The (hypothetical) deployment of Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) challenges the way in which we conceptualize moral responsibility. The emergence of LAWs have added an autonomously acting non...Show moreThe (hypothetical) deployment of Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) challenges the way in which we conceptualize moral responsibility. The emergence of LAWs have added an autonomously acting non-human entity to a moral responsibility framework which is inextricably linked to human nature and moral capacity, which LAWs neither have nor possess. This leaves open a responsibility gap in which it becomes unclear who exactly is responsible for the outcome of the decisions made by LAWs. Although several solutions have been proposed to solve the gap, such as the concept of meaningful control or role-specific responsibility, I find that they cannot sufficiently address the responsibility gap. The concept of meaningful human control is inadequate for the complex and chaotic environment of warfare, particularly when introducing powerful weapons that push the boundaries of human capability. While role-responsibility considers the collective nature of the military and the entire chain of command, it faces challenges in accounting for the problem of many hands and the emergent behavior of autonomous weapons that cannot be directly attributed to a specific part of the system or individual. Especially in a value-loaded and ethically charged environment such as war, where choices regarding life or death are a routine matter, there is no room for obscured responsibility. Without proper responsibility, one cannot justify the introduction of LAWs onto the battlefield.Show less
This thesis analysed the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in terms of its legitimacy and effectiveness. First, it outlines why the OSCE can be defined as a security network and...Show moreThis thesis analysed the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in terms of its legitimacy and effectiveness. First, it outlines why the OSCE can be defined as a security network and provides a literature review on both topics. The theoretical framework concludes that the OSCE is analysed in terms of its legitimacy using the criteria of transparency, independent monitoring, public involvement and consensus. Structural, cultural, political, technological and relational dimensions were identified as criteria for effectiveness. The analysis revealed two main challenges. The first challenge is the consequences of a system based on consent. The second challenge is building and maintaining trust among the 57 participating states. Due to its size, a lack of trust makes it difficult to reach consesnus on matters discussed and can have severe consequences. The scope of this work is limited and further research is needed on these issues.Show less
The Taskforce RIEC Brabant – Zeeland covers the south of the Netherlands in tackling subversive crime. The security network combines forces of the police, public prosecution, tax authorities and...Show moreThe Taskforce RIEC Brabant – Zeeland covers the south of the Netherlands in tackling subversive crime. The security network combines forces of the police, public prosecution, tax authorities and other societal instances to share information and expertise on issues as real estate and financial fraud, motor gangs and drug- and human trafficking. The horizontal network structure is fighting a wicked issue which calls for a cautious attitude towards information sharing. The careful handling of information creates issues of legitimacy and openness of their processes. This research aims to learn where these issues come from and how these challenges can possibly be solved. After diving deeper into theory of challenges, legitimacy and effectiveness of security networks, appropriate theories can be applied to the case study of the Taskforce RIEC to see their current state of affairs and how they plan to tackle their organizational barriers, as well as diving deeper into the ins- and outs of the network and how it maintains its legitimacy. In addition, two in-depth interviews with employees of the Taskforce RIEC give a more detailed view of the organization. The main issues for the Taskforce RIEC are the wickedness of subversive crime, which calls for broad resourcing and stamina. With pre-existing capacity issues at the network members, this issue only grows bigger. Secondly, effectiveness is hard to define in this case, since numbers are not telling much about under-the-radar-crime. Thirdly their legitimacy faces difficulties in transparency, but which can be justified through the necessity to keep information about the cases form the public for confidentiality reasons. The network faces issues since it is young and developing, yet making promising progress and is aware of its difficulties as stated in their internal reports.Show less
Combining literature on autocratic stability and regime legitimation, this thesis seeks to explore the dynamics between economic shocks in patron states and a decrease in the political stability of...Show moreCombining literature on autocratic stability and regime legitimation, this thesis seeks to explore the dynamics between economic shocks in patron states and a decrease in the political stability of its client state(s). This research focuses on Russia as the patron state, and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its client states. It finds that output legitimacy is the primary strategy of legitimation of Central Asian states, and that economic crises in Russia directly impact the stability of the researched states. However, this effect is somewhat alleviated by moderating factors in the case of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.Show less
