Although social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media,...Show moreAlthough social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media, political polarization online has sharply increased, with even elected officials and members of the political elite class also engaging in divisive propaganda and false information. This study, through a Twitter analysis, explores the impact of political polarization on citizens' beliefs in their democratic institutions, electoral systems, and government. This research applies relevant but underappreciated theories like the legitimacy theory and the homophily theory to understand how democracy and the internet interact.Show less
In recent decades, the political legitimacy of International Organisations has been heavily criticised, and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is no exception. The purpose of this research...Show moreIn recent decades, the political legitimacy of International Organisations has been heavily criticised, and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is no exception. The purpose of this research is to determine to what extent the United Nations (UN) member states consider the current UNSC as a legitimate organisation. The following research question is therefore formulated: How has the handling of the UNSC, with regard to the Syrian Civil War, affected the political legitimacy of the UNSC through the perception of UN member states? The concept of political legitimacy is divided into three different dimensions: legal legitimacy, procedural legitimacy and performance legitimacy. To answer the research question, a qualitative content analysis was carried out, examining all adopted and vetoed resolutions regarding the Syrian Civil War. Throughout the 42 resolutions, 55 different UN member states were present to vote and make statements on the case. These votes and statements were subsequently interpreted to measure the level of legal, procedural and performance legitimacy. The results have demonstrated that, with regard to the Syrian Civil Ware, the UNSC’s legal legitimacy has equally increased and diminished, its procedural legitimacy has diminished and that its performance legitimacy has not diminished through the perception of UN member states. Based on the results of the empirical analysis, this study recommends that the UNSC should reform its veto procedure to receive more procedural legitimacy. Regarding the legal and performance legitimacy, it is recommended that the UNSC should not reform. Additionally, possible further research should focus on different cases than the Syrian Civil War to ensure a more comprehensive solution for the UNSC’s political legitimacy debate.Show less
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
open access
2013-01-18T00:00:00Z
In the British House of Commons of the 1860s and 1870s, the concept of ‘democracy’ was despised by most of its members: the word carried a strong negative connotation. No one wanted to have a...Show moreIn the British House of Commons of the 1860s and 1870s, the concept of ‘democracy’ was despised by most of its members: the word carried a strong negative connotation. No one wanted to have a democracy, and no one wanted to be a democrat. Gradual franchise extensions (1867, 1884) transformed this valuation. Yet it took the British parliament decades of debates, and three parliamentary reform acts, before the concept of ‘democracy’ was judged positively by most members of the House. It was only after the Third Reform Act, during the Irish Home Rule debates of 1886, that a new consensus was reached: on the fact that Great-Britain was a democracy, and essentially ruled by ‘the people’. Twenty years before, during the Second Reform Act debates in 1866, such an utterance was unimaginable; it was perhaps desired by a few Radicals, but condemned by a broad majority. Hence, in the period from 1866 to 1886, the meaning and value of the concept of ‘democracy’ underwent a complete and unexpected change. How can we explain this conceptual turnover, from an essentially negative to a predominantly positive valuation? And how did democracy’s meaning shift? Those are the two questions that this thesis tries to answer.Show less
