This thesis examines the influence the BRICS and the EU have on South African foreign policy, specifically between 2010 and 2023. South Africa and the world have witnessed much change during those...Show moreThis thesis examines the influence the BRICS and the EU have on South African foreign policy, specifically between 2010 and 2023. South Africa and the world have witnessed much change during those 13 years, between the several conflicts that erupted involving some BRICS member-states, revolutions in Africa, and the work that led up to the expansion of the BRICS into the BRICS+ format in 2024. Including a discussion on formal and informal IGOs, this study uses a constructivist theoretical framework and discourse analysis to examine South African foreign policy annual reports, BRICS joint statements, EU-AU joint declarations, and EU-South Africa joint declarations. It finds that South Africa’s foreign policy is influenced by the BRICS and the EU through two main pillars of its foreign policy, but in different manners, yet relating to the central theme of the multilateral system, particularly the UN.Show less
The rise of China in Africa is well documented. However, little attention has been paid to how this has influenced the approach of traditional development actors in the region, such as the EU. This...Show moreThe rise of China in Africa is well documented. However, little attention has been paid to how this has influenced the approach of traditional development actors in the region, such as the EU. This study examines the Chinese influence on recent developments in the EU’s foreign and development policies towards Africa. More specifically, it focuses on the European Global Gateway Project, the restructuring of the EU’s external financing instruments and the EU’s rhetorical focus on developing ‘a partnership of equals’ with Africa. It argues that these developments were, at least partially, in response to China’s increasing influence in the region. I contend that EU concerns over its strategic interests in Africa and normative concerns over issues such as human rights and democracy both led to this response.Show less
Although social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media,...Show moreAlthough social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media, political polarization online has sharply increased, with even elected officials and members of the political elite class also engaging in divisive propaganda and false information. This study, through a Twitter analysis, explores the impact of political polarization on citizens' beliefs in their democratic institutions, electoral systems, and government. This research applies relevant but underappreciated theories like the legitimacy theory and the homophily theory to understand how democracy and the internet interact.Show less
The UN, as a prime global norm entrepreneur, has launched countless efforts to spread its norm on women’s political participation globally. Whether this norm is accepted and implemented on the...Show moreThe UN, as a prime global norm entrepreneur, has launched countless efforts to spread its norm on women’s political participation globally. Whether this norm is accepted and implemented on the ground, depends on local contexts. Using Acharya’s (2004) framework of norm localization, it becomes clear that the prevailing traditional and patriarchal norms prevent the substantive participation of women in politics in both India and Indonesia. In India, instances of norm localization have taken place due to the potential for framing, grafting and reconstruction of traditional family norms. The norm of women’s political participation has been reconstructed to fit into the pre-existing familial structures. In Indonesia, no such localization has taken place. Strong religious and cultural norms, and the absence of frameworks for reconstruction, prevent norm localization. Instead, evidence points towards norm resistance. Even though instances of norm localization have taken place only in India, this has not led to a substantial change in the level of norm implementation between the countries. In both India and Indonesia, the norm is accepted on paper, but in reality, the traditional social norms prevent the full and equal participation of women in the political realm.Show less
Terrorism has been a highly salient issue in Europe for the past decades and is treated as an immediate threat to the states and citizens. This study focuses on the 2015-2019 terrorism wave and...Show moreTerrorism has been a highly salient issue in Europe for the past decades and is treated as an immediate threat to the states and citizens. This study focuses on the 2015-2019 terrorism wave and seeks to identify why states with similar characteristics respond differently to a common threat; through a comparative analysis of the cases of France and the United Kingdom. A securitization framework is applied to examine what ultimately leads to the variation of the actions in the two cases. The expectation is that intense securitization leads to a militaristic response, while low securitization levels lead to a criminal justice approach. The empirical analysis lends support to this argument; however, this study finds it possible that other explanatory factors might be interrelated to the proposed mechanism, influencing the result. This thesis, uses a framework of analysis that links the aspects of security and terrorism and endeavors to further contribute to the study of these topics.Show less
