In recent years, there have been a number of journalistic accounts of an increase in the demonization of the working class in Britain, with people who claim state benefit payments apparently...Show moreIn recent years, there have been a number of journalistic accounts of an increase in the demonization of the working class in Britain, with people who claim state benefit payments apparently bearing the brunt of this media assault. This study aims to look into the effects that negative portrayals of those receiving government payments has on attitudes to government welfare policy. The theoretical framework for this piece is based on framing, specifically thematic, equivalency frames. In order to investigate this, an experiment was employed in which a sample of undergraduate students were presented with one of five versions of an article followed by a survey regarding welfare policy. This allowed a comparison between the answers given by participants that received different versions of the article. The results of this study are largely inconclusive, suggesting that framing effects are not present in a manipulation so subtle.Show less
This thesis can be divided into two parts. First, it deals with the nature of morality, the argument being that there is good reason for us to assume that morality is objective. Furthermore, living...Show moreThis thesis can be divided into two parts. First, it deals with the nature of morality, the argument being that there is good reason for us to assume that morality is objective. Furthermore, living a moral life is necessary if one wants to live a happy and full life. Secondly, it shows that morality and culture are linked and presents an argument that, if certain conditions are met, the notion of moral realism can provide us with a justification for cultural assimilation.Show less
Classifying United Russia, the party in Russia that has the majority of seats in parliament since 2000, proves a challenge. United Russia is called a hegemonic party, a dominant party and sometimes...Show moreClassifying United Russia, the party in Russia that has the majority of seats in parliament since 2000, proves a challenge. United Russia is called a hegemonic party, a dominant party and sometimes a party of power. Some authors even use the three concepts for United Russia in the same article (Bader 2011, White 2011, Hutcheson 2012). For example, White uses all three concepts without explaining them: “ Russia’s dominant party: United Russia, the hegemonic party of power” (2011, 655). Currently, United Russia is addressed as a party of power by many scholars (Roberts 2013, Krastev and Holmes 2012, Oversloot 2006, Protsyk 2003). However, just as many authors consider United Russia to be a dominant party (Slider 2010, Reuters 2010, Remington 2008). Only a few authors call United Russia a cartel party (Hutcheson 2012, White 2012). This indicates that the definitions used to classify parties might not be clear or that the concepts are very close to each other. All three concepts are used differently in the literature and there are not always clear boundaries between these different concepts. Most complicated seems to be the concept of a party of power. Therefore the focus of this thesis will be on the party of power. Some authors use the term party of power and dominant party interchangeably (Sakwa 2012). What does this mean? Is there confusion about the role of United Russia or lays the confusion in the differences between party types? Is there a clear understanding of what the differences are between a party of power and a dominant party, and what the differences are between a party of power and a hegemonic party? Furthermore, do all the authors use the same type in the same way? A type should be used as a clarification of the characteristics of a party. In the case of United Russia authors use different party types to point to the same elements of the party. The opposite does also occur, authors who use the same party type, but point to different traits of the party. It seems that the party types are used superfluously and have a different meaning when used by different authors.Show less
Over the last half century, North Korea has made over 2,660 military provocations against South Korea. Even during peaceful dialogue or institutional negotiations, North Korea has often engaged in ...Show moreOver the last half century, North Korea has made over 2,660 military provocations against South Korea. Even during peaceful dialogue or institutional negotiations, North Korea has often engaged in “unreasonable” actions such as provocations, violence, and terrorism when situations do not proceed according to plan, the goal being to force its counterparts to change their stance or make concessions. Various explanations have been proposed as to when and why North Korea employs brinkmanship. The key feature underlying these explanations is the precedence of factors internal to the North Korean regime such as diversion and human needs over other factors. This study attaches importance to South