To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Democratisation.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Democratisation'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Democratisation.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Wong, Yin Fan Cecilia. "Confucianism and democratisation." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.670142.
Full text
2
Chow, W. C. E. "Factionalism & democratisation in Taiwan." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.597653.
Full textAbstract:
Taiwan is rapidly democratising. Previous research suggests that the factional/clientelist system plays a major role in Taiwanese politics. This system has been changing in response to the political shift. Most scholars perceive factions as obstacles facing democracy. However, Taiwan continues to democratise, both with its previous and new factionalism. This research, adopting the transitional approach, aims to examine the characteristics of the interaction between factionalism and democratisation in Taiwan, and endeavours to provide a theoretical explanation for it. Its analysis relies on documentary sources, literature and interviews. The result shows that Taiwanese factionalism served as a kind of decision-making mechanism, a source for crisis management and a base for political negotiation at the beginning stages of democratisation. Through negotiations, the formal (institutional) and informal (factional) resources complemented each other, and compromise was reached more easily. This situation was especially to the incumbent's advantage. It utilised the pressure from the opposition to initiate political reforms while creating new networks to adjust itself to the changing social structure. Meanwhile, opposition factionalism also enlarged its supporting base. As the Taiwanese political system becomes more institutionalised, its political factionalism is also institutionalising. Through frequent negotiations (co-operation) between political groups, the opposition has started to augment political resources and empower itself, and political parties have gradually been converging on ideological stands. This has posed a threat to the incumbent. Many incumbent supporters have shifted their loyalty when dissatisfied since they have had similar alternatives. The opposition finally became the incumbent without social commotion in 2000. Factionalism thus brought about a rather smooth democratic transition in Taiwan. The Taiwan case moreover shows that democratisation tends to minimise the negative effects of factionalism. Nevertheless, as democracy becomes more consolidated, co-operations between political groups on larger reforms will decrease. Factionalism is expected to change again in nature.
3
Nihlwing, Victor. "Towards a Democratisation of Digital Fabrication." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för informatik, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-146507.
Full textAbstract:
Digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printing is predicted to have a significant impact on our future society. However, the complexity of current 3D modelling softwares risk deterring novices from engaging with the technology. In this thesis, a series of workshops were conducted to explore the implications for novices to create models out of tangible materials such as clay, paper and LEGO, that were then scanned and printed with a 3D printer. The results show that while the tangible materials create engaging opportunities for novices to engage with digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printing, the materials also provide limitations and constraints depending on their physical properties.
4
Azad, Abul Kalam. "Determinants of Asian Democratisation (1981-2005)." AUT University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/952.
Full textAbstract:
As a culturally distinctive region, Asia was chosen as the sample for this study. This empirical study investigated what the major trends of democratisation were in Asia between 1981 and 2005: why some countries became democratic while other countries failed to follow suit during that period. The main research hypothesis was: “That is it was mainly economic development that drove democratisation in Asia between 1981 and 2005”. Although some studies have studied the impact of economic development on democratisation in Asia, their findings have been inconclusive and focuses sometimes different. [To investigate the research hypothesis, 24 Asian countries were selected…measurement tools used etc…] For this research work, statistical and case study methods were applied. The data used in the analyses were collected from established data sources e.g. Freedom House (Freedom in the World, n.d.) and United Nations Statistics Division (UN Stat, n.d.). Repeated Measures in Linear Mixed Modeling (LMM) were used to analyse the quantitative data. Three case studies supplemented the findings of statistical analyses. Historical information and institutional and legal facts were also used in the case studies. This study found that increases in the level of economic development along with its equitable distribution in society and positive roles of political actors increase the level of democratisation in Asia. Some pro-democratic political and social institutions, such as tradition of parliamentarianism, and international organisations, for example Bretton wood institutions, also led to democratisation. A low extent of national political divide was found to result in a considerably high level of democratisation in a country where confrontation between major political forces is the main feature of politics. This study also found that a partial democracy with Asian values, economic legitimacy, a lack of corruption and a “systematic control” over opposition politicians can survive, and is not prone to higher level of democratisation. The Taiwan case revealed that, amongst other factors, the role of political actors and economic equity along with economic development is also vital for democratisation. The Singapore case explained how a “hybrid regime” in a rich country outsmarts democratisation. The study of Bangladesh provides an idea about other elements, e.g. lower level of political confrontation, that push for higher levels of democratisation.
5
SOULAS, ROUSSELIERE M.-CHRISTINE. "Quelle democratisation ? l'evolution des structures universitaires et la democratisation de l'enseignement superieur americain de 1960 a 1990." Paris 7, 1995. http://www.theses.fr/1995PA070090.
Full textAbstract:
La diversification de la population etudiante des differentes structures de l'enseignement superieur americain s'est effectuee principalement sur des criteres d'appartenance sexuelle et raciale ethnique. Meme si l'acces aux colleges et universites d'elite a ete facilite, notamment par des mesures preferentielles, les progres dans l'egalisation des chances ont surtout ete sensibles dans l'enseignement superieur public, court et long. Il est devenu plus facile pour les femmes, les minorites et les adultes en reprise