In spite of the skeptical forecasts in the early 1990s when Brazil’s transition to democracy process was starting, this presidential regime is now considered stable. Therefore, the analyses in...Show moreIn spite of the skeptical forecasts in the early 1990s when Brazil’s transition to democracy process was starting, this presidential regime is now considered stable. Therefore, the analyses in political sciences today seek rather to explain how this process has evolved than to recommend profound changes in the system’s direction. This work is based on one of such theories, called the “Executive toolbox”. Its proponents contend that the president has tools that enable him or her to bring stability to the system through a balanced use of a set of tools in the Executive-Legislative relations. One of such tools is the budgetary prerogatives of the president - which, in the Brazilian case, include the liquidation of individual amendments of MPs. This thesis will study pork barrel politics in Brazil in comparative perspective and in relation to other tools in the president’s kit, especially with coalition goods. An existing debate in Brazilian literature about pork is taken as starting point and qualitative research methods are used including media analysis and personal interviews with Brazilian MPsShow less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
While in past, most studies have taken self-determination movements as unitary actors, recent research has shown that many movements striving for self-governance are highly fragmented. Taking this...Show moreWhile in past, most studies have taken self-determination movements as unitary actors, recent research has shown that many movements striving for self-governance are highly fragmented. Taking this as a starting point, this thesis offers an alternative explanation of state’s decision making process in complex situations as active intra-state conflicts. By facing the factions of the self-determination movement, states have to endure great levels of violence and pressures. These push the ‘rational’ state to a take a decision. Through an analysis of the Tamil and Jumma movement in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh respectively, this study outlines the dynamics of group fragmentation and addresses its overall implications.Show less
Deze paper beschrijft de het proces van vrouwenbesnijdenis bestrijding in Mali, Mauritanië en Somalië. Hierbij is ook gekeken in hoeverre deze regimes gevoelig zijn voor druk van binnenlandse en...Show moreDeze paper beschrijft de het proces van vrouwenbesnijdenis bestrijding in Mali, Mauritanië en Somalië. Hierbij is ook gekeken in hoeverre deze regimes gevoelig zijn voor druk van binnenlandse en transnationale organisaties tijdens de bestrijding van vrouwenbesnijdenis.Show less
The purpose of this thesis is to explore and test whether framing climate change as a security issue impacts the way non-state actors can participate in national and global climate change...Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to explore and test whether framing climate change as a security issue impacts the way non-state actors can participate in national and global climate change policymaking. While it has been argued, in general terms, that securitizing an issue creates a state-centric security response, it has yet been untested to what extent this impacts environmental NGOs and civil society in climate change policymaking. After an analysis of the discourse on climate change over the past decade, I posit that since 2007 we have seen and will continue to see an increase of environmental NGOs indirectly excluded from climate change decision-making processes by states. This thesis, therefore, contends that climate change should be de-securitized and approached with a multidimensional climate change framework, incorporating a green theoretical standpoint. Drawing from an extensive questionnaire and two case-studies, I evaluate the role of non-state actors in climate change policymaking. The results suggest that the more climate change is framed as a security issue, the more non-state actors are indirectly excluded from climate change policymaking.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
In 2001, the killing of a young Kabyle student in Algeria sparked Berber anti-Arab protests in Algeria and France, marking decades of intermittent conflict positing Berber identity against the Arab...Show moreIn 2001, the killing of a young Kabyle student in Algeria sparked Berber anti-Arab protests in Algeria and France, marking decades of intermittent conflict positing Berber identity against the Arab-Islamic policies of the Algerian state. Explanations for a growing Berber movement and the resulting conflict point to historical categorical divisions of “Berber” and “Arab” in colonialism and cultural groups. This thesis challenges the historical consistency of these explanations and examines how identity is constructed; it asks how this categorization of “Berbers” and “Arabs” has mobilized a Berber identity movement. Instead of linking this movement to a legacy of “Berber” against “Arab,” this thesis aims to show that the Berber identity movement as understood today is a relatively recent phenomenon. The following analysis develops two main arguments to support this claim: First, a historical discourse analysis of four periods shows that the category “Berber” has served different functions in different contexts. Second, the analysis develops a genealogy of “Berber” to present an alternative understanding for how categorization has shaped Berber identity, arguing that this movement is better understood as a product of interacting national discourses based on exclusive concepts of membership. These arguments are developed using insights from securitization theory to model identity formation, conceptualizing “Berber” as a term used with a purpose that produces a context dependent effect.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
Trans-boundary rivers are shared by multiple sovereign states, creating conflicting demands on the river’s resources and further complicating already difficult political legacies. This combination...Show moreTrans-boundary rivers are shared by multiple sovereign states, creating conflicting demands on the river’s resources and further complicating already difficult political legacies. This combination hinders cooperation over the communal resource and makes trans-boundary river basins areas of conflict. To resolve such conflicts, the involvement of a third party mediator with the capabilities to offer incentives to reluctant riparians, coupled with the creation of a management institution to address conflicts as they arise, offers the best means of addressing both the short term issues of getting states to agree to a cooperative arrangement for the river and the long term commitment problems that would lead states to renege on the agreement. This thesis will explore the utility of the combined short and long-term approach to mediate trans-boundary river conflicts by examining the mediation and resolution of the Indus River conflict between India and Pakistan. The lessons learned are then used to investigate the unresolved conflict between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and offer ways of managing the conflict.Show less
In een steeds sterker geglobaliseerde wereld worden mensen beïnvloed door de gevolgen van besluiten die staten waarvan zij geen onderdeel uitmaken, nemen. In deze scriptie wordt een poging gedaan...Show moreIn een steeds sterker geglobaliseerde wereld worden mensen beïnvloed door de gevolgen van besluiten die staten waarvan zij geen onderdeel uitmaken, nemen. In deze scriptie wordt een poging gedaan een manier te vinden om ons handelen en de consequenties daarvan te rechtvaardigen tegenover degenen die geen onderdeel van onze staat uitmaken.Show less
This thesis assesses how Direct Democracy influences Political Tolerance. It focuses on five Western democracies, i.e. Australia, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and New Zealand. While the original...Show moreThis thesis assesses how Direct Democracy influences Political Tolerance. It focuses on five Western democracies, i.e. Australia, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and New Zealand. While the original hypothesis that Political Tolerance is more likely in more direct democracies due to a learning effect could not be confirmed, it reveals that the issues at hand appear to be much more complex. The findings indicate that, given the issues voted on are not too diverse, respondents living in more direct democracies are more likely to allow their least-liked group to hold public office. This might indeed be due to a greater likelihood of being exposed to democratic norms, by having alternative channels to resolve conflict and by having the option to exercise a certain control over what is decided at system-level.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
closed access
The crisis in Darfur is one of the world’s most significant conflicts. In the last decades, frequent drought and increasing demographic pressures are part of the forces that have pushed the region...Show moreThe crisis in Darfur is one of the world’s most significant conflicts. In the last decades, frequent drought and increasing demographic pressures are part of the forces that have pushed the region into a spiral of violence leading to a major humanitarian disaster. According to the Environmental Degradation and Conflict in Darfur Report (2009), carried out by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), Darfur illustrates the linkage between poverty, environmental degradation and conflict. However, Darfur cannot be understood merely as a conflict over resources. It is also driven by governmental deficiencies and purposeful mismanagement. The purpose of this paper is therefore to contribute to the study of the role of environmental resources in conflicts and in particular, their contribution toward the perpetuation of violence. Under what conditions does resource scarcity contribute to the perpetuation of violence?Show less
