Trust in the European Union is a complex issue with many factors affecting it. Some of the factors that could also be influencing each other. This research focusses on how the relation between...Show moreTrust in the European Union is a complex issue with many factors affecting it. Some of the factors that could also be influencing each other. This research focusses on how the relation between Eastern orthodoxy and trust in the European Parliament is influenced by nationalism. The question central to this thesis is: To what degree does nationalism affect the relation between Eastern orthodox religiousness and an individual's level of trust in the European Union in Bulgaria and Cyprus? The objective of the research is to find how strong the relation is between Eastern orthodoxy and European trust in an environment where the potential link between Eastern orthodoxy and nationalism is at its strongest. Excising literature suggested that in majority Orthodox countries, there seems to be a strong tie between nationalism, a variable with a historic negative relation to European support, and Eastern orthodoxy, a variable that has a historic positive relation with European support. Therefore the expectation is that when excluding nationalism from the analysis, the relation between Eastern orthodoxy and European trust would be more negative compared to the analysis with nationalism included. However, through a multiple regression analysis using the data from the European Social Survey, this hypothesis finds no supporting evidence for the supposed relation between Eastern orthodoxy and European trust. The inclusion of nationalism into the regression does not make a significant change to this result. Instead, nationalism seems to be a strong predictor for European trust without heavily affecting the effect of Eastern orthodoxy. This leads to the conclusion that to understand Euroscepticism, factors like country of residence and emotional attachment to a country make for stronger predictors of Euroscepticism compared to religion.Show less
Purpose: This study tests the recently advanced ‘collaborative model’ of political-bureaucratic relations in the case of Rwanda. This model has been at the root of many developmental success...Show morePurpose: This study tests the recently advanced ‘collaborative model’ of political-bureaucratic relations in the case of Rwanda. This model has been at the root of many developmental success stories, yet this the first study to empirically test this model post-formulation. Thus, this study ascertains the model’s presence and functioning, and observes how it manifests itself in one of Africa’s most rapidly developing countries. Methodology: This case study uses a theory-testing process-tracing method to examine the presence and functioning of the theorised model in empirical reality. Data is retrieved from government documents, books, third party reports, previous academic works and selected news articles. Findings: The collaborative model is deemed to be present in the case. Rwanda’s elites are committed to development and have gone to great lengths to create a capable state. Yet this study finds that bureaucratic autonomy, a vital feature of the model, is often limited. The country’s central economic ministry, which plays a key role in development and the Rwandan policy process, is a key exception. Implications: This study argues that the collaborative model of political-bureaucratic relations is a useful tool in understanding developing country governance. Areas for refinement of the model include bureaucratic autonomy and the dimension that aid brings to the African context if the model is to be of value in this context. Contribution: This study adds to a rapidly growing body of public administration literature focused on the developing country context, as well as the extensive bodies of literature concerning political-bureaucratic relations and Rwanda’s governance and development.Show less
Due to escalating circumstances in Africa and the Middle East, the European Union was flooded with refugees in 2015. This phenomenon raised many issues regarding asylum for these displaced...Show moreDue to escalating circumstances in Africa and the Middle East, the European Union was flooded with refugees in 2015. This phenomenon raised many issues regarding asylum for these displaced individuals and families. By performing a qualitative inductive framing research, this thesis creates new policy frames applicable to Dutch governmental debates on immigration policy from 2015-2019. Uncovering whether politicians use frames to express their standpoints and in which ways this occurs. This research emphasizes which frames politicians used during their debates on immigration policy, establishing the three main frames and their usage, as well as the difference in use by right and left wing politicians.Show less
By means of this thesis, an attempt has been made to arrive at a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity among EU member states regarding foreign policy response in the context of a rising China....Show moreBy means of this thesis, an attempt has been made to arrive at a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity among EU member states regarding foreign policy response in the context of a rising China. More specifically, the aim of this research project was to examine the relationship between European democracies’ varying perceptions of a rising China (independent variable) and their foreign policy response (dependent variable). Relying on covariational analysis, this relationship has been examined in France, Greece, and Austria – each of which can be considered to have taken a different position with respect to the BRI. In order to measure the independent variable (i.e., perception), a qualitative framing analysis has been performed on textual publications of French, Greek, and Austrian policy think tanks, whereby the grand theories of IR have been identified as distinct frames – an approach that has only scarcely been applied in the study of IR. Based on the research findings, this thesis concludes that one could indeed speak of an association between European democracies’ varying perceptions of a rising China and their foreign policy response.Show less
