Throughout American history, there has been tension between the fundamental liberties granted by the United States Constitution and the need for government to protect its citizens. Many scholars...Show moreThroughout American history, there has been tension between the fundamental liberties granted by the United States Constitution and the need for government to protect its citizens. Many scholars have written about this conflict and have compared the pressures that exist today—post September 11—with those that existed previously. Much of this earlier work looks at counter-terrorism legislation and the response of courts worldwide to the infringement of civil liberties. Others have reviewed the literature and legal discourse in an effort to determine whether civil liberties have been infringed upon to a dangerous extent. What is missing is research gauging public opinion about whether a loss of rights is being experienced and if so, whether it is justified in the federal government’s effort to ensure the safety of its citizens. Accordingly, this paper asks: What is the opinion of American political science students regarding the possible loss of free speech rights as a consequence of fighting the “war on terror”? Although only a starting point for measuring public opinion on a broader scale, this study has tangible implications for increasing awareness among policymakers.Show less
Since the onset of the European project, there has been a pronounced tendency to work with the African continent – from trade arrangements through development cooperation, and more recently...Show moreSince the onset of the European project, there has been a pronounced tendency to work with the African continent – from trade arrangements through development cooperation, and more recently incorporating intensified political dialogue and a human rights dimension. In the year of 2000 the Cotonou Agreement ushered in a new phase in the EU-ACP relations: the EU undertook negotiations on a new framework – Economic Partnership Agreements – for its relationship with the ACP region. The EPAs combine trade, development and human rights dimensions, but also work toward the ultimate goal of ‘eradication of poverty’. Adopting Normative Power Europe as a theoretical framework, the thesis includes a comparative politics methodology and investigates the EPA implications for human rights in three African states. The findings confirm that the EU holds regular dialogue and actively encourages human rights promotion in Africa but is wary to invoke essential elements clauses and suspend aid when it comes to its strategic partners or trading concerns.Show less
The bombings in New York on 9 September 2001 (9/11) made the European Union (EU) realize that it would be necessary to change European policies to combat this form of terrorism. This asked for a...Show moreThe bombings in New York on 9 September 2001 (9/11) made the European Union (EU) realize that it would be necessary to change European policies to combat this form of terrorism. This asked for a strong cooperation between different elements of the EU, such as the EU self, Member States and the European Police Office (Europol). Although it is Europol’s role to gather information that comes from the Member States concerning terrorists’ acts or behaviour and to act as an umbrella organisation, the cooperation between Europol and the Member States is difficult. Even so, after 9/11 the EU was capable in creating the ‘Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism’ to create the first guidelines to prevent that the EU would also be a victim of this form of terrorism in the future. To understand what the effect was of this Plan, this thesis looks into the question to what extent the EU has been using arguments such as terrorism to incentivize the Member States to take action against terrorism. This thesis will argue that this Plan was not very successful. The member states should make more use of the EU’s and Europol’s capabilities and increase and improve the cooperation between them all and that the EU should enhance the capabilities of Europol. Furthermore, the Member States should not only act when there is a massive attack as on 9/11, because it is better to prevent certain attacks and to minimalize the consequences and victims.Show less
In the past five years, a variety of social movements have used the information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ways that were not foreseen in order to coordinate, debate, denounce and...Show moreIn the past five years, a variety of social movements have used the information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ways that were not foreseen in order to coordinate, debate, denounce and protest. The participants in these actions have brought publicity to practices of hacktivism, an integration of activism and ICTs (mobile phones, Internet, computers, and dedicated applications) which aims to expand political, social and economic freedom. The aim of this paper is to identify which aspects of hacktivism are problematic in regulatory terms, hindering the fulfilment of its positive effects. This study conducts a preliminary, descriptive and analytical account of these problems focusing, first, on hacktivism internally (its conceptualisation, typology and consequences), to proceed to the problems linked to its context (global Internet governance, EU multilateralism and self-regulated regulation). Lastly, these challenges are briefly categorised and attention is paid to how new directions in decision-making methods may be incorporated into EU Impact Assessment in order to systematically identify new problems that may arise in the future.Show less
Over the last two decades the productivity gap between the United States and the European Union has increased. In the 1990s the EU was one of the leading countries in the IT (information technology...Show moreOver the last two decades the productivity gap between the United States and the European Union has increased. In the 1990s the EU was one of the leading countries in the IT (information technology) development. With huge firms like Nokia who introduced the GSM standard for mobile telecommunication the European Union was a significant player. However, since the 1990s the EU lost its important market positions to countries like the USA and China. Dominant companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft all have their roots in the American soil. the main question this paper wants to answer is: Why is the European Union lagging behind the United States in the development of the IT market?Show less
