Costa Rica has set ambitious goals regarding climate issues. It strives to be carbon neutral in 2021, and aims to completely decarbonize their economy by 2050. The state of the transport and...Show moreCosta Rica has set ambitious goals regarding climate issues. It strives to be carbon neutral in 2021, and aims to completely decarbonize their economy by 2050. The state of the transport and infrastructure in Costa Rica are therefore a thorn in the side for both civil society and policymakers. In light of the issues in this sector the government has formulated several policies with the goal to transform the transport sector, creating a clean, efficient and safe system of transport and infrastructure. Some of these policies will be discussed in this thesis, namely the Plan de Descarbonización 2018-2050, the Plan Integral de Movilidad Urbana Sostenible, and the Plan Nacional de Transporte 2011-2035. The focus of this thesis will be on the mechanisms behind these policies. As such, some key questions that will be addressed are: how is the policymaking process designed? Who are the actors in this process? What institutions are involved and how is coordination shaped? Where lie the biggest challenges in the implementation of these policies? As it currently is, the transport sector suffers from high degrees of fragmentation, with many institutions involved and no clear leadership. It is a very interesting subject for study, as these mechanisms are the foundations on which the implementation of the policy builds. Without proper understanding of the interactions and challenges that one is faced with in this sector, effective implementation of the policies, and therefore the reaching of the climate goals becomes less feasible. . The facilitation of the implementation of the plans through institutional transformation is argued to be the absolute priority for the achievement of the goals and objectives as proposed in the policies that will be discussed in this thesis. The expectation is that the Costa Rican public administration for the transport sector will require a comprehensive reform, and as it stands it lacks the capacity to push for such reform. In the first chapter of this thesis the conceptual and theoretical basis for the analysis of the transport sector will be laid. Here the concepts of the public policy process in Latin America, Neo-institutionalism, and Public-Private Partnerships will be discussed and put into perspective of how they can be used to analyse the Costa Rican transport and infrastructure sector. The second chapter will offer the contextualization of the topic of study. The chapter is organised chronologically and starts with the economic crisis of the 1980s in Costa Rica. The chapter then continues to address the state reform during the 1980s and 1990s, followed by the developments of the past twenty years. It concludes with a brief overview of the current situation and policies in the transport and infrastructure sector. The third and final chapter’s focus will be the analysis of the policies discussed using the concepts as discussed in the first chapter, looking into the mechanisms behind these policies and the actors involved in the process. The chapter starts with an analysis of the policy process, followed by an analysis of the role and functioning of the institutions involved. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the use of public-private partnerships and the challenges the public administration if faced with regarding coordination between the sectors.Show less
This thesis analyses the spread of so-called "partnership systems" among Japanese local governments. Its main aim is to prove that this spread can be attributed to the workings of policy diffusion....Show moreThis thesis analyses the spread of so-called "partnership systems" among Japanese local governments. Its main aim is to prove that this spread can be attributed to the workings of policy diffusion. Through a qualitative analysis of primary sources, such as municipal assembly minutes, the thesis establishes that the spread of this policy is indeed largely the result of an interdependence between local governments' policy choices. It explains this interdependence through a combination of the analytical frameworks of rational choice institutionalism and normative institutionalism. Both competition for status as well as the ability to learn from preceding governments' policies are found to have played a role. While the thesis does not find compelling evidence for the supposed role of regional proximity, its findings do suggest that core cities are more likely to be influenced by other core cities, and that designated cities are more likely to be influenced by other designated cities.Show less
The present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group...Show moreThe present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group that has been specifically excluded from the protection and the rights stipulated in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Although their ongoing displacement clearly constitutes a protracted refugee situation, Palestinian refugees do not respond to three-step solution that the UNHCR pursues in such situations: assimilation, resettlement or repatriation. By resolution 194 the United Nations in 1948 enshrined the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and created a dedicated agency, the Conciliation Commission on Palestine (UNCCP), to assure the collective rights of Palestinians. The UNCCP has become obsolete over the years without being formally abandoned and the UNRWA, the Relief and Works Agency that is tasked with the delivery humanitarian assistance is facing increasing restrictions. Being tied to weak organisations that were meant to offer some sort of protection, many Palestinian refugees today have to face the dilemma that only collective rights, as stipulated in resolution 194, preserve their right of return. Upholding this collective claim means that they have to no access to individual rights and thus suffer from a protection gap that is ever growing.Show less
Through qualitative legal research, this paper will answer the question: ‘How can constitutionalism be balanced with a human rights perspective, in EU accession to the ECHR?’ We hypothesize that...Show moreThrough qualitative legal research, this paper will answer the question: ‘How can constitutionalism be balanced with a human rights perspective, in EU accession to the ECHR?’ We hypothesize that this balance is possible. From the current academic debate, three theories applicable to this research are distilled: constitutionalism; a human rights perspective; and institutionalism. Through application of the first two theories, a concrete proposal for the way forward in EU accession to the Convention is constructed. The legal options for this proposal consist of Treaty revisions (including the adoption of a ‘notwithstanding’ protocol), unilateral measures (reservations, declarations, and agreements), and renegotiation of the Draft Accession Agreement. Thirteen amendments are proposed: eleven to the Draft Accession Agreement; one to the Draft Explanatory Report; and one to the TEU. Furthermore, it is argued throughout this research that institutionalist tendencies matter, but cannot serve as sole explanations for the Court’s reasoning. As the key conclusion, we find that a way forward in accession, that considers both constitutional demands and a human rights perspective, exists. Appended to this paper, a comprehensive proposal for this way forward is introduced.Show less
This thesis seeks to analyze why austerity as an instrument and as an idea is still predominant within the European Union. It does so by combining economic and political perspectives of the...Show moreThis thesis seeks to analyze why austerity as an instrument and as an idea is still predominant within the European Union. It does so by combining economic and political perspectives of the Eurozone-crisis. The structural imbalances view of the Eurozone-crisis in particular plays an important role in this analysis. It can convincingly be argued that the Eurozone-crisis has, more or less successfully, been socially constructed as a sovereign debt-crisis of the European demand-led periphery. Instead, the view held in this thesis is that there is a triple complicity in the Eurozone-crisis: the demand-led periphery,the export-led core and the surrounding macroeconomic environment of the Eurozone.Show less
The thesis explores the linkage between economic policies and quality of governance in the Middle East. Through an Econometric model and further theoretical research it ask why some countries have...Show moreThe thesis explores the linkage between economic policies and quality of governance in the Middle East. Through an Econometric model and further theoretical research it ask why some countries have a high rate of "open" economic practices, but with severe "closed" political systems. It concludes that based on the rapid development of these Oil States, they spend relatively little time in a state of development where regimes are unstable and likely to fall, instead shooting towards the stable, high, GNI per capita they currently have.Show less
