As the effects of climate change are increasingly appearing around the globe, the general public’s concern about the issue has also grown. As the need for action is becoming more important than...Show moreAs the effects of climate change are increasingly appearing around the globe, the general public’s concern about the issue has also grown. As the need for action is becoming more important than ever, we need to understand what factors can help increase implementation and reduce infringements of environmental policies. There is particular lack of research on the potential relationship between public concern about climate change and the infringements of European Union environmental rules in Europe. As respect of common rules is key to maintain the stability of the European Union, infringements represent a certain risk of conflict. Therefore, this research also helps fill the literature gap in the conflict and climate nexus about climate conflict in Europe. For these purposes, this research paper explores how public concern for climate change might impact the number of infringements member states commit regarding environmental policies of the European Union. Through a OLS regression analysis, the research finds that public concern does not seem to have a significant impact on the number of infringements member states commit. This apparent absence of influence of public opinion raises serious concerns as to the people’s power to make their governments listen to them and their calls for environmental protection.Show less
In analyzing the relationship between religious diversity and democratic support in Sub-Saharan Africa, existing research has very much focused upon cross-national analyses. This thesis aims to...Show moreIn analyzing the relationship between religious diversity and democratic support in Sub-Saharan Africa, existing research has very much focused upon cross-national analyses. This thesis aims to challenge this by conducting a research on religious diversity and democratic support in Ghana on sub-national level. It analyses the following question: To what extent does religious diversity influence democratic support among religious people in Ghana? This thesis builds upon Robert Dowd’s (2015) theory, which suggests that religious diversity is a stimulus for accepting democracy among Muslims and Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa. I use the clustered version of Afrobarometer Round 5 Ghana in order to assess the relationship between religious diversity on micro-level and democratic support in Ghana. By conducting a multilevel logistic regression analysis, this paper finds that there is no significant relationship between religious diversity and democracy when analyzing for the religious groups Christianity, Islam, Pentecostalism and ‘Other’. Also, religious diversity does not significantly impact interreligious tolerance and political activism. When testing diversity for only Islam and Christianity, there is a significant relationship between religious diversity and democratic support in Ghana.Show less
The world’s transition to green energy does not solely impact the environment. Natural resource-abundant countries, mostly present in Sub-Saharan Africa, face the difficult task to meet the...Show moreThe world’s transition to green energy does not solely impact the environment. Natural resource-abundant countries, mostly present in Sub-Saharan Africa, face the difficult task to meet the increasing demands, simultaneously to the crisis of persisting child labour. In the examination of the relation between the phenomena, scholars often refer to either specific countries or resources. In this paper, a quantitative analysis is conducted to examine the general relationship between natural resources and child labour. Although several facets of natural resources are included, solely primary commodity exports exert a significant general influence on children’s engagement in economic activities. In more depth, the diamond gemstones industry is positively related to child labour. The implications of the research are twofold, the necessity of legally binding requirements on states to take measures against child labour. Out of this arises their responsibility to incorporate due diligence obligations on corporations, with an enhanced focus on the diamond industry.Show less
Since the rise of Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, both had the same goal: putting an end to racism and white supremacy. Although it would be logical that both movements follow a similar...Show moreSince the rise of Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, both had the same goal: putting an end to racism and white supremacy. Although it would be logical that both movements follow a similar path, Black Lives Matter seems to be more popular and Rhodes Must Fall protests seem to be more violent. This research is about analyzing the differences in success between the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States and the Rhodes must Fall movement from South Africa. Success can be measured in a way of looking at accomplishments, but this literature study will compare successes in mobilization strategies. Grievances from institutionalized racism created comparable grievances in The United States and South Africa. Other factors that will be analyzed in this study are resource mobilization, mobilization strategies, networking strategies and media representation. This research will argue that the Black Lives Matter movement adapted better mobilization strategies overall.Show less
For too long women and gender issues have been overlooked in security studies scholarship, which tends to preserve a “genderless” and male-dominated perspective. However, more recently, scholars...Show moreFor too long women and gender issues have been overlooked in security studies scholarship, which tends to preserve a “genderless” and male-dominated perspective. However, more recently, scholars have been investigating the question of gender related to conflicts, and if working towards gender equality could be a solution to many of the challenges faced today. Some researchers assert that the more gender-equal a state is, the less violence, between or within states, there is. Scholars differ in how they define and conceptualise gender equality, varying between political, educational, economic and social factors. Taking these scholarships into consideration, I investigate how political gender equality can influence the occurrence of intrastate conflict events. I use sex quotas in parliaments as a proxy of gender equality and hypothesise that their adoption lowers the occurrence of intrastate conflict events. I use a multiple linear regression analysis to test my hypothesis and conclude that legislating sex quotas reduces the occurrence of intrastate conflict events. However, the reduction of violence does not seem to be due to the increasing number of women in parliament, but may be emerging from gender equality norm acquisition at the elite level, or from international pressures, which may also explain the adoption of sex quotas.Show less
The purpose of this paper is to provide information about supranational identification, specifically within the African context. Factors that explain Pan-African patterns of identification have...Show moreThe purpose of this paper is to provide information about supranational identification, specifically within the African context. Factors that explain Pan-African patterns of identification have been measured based on modernisation theory and postcolonialism. Both of these meta-narratives, however, lacked to adequately explain these origins. However, the paper still provides for some general expressiveness and makes some implications regarding the research methods. This could help to better understand the subject of identity since it plays an important role in shaping our behaviour and, therefore, our politics.Show less