Korea’s foreign policy as a cause of Pyongyang’s constant provocations. The study starts with the question of under what conditions South Korean policies of coercion and engagement affect North Korea’s brinkmanship foreign policy. In order to answer the question, it examines two periods related to North Korea’s response to South Korea’s coercion and engagement policies from 1993 to 2008 by process tracing, employing tit-for-tat game theory, and tests alternative explanations. Its findings include: (1) North Korea is more cooperative and less belligerent when South Korea pursues coercion and conditional engagement; (2) North Korea is less cooperative and more conflictual when South Korea implements unconditional engagement. The findings of the study have important theoretical and policy implications. In terms of theoretical debate, the study lends support to coercion and conditional engagement as more sound strategies in dealing with renegade regimes. In terms of policy, the study recommends policy makers to (1) implement a strict reciprocity towards North Korea, (2) maintain a strong US-South Korea alliance, and (3) respond sternly against armed provocations.Show less
This thesis analyzes how variations in regional polarity influence the processes of regional cooperation. A small N-analysis has been made on Mercosur, the League of Arab States and ASEAN. These...Show moreThis thesis analyzes how variations in regional polarity influence the processes of regional cooperation. A small N-analysis has been made on Mercosur, the League of Arab States and ASEAN. These organizations are the most institutionalized forms of cooperation in three distinctive regions: Southern-America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The configuration of polarity is determined by the distribution of material capabilities amongst states. Therefore, the more symmetrical the distribution the larger the amount of regional powers present within the region. Theory asserts that as the amount of regional powers increases, prospects for regional cooperation decrease. Indeed, the findings show that a regional bipolar configuration is more prone to cooperation than a multipolar setting. The case of unipolarity in ASEAN has limited generalizability.Show less
De thesis vormt een studie naar de demonstratievrijheid voor rechts-extremisten in Nederland. Uit diverse bronnen blijkt dat zich op dit terrein drastische veranderingen hebben voorgedaan. Zo...Show moreDe thesis vormt een studie naar de demonstratievrijheid voor rechts-extremisten in Nederland. Uit diverse bronnen blijkt dat zich op dit terrein drastische veranderingen hebben voorgedaan. Zo werden extreemrechtse en rechts-extremistische manifestaties lange tijd preventief verboden. Gerechtelijke toetsing bleef daarbij veelal achterwege. Dit veranderde nadat de rechts-extremistische Nederlandse Volks-Unie (NVU) in 2001 een preventief verbod gerechtelijk succesvol aanvocht. Sedertdien vinden er op regelmatige basis rechts-extremistische betogingen in Nederland plaats. Daarmee is de (feitelijke) demonstratievrijheid voor rechts-extremisten drastisch uitgebreid. De thesis biedt inzicht in de factoren die hebben geleid tot de verruiming van de betogingsvrijheid voor rechts-extremisten in Nederland. Bovendien is aandacht geschonken aan de manier waarop de (lokale) overheid – in casu de Gemeente Den Haag – vanaf dat moment heeft gereageerd op rechts-extremistische manifestaties.Show less
In order to investigate the influence of voice pitch and facial dominance on voting behaviour and leadership perceptions, an experiment including 180 Dutch adults was conducted containing a 2*3...Show moreIn order to investigate the influence of voice pitch and facial dominance on voting behaviour and leadership perceptions, an experiment including 180 Dutch adults was conducted containing a 2*3 factorial design. The participants were exposed to a normal and manipulated picture of Jan-peter Balkenende, the former Dutch prime-minister. Respondents were also exposed to a manipulated version of his voice in which the voice pitch had been lowered by 20 herz. The respondents seemed unaware of the picture and voice pitch manipulations as the respondents exposed to the manipulations noted to be just as familiar with the person displayed on the picture as respondents in the control group. However, the manipulations did not have the effect that was expected based on previous studies, the experiment largely showed the subtle nature of these effects on leadership perceptions and voting behaviour. The findings in this study indicate the limited influence of voice pitch and facial dominance on voting behaviour and perceptions of a well known leader's dominance, honesty and power.Show less
