This research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case...Show moreThis research explores the potential impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of elections, through the diffusion of democratic standards. The analysis is based on a single-case study of the Kenyan elections building on diverse data including reports and interviews, applied in the process tracing method. Building on socialization theory and norm diffusion, I hypothesize that election observation has an impact on election quality, through the diffusion of democratic values. The Kenyan legal framework meets international obligations requiring elections to be “accountable and transparent”. But the tumultuous history of election violence highlighted fundamental issues and systematic problems that must be addressed. The findings show that there is a relevant added value to the presence of EU EOM, within different phases of the election cycle. The implementation of the EU EOM recommendations plays a key role in understanding the contribution of election observation to improve election quality. EU EOMs are found to be effective in deterring fraud and corruption, as election observation contributes to pressuring government officials to respect the electoral law. In the Kenyan case, the implementation of recommendations contributed to the mitigation of election-related violence, and the promotion of the stakeholders' confidence in the electoral process.Show less
This article seeks to address increasing concerns about the resurgence of US far-right groups in the wake of the January 6th Insurrection (2021) by studying an unexamined, nascent but influential,...Show moreThis article seeks to address increasing concerns about the resurgence of US far-right groups in the wake of the January 6th Insurrection (2021) by studying an unexamined, nascent but influential, far-right group known as the National Justice Party (NJP). Examining the NJP’s discourses provides both a better understanding of new developments within the far-right, as well as knowledge of how best to counter them. By applying the discourse-historical approach, it was found that the NJP’s discourses are partially in established literature as it relates to far-right ideological influences and the structure of its discourses. The NJP is partially outside of it for its novel systemization of what it calls ‘the anti-white system.’ This system causes whites to be systematically disadvantaged by elite Jews for advantage or profit. The anti-semitic scapegoating in addition to other contextual factors, suggest that the NJP is motivated by the increasing economic precarity and racial polarization in the country. This study contributes to the established literature by addressing a modest gap, and offers some policies to neutralize the appeals of the NJP’s discourses.Show less
There are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the...Show moreThere are 88.313 people in the Netherlands that are categorised as nationality unknown in the Dutch Personal Record Database. This categorisation is not the same as being stateless in the Netherlands, since people with an unknown nationality are expected provide the necessary national documents to obtain the Dutch nationality. This often leaves them in a de facto stateless position, without the mechanisms in the Netherlands to determine statelessness. With this paper, the aim will be to gain insights into the lived experiences of people with a Dutch residence permit with an unknown nationality and to examine the position of being in between statuses of a residence permit and citizenship, since most of the people in this group can to a great extent (with certain limitations) participate in the Dutch society. Through semi-structured interviews, this paper concluded the pivotal role of AZCs, building a life in the Netherlands and the mechanisms of politics of belonging.Show less
Theories of political legitimacy are concerned, in short, with states’ moral right to create and enforce laws and regulations, and to see these respected by their citizens. Of all available...Show moreTheories of political legitimacy are concerned, in short, with states’ moral right to create and enforce laws and regulations, and to see these respected by their citizens. Of all available theories of legitimacy, so-called consent theories are often taken to be a straightforward and convincing way of grounding such a right. Despite this advantage, many also argue that virtually no existing state secures the valid consent of its citizens, undermining the theories’ success in the real world. In face of such challenges, several thinkers have proposed various societal reforms to bring about widespread, valid consent, thereby safeguarding states’ legitimacy. The work at hand offers an overview of three of the most convincing so-called reformist consent theories and argues that all face serious challenges. It then argues that panarchy, a largely overlooked meta-political framework that defends a plurality of non-territorial states and that places citizen’s direct express consent at its core, successfully answers these challenges, gaining the theoretical upper hand over other reformist theories. It then concludes by assessing some of the strongest objections against panarchy, underlining the strengths and weaknesses of the theory, and spelling out venues for further research.Show less
The refugee crisis which engulfed Europe in the period between 2015 and 2017 sparked the proliferation of securitising discourse targeting migrants across the European Union. Whist plenty of...Show moreThe refugee crisis which engulfed Europe in the period between 2015 and 2017 sparked the proliferation of securitising discourse targeting migrants across the European Union. Whist plenty of scholarly ink has been dedicated to the study of the securitising rhetoric emanating from political representatives of individual EU member states, little attention has been paid to that of the heads of key EU institutions. To fill this gap, I have chosen to examine the President of the European Council’s securitisation of migrants by conducting a discourse analysis on 120 of his speeches, press remarks and interviews that occurred in the years between 2015 and 2017. Having coded this large body of data, I have been able to establish that Tusk systematically securitised migrants by presenting them as existential threats in relation to the Schengen Agreement, public order and security, as well as European values and subsequently calling for policies to regulate their entry into the EU. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the manner in which asylum-seekers are securitised differs to that of ‘irregular’ migrants, in ways that have not been extensively covered in securitisation literature thus far.Show less