The COVID-19 pandemic displayed a crisis with complex policy issues and relied on the responses of national governments. This study seeks to investigate the influence of structural determinants on...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic displayed a crisis with complex policy issues and relied on the responses of national governments. This study seeks to investigate the influence of structural determinants on these responses, rather than short-term mechanisms. The responses could either be perceived as stringent or liberal, based on data extracted from the Oxford stringency index. Earlier research shows that long-term conditions have a larger effect on crisis policy response and offer more predictive results. Based on these structural determinants, five conditions were found using academic literature and turned into testable hypotheses. The level of democracy, political trust, economic development, the level of social safety net and state capacity to shape crisis policy response were derived from the literature and chosen for this research. Accordingly, a multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between a combination of these independent variables and the Oxford stringency index, serving as outcome variable. The results found that there is a significant relationship between these independent variables and the stringency index of the COVID-19 policy response. Particularly the economic development and state capacity of a state were deemed to be significant.Show less
The German government aims to become climate neutral by 2045. To achieve these ambitious goals, a reconstruction of the German energy sector is necessary to move from fossil fuel-based energy...Show moreThe German government aims to become climate neutral by 2045. To achieve these ambitious goals, a reconstruction of the German energy sector is necessary to move from fossil fuel-based energy sourced to renewable energies. However, the reconstruction of the energy sector cannot rely on technological innovations alone but must be accompanied by social innovations as well. This research aims to investigate the aspiring role of social innovations in the German energy transition process. Hereby a comparative small N (N=2) study is conducted of two German renewable energy communities that specialize in the generation of photovoltaic energy. A conceptual framework is developed focusing on the theoretical dimensions of transition potential, benefits and challenges in order to examine how the renewable energy communities aim to be part of the German energy transition process. The findings of this master thesis uncover that renewable energy communities in Germany seek to contribute to the shift in the energy system by becoming part of the socio-technical regime and by emphasizing a decentralized energy transition. Moreover, the results reveal that the contribution is limited by particular challenges such as the time resources of volunteers and political uncertainty.Show less
Predictions for the twenty-first century stipulate that an increasing amount of people will be forced to migrate as extreme weather events become more intense and frequent due to climate change....Show morePredictions for the twenty-first century stipulate that an increasing amount of people will be forced to migrate as extreme weather events become more intense and frequent due to climate change. Despite the migratory effects of climate change already being an issue on the international agenda for numerous years, a significant amount of uncertainty on (predictions of) climate-induced migration remains. To determine whether the international policy pressure on the issue is currently acted upon, this study examines how the Dutch government frames climate-induced migration in its policies. Additionally, with several Dutch newspapers covering the issue over the last few years, the type(s) of discourse on climate-induced migration used in newspaper articles and, thereby, the influence of the media in shaping how an issue is addressed in the political arena are analysed. In order to place the findings of the Dutch policy analysis in a broader perspective, the framing of climate-induced migration in EU policy areas is investigated as well. Lastly, to provide a meaningful overall comparison, stories outlining the experiences and needs of climate migrants are analysed. The findings that result from the conducted critical discourse analysis are surprising. First, they show a lack of political influence of the media. Second, they show that both the Dutch government and the EU only acknowledge or act upon climate-induced migration to prevent the need for migration. While the climate migrant stories partly demonstrate that using migration as an adaptation strategy may be far from desirable, prevention is only the first stage of climate-induced migration. Hence, policy recommendations (to the Dutch government) to meaningfully address all stages of the growing issue are presented.Show less
