The European Union has been recognised as a unique international organisation in its securitisation of climate change. The organisation has successfully securitised climate change since 2008,...Show moreThe European Union has been recognised as a unique international organisation in its securitisation of climate change. The organisation has successfully securitised climate change since 2008, prioritising it on the policy agenda. This securitisation has been established through speech acts defining climate change as a threat. This thesis examines the security narratives invoked in European Parliamentary debates from 2005 to 2011, focusing on the different security framings of climate change as a threat, and how these have changed over time. It argues that before the securitisation of climate change, the European Parliament framed climate change predominantly through ‘low politics’ security narratives like cooperative, environmental, and human security framings. Remarkably, this did not change after the securitisation of climate change, while it was expected that ‘high politics’ security narratives like global and national security would be more dominant. Ultimately, this thesis shows that when addressing climate change, the European Parliament frames the issue as a threat primarily through ‘low politics’ narratives, both in the three years before and the three years after the successful securitisation of climate change.Show less
Populism has been on the rise across liberal democracies and has been closely linked with the ero-sion of democratic institutions and standards. However there have also been links made between...Show morePopulism has been on the rise across liberal democracies and has been closely linked with the ero-sion of democratic institutions and standards. However there have also been links made between populism’s effect on an individual’s trust in institutions. Considering the contemporary importance of international organisations and the rise of populism, we seek to understand the effect populism has on trust in international organisations. We make use of the European Values Study to our two hypotheses. We find that populists are predicted to have a lower degree of trust in the European Union and United Nations compared to non-populists. Moreover, we find that populists’ trust in international organisations is expected to increase when a populist party is in government, compared to only being in opposition. Our findings suggest that populism poses a challenge to the continued legitimacy of international governmental organisations, and policymakers should seek to continue fostering greater public confidence.Show less
