This thesis discusses the initial mental health care response and subsequent development of postdisaster mental health policies after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake and 2011 Great East Japan...Show moreThis thesis discusses the initial mental health care response and subsequent development of postdisaster mental health policies after the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake and 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. It seeks to discover which actors had which roles in the progress, and how responsibility and accountability have shifted. To accomplish this goal, a causal process tracing method was used which analyzes the causal mechanisms that shaped the development of post-disaster mental health policies after the 1995 and 2011 disasters. Afterwards, a comparative analysis was used to compare the policy shaping process from both periods. By doing this, we can ascertain if lessons regarding post-disaster mental health care response have been learned, and if so, in what way these lessons have had an effect on the post-disaster mental health care regulation. After the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, the Japanese government was heavily criticized for their delayed action, while in contrast the local government, volunteers from the civil society and NPOs immediately came to action. At that time, there was not as much knowledge regarding post-traumatic stress disorder in Japan, and precautions were scarce. After the initial response and the first studies showing many victims battling mental health problems, the government developed post-disaster mental health policies. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake triple disaster was unprecedented in scope, and mental health care measures employed since the 1995 disaster were not sufficient. Local governments from across the country, volunteers and NPOs offered their immediate help, while the central government was struggling in Tokyo with inadequate leadership, political power games and inflexible regulations. In the wake of the destruction regulations were again implemented based on the lessons learned, but a real recognition of mental health care still seems far away. A large focus remains on reconstruction of houses, infrastructure and financial revitalization, while the mental health of the victims seems forgotten. The national government should take up more responsibilities to protect not only the physical, but also the mental health of its citizens, and finish large projects such as permanent housing and community building in the affected areas that will provide the victims with a relief of stress and uncertainty.Show less
This thesis will use Gunter Schubert’s model for policy analysis in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to examine how the PRC’s government structure is affecting its climate change policies....Show moreThis thesis will use Gunter Schubert’s model for policy analysis in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to examine how the PRC’s government structure is affecting its climate change policies. After explaining why it is important for the PRC’s government to address the issue of climate change, it will analyze the output zone, implementation zone, and evaluation zone of the green policy process. In the end, this thesis concludes that although the PRC is facing difficulties with implementing green policies at the local level, increased checks by both the central and public level are steadily increasing overall green policy efficiency.Show less
This thesis concerns the impact of the EU lobbying behaviour of the regions on the gatekeeping powers of the central government. Through an extensive analysis of the behaviour of the Dutch...Show moreThis thesis concerns the impact of the EU lobbying behaviour of the regions on the gatekeeping powers of the central government. Through an extensive analysis of the behaviour of the Dutch provinces at the EU level based on interviews, a survey and content analysis, this study concludes that the provinces aim at cooperating with their central government but are capable of bypassing it as well when their interests are strongly opposed to those of the central government. Contradictory to assumptions made in the literature, the institutional strength of the subnational actor appears not to play a decisive role. The inclusiveness of the subnational actors into the national EU policy-shaping process, the length of exposure to the EU integration process and the financial means of the subnational actor seem to explain the occasional bypassing behaviour on the EU level of the provinces. Although the provinces are capable of effectively influencing the EU decision-making process independently from their central government, this study argues that the gatekeeping powers of the Dutch central government are not significantly affected by the lobbying behaviour of the provinces. The central government remains the dominant actor regarding the Council and the implementation phase. This result confirms the assumption of the theory of liberal intergovernmentalism that the central government is the gatekeeper between the influence of national actors and the EU decision-making process. In the agenda-setting phase, the central government has however lost its gatekeeping powers. This proves that the relation on the EU level between the Dutch provinces and their central government also entails some characteristics of a multi-level governance structure.Show less