The Paris Clime Agreement in 2015 and the subsequent European Deal have put considerable pressure on countries to quicken the pace of their renewable energy transition. To keep global warming under...Show moreThe Paris Clime Agreement in 2015 and the subsequent European Deal have put considerable pressure on countries to quicken the pace of their renewable energy transition. To keep global warming under 1,5 degrees Celcius and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030, the Dutch government published the national Climate Agreement in 2019. This document shifts the responsibility to draw up and implement a Regional Energy Strategy (RES) to 30 designated regions. However, the process of the RES has exposed issues of social injustices caused by the energy transition, leading to protests, social unrest a decline in public support for policies in local communities. This social dimension of energy justice in the energy transition tends to be overlooked by scholars and policymakers. By integrating the notion of multi-level governance with the concept of energy justice and its three core tenets - procedural, distributional and recognition justice - this thesis develops a novel conceptual framework to fill this gap and analyse energy justice in the energy transition in the Achterhoek region in the Netherlands. It explores the research question: How do various stakeholders at different levels of governance address energy justice in the case of the Achterhoek region in the Netherlands? It finds that energy justice measures are relatively integrated across each level of governance, with a predominant focus on (financial) participation measures. Moreover, it finds that the context in which energy justice is shaped is highly dynamic in which stakeholders interact and influence each other across levels of governance through extensive policy networks. Rather than a static phenomenon that can be analysed in isolated spheres of governance, the current thesis emphasises the highly dynamic and multi-level nature of energy justice.Show less
As part of China’s quest of regaining its superpower status in world politics, the country has launched a comprehensive transportation system called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This BRI is...Show moreAs part of China’s quest of regaining its superpower status in world politics, the country has launched a comprehensive transportation system called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This BRI is accompanied with large-scale investment programmes in primarily the infrastructural and energy sector. One of the destinations of these investments, called FDI, is the Western Balkan region. This region consists of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. These countries are at different stages of their accession process to the European Union (EU). Unclarity exists amongst scholars whether the Chinese FDI that these countries receive obstruct their accession process towards the EU, i.e. their Europeanization process. By means of a longitudinal small-N MSSD-I research, it is investigated whether Chinese FDI negatively affects the Europeanization in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia. This research concludes that the Europeanization in the Western Balkans is indeed negatively affected by Chinese FDI, although this effect is of a less than proportional nature. This research also indicates which specific chapters of the acquis communautaire and which Copenhagen criteria of the Europeanization are negatively impacted, and whether this effect is limited or strong. Furthermore, it inquires how the Europeanization in the Western Balkans can be explained: is the logic of appropriateness or the logic of consequentiality better suited for clarifying this process? In other words, do the Western Balkan states feel an intrinsic connection to the European identity, or do they want to become EU member states because of the material benefits accompanied with accession? This research finds that the logic of consequentiality prevails over the logic of appropriateness in explaining the Europeanization in the Western Balkans. Nevertheless, both logics of action are still relevant for acquiring a full understanding of the acquis adoption in candidate member states.Show less
Today, reputation management is of great importance to public regulators. As a positive reputation can be a stepping stone for regulatory legitimacy, public regulators increasingly attempt to...Show moreToday, reputation management is of great importance to public regulators. As a positive reputation can be a stepping stone for regulatory legitimacy, public regulators increasingly attempt to cultivate a positive reputational image in the eyes of their audiences. However, while an abundance of research has been conducted on the reputational dimensions emphasized by EU agencies, little investigation has been done on what reputational dimensions its audiences consider when they assess the reputation of these bodies. Therefore, with the use of Carpenter’s (2010) multidimensional reputational framework, this work examined what reputational dimensions are valued by different audiences of EU regulatory agencies, specifically that of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It tested two competing expectations. One expectation supposed that different audiences value different reputational dimensions, while the other regarded that different audiences value the same dimension. To inform these two expectations, fourteen semi-structured