In 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week...Show moreIn 1946 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission holds two-week sessions every year during which UN Member States engage in a general debate and organize side-events with civil society organizations (UN Women, n.d. a). The participating civil society organizations typically hold liberal beliefs on human rights and adhere to the dominant beliefs of the CSW (Rincker et al. 2019, 3). It is therefore interesting to find that pro-life organizations have frequently hosted side-events at the CSW in the past. Especially the pro-life organization C-Fam which has hosted multiple side-events in the past decade in which they present their anti-abortion campaign (UN Women, n.d. b). Even more interesting is that pro-life organizations have actively been blocked from the CSW66 which was held in March of 2022 (Tuns 2022). This makes one wonder how pro-life organizations managed to get into the CSW and present their alternative view in the first place. Based on this puzzling observation this research aims to research the framing tactics of C-Fam. The research question is as follows: How did the Center for Family and Human Rights frame their anti-abortion campaign to align with the Commission on the Status of Women between 2014-2019? To gain better insight on the organization’s narratives, a constructivist and a rationalist approach will be embedded in the overarching model of framing theory and then traced throughout the corresponding campaigns via a thematic content-analysis.Show less
The link between patriotism and the military service is not as clear as may be expected. Patriotism is not as simple as love for one’s country, rather, it is a multifaceted concept. Looking at...Show moreThe link between patriotism and the military service is not as clear as may be expected. Patriotism is not as simple as love for one’s country, rather, it is a multifaceted concept. Looking at psychological and symbolic patriotism, and professed versus performed patriotism, this study explores Israeli expats’ experiences abroad and their connection to the home state. Looking at Israel’s mandatory military service, this paper focused on the Israeli expats’ decision on whether to return and serve in the IDF at the age of eighteen. Conducting a total of 13 interviews, of which 10 were expatriates residing in Maastricht, the Netherlands, three main arguments were developed in assessing why some choose not to return and serve. The three main arguments are: (i) Israeli expats see themselves as Israeli/Jewish through culture and not religion; (ii) the belief in the existence of a patriotism scale; and (iii) Israeli expats experience adaptation to Western society and attitudes.Show less
The following thesis investigates the moderation effects of issue salience on the relationship between retrospective evaluations of governments' healthcare as well as economy policies performance...Show moreThe following thesis investigates the moderation effects of issue salience on the relationship between retrospective evaluations of governments' healthcare as well as economy policies performance and government popularity. Its core hypothesis postulates that voters are more likely to reward incumbents with reelection if they pursue successful policies, as well as more likely sanction them with defection to opposition, if their policies fail for issues they consider to be salient. The thesis runs two separate studies using different measurements of the same theoretical concepts to check for robustness of results. The first study is based on individual-level data, while the second study employs macro-level data. Results of the first study suggest, that voters are more likely to reward incumbents for improving healthcare standards when healthcare-related issues are salient, but not more likely to sanction incumbents for worsening healthcare standards. Contrary to expectations, voters who are of the view that economic issues are salient, seem to be more likely to support incumbents when national economic conditions are regressing. For Study 2, the thesis found no significant effect – objective indicators of economic and healthcare quality performance as well as measures of economy and healthcare-related issues on a macro-level seem to be unrelated to government popularity, though data validty is suspected to play an important part in the outcome of the regressions of Study 1.Show less
This study addresses the harm of humanitarian aid provision in Yemen which suffers from limited sovereignty and various contesting political actors. By using a conceptual approach and a qualitative...Show moreThis study addresses the harm of humanitarian aid provision in Yemen which suffers from limited sovereignty and various contesting political actors. By using a conceptual approach and a qualitative case study of various texts, the study investigates the harm resulting from complex relations between different political actors in Yemen and aid/humanitarian organisations working to improve human lives. The study asks what is the harm posed by aid provision in Yemen? How does this harm manifest in Yemen and, what are the outcomes of this harm? In Yemen, the main harm of aid provision, amidst what I describe as the crisis of sovereignty, is the augmentation of the crisis of sovereignty due to the involvement of aid organisations. The study argues that harm, in the case of Yemen, is an unintended consequence of various institutional and organisational disparities while the outcomes affect the economic and humanitarian situation of the local population. This unintended harm of the augmented crisis of sovereignty in Yemen, I argue, stands in contrast with the morally perceived harm of injustice portrayed in the literature. The result of this study is the conceptual rendering of harm both as an inevitable consequence and non-moral harm.Show less