Placed in the broader literature of states’ foreign policy behavior this research addresses a so far understudied question, namely what explains Germany’s acknowledgment of its colonial crimes...Show morePlaced in the broader literature of states’ foreign policy behavior this research addresses a so far understudied question, namely what explains Germany’s acknowledgment of its colonial crimes committed in today’s Namibia during the Ovaherero and Nama rebellion between 1904 and 1908. Observing a general reluctance of European states to reconcile with the colonial past and looking at the therefore somewhat surprising German-Namibian case, I propose two possible causal mechanisms based on liberal theory and rhetorical entrapment to account for this rare policy outcome. According to the liberal theory mechanism, I expect former colonial powers to acknowledge colonial crimes if domestic interests change state preferences towards reconciliation with the colonial past. According to the rhetorical entrapment approach, I expect former colonial powers to acknowledge colonial crimes if political costs increase due to the strategic use of rhetorical entrapment by domestic and international actors. This is an explanatory single case study employing process tracing and using data from party publications, government and interest groups’ public statements, and parliamentary debate. I find support for both hypotheses and show that the mechanisms interacted with each other illustrating important implications for other cases of German colonial violence and reconciliation processes of other European states.Show less
This research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case...Show moreThis research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case study of the Kenyan elections building on diverse data including reports and interviews, applied in the process tracing method. Building on socialization theory and norm diffusion, I hypothesize that election observation has an impact on election quality, through the diffusion of democratic values. The Kenyan legal framework meets international obligations requiring elections to be “accountable and transparent”. But the tumultuous history of election violence highlighted fundamental issues and systematic problems that must be addressed. The findings show that there is a relevant added value to the presence of EU EOM, within different phases of the election cycle. The implementation of the EU EOM recommendations plays a key role in understanding the contribution of election observation to improve election quality. EU EOMs are found to be effective in deterring fraud and corruption, as election observation contributes to pressuring government officials to respect the electoral law. In the Kenyan case, the implementation of recommendations contributed to the mitigation of election-related violence, and the promotion of the stakeholders' confidence in the electoral process.Show less
This thesis aims to contribute to understanding how a competitive authoritarian leader manages to increase popular support in a situation where an electoral democracy experiences democratic...Show moreThis thesis aims to contribute to understanding how a competitive authoritarian leader manages to increase popular support in a situation where an electoral democracy experiences democratic backsliding. After the failed coup attempt on 15 July 2016 in Turkey, Erdogan put the constitution aside and launched a new model for governing the state with decree laws under the state of emergency. However, Erdogan won the elections held in the following years by increasing his vote share, although he had explicitly turned into a repressive, authoritarian leader. In this study, I investigated how Erdogan strengthened his popular support in the elections held after 2016, despite his authoritarian turn and the deterioration of the socio-economic structure of the state. I focused on the manipulations carried out by the incumbents in the elections held after 2016 and tested whether these manipulations affected the election results in favour of Erdogan. I conducted a content analysis using the qualitative research method to explore this. Ultimately, I argue that the analysis of the data collected for this study provides strong evidence that election manipulations may have significant effects on the election results in favour of Erdogan.Show less
State-centric, collective resource governance in a world of finite resources is an undertaking struggling with opportunistic behaviour and competitive thinking. Rapidly developing climate change...Show moreState-centric, collective resource governance in a world of finite resources is an undertaking struggling with opportunistic behaviour and competitive thinking. Rapidly developing climate change makes the ability of collective action on vital resources only more difficult. Although states band together in global organisations to address shared issues such as water shortages the academic literature finds stately led collective action to be inadequate for effective, sustainable resource governance. The suggested solution to the found collective action problems is a change in governance approach, namely polycentrism. This study aims to analyse the viability of polycentric governance in global organisations by applying a comparative content analysis on two global institutions, one based on statal and one on municipal membership. These two organisations will be analysed and compared on their ability to collectively govern water resources and avoid collective action problems, which are categorized in coordination, cooperation and division problems. The comparison bases on the organisation’s membership type, being statal or municipal, the institution’s networking structure and the paradigm used for resources which is found to influence discourse and thus governance. If the global organisation based on municipal membership is able to compensate for the found collective action flaws of the state-membership based organisation and vice versa the case can be made that polycentrism is viable. If not, the realizability of polycentrism can be put into question.Show less
