This research has analysed the decentralised national mechanisms of EU policy coordination of both Germany and the Netherlands between the years 2000-2021, and to what extent these mechanisms have...Show moreThis research has analysed the decentralised national mechanisms of EU policy coordination of both Germany and the Netherlands between the years 2000-2021, and to what extent these mechanisms have changed over time. By employing a deductive positive explanatory research design including a qualitative comparative case-study design method, the research has found that over the period of two decades, both the German and Dutch mechanism have only experienced low levels of change, and the fundamental and individual characteristics of both decentralised systems of EU policy coordination have remained unchanged. These findings support the assumptions of the research as formulated in H1 in accordance with the arguments of Historical Institutionalism and path dependency. The thesis proposes that further research is needed in order to create a more up-to-date comprehensive framework in categorising centralised vs decentralised EU policy coordination mechanisms and their essential characteristics, and the degree of change that these mechanisms might experience over time.Show less
Crime and crime prevention are significant problems in today's society. The recidivism rate in the Netherlands is quite high, despite the fact that the number of detainees is quite low in...Show moreCrime and crime prevention are significant problems in today's society. The recidivism rate in the Netherlands is quite high, despite the fact that the number of detainees is quite low in comparison to other countries, which results that the recidivism rate in the Netherlands is problematic. Due to the disguised nature of one’s rejection for help, those who have engaged in delinquent behavior are usually considered to be a difficult-to-reach group. However, when felons experience supervision during the reintegration processes the number of felons that reoffend are less. In order to supervise and guide former felons during the reintegration process, representative bureaucracy may be an important feature for the view of recipient towards the decision-maker. This thesis aims to analyze the relation of symbolic representation through lived experience and it impact on trust in decision-making from the perspective of ordinary citizens and employees of reintegration centers.Show less
The object of this research is to find out what can positively influence the gender mainstreaming performance of European Parliament Committees through the comparison of two very similar Committees...Show moreThe object of this research is to find out what can positively influence the gender mainstreaming performance of European Parliament Committees through the comparison of two very similar Committees: The Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Various possible main explanatory variables are analysed following a Most Similar System Design II. The Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs are considered similar because of the political affiliation of their members and their character of economic Committees. The analysis of the Committees’ membership, a keyword-in-context analysis of the Commission’s legislative proposals to the two Committees considered, and interviews with MEPs and Assistants made it possible to provide answers to the hypotheses formulated through a careful review of previous literature and theories. The role of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the integration of gender-related issues in the EU Commission’s legislative proposals are found to represent a significant a major influence on the Committees’ gender mainstreaming implementation. As a result of this research, two policies are suggested, namely the introduction of gender quotas of 50% in the European Parliament and more detailed gender mainstreaming step-by-step guidelines for EP Committees. These policy changes are expected to guarantee an improvement in gender mainstreaming strategies and to reach gender equality at the EU level.Show less
This study had the objective to see the effect between the gender of a police officer and their likelihood to report on domestic violence. In order to answer the research question, “To what extent...Show moreThis study had the objective to see the effect between the gender of a police officer and their likelihood to report on domestic violence. In order to answer the research question, “To what extent does gender affect a police officer’s likelihood to file a report on domestic violence?”, an experimental survey was conducted, which was focussed on the likelihood to report as well as the credibility of the victim. It was expected that female police officers would be more likely to report alleged domestic violence if the victim was a woman and male police officers were expected to be more likely to report if the victim was male, due to their match of gender, which was based on the representative bureaucracy theory. For conclusion, it can be stated that this hypothesis (H1) is not true, as both genders tend to be more likely to report if the victim is a woman. Moreover, it was expected that female victims would be more credible to both male and female officers. When analysing the means of the outcomes, the second hypothesis (H2) seemed true. However, reliability has been a concern as the data is not statistically significant, meaning that for both statements, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. This has occurred because of a Type II error, due to insufficient sampling. The ration men-women has not been executed well, resulting in to less male participants compared to female participants.Show less
Deploying a novel conception framework offering new understandings of familialism and the policy logic of PRR party family, this study will argue that the Republican Party’s family welfare policy...Show moreDeploying a novel conception framework offering new understandings of familialism and the policy logic of PRR party family, this study will argue that the Republican Party’s family welfare policy overlaps with that of European PRRPs to a currently limited and inconsistent, but significantly growing extent. Evidence from South Carolina and Wyoming—two of the four states selected for investigation to provide a cross-section of the party—indicates concerted familialisation, while data from Florida and Indiana implies GOP support fortification of the care role of the traditional family is conditional on exclusion of the Other, socially, ethnically, and nationally defined. Both policy offerings are understood as features of PRRP welfare logics concerning the family, but the substantial cross-state variation and continuance of long-standing neoliberal policy choices are too significant to decisively assert a Republican Party re-alignment with a radical right logic on the family. Nonetheless, intensified support for the ‘natural’ family since the early-mid 2010s can be discerned across all cases, leaving open the prospect of a truer policy overlap in the future. From this, the contributions of this study are two-fold: a clearer picture of an oft-posited but ill-understood transatlantic transmission of radical right logics, and an original, conceptually rigorous means to investigate it.Show less
