping of voter preferences on migration policies are contingent on a wide variety of factors, most notably economic concerns. This thesis aims to develop a comprehensive analysis which builds...Show moreThe shaping of voter preferences on migration policies are contingent on a wide variety of factors, most notably economic concerns. This thesis aims to develop a comprehensive analysis which builds on the general assessments of the performance of government, thereby replacing the need to include complex behavioral models and economic perspective theory with a comprehensive singular government actor. In addition, through the utilization of experimental methods, this study focuses on testing whether government performance has the claimed causal effect on voter disposition towards immigration policies. Using survey data gathered with the use of non-random convenience sampling and a custom survey, this thesis finds through quantitative analysis that individual voters prioritize their stance on migration policies over economic considerations when evaluating governments and their proposed migration (de-) liberalization. Meaning that despite perceiving a decline in economic performance, respondents maintained positive dispositions towards governments which undertook efforts to promote migration liberalization. Moreover, voters seem to demonstrate greater support for governments that exhibit commitments to liberalized migration policies in conjunction with an increased performance on economic matters. The study's findings challenge conventional wisdom that economic concerns are the primary driver of voter attitudes towards migration policies.Show less
The Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding international treaty, has established a limit on global warming of 1.5ºC. However, current scientific estimates indicate that the world is on track to reach a...Show moreThe Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding international treaty, has established a limit on global warming of 1.5ºC. However, current scientific estimates indicate that the world is on track to reach a warming of 3ºC. This study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental policy, green innovation, emissions, and economic activity by analysing a sample of the most politically, technologically, and economically influential countries in the world over the past 25 years. The results suggest that market-based policies have a positive effect on eco-innovation of 6% while non-market policies have decreased emissions by 4% between 1995 and 2019. Additionally, the study finds that environmental policy can have a positive impact on economic activity, particularly when complemented by increasing oil prices. In order to achieve both economic growth and sustainability, this study recommends that the G20 countries increase their environmental policy stringency.Show less
According to ‘De Nederlandsche Bank’ (DNB), central bank of The Netherlands, overheating in the Dutch housing market is partly caused by policy measures that increase the financing capacity of...Show moreAccording to ‘De Nederlandsche Bank’ (DNB), central bank of The Netherlands, overheating in the Dutch housing market is partly caused by policy measures that increase the financing capacity of households. Starter loans increase the financing capacity of starters with the aim of making a first owner-occupied home more feasible for starters. Literature on credit and house prices argues that an increase in the total credit volume results in an increase of house prices. Since starter loans increase the financing possibilities of starters by providing credit, it is expected that starter loans will result in an additional price increase of house prices. The relationship between starter loans and house prices is studied by means of a panel data regression with municipality and time-fixed effects. The results in this thesis show that there is a relationship between starter loans and house prices. The estimated effects of starter loans show a negative and positive effect on house prices. Which makes it insufficiently clear whether starter loans lead to an increase in house prices or not.Show less
The post-Cold War transnational nature of security threats asks for intelligence and security cooperation. In addition, within the global order of interdependence, a regional approach to security...Show moreThe post-Cold War transnational nature of security threats asks for intelligence and security cooperation. In addition, within the global order of interdependence, a regional approach to security have become increasingly important. As a result of the US-led War on Drugs, Colombia has become apparent for its role as a security exporter in the ‘South-South’ context. However, what has been neglected in academia, is the wider convergence in Latin America concerning the altered regional security environment and the drivers that allowed the shift from traditional ‘North-South’ towards ‘South-South’ intelligence cooperation. This paper presents the application of Regional Security Complex Theory towards Colombia’s geopolitical position and liaison relationships in 21st-century Latin America. By examining English as well as Spanish news sources and academic research, it shows that a variety of interrelated push-and-pull factors and have caused Colombia’s emerging disintegration from the South American Regional Security Complex. More importantly, it reveals that the War on Drugs resulted in Colombia becoming a benchmark in anti-narcotics security and intelligence cooperation and the ‘Colombianization of Mexico’. Ultimately, it caused wide-ranging bilateral intelligence initiatives between Colombia and Mexico as well as triangular agreements in which Colombia acts as a proxy for United States interests. These patterns of amity culminated in Mexico becoming the largest recipient of security and intelligence cooperation from Colombia worldwide.Show less
