This thesis focuses on the influence that media salience has on the state response towards foreign fighters. The agenda-setting function of the media is investigated in two case studies, the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the influence that media salience has on the state response towards foreign fighters. The agenda-setting function of the media is investigated in two case studies, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The findings in this thesis indicate that often media salience and the state response co-vary, but that after peaks in media salience not always a stronger state response occurs and that not all increases in the state response occur after increased media salience.Show less
This thesis examines the relationship between democracy and domestic terrorism, relying on a within-case study of the democratization process of Greece in the 1970s. The central theoretical...Show moreThis thesis examines the relationship between democracy and domestic terrorism, relying on a within-case study of the democratization process of Greece in the 1970s. The central theoretical argument, which is claimed by Chenoweth (2007) is that terrorism occurs so often in democracies because of a competitive logic that drives interest groups to compete with one another using violence. This thesis attempted to strengthen this so-called 'theory of the competitive logic' by further specifying the exact causal mechanism by means of a case study. Overall, the analysis disconfirms and thereby challenges the hypothesized causal mechanisms. A main finding is that Greece's democratization process did result in outburst of domestic terrorist activity, but did not result in an outburst of social mobilization in general. The large corrupt and clientelist overbearing Greek state, combined with the omnipresence of a few strong political parties immediately halted the ‘political energies’ that naturally arose after the fall of the Greek junta. Based on this finding, this thesis claims that, at least in the Greek case, not democracy's commitment to pluralism, but rather a lack of pluralism led to the proliferation of domestic terrorism. Further qualitative research should be done to assess whether Greece is an exceptional case or whether the theory is supported in other cases that experienced democratic transitions in the 1970s, such as Portugal and Spain.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
The violent repression of non- violent protests is not an uncommon situation across the world. Current scholarship on this issue leads us to believe that countries with similar political history,...Show moreThe violent repression of non- violent protests is not an uncommon situation across the world. Current scholarship on this issue leads us to believe that countries with similar political history, structures and challenges would react in a similar way to non- violent protests. However that is not the case with Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. Why- despite of sharing many political, historical and social similarities- their experience with authoritarian rule in the past and democracy nowadays present different responses to non- violent social protests? Drawing on repression scales and data collections this thesis will answer this puzzle around the repression of non-violent social protests in South American Democracies by arguing that some past aspects of their history - such as their transition back to democracy- as well as some present variables – elites and military continuity and degree of threat play a role in that.Show less
Militaries have played significant roles in the transition from authoritarian regimes to more democratic political systems. Most of these transitions took place during the seventies and eighties in...Show moreMilitaries have played significant roles in the transition from authoritarian regimes to more democratic political systems. Most of these transitions took place during the seventies and eighties in South Europe and Latin America. They often started with cracks within the ruling party, which ultimately led to a gradual transition towards the installation of another regime and in most cases to some form of democratization. Based on those empirical examples a few key indicators predicting the behaviour of a military in transitions can be distinguished. An institutionalised military, which is not directly involved in the administration apparatus and which position has been backed by a legal framework have been found willing to shape the transition period to a more democratic system. During the transition the civilian authorities should guarantee the military certain prerogatives in order to keep it satisfied. An end of the transition period is reached when an effective and strong civilian government is installed which is able to execute civilian oversight over the military. The recent popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East were not gradual and caused an abrupt regime change in several Arab countries. Only in Egypt the military took a leading role in the transition. This thesis shows that also in the case of Egypt the nature of the military as an institutionalized military, not directly involved in the day to day governing, made it very resistant to any form of democratization. In the three proposed constitutions since the 25 January revolution the military has demanded and granted itself extensive prerogatives and annulled any form of civilian oversight. This will make it very difficult for any future civilian leader to execute civilian oversight over the Egyptian military.Show less
This thesis compares the use of frames in newspaper articles and parliamentary documents with regard to privacy related events. The objectives are to clarify framing dynamics between Dutch media...Show moreThis thesis compares the use of frames in newspaper articles and parliamentary documents with regard to privacy related events. The objectives are to clarify framing dynamics between Dutch media and parliament, as well as to answer privacy-issue specific questions with regard to framing. Based on two major events demarcating the research period – i.e., the 2001 World Trade Center attacks and Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations mid 2013 – it is hypothesized that the way state authorities are framed changes over time from ensuring security towards violating privacy. Furthermore it is hypothesized that changes in privacy frames correspond between similar events and differ between distinct clusters of events. Finally, the ‘who-follows-who question’ is treated by means of a ‘lead/lag’ model that compares framing overlap between newspaper articles and parliamentary documents. The data used to achieve both objectives are acquired by coding two Dutch national newspapers (Telegraaf and Volkskrant) and written questions from Dutch parliament for the period between January 1999 and March 2014. Researching this particular period enables to assess the expected dynamics between both arenas between above mentioned landslide events. The data suggest that the expected changes in the way state authorities are frames is absent. The ‘lead/lag model suggests that on average media are leading parliament with regard to framing privacy related events. The data furthermore suggests no over-time shift in influence from one arena to the other. Unfortunately, the lead/lag model, as well as the long-term frame dynamics, provides only rough indicators for answering the research questions and assessing the set hypotheses. Therefore, the provided insights are only tentative and ask for further research, so as to deepen understanding about privacy frames and framing dynamics between media and parliament even further.Show less
The central research question presented in this thesis is: To what extent does Europeanization create barriers and/or opportunities for a transition towards competitive authoritarianism in Turkey?...Show moreThe central research question presented in this thesis is: To what extent does Europeanization create barriers and/or opportunities for a transition towards competitive authoritarianism in Turkey? In order to answer this question, this thesis employs an institution-centered theoretical framework of a qualitative case study that uses process tracing to analyze formal and informal institutional change in Turkey. Institutional change is operationalized by the conversion/layering model, which identifies how the characteristics of institutions have been transformed by the Europeanization process. This study determines that under the AKP administration, the Europeanization process has created more opportunities than barriers for Turkey to transition from democracy consolidation towards a competitive authoritarian regime.Show less
