Sinds 2002 is er sprake van een dalend vertrouwen in de overheid (Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau, 2015) en een mogelijke oorzaak hiervoor is de invloed van media, want deze spelen een belangrijke rol...Show moreSinds 2002 is er sprake van een dalend vertrouwen in de overheid (Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau, 2015) en een mogelijke oorzaak hiervoor is de invloed van media, want deze spelen een belangrijke rol in de informatie, beelden en oordelen die burgers ontvangen over de betrouwbaarheid van de overheid (Bovens & Wille, 2006). Er bestaan twee tegenstrijdige verklaringen over de gevolgen van mediagebruik op het vertrouwen in de overheid, namelijk de media malaise theorie die stelt dat mediagebruik een negatief effect heeft op het vertrouwen in de overheid en de mobilisatietheorie die stelt dat dat mediagebruik een positief effect heeft op het vertrouwen in de overheid (Van der Valk, 2007). Je kunt je afvragen of deze tweestrijd bestaat, omdat je “media” niet als eenduidige term kunt benaderen, omdat het een gedifferentieerd concept is. Dit onderzoek legt de nadruk op de verschillende vormen media, waarbij de eenduidige term wordt uitgesplitst in verschillende typen media, namelijk de krant, sociale media, televisie en radio. Er wordt een verwachting uitgesproken dat hoe meer iemand de politiek volgt via de krant, hoe meer vertrouwen diegene heeft in de overheid. Er is een verwachting dat hoe meer iemand de politiek volgt via de televisie en sociale media, hoe minder vertrouwen diegene heeft in de overheid. Er is geen verwachting over het media-type radio, omdat niet genoeg literatuur specifiek ingaat op de radio. Er wordt een ordinale regressieanalyse uitgevoerd middels de European Values Dataset (2020). In de ordinale regressieanalyse is te zien dat er een positief, statistisch significant verband bestaat tussen de mate waarin iemand de politiek volgt via de dagelijkse krant en het vertrouwen dat diegene in de overheid heeft (EVS, 2020). Dit betekent dat hoe vaker iemand de politiek volgt via de dagelijkse krant, hoe meer vertrouwen diegene heeft in de overheid. Er is een negatief, niet statistisch significant verband tussen de mate waarin iemand de politiek volgt via de sociale media en het vertrouwen dat diegene heeft in de overheid (EVS, 2020). Dit betekent hoe vaker iemand de politiek volgt via de sociale media, hoe minder vertrouwen diegene heeft in de overheid, maar dit verband berust (waarschijnlijk) op toeval. Er is een positief, statistisch significant verband tussen de mate dat iemand de politiek via televisie en radio volgt en het vertrouwen dat diegene heeft in de overheid (EVS, 2020). Dit betekent dat hoe vaker iemand de politiek volgt via de televisie en radio, hoe meer vertrouwen diegene heeft in de overheid. Er wordt uiteindelijk geconcludeerd dat de media-voorkeuren van burgers een rol spelen in het vertrouwen van burgers in de overheid, want drie van de vier hypothesen kunnen een statistisch significant verband aantonen (EVS, 2020).Show less
While female genital mutilation is considered a violation of human rights, it is still widely practised in many countries. With a rate of 21%, Kenya is not one of the countries with the highest...Show moreWhile female genital mutilation is considered a violation of human rights, it is still widely practised in many countries. With a rate of 21%, Kenya is not one of the countries with the highest prevalence rates. Nonetheless, despite the implementation of a law and many policies to prevent it, female genital mutilation is a persistent tradition. It is argued that this is the case due to ineffective implementation of the law and policies. This research investigates the effects that the law and policies implemented by Kenya’s government and non-governmental organisations have affected the conduct of female genital mutilation and influenced local perceptions of it. Through the analysis of existing literature and 9 interviews, it will contribute to the debate about anti-female genital mutilation legislation and strategies by generating insights about their effects in Kenya. Effects of the legislation on the conduct of the practice that are studied are secret conduct of the practice, lowering the age of cutting, medicalisation, and cross-border cutting. Effects on local perceptions of the practice that are highlighted are opposition to legislation, opposition to the practice, social divisions, stigmas, and increased awareness.Show less
The increasing reliance on ICT within the public sector has changed the working ways of governmental bureaucracies from a paper reality to a digital one, and governments are eager to use new...Show moreThe increasing reliance on ICT within the public sector has changed the working ways of governmental bureaucracies from a paper reality to a digital one, and governments are eager to use new technologies for their business operations and reap its benefits just as the private sector does. Since technological advancement is driven by the private sector, and humans are increasingly accustomed to the speed and efficiency that technology brings, citizens are expecting governments to adapt and digitize as well. As such, an important trend that is being experimented with is the usage of self-learning algorithms, particularly Artificial Intelligence or AI. Since AI runs on data, it is only logical that an organization such as the government which holds an abundance of data would like to put this to use. Data that is collected might hold certain patterns, if you can find such patterns and assume that the near future will not be much different from when the data was collected, predictions can be made. However, AI systems are often deemed opaque and inscrutable, and this can collide with the judicial accountability that governments have towards their citizens in the form of transparency. Based on the assumption that the information that is used by AI i.e. data and algorithms, is not similar to documentary information that governments are accustomed to, there are added obstacles for governments to overcome in order to achieve the desired effects of transparency. The goal of this research is to explore the barriers to transparency in governmental usage of AI in decision-making by analyzing governmental motivation towards (non-) transparency and how the complex nature of AI relates to this. The question that stems from this is: What are the obstacles related to being transparent in AI-assisted governmental decision-making? In the study, a comparison is made between the obstacles to transparency for documentary information and the obstacles that experts encounter in practice related to AI, a contribution follows. Based on the literature, it is hypothesized that governments are limited by privacy and safety issues, lack of expertise, cooperation and inadequate disclosure. The results show that the obstacles are more nuanced and an addition to the theory is appropriate. The most important findings being: that data and algorithms should not be treated as documentary information; the importance of the policy domain in determinant for the degree of transparency; that lack of cooperation causes multiple obstacles to transparency such as self-censoring, accountability issues, superficial debate, false promises, inability to explain and ill-suited systems; that more information disclosure isn’t always better; and that the public sector should rethink their overreliance on private sector business models. All these obstacles can be associated to losing sight of the fundamental function of government, serving citizens.Show less
