Southeast Asian states are working to set regional human rights standards concerning torture prevention. The relationship between Southeast Asia and international human rights law regarding torture...Show moreSoutheast Asian states are working to set regional human rights standards concerning torture prevention. The relationship between Southeast Asia and international human rights law regarding torture warrants increased academic attention. This text looks at the connection between the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and torture prevention in Southeast Asia, conducting a small-N case study of torture prevention in Cambodia and the Philippines. It finds evidence consistent with stagnation in torture prevention in Cambodia and improved torture prevention in the Philippines following OPCAT ratification. Furthermore, Southeast Asian states may be diversifying in their approaches to international human rights law regarding torture according to political regime type.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Rules regulate society as they help to predict social interactions. Groups, however, do not always abide by rules. Instead, they break them when the conditions are right. Here we hypothesized that...Show moreRules regulate society as they help to predict social interactions. Groups, however, do not always abide by rules. Instead, they break them when the conditions are right. Here we hypothesized that rule abidance behavior is determined by a) an individual choosing another for mutual benefit based on their reputation and b) the social-environmental incentives like fairness and dishonesty. We had three participants building a reputation for their willingness to abide by or break rules. A fourth participant used that information to choose one to three participants, then played several rounds of a dictator game and a die-roll task. Participants were chosen more often when their reputation was in line with environmental incentives, where merely transitioning from one environment to another strengthened that effect. Regulators should therefore ensure the consistency and kinds of environmental incentives that individuals in power positions face across environments for controlling resulting rule abidance behavior.Show less
Exploring the salience of LGBT-norms in Japan through analyzing the cultural match, political rhetoric, domestic interests, domestic institutions and socializing forces surrounding those norms.
In 2004, China’s foreign policy appeared to enter a relatively expansive phase. The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, began to confidently make proclamations for a new world order, China's bilateral...Show moreIn 2004, China’s foreign policy appeared to enter a relatively expansive phase. The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, began to confidently make proclamations for a new world order, China's bilateral aid activities increased exponentially and China began to assert itself in international organisations. The change in China’s foreign policy would appear intuitively consistent with the activities of any country that has achieved the economic growth that China has. However, upon closer examination, China’s foreign policy not only displays consistencies with principles that have been prevalent in Chinese society since ancient times, but also appear to de-legitimise the hegemonic position of the United States in a number of cases. In essence, it would appear as if China has made the decision to bring about a transformation in international norms to better suit its identity, particularly in light of the diminishing influence of the US.Show less
This thesis focuses on the world’s largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter China and examines the dynamics between international norms and domestic politics. Specifically, this paper attempts to prove...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the world’s largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter China and examines the dynamics between international norms and domestic politics. Specifically, this paper attempts to prove that China’s position on climate change is evolving. As climate change fits in the environmental protection and economic development nexus, national interest is the basic motivation for China to participate in climate governance from a positivist perspective. But it is important to keep in mind that the international system is constructed by material as well as ideas. The EU is a leadership in global climate governance; consequently this thesis also argues that the EU as a normative power has driven diffusion of norms, and partially influenced China’s position on climate change.Show less