Thousands of migrants trying to enter the EU are subjected to illegal pushbacks at the hands of the border protection functions of individual EU states. (In)securitization theory suggests that...Show moreThousands of migrants trying to enter the EU are subjected to illegal pushbacks at the hands of the border protection functions of individual EU states. (In)securitization theory suggests that these illegal pushbacks warrant the need for political justification. Yet the primary current academic literature regarding the (in)securitization of migrants in the EU does not even recognize that the pushbacks are taking place. This research project first offers an altered conception of (in)securitization that can better account for the illegal practices taking place. This conception of (in)securitization emphasizes a process-centric approach to the concept’s application that focuses on both the actual (in)securitization attempts by actors and their motives, and the actual practices taken by border control agents. This is in contrast to the primary usage of (in)securitization that instead is restricted to establishing an abstractly conceived general (in)securitized context. Secondly, the reconceptualization is applied to the three cases where the most significant number of pushbacks are taking place; Romania, Hungary and Croatia. The project's findings suggest that (in)securitization theory must take a step back and align more closely with its original conception, that emphasized specific political motivations, to better capture the actual extraordinary practices that need political justification.Show less
Global environmental assessments assume an increasingly central role in international policymaking. Among them, the IPCC stands out as the authoritative voice of climate science. According to...Show moreGlobal environmental assessments assume an increasingly central role in international policymaking. Among them, the IPCC stands out as the authoritative voice of climate science. According to reputation theory, the maintenance of such a positive reputation requires the communication of organizational strengths to its audiences. The theory predicts patterns of emphasis and change over time, but has yet to be tested in this institutional setting. This thesis contributes to reputational theory through testing and extending its theoretical expectations to the case of the IPCC based on GEA literature. It quantitatively analyses the IPCC outputs and communication material over the course of 1994-2022, and qualitatively investigates the experience of IPCC leadership during that time. The results suggest that the IPCC becomes more reputationally aware over time, but does not diversify its legitimization strategies along hypothesized dimensions to the public - despite leadership commitment to those dimensions – but rather reinforces its technical image.Show less
The reforms of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are already well established in the historiography, both domestically and externally. Nevertheless, the association of his reforms...Show moreThe reforms of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are already well established in the historiography, both domestically and externally. Nevertheless, the association of his reforms with Mohammed bin Salman's need to demonstrate his ability to rule and his legitimacy to become King of Saudi Arabia in the future has received little attention. The thesis focuses primarily on Mohammed bin Salman's controversial rise to power within the Saudi family and his increased anti-Iranian foreign policy since his appointment as Defense Minister in 2015. The innovative character of the thesis is in the more precise analysis of this anti-Iranian policy by taking three case studies, respectively, the policy exercised by Mohammed bin Salman towards Iran but also Yemen and Qatar. The main argument is that he undertakes this more hostile foreign policy because he needs to show his ability to rule, his power in the region and especially his legitimacy to become future King of the Kingdom.Show less
Today, reputation management is of great importance to public regulators. As a positive reputation can be a stepping stone for regulatory legitimacy, public regulators increasingly attempt to...Show moreToday, reputation management is of great importance to public regulators. As a positive reputation can be a stepping stone for regulatory legitimacy, public regulators increasingly attempt to cultivate a positive reputational image in the eyes of their audiences. However, while an abundance of research has been conducted on the reputational dimensions emphasized by EU agencies, little investigation has been done on what reputational dimensions its audiences consider when they assess the reputation of these bodies. Therefore, with the use of Carpenter’s (2010) multidimensional reputational framework, this work examined what reputational dimensions are valued by different audiences of EU regulatory agencies, specifically that of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It tested two competing expectations. One expectation supposed that different audiences value different reputational dimensions, while the other regarded that different audiences value the same dimension. To inform these two expectations, fourteen semi-structured interviews were performed with representatives of NGOs, businesses and industry associations, academic organizations, and national regulatory authorities (NRAs). In addition, a qualitative content analysis of the audiences’ policy reports directed towards EFSA was performed. From this, this work found that different audiences valued different reputational dimensions, which also lead to several contradictory demands among the audiences. In addition, it found that several causal mechanisms played a role in explaining these different emphases on reputational domains, such as the resources and the structure of the audiences’ organizations and their professional interests and roles. Finally, this work provides several theoretical, methodological, and policy-relevant implications that are of relevance to both researchers in the bureaucratic reputation literature as well as practitioners of reputation management working in regulatory settings.Show less
