During the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, the indigenous Maya people of Guatemala have suffered immensely. Namely, 170.000 Mayas were killed and thousands have had to flee to...Show moreDuring the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, the indigenous Maya people of Guatemala have suffered immensely. Namely, 170.000 Mayas were killed and thousands have had to flee to Mexico. In 1996, the Peace Accords were signed and promises were made for social justice of the Maya people in the education system, which had excluded them for centuries. At the same time, the World Bank started sponsoring a programme of heavily decentralized schools in Guatemala, called PRONADE schools, where local communities could easily open and manage primary schools through funding of the Ministry of Education. This thesis seeks to test to what extent social justice of the Maya people has been realized in these PRONADE schools compared to traditional public schools. Thereby, the approach of the Word Bank in schooling will be evaluated, using Fraser’s three-dimensional model of social justice as an indicator of success. Fraser’s dimensions of social justice consist of economic justice, cultural justice and political justice, which have frequently been applied to the education system. Fieldwork in Guatemala was carried out in March-April 2017, combining source analysis with in-depth semi-structured interviews. The results of this research show that, although the goals of the World Bank of equal access to quality education and the provision of bilingual education might have been partially realized, social justice still has a long way to go in the Guatemalan education system. Realization of economic justice in the PRONADE schools remains ambivalent, however, the PRONADE schools did score slightly better on cultural and political justice compared to traditional public schools, although by far not satisfactorily.Show less
Elections are considered a powerful mean to drive political change, as well as a necessary condition for democratic consolidation. For that matter, this study focuses on legislative elections in...Show moreElections are considered a powerful mean to drive political change, as well as a necessary condition for democratic consolidation. For that matter, this study focuses on legislative elections in ten Francophone countries taking place from 1990 to 2010. The main purpose is to analyse the importance of different factors affecting the process of liberalizing electoral outcome. For this purpose, a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis is conducted, which makes use of qualitative and case-study analysis. As a result, this study shows that some variables like high political mobilization increase the likelihood of liberalizing electoral outcome. However, others like high levels of corruption and weakness of opposition decrease it or are considered irrelevant. As a conclusion, elections and factors affecting them must be further studied, as results can provide relevant information for policy recommendation and implementation.Show less
This thesis investigates the rise in popularity of right-wing populism in Germany and France. This observable phenomenon brings a challenge to established parties in contemporary politics. On the...Show moreThis thesis investigates the rise in popularity of right-wing populism in Germany and France. This observable phenomenon brings a challenge to established parties in contemporary politics. On the one hand, established parties defend the principles of the European idea. On the other hand, they must necessarily engage with issues that populists have put forward as they polarize society at large. I presume that the loss of trust into the European idea has become more substantial with the arrival of refugees in 2015, thus adding more constrains on policies proposals of established parties. However, the refugee influx has become the trigger mechanism that made populist sentiments more acceptable in society. To understand this rise of populism, I propose three conditions as possible explanations; cultural resentments, victims of modernization and economic grievances.Show less
This research explores the increasing role and the importance of the private sector in sustainable development through the lens of norm development within the study of International Relations. By...Show moreThis research explores the increasing role and the importance of the private sector in sustainable development through the lens of norm development within the study of International Relations. By examining different summits between the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015, it is seen that the increasing role of the private sector can be understood as a dynamic norm that is shaped and reshaped throughout its evolvement. In such, the research provides a better understanding of how the norm is constantly being defined and redefined, thus finding relevance and meaning throughout its emergence.Show less
This piece seeks to test the applicability of a newly developed paradigm of genocidal consolidation in explaining the outbreak of mass indiscriminate violence against civilians in the Darfur region...Show moreThis piece seeks to test the applicability of a newly developed paradigm of genocidal consolidation in explaining the outbreak of mass indiscriminate violence against civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan in the early 2000s. The premise of this theory is that such violence is meted as a premeditated and calculated policy to concurrently resolve an intra-elite crisis. In the case of the Sudan it is the growing rivalry between President Omar al-Bashir and Hasan al-Turabi that is of particular interest in this regard.Show less