Internet use by voters and representatives in the United Kingdom is thought to provide a number of democratic benefits such as increased participation, heightened political deliberation and reduced...Show moreInternet use by voters and representatives in the United Kingdom is thought to provide a number of democratic benefits such as increased participation, heightened political deliberation and reduced distance between the political elite and mass. Furthermore, the use of online technologies allows British citizens to communicate faster, easier and more conveniently than ever before with, with social networking sites allowing real-time interaction overcoming geographical and time constraints. There is limited research looking at the use of online communication by Member of Parliaments (MP) in their constituency role, which is surprising as the constituency responsibility of an MP has become of increasing importance in the last 50 years due social and political changes including heightened demands from citizens. Using an original field experiment, this thesis tests which method of communication is the most effective for constituents to use when contacting their local MP, with specific interest in their adoption and use of the social networking site Twitter. The research finds that the majority of MPs have a Twitter account; however theses Members tend to be young, on the left of the political spectrum and reside in marginal constituencies. Members do not appear to be using Twitter to correspond with constituents, although it is the fastest of the tools tested. Email had both the highest response rate and is most likely to provide the constituent with the information they requested, and is therefore the most effective medium for MP-constituent communication.Show less
The role of ideology and religion on voting behaviour has declined. But, what does then determine voting behaviour nowadays? New dimensions and (short-term) factors seem to play a role and there is...Show moreThe role of ideology and religion on voting behaviour has declined. But, what does then determine voting behaviour nowadays? New dimensions and (short-term) factors seem to play a role and there is more attention to the personalization thesis. Some politicians are treated as celebrities and image, appearance and also clothing are subjects considered to be important. The suits of Mark Rutte and Diederik Samsom have been widely discussed in the run-up to the 2012 Dutch parliamentary elections. Does fashion rule? The central question of this master thesis is: Does the clothing style of politicians influence trait perceptions and voting behaviour of Dutch voters? A quantitative analysis of data obtained by an experimental study will be the basis for this research. Unknown men will be photographed in different clothing styles, which randomly assigned groups of respondents will evaluate on the basis of six leadership traits. What will be analysed is if indeed the men in suits with ties are statistically significant more positively evaluated on the six leadership traits compared to, for example, men in jeans and a casual sweater. By testing four hypotheses, an answer to the research question can be given and the implications of the results will be discussed. This analysis distinguishes between the assessment by men and by women, by different age groups and by clothing style of respondents themselves. In a first step to discover the influence of clothing on the evaluation of Dutch politicians and voting behaviour, this study focuses only on male politicians, mainly because men still dominate among party leaders in national parliamentary elections. What seems to come out of the questionnaires overall, is the fact that it depends on the person what he has to wear. Faces are more important when evaluating unknown persons in pictures. Clothing style can in some way increase or decrease the evaluation scores of some traits, but no clear relationship is to be found between certain traits and a specific clothing style. Politicians’ clothing can reinforce certain leadership traits in the eyes of voters, however, it differs between politicians which clothing style enhances which leadership traits. In general, an in-between clothing style yields the most positive responses and the most votes. But when looking independently at each trait, quite different evaluations appear between different persons. Some small changes in methodology and recruitment of respondents will make the findings of further research stronger. In further research, women definitely have to be included as stimuli persons and possibly political attitude also.Show less