The cutting of the Dutch govermental cultural funding in the last decade has had an impact on particularly Dutch small museums. This thesis will provide an overview on the rise and fall of Dutch...Show moreThe cutting of the Dutch govermental cultural funding in the last decade has had an impact on particularly Dutch small museums. This thesis will provide an overview on the rise and fall of Dutch governmental cultural funding and the rise of private funding in the museal field. It will also dive into the museal practice of small Dutch art museums. How have they dealt with declining governmental funding and how does this relate to private funding? These questions are at the heart of this thesis.Show less
In this thesis the reluctance of Dutch politicians to repatriate foreign fighters is investigated and it is argued that this is an example of organized irresponsibility. Many Dutch foreign fighters...Show moreIn this thesis the reluctance of Dutch politicians to repatriate foreign fighters is investigated and it is argued that this is an example of organized irresponsibility. Many Dutch foreign fighters who joined ISIS now wish to return to the Netherlands. The Dutch government is unwilling to facilitate their repatriation, despite pressure from Dutch institutions, and security experts arguing arguing that repatriation is the best long-term solution to the foreign fighter issue.Show less
This thesis explores how the discourse around immigration in Russia is shaped by the government, and by society segmented in actors disapproving or favorable of immigration. From the selected...Show moreThis thesis explores how the discourse around immigration in Russia is shaped by the government, and by society segmented in actors disapproving or favorable of immigration. From the selected primary sources, four main themes of discussion and four subsequent main techniques of persuasion used in argumentation around the themes are identified and scrutinized through critical discourse analysis. The main themes are economy, security, lifestyle and demography; the main techniques are play on emotion, anecdotal approach, comparison and statistical manipulation. The main findings of this paper constitute the following. The government pursues a dual policy to maximize the number of its adherents, and in its rhetoric most noticeably uses comparison for the purpose of justifying its policies. Anti-immigrant groups exploit all techniques extensively and mostly build their numerous arguments around economic, security and lifestyle concerns. Immigrant advocacy groups refrain from thorough discussion of security issues, present a limited amount of economic arguments, and focus instead on lifestyle and demography. They use all techniques as well but mainly play on emotion and narrate individual stories, displaying the immigrants’ perspective and encouraging leniency.Show less
This thesis focuses on Silicon Valley and China to understand what elements have made Silicon Valley and China’s technology sectors so successful, and to what degree they are different....Show moreThis thesis focuses on Silicon Valley and China to understand what elements have made Silicon Valley and China’s technology sectors so successful, and to what degree they are different. Specifically, it will focus on the role of the government in shaping the respective markets. The American and Chinese view of the government’s role in economic development differs both in theory and practice. The U.S. traditionally advocated for a liberal free-market view of the economy, with the government having a facilitating role. In contrast, true to its socialist ideology, China has advocated a strong role of the government in the economy, where the government principally takes on a controlling and planning role. While in theory these views are at the opposite side of the spectrum between freedom from the state versus control by the state, in practice there are variations and exceptions. The goal of this thesis is to provide further insight on these similarities and differences through a case-study based analysis of both Silicon Valley and China's tech sector.Show less
Description of the relation between the Chinese government and its protestant Christian communities. It describes the way in which religious regulation is applied and concludes that broad...Show moreDescription of the relation between the Chinese government and its protestant Christian communities. It describes the way in which religious regulation is applied and concludes that broad interpretational possibilities and insufficient necessity to implement it result in a large grey area, rather governed by so called ‘latent’ rules than by laws. It concludes that well-defined legislation is required with regard to religion in order to be predictable towards citizens and thus create a more stabilized society.Show less
In 2014, the United Nations recommended to the Japanese government that it should promulgate laws against hate speech. This advice was ignored by the Japanese government, claiming such laws would...Show moreIn 2014, the United Nations recommended to the Japanese government that it should promulgate laws against hate speech. This advice was ignored by the Japanese government, claiming such laws would interfere with the right of freedom of speech. With the racism against Zainichi Koreans (citizens in Japan of Korean ancestry) as a case study, using the New Haven School of Jurisprudence as framework, this thesis posits that “freedom of speech” is not the Japanese government’s (only) reason for refusing to promulgate laws against hate speech. By researching Diet discussions, newspaper articles, court cases and personal accounts of prominent politicians such as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, this essay comes to the conclusion that the actual reasons differ from the official one given. The general conclusions of this thesis are that the Japanese government is reluctant to promulgate laws against hate speech because it is concerned about its independence from the United Nations, and because there is a disregard for minority issues in general.Show less