In this thesis, we aim to investigate the impact of an EU crisis on EU news coverage. National mass media has an important democratic role in EU news coverage since it is the primary source of...Show moreIn this thesis, we aim to investigate the impact of an EU crisis on EU news coverage. National mass media has an important democratic role in EU news coverage since it is the primary source of information about the EU for the public, and therefore, can shape the understanding of the public towards the EU. However, mass media does not just transmit information passively, and can frame EU integration in news coverage. We want to analyse what the impact of the Brexit referendum is on the use of a dominant pro-EU, Euroambivalent, or anti-EU integration frame in Dutch mass media. Consequently, we compare EU news coverage in de Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, Trouw, and De Telegraaf during the Brexit referendum in 2016, with EU news coverage in 2014. We use a qualitative deductive lens and analyse 372 news articles. In general, we find that an Euroambivalent integration frame is dominant, but both the number of pro-EU and anti-EU news articles increases. Therefore, Dutch mass media fosters a critical public debate on the EU during the Brexit referendum. On top of that, broadsheet newspapers tend to be more supportive of the EU, and tabloid newspaper De Telegraaf tends to be more critical of the EU when an EU crisis is present.Show less
This study explores the relationship between street-level bureaucrats’ role conceptions and the ambiguity inherent to their work. Street-level bureaucrats are not neutral servants of the states,...Show moreThis study explores the relationship between street-level bureaucrats’ role conceptions and the ambiguity inherent to their work. Street-level bureaucrats are not neutral servants of the states, but have their own perceptions of what their work entails, i.e. role conceptions. As a result, they occupy their role differently even if they, technically, have the same job description. The perspective of street-level bureaucrats is adopted to explore whether they experience ambiguity differently due to difference in role conception. Additionally, it is explored how the street-level bureaucrats act in response to their experience of ambiguity. To ensure a theoretical foundation, broad expectations are formulated on the basis of existing literature. By means of a qualitative interview study, 10 street-level bureaucrats are interviewed. The street-level bureaucrats mostly experience ambiguity as expected from their role conceptions. Some experience ambiguity as undesirable and aim to minimalize it, while others experience ambiguity as desirable and want to make good use of it. Regarding the acts in response to ambiguity, it can be cautiously said that street-level bureaucrats acts in response to ambiguity in line with their role conception. Recommendations are made for future research, to eventually contribute to better coordination between organizations and street-level bureaucrats, which would ultimately also benefit citizens.Show less
The literature of historical institutionalism emphasizes the path dependent character of the policy making process in which critical junctures can alter prevailing policy monopolies and put new...Show moreThe literature of historical institutionalism emphasizes the path dependent character of the policy making process in which critical junctures can alter prevailing policy monopolies and put new path dependent institutions in place, according to scholars in the field of Public Administration. However, ideational change and development of prevailing ideas in an institution could also be part of a non-punctuated institutional dynamic, because change in dominant ideas could happen overtime. In other words, institutions themselves also allow an endogenous dynamic of change. So, instead of focussing on the specific role of critical junctures on the decision-making process as scholars in the field of public administration tend to do, it is crucial to discuss the institutional environment that could be influenced by the critical juncture. This study will highlight the prevailing ideas in the EU’s institutions on the usage of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to protect public health in the EU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, by establishing a Union-wide framework of collecting and analysing health data. The EU advocated for the need to use such technologies in the formulated EU4Healthplan that acted as a response to COVID-19. However, this programme could also elaborate on the results and ideas of such a Union-wide health and data framework relying on the EU’s Health Programme 2014 – 2020. The latter would indicate a path of slow change in ideas within the policy cycle for EU policymakers. Therefore, this study will research the following question: ‘How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the adoption of Big Health Data infrastructure in the policy process of the EU?’. To answer this question, the study will discuss the development of a policy monopoly concerning digital health in the European Union via a process-tracing method of analysing documents and journals provided by the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union and it will also take the public opinion into account. As a result, the method showed that prevailing ideas of using Big Data and AI to protect the public health were already high on the European policy agenda before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, COVID-19 was a crucial factor for the implementation of a pan-European model, in terms of using Big Data and AI to protect public health. It did not radically alter the ideas within Europe but accelerated the EU policy process. In this degree of agreement with the literature on critical junctures that it causes a shift in prevailing ideas, this study opts for a measured tone towards the role of a critical juncture opening up a window of opportunity by causing a shift in prevailing ideas – at the same time – will not underestimate itShow less
