This paper analyzes the interaction between policy distance and issue salience using the proximity model of voting. It uses a quantitative analysis of items from the Dutch Parliamentary Electoral...Show moreThis paper analyzes the interaction between policy distance and issue salience using the proximity model of voting. It uses a quantitative analysis of items from the Dutch Parliamentary Electoral Survey (2021) and POPPA (2018) to research whether the more salience is attached to economic, socio-cultural, and political issues by voters, the more important the chosen dimension will be for their vote. The examination provides data on voters’ and party positions on these three dimensions, and the binary logistic regression finds that the effect is strongest for the socio-cultural issues, but also somewhat significant for political issues, which confirms the importance of populism in contemporary Western European democracy.Show less
Political corruption is a more or less universal phenomenon, but occurs much more frequently in some places than in others. This variation has been attributed to a range of factors on which...Show morePolitical corruption is a more or less universal phenomenon, but occurs much more frequently in some places than in others. This variation has been attributed to a range of factors on which countries perform either poorly or well. Yet, political corruption also occurs in countries that seem to perform well on most known indicators. As this has been an object of little scholarly attention, it remains largely unclear how we can explain the occurrence of political corruption in ‘unlikely places’; countries where such corruption is theoretically least likely to occur. This study explores the contours of an explanation by investigating a particular case in-depth: the case of Jos van Rey. The results suggest four potential explanations, that range from conceptual issues to the possibility that political corruption in unlikely places is to some extent unique, and driven by a distinct set of factors.Show less
This thesis aims to explain the diverging outcomes in arms export policies with regard to Indonesia and Jordan and examines what effect the Dutch parliament had in bringing about these outcomes....Show moreThis thesis aims to explain the diverging outcomes in arms export policies with regard to Indonesia and Jordan and examines what effect the Dutch parliament had in bringing about these outcomes. Theoretically, the thesis analyzes the extent to which a logic of appropriateness or a logic of consequences dominates the discourse of a foreign policy decision making process. Through a discourse analysis, it concludes that the use of a logic of appropriateness was prevalent in both discussions. In the Indonesian case these resonated to the human rights criterion of the EU Common Position on Arms Export, but in the case of Jordan such norms had a more distinct cost-benefit character and focused more on regime type, which falls out of the scope of formal EU norms. In evaluating why the argumentative strategies differed, a logic of habit is posited as an explanation: not only did the Indonesian case shape precedent for the cases to follow, but the Netherlands and Indonesia have long historical relationships. In the past, those states often clashed, making a critical stance towards Indonesia more likely. This is not the case for Jordan, which has no such relationship and is situated in a region with other, more worrisome states. This is an important critical observation for the further development of the EU Common Position on Arms Export, which, in coherence with Council Conclusions, and statements and reports by member-states, stresses the assessment of arms export license applications on a case-by-case basis, without taking into account historical ties.Show less
This study examines the organization and funding of the election campaigns of independent local parties in the Netherlands. Due to their representation in the national parliament, Dutch national...Show moreThis study examines the organization and funding of the election campaigns of independent local parties in the Netherlands. Due to their representation in the national parliament, Dutch national parties receive public subsidy. As such, they are able to transfer funds to their local divisions in the municipalities across the country, in order to finance their party activities including election campaigns. Independent local parties, however, do not qualify for these funds, since they are not represented in the Dutch legislature. How, then, do independent local parties fund and organize their election campaigns? Based on a survey amongst more than 300 respondents, the most important campaign activities, most common expenditures and the most common sources of income could be identified. The most common methods of campaigning include placing campaign boards and posters throughout the municipality, participating in election debates, flyer actions, publishing the election program on the party’s website, performing local radio or television shows, advertising in local or regional newspapers and enhancing familiarity by using Facebook. The most parties have spent their money on campaign boards and posters, advertisements and flyer actions, while the most money per party is spent on advertisement, canvassing and other expenditures. On the revenue side, the most parties received their money for the campaign budget from council member contributions, membership fees and private member donations, while the highest amounts of money per party were received from council member contributions, aldermen contributions and other income sources. It is also found that the number of party members, the municipality size, the number of council members and the number of aldermen on the one hand, and the size of the campaign budget on the other hand are positively correlated. Their explanatory value on the organization of the election campaigns, however, is low, just as the influence of the party type. While about 45 percent of the respondents thinks public funding of their election campaigns is necessary, a larger proportion of them thinks public funding would be a desirable development. The key argument is that almost all respondent want a level playing field when it comes to regulations on private donations and public party funding. The results of this study show that proponents and opponents of public party funding both think that independent local parties and national parties should be treated the same in this regard.Show less
Using the Schwartz’ value module of the European Social Survey, the development of value priority within the Netherlands was explored between 2002 and 2010, also the relation between value priority...Show moreUsing the Schwartz’ value module of the European Social Survey, the development of value priority within the Netherlands was explored between 2002 and 2010, also the relation between value priority and the attitude towards immigration was tested. The value priority within Dutch society proved to be fairly stable over time and underlined the assumptions of the current theory on human values. Unexpected was a decline in priority for values promoting Conservation and am increase in priority for values promoted by Openness to Change from 2002 on. This is attributed to events in 2001 and 2002, both in the Netherlands and abroad, which probably temporarily increased the importance of Conservation values. Also the development for the value priority of specific antecedents of individual value priority was assessed. In nearly all cases the development of the value priority followed the pattern of the general sample. The relation between the attitude on immigration and value priority proved to be constant in all rounds of the ESS, but appears to be different from earlier studies. The conflict line between values that support or oppose immigration is situated in the middle of the circular value model, dividing the Conservation higher order value type plus power and benevolence and the Openness to Change higher order value type plus achievement and universalism.Show less