interviews were performed with representatives of NGOs, businesses and industry associations, academic organizations, and national regulatory authorities (NRAs). In addition, a qualitative content analysis of the audiences’ policy reports directed towards EFSA was performed. From this, this work found that different audiences valued different reputational dimensions, which also lead to several contradictory demands among the audiences. In addition, it found that several causal mechanisms played a role in explaining these different emphases on reputational domains, such as the resources and the structure of the audiences’ organizations and their professional interests and roles. Finally, this work provides several theoretical, methodological, and policy-relevant implications that are of relevance to both researchers in the bureaucratic reputation literature as well as practitioners of reputation management working in regulatory settings.Show less
This thesis examined the candidate lists of the 17 parties that obtained at least one seat in the parliamentarian elections of March 2021 in the Netherlands. The candidate lists were analysed to...Show moreThis thesis examined the candidate lists of the 17 parties that obtained at least one seat in the parliamentarian elections of March 2021 in the Netherlands. The candidate lists were analysed to determine the level of parties’ descriptive representation in relation to ethnic minorities and women. The rationale for this is the changing demographics, increased popularity for diversity and inclusions practises among parties and, at the same time, an increasingly polarized debate regarding ethnic minorities and immigration policies. The main goals are the following; first, to test if there is a correlation between parties’ restrictiveness on immigration and the share of ethnic minorities on the candidate list and share of safe list position that are filled with ethnic minorities. Second, to test whether centre and right-wing parties contribute proportionally more to representation of women vis-à-vis ethnic minorities. Moreover, all 744 candidates were analysed in terms of ethnicity and gender and with this data an original dataset was created. Secondary sources were used to determine parties’ restrictiveness on immigration. The dataset provided information to test the role of the independent variable – restrictiveness on immigration – on the two dependent variables; a) share of ethnic minorities candidates on the lists and; b) share of safe list positions that were filled with ethnic minority candidates. These variables formed the import for a linear regression analysis. The second possible correlation was tested by plotting the parties’ share of ethnic minorities and female candidate against four statistical dimensions; (1) average percentage of ethnic minorities on the candidate lists; (2) percentage of ethnic minorities in the Netherlands; (3) average percentage of women on the candidate lists; and (4) the percentage of women in the Netherlands. This thesis found a linear inverse correlation between parties’ restrictiveness on immigration and the share of ethnic minorities on candidate lists and safe list positions filled with them. Moreover, this thesis also found that centre and right-wing parties contribute proportionally more to the share of female than ethnic minority candidates.Show less
Financialization is a multifaceted social phenomenon with a notable degree of transnational heterogeneity. This thesis seeks to approach existing literature gaps that may account for such...Show moreFinancialization is a multifaceted social phenomenon with a notable degree of transnational heterogeneity. This thesis seeks to approach existing literature gaps that may account for such transnational heterogeneity. The first literature gap is the under-exploration of possible connections of democracy to financialization. The second is the lack of a multidimensional analysis exploring the possible relationship between financialization and institutional characteristics. These institutional characteristics are centred around the type of democracy and capitalism regimes which is based on a majoritarian versus consensus-based democracy whereas the economic side is approached through varieties of capitalism and demand regime theory that are respectively dichotomized into liberal market economy versus coordinated market economy and export-led versus debt-led regimes. Financialization is based on three different approaches: the emergence of a new regime of accumulation, the ascendency of shareholder orientation, and the financialization of everyday life. The thesis is hypothesis generating, based on a possible relationship between democracy and capitalism with financialization. The research design employs a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis based on 23 countries. The findings of this thesis are largely inconclusive, requiring further research through different or more refined approaches. In the emergence of a new regime of accumulation and the financialization of everyday life, a general pattern divided the financialization and no-financialization outcomes on a largely geographic basis with a East-West Europe divide. The ascendency of shareholder orientation, meanwhile, saw a large number of necessary or quasi-necessary conditions that may help account for the financialization outcome and only occurred in cases where the emergence of a new regime of accumulation and financialization of everyday life also occurs indicating a possibility that those are necessary conditions.Show less