Social movement theory and research in political science has been disproportionately focused on state movement dynamics; only recently have alternative actors such as the countermovement been...Show moreSocial movement theory and research in political science has been disproportionately focused on state movement dynamics; only recently have alternative actors such as the countermovement been considered. Yet, most approaches concerning the countermovement-movement synergy still overestimate the role of the state or are limited to its manifestation in protest mobilization. In an increasingly virtualized world with growing transnational movements, however, it is necessary to both think beyond the jurisdiction/role of states and the salience of protest dynamics. Through the example of the feminist and manosphere movement, this thesis argues for an inclusive approach on counter-movement dynamics that considers narrative exchange. Here, the argument is developed that the countermovement generates narrative affronts to the movement that are either met with retaliation or a recuperation by the movement. This is encouraged to be used as a basis for future research on social movements and countermovements.Show less
In August 2021, the Taliban took control over the Afghan government. Subsequently, the EU halted development aid to Afghanistan. This research seeks to explain what motivated this decision and how...Show moreIn August 2021, the Taliban took control over the Afghan government. Subsequently, the EU halted development aid to Afghanistan. This research seeks to explain what motivated this decision and how Afghanistan’s illegitimacy has influenced the EU’s decision. Two aid allocation models based on recipient merit and donor interests are used to explain this puzzle. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative content analysis, this research illustrates how both aid allocation models sufficiently explain the EU’s decision considering Afghanistan’s illegitimacy.Show less
In 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week...Show moreIn 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week sessions every year during which UN Member States engage in a general debate and organize side-events with civil society organizations (UN Women, n.d. a). The participating civil society organizations typically hold liberal beliefs on human rights and adhere to the dominant beliefs of the CSW (Rincker et al. 2019, 3). It is therefore interesting to find that pro-life organizations have frequently hosted side-events at the CSW in the past. Especially the pro-life organization C-Fam which has hosted multiple side-events in the past decade in which they present their anti-abortion campaign (UN Women, n.d. b). Even more interesting is that pro-life organizations have actively been blocked from the CSW66 which was held in March of 2022 (Tuns 2022). This makes one wonder how pro-life organizations managed to get into the CSW and present their alternative view in the first place. Based on this puzzling observation this research aims to research the framing tactics of C-Fam. The research question is as follows: How did the Center for Family and Human Rights frame their anti-abortion campaign to align with the Commission on the Status of Women between 2014-2019? To gain better insight on the organization’s narratives, a constructivist and a rationalist approach will be embedded in the overarching model of framing theory and then traced throughout the corresponding campaigns via a thematic content-analysis.Show less
This study looks at the issue of non-compliance of Poland with EU regulations, and how the European Commission (EC) enforces compliance of the Member States. More specifically, it analyzes the...Show moreThis study looks at the issue of non-compliance of Poland with EU regulations, and how the European Commission (EC) enforces compliance of the Member States. More specifically, it analyzes the variation in the actions of the EC based on the case of rule of law non-compliance by Poland and unravels why this variation exists. While researchers have studied the reasons for non-compliance within the EU and the different approaches the EU can take to deal with non-compliance, not enough focus has been placed on the reasons for the variations in choices following a violation by a Member State. Therefore the research question is ‘What explains the variation in the EU’s approach to the non-compliance of the Polish state with the rule of law?’ The research uses process tracing to look at intentionality, domestic mobilization and costs. The thesis finds that intentionality and costs can explain the varied approaches of the EU. The domestic mobilization hypothesis is rejected due to lack of evidence showing it affects the outcome.Show less