In the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the...Show moreIn the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the implications of women for armed groups perceived legitimacy. To fill this gap, this thesis explores the Women’s Protection Unit, which received worldwide media attention in their battle against the Islamic State, as a single case study. This thesis examines the Western perspective towards these women combatants by employing a qualitative content analysis of 43 Dutch newspaper articles. The results reveal that the media uses stereotypes about gender by framing these women combatants as non-aggressive, weaker, and less threatening than the male combatants of the Islamic State. As a result, the media legitimizes the use of violence of the female combatants as they need to protect themselves. Besides, the media glorifies the women of the YPJ by pointing out their fight for Western values, namely equality. Consequently, this thesis posits that the way the media frame the women combatants and their opponent, the Islamic State, favours the legitimacy of the armed group, the Women’s Protection Unit.Show less
In December 2019, the first case of the SARS-Cov-2 virus was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China (Lavazza & Farina, 2021). In the next few months, the virus spread rapidly across Asia,...Show moreIn December 2019, the first case of the SARS-Cov-2 virus was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China (Lavazza & Farina, 2021). In the next few months, the virus spread rapidly across Asia, Europe and North America, many countries responding with far reaching COVID-19 measures: closing shops, travel bans and lockdowns (Taylor, 2021). In order to avoid social unrest and to create trust among the people, many governments appealed to experts to advise and justify unpopular and strict COVID-19 measures such as quarantine and lockdowns (Lavazza & Farina, 2020). In The Netherlands, the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) took on this role, by advising the Dutch government, as part of the RIVM, in case of a cross-regional/national outbreak of an infectious disease, like the COVID-19 virus (RIVM, 2021). In this thesis, the author analyses twelve press conferences by Dutch government officials during the first COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands. The aim of this research is to demonstrate how the Dutch cabinet used the OMT to gain legitimacy for the build up and reduction of COVID-19 measures. A Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used to analyse linguistic aspects and identify discourses and themes wherein the Dutch government gains public support and justifies different actions taken (Van Dijk, 1993). This research will specifically compare how the role of OMT is portrayed differently between the build up and reduction of COVID-19 measures. The author hypothesized that the OMT is more often and strongly referred to in the build up of measures compared to the reduction of measures. This study sheds light on the broader topic of experts in the COVID-19 crisis, crisis communication and the broader tension between the role of experts and creating legitimacy in decision making.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative...Show moreThis thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative methods, it first highlights how Weibo’s digital design directly benefits central information control objectives. It then builds upon a theoretical model of disaster legitimacy strategies to demonstrate how official media make use of this design in their legitimation strategies. These strategies include age-old and highly familiar nationalistic frames, a recurring emphasis on positive energy, and strategic engagement and disengagement. This combination not only legitimises the authorities’ actions, but also delegitimises critical discourses. Nonetheless, this power is not absolute, and this thesis also presents instances in which actors “within” the system present challenges for the central authorities and force them to manage and re-frame ambiguous discourses.Show less