Addressing a shortcoming in theories on the influence of emotion on political decision-making this thesis aims to explore the distinct effects of anger on voting behavior in the Netherlands. The...Show moreAddressing a shortcoming in theories on the influence of emotion on political decision-making this thesis aims to explore the distinct effects of anger on voting behavior in the Netherlands. The biological origin of emotion and its function in individuals and social interactions, specifically the influence on decision-making processes, are justification for including emotion in a model of vote choice. However, this inclusion should correspond with the biology and theoretical predictions of emotional effects. The most complete and authoritative model which includes emotion is the Theory of Affective Intelligence (AI). Because in the operationalization of anxiety fear and anger are combined, the theory is flawed in this respect. This is an important issue to address since it can have a significant impact on predictions from the model. Predictions that can be used to solve the ongoing debate on the personalization of Dutch politics by pointing to the different circumstances under which voters rely on different decision-making strategies. Using a a online survey to collect data, which included items on candidate traits, policy preferences and ideology, party attachments and background items, the hypotheses for the specific effects of anger were tested in a model based on logistic regression. The survey included a manipulation of the emotional state. Results show some distinct influences of anger and fear. Fear increases the relative weight candidate traits in a vote-choice, whereas anger increases the weight of ideological distance and policy preferences. Furthermore, party-attachments are weak and knowledge seems to have no effect.Show less
This paper analyzes the impact of acquisition of membership of international organization (in this case, WTO) on member states' domestic trade laws reforms. For this end, multilevel governance...Show moreThis paper analyzes the impact of acquisition of membership of international organization (in this case, WTO) on member states' domestic trade laws reforms. For this end, multilevel governance theory is used to pinpoint the conductive roles of state authority, industry and local norm system in the indigenization of international laws.Show less
This study focused on the extent to which British political parties made pledges and policies for youth in their 2010 election manifestos to motivate them to vote and the extent to which these...Show moreThis study focused on the extent to which British political parties made pledges and policies for youth in their 2010 election manifestos to motivate them to vote and the extent to which these policies were subsequently reflected in the news to enable the youth to be informed of the policies that are relevant for them. Previous literature has argued that political parties are to blame for low youth voter turnout but these arguments were based on survey studies among young people and no research had been conducted on the actual policies parties make for youth. Content analysis was carried out on the election manifestos of the three biggest parties in the UK and news articles by three online news sources to determine the attention given to young people. The results showed that very few pledges were made specifically for young people in the manifestos but that news media did report about these pledges fairly often. It was concluded that the political parties offer young people very little motivation to vote, but also that the media does inform youth about the policies that are relevant for them. These results lend support to the claim in the literature that youth are often marginalised in policy discourse and youth voter abstention could, to some extent, be a result of the reluctance of political parties to sufficiently address youth issues.Show less
Dit onderzoek richt zich op de fractieafsplitsingen binnen de Nederlandse gemeenteraden. Dit betekent dat één of meerdere raadsleden zich op een bepaald moment afsplitsen van hun fractie en...Show moreDit onderzoek richt zich op de fractieafsplitsingen binnen de Nederlandse gemeenteraden. Dit betekent dat één of meerdere raadsleden zich op een bepaald moment afsplitsen van hun fractie en verdergaan als onafhankelijke leden, of zich aansluiten bij een andere, al bestaande, fractie. Fractieafsplitsing is een controversieel verschijnsel dat steeds vaker voorkomt binnen de Nederlandse gemeenteraden (Fransman, 2006, 2009), en dikwijls leidt tot moeizame besluitvorming en minder stabiele colleges (Fransman, 2009; Korsten & Schoenmaker, 2011). In het onderzoek wordt gekeken of er statistische verbanden bestaan tussen de kenmerken van een politieke partij (partijkenmerken) en de karakteristieken van de gemeente waarin de partij actief is (gemeentekenmerken), en (de kans) op fractieafsplitsingen. Dit is interessant omdat afscheidingen mogelijk iets zeggen over de eenheid van politieke partijen, iets wat van belang is voor zowel de politieke wetenschap als voor de politiek zelf (Andeweg & Thomassen, 2010). Hiernaast kunnen afsplitsingen vanuit normatief perspectief als ongewenst worden beschouwd (De Bok, 2010). De maatschappelijke relevantie van het onderzoek ligt in het informeren van het electoraat over de kans op fractieafscheidingen voor politieke partijen in de gemeenteraad met bepaalde kenmerken, of voor partijen die actief zijn in een gemeente met specifieke karakteristieken (of een combinatie van beiden). De wetenschappelijke relevantie van dit onderzoek ligt in het oplossen van een kennisprobleem, aangezien er nog geen overeenkomstig onderzoek lijkt te zijn gedaan.Show less