This thesis attempts to investigate the extent to which the debate about the indivisibility principle has translated into in tandem state respect for Civil and Political rights and Social and...Show moreThis thesis attempts to investigate the extent to which the debate about the indivisibility principle has translated into in tandem state respect for Civil and Political rights and Social and Economic rights. Adapting and expanding on the ideas and methods proposed by Minkler and others, and building on the work of the CIRI data project and the SERF initiative, an empirical method is provided for the assessment of states’ de facto adhesion to the principle of indivisibility, which is enshrined in Human Rights law. Both global and country-specific longitudinal profiles of human rights respect are provided. The indivisibility thesis is tested via a series of numerical techniques. Furthermore, an empirical investigation is carried out to examine the extent to which human rights are in practice interdependent. In doing so, a bird’s-eye view analysis of states’ respect for human rights is provided. Results show that states’ practices in terms of upholding civil and political rights and fulfilling economic and social rights are neither frequently exercised, nor reveal any sort of dependence or reinforcing characteristic. In addition, although civil and political liberties are especially vulnerable, states that prioritized these rights seem just as concerned in fulfilling economic and social rights, whereas the opposite does not hold true. Finally, the pertinence and applications of the proposed methods and findings are discussed.Show less
This thesis aims to assess the impact of big data on burden-sharing in the European Union in the field of migration governance. Migration governance in the European Union is widely perceived as a...Show moreThis thesis aims to assess the impact of big data on burden-sharing in the European Union in the field of migration governance. Migration governance in the European Union is widely perceived as a collective action problem, as no effective burden-sharing has been established since the migration crisis of 2015. The current field of force is interpreted as a suasion game, where the strategy of non-affected states forces affected states to cooperate in burden-sharing, resulting in a de jure status quo. Having conducted interviews with European decision-makers as well as migration and big data experts, this thesis finds that big data can provide decision-makers with situational awareness, resulting in better organisational preparedness as well as enhanced matching and integration policies. However, political will is found to be an essential trigger for changing the suasion game, as big data on itself invokes no incentives for this political will. Consequently, decision-makers use big data so that it fits their strategy. When issue-linkage is established the suasion game can be changed. Big data however is then used instrumentally, potentially allowing for more voluntary reception of migrants. Nevertheless, the overall impact of big data is limited on the suasion game and Member States will not change their strategies. This thesis contributes to the recent academic debate on the use of big data in migration governance as well as to the academic debate on evidence-based decision-making.Show less
The European Commission aims to tackle the climate crisis with the European Green Deal (EGD). To accomplish this task, the Commission requires expertise which interest groups are able to provide....Show moreThe European Commission aims to tackle the climate crisis with the European Green Deal (EGD). To accomplish this task, the Commission requires expertise which interest groups are able to provide. These groups which represent private and public interests provide information through lobbying and exert influence in the policy process. This paper provides insight into the private actors' lobbying strategies concerning the Green Deal. The theoretical frameworks that will be utilized to describe the lobby strategies are the access of interest groups in European policies through their expertise, the institutional framework of the EU and the policy issue characteristics. These frameworks are explained to provide a better understanding of the empirical findings. For the empirical research, qualitative content analysis will be applied to four energy private associations’ documents that are available in the public sphere. Finally, the findings will lead the study to argue that private associations are highly active in the policy process of the EGD and they apply informative lobbying to target the European Commission. Further research in the lobbying behaviour and influence of the energy sector in the implementation of the EGD is also suggested.Show less
War videogames support and reproduce neo-imperialist rhetoric and world views. Videogames, due to their interactive nature, differ from any other cultural product and allow the consumer (player) to...Show moreWar videogames support and reproduce neo-imperialist rhetoric and world views. Videogames, due to their interactive nature, differ from any other cultural product and allow the consumer (player) to actively participate in the embedded narratives present in any game. In the following thesis, interviews with members of the military have been carried out and five videogames have been considered in the analysis (America’s Army: Proving Grounds, Airman Challenge, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Battlefield 3 and Arma 3). Through a Gramscian approach, benefiting from concepts such as hegemony and persuasion and the understanding of ideas as material forces, and the use of audiovisual methods, the research has explored the role of absence and impossibility in the reproduction of hegemonic worldviews in war videogames.Show less