Illegal oil theft, also referred to as “huachicoleo”, constitutes one of the major policy issues today in Mexico. Although organized crime shapes the contemporary political landscape of the country...Show moreIllegal oil theft, also referred to as “huachicoleo”, constitutes one of the major policy issues today in Mexico. Although organized crime shapes the contemporary political landscape of the country, political science academia has largely failed to research crime and its impact on the state. This thesis particularly investigates the phenomenon of huachicoleo in Mexico and why it has become the new public priority. It draws upon academic contributions from cultural studies, criminology, sociology and political science to provide an alternative narrative about the conflict in Mexico. The thesis proposes that huachicoleo erodes the legitimacy of the Mexican state and poses a threat to the government as such. It emphasizes the agency of non-humans, i.e. the cultural power of oil and the symbolic value of the state-owned oil company PEMEX. Moreover, the thesis looks into the huachicolero subculture, which has developed around the activity of illegal oil theft and shares similarities with narcoculture. It demonstrates how “huachicultura” challenges the state’s legitimacy through its cultural artifacts and actively takes part in the on-going process of the social construction of legitimacy in Mexico. These findings suggest for future research to acknowledge the importance of material objects and non-human entities in conflict situations and how those engage with the human entity as a network of agency.Show less
The enhancement of the revolutionary ideology promoted by Hezbollah during the Arab Uprisings was challenged when in 2011 the protests began in the city of Deraa in Syria. Hezbollah’s support of...Show moreThe enhancement of the revolutionary ideology promoted by Hezbollah during the Arab Uprisings was challenged when in 2011 the protests began in the city of Deraa in Syria. Hezbollah’s support of the revolutionary nature and ideology of the opposition movements became an issue when the anti-government demonstrations began in Syria and the organization suddenly contradicted its previous posture by backing the regime.The Janus-faced behavior of the organization had an immediate negative impact on the image that Hezbollah had been building through a pragmatic and selective legitimation process. In this scenario, how does Hezbollah react to the challenges to the legitimacy of its organization?. In light of the aforementioned, this thesis will aim to analyze and identify the way in which Hezbollah justify the intervention in Syria to their support groups at the local, national and international level. This research focuses on Hezbollah’s creation of 4 meaning in the ideological discourse in order to justify their actions and preserve their legitimacy at three different levels of target audiences (communal, national, international) by developing diverse context models (van Dijk, 2006, 21) according to each audience’s particular interests.Show less
Research master thesis | Latin American Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The electoral victory new Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in 2018 meant a major change in the country, as it was the first time a candidate from the left won. However, as...Show moreThe electoral victory new Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in 2018 meant a major change in the country, as it was the first time a candidate from the left won. However, as statistical data show, president AMLO has a big task ahead of him, as homicide rates and violence within the country are spiraling. This research analyzes the characteristics of the use of violence within Mexico, and how this has impacted the state’s legitimacy during the previous two presidential terms, hereby going beyond the ‘failed state’ debate and putting Max Weber’s theory on the monopoly on violence into perspective (Weber 1978). It argues that organized crime, principally the Mexican drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), are the main actor challenging the state’s legitimacy and that the two are connected in an uneasy equilibrium that has changed in nature over time. The analysis concludes that there are three principal actors through which the dynamics of violence and state legitimacy interact: the Mexican government, the DTOs and Mexican civil society and that this interplay had led to a capacity, security and legitimacy gap. It further argues that there are different types of legitimacy in Mexico: judicial, economic and social/cultural, meaning that although the Mexican president in theory is the legitimate authority of the country, in practice this is a whole other story.Show less
This thesis examines what role the Arctic plays in contemporary Russian politics. For this purpose, a thorough analysis of the Russian domestic discourse on the Arctic region is conducted. The...Show moreThis thesis examines what role the Arctic plays in contemporary Russian politics. For this purpose, a thorough analysis of the Russian domestic discourse on the Arctic region is conducted. The discourse analysis covers the period 2007-2018 and focuses on a few key figures who have arguably a significant impact on the Arctic discourse due to their centrality in Russian politics. The analysis shows that the individual narratives on the Arctic strengthen Russian national identity by promoting notions of foreign encirclement and the country’s exceptionalism and great power identity. Moreover, the discourse on the Arctic is provided with a temporal and overall coherence by selectively manipulating historical memory and drawing on a wide range of symbolic actions. In the second part of the paper the findings from the analysis are placed within the wider Russian political context. Thereby, it is shown that the Arctic discourse is not an isolated phenomenon, but that it is representative of a general shift towards an increasingly nationalist and patriotic rhetoric during Putin’s third term in office. It is argued that by creating a coherent and compelling national identity, the Putin regime seeks to buttress its fragile legitimacy. These findings imply that foreign observers and representatives need to be aware of Russian domestic political developments in order to properly assess Russia’s actions and interests in the Arctic region.Show less
