Master thesis | European Politics and Society: Vaclav Havel Joint Master Programme
open access
In recent years, rising concerns about the spread of fake-news and misinformation across liberal democracies have gained academic prominence, particularly in light of the January 6th Insurrection...Show moreIn recent years, rising concerns about the spread of fake-news and misinformation across liberal democracies have gained academic prominence, particularly in light of the January 6th Insurrection and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a seldom explored aspect is whether people’s lack of responsiveness to facts, or fact-insensitivity, has disparate effects across electoral systems. To fill this gap, I build on Stephanopoulos’s (2014) alignment approach of democracy to empirically test whether fact-insensitiveness exacerbates misalignment effects across majoritarian, proportional, or mixed electoral systems. Methodologically, I conduct a Large-N analysis to test the strength of the relationship between the degree of fact-insensitiveness and electoral alignment in lower house constituencies in 16 democracies (N=2722). Additionally, I bound the scope of inference by taking into account cultural and psychological proximity in the country selection process (Schulz, Bahrami-Rad, J. P. Beauchamp, et al. 2019; Muthukrishna et al. 2020). To evaluate this, I employ a dataset that combines original vaccination data with existing data on COVID-19 disorder events, and electoral outcomes. The results show that electoral systems have significantly different electoral outcomes in terms of alignment, however, there are no statistically significant differences among them with regards of fact-insensitivity. In turn, this denies any normative gains or losses when selecting an electoral system in contexts of varying degrees of fact-insensitiveness.Show less
Korte samenvatting In 2004 wordt door Sotheby’s een achttiende eeuws zilveren tafelstuk geveild van de hand van de zilversmid François-Thomas Germain. De opdrachtgever van dit tafelstuk was de...Show moreKorte samenvatting In 2004 wordt door Sotheby’s een achttiende eeuws zilveren tafelstuk geveild van de hand van de zilversmid François-Thomas Germain. De opdrachtgever van dit tafelstuk was de hertog van Mecklenburg Schwerin. De herontdekking van het tafelstuk wordt in hoofdstuk een behandeld, alsook het achttiende eeuwse aankoopproces. Daarna volgt in hoofdstuk twee de beschrijving van de in de achttiende eeuw gangbare service à la française tafelceremonie, het menu en hoe deze ceremonie van toepassing is op die van de hertog. Hoofdstuk drie bespreekt het hertogdom Mecklenburg Schwerin, het mecenaat van de hertog, de relatie tussen Jean-Baptiste Oudry, de hertog en erfprins Friedrich en de relatie tussen Oudry en Germain. In hoofdstuk vier volgt de uiteenzetting van de Germain dynastie en diens ondergang. Aansluitend wordt in hoofdstuk vijf een vergelijking gemaakt met een tafelstuk gemaakt door Germain in opdracht van het Portugese hof. Tenslotte wordt in de conclusie bekeken of de vragen beantwoord worden.Show less
In 2015, the Sino-ROK bilateral relations were the strongest they had been since the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1992. Due to increasing North Korean nuclear provocations in the...Show moreIn 2015, the Sino-ROK bilateral relations were the strongest they had been since the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1992. Due to increasing North Korean nuclear provocations in the following year, the United States and South Korea decided to deploy THAAD, a US missile defense system. China felt that the presence of THAAD on the Korean peninsula infringed on Chinese national security and decided to impose informal sanctions on South Korea. The sanctions damaged the Sino-ROK ties, and Korean people’s opinion on China worsened drastically. This thesis examines the change in sentiment during the THAAD conflict and analyzes whether sentiments have improved since the normalization of the Sino-ROK relations since October of 2017 by performing a comment sentiment analysis on responses to newspaper articles that were published on South Korean online platform Naver during key events in the THAAD dispute. After the evaluation, sentiment analysis proved itself to be a good substitute of survey-based research methods as the results reflected existing polling data. Furthermore, this thesis finds that South Korean commenters’ sentiments in regard to China worsened steadily during the conflict and did not improve in the following years due to new issues and disputes arising between the two countries. The increase in anti-Chinese sentiment in the Korean population could make it more difficult to conduct diplomacy with China in the future.Show less
This study has examined the role of the Kurds in the Syrian Civil War and their several encounters with Turkey. As part of Turkey’s foreign policy, the government has launched a series of military...Show moreThis study has examined the role of the Kurds in the Syrian Civil War and their several encounters with Turkey. As part of Turkey’s foreign policy, the government has launched a series of military incursions in Rojava. Central to this study has been the analysis of the extent to which the Turkish government’s military incursions in Rojava were related to Turkey’s domestic policies towards the Kurds in Turkey.Show less
This thesis delves into how social movements mobilize participants to protest on a large scale. Recently, climate protests have expanded to a global scale. In September 2019, social movements like...Show moreThis thesis delves into how social movements mobilize participants to protest on a large scale. Recently, climate protests have expanded to a global scale. In September 2019, social movements like FridaysForFuture and Extinction Rebellion mobilized an unprecedented number of youths to engage in climate protest action. This research focuses on Extinction Rebellion, due to their radical action and global appeal, and investigates their mobilization media in the form of E-mail newsletters available on their online archive. The methodology is theoretically inspired by Grounded Theory; systematically codes selected newsletters to identify frames employed by Extinction Rebellion and discusses how they are utilized to mobilize the youthShow less
In dit eindwerkstuk wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de kennismigratie van vrouwen uit Turkije. Het onderzoek geeft verklaringen voor het vormen van een vertrekintentie en het uiteindelijke besluit om...Show moreIn dit eindwerkstuk wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de kennismigratie van vrouwen uit Turkije. Het onderzoek geeft verklaringen voor het vormen van een vertrekintentie en het uiteindelijke besluit om te vertrekken. Dit wordt gedaan door allereerst naar de politieke, sociaal-economische en sociaal-culturele factoren te kijken die trigger vormen voor het ontwikkelen van vertrekintentie. Vervolgens wordt het gehele proces dat doorlopen wordt door een kennismigrant behandeld. Daarbij wordt eerst ingegaan op het onderwijssysteem, vervolgens de arbeidsmarkt en arbeidsparticipatie en uiteindelijk kennismigratie. Als laatste in Hoofdstuk 3 wordt dieper ingezoomd op de genderdimensie in kennismigratie. Naast een vragenlijst gericht naar zowel mannen als vrouwen die gemigreerd naar Nederland zijn, zijn diepte-interviews gehouden met hoogopgeleide gemigreerde vrouwen die werkzaam zijn bij een groot internationaal bank. De resultaten van dit onderzoek laten zien dat verschillende thema’s zoals onderwijs, niet hebben van een vooruitzicht en de economische ondergang of voorspellingen van economische ondergang als belangrijkste triggers worden geformuleerd door de geïnterviewden. Een nieuw thema geïntroduceerd als resultaat in de interviews is de internationale mindset en directe omgeving met voorbeelden van vertrek. Dit is gedeeltelijk te herleiden naar de westerse manier van onderwijzen, de privé-universiteiten die in de jaren 1980 geopend werden die meer georiënteerd zijn naar het westen en de sociale omgeving. Een verklaring die vrouwen geven voor vrouwen die vertrekken is de globale mindset, onderwijs en sociale omgeving die meer openheid en lef biedt aan vrouwen. Verder onderzoek is nodig om verschillen tussen kennismigranten in verschillende periodes van tijd te onderzoeken, omdat dit onderzoek geen onderscheid maakt in specifiekere periodes van kennismigratie. Dit zou voor de laatste vijf jaar (na de couppoging en de hyperinflatie) anders kunnen zijn dan de migratie daarvoor.Show less
Ambiguity resolution has been a topic of debate in language processing models. The present study investigated the impact of punctuation and working memory in Garden Path structures and related...Show moreAmbiguity resolution has been a topic of debate in language processing models. The present study investigated the impact of punctuation and working memory in Garden Path structures and related these concepts with assumptions made under the Good Enough parsing approach. A word-by-word self-paced reading task was used to assess the effects. A backwards digit span and a reading span task were administered to measure the participant’s working memory capacity. The study found evidence for the presence of Garden Path effects in Late Closure structures. In the form of response accuracy to the comprehension questions, the data supports the Good Enough parsing approach’s assumption that ambiguities are not fully resolved. The scores on the backwards digit span task correlated positively with response accuracy on comprehension questions while reading span scores did not. Punctuation did not impact reading time of the disambiguating region nor response accuracy.Show less
A popular belief system, here referred to as "Anunnaki Theory" suggests that the gods of ancient Mesopotamia were in fact extraterrestrial beings who genetically manipulated humanity for their own...Show moreA popular belief system, here referred to as "Anunnaki Theory" suggests that the gods of ancient Mesopotamia were in fact extraterrestrial beings who genetically manipulated humanity for their own ends. This paper examines two books which present this theory in different ways: "The 12th Planet" and "The Lost Book of Enki." and examines the different ways in which these inspire believers. This paper suggests the narratively-presented "Lost book of Enki" affords substantially more spiritual and creative reading than the pseudo-academic "12th Planet."Show less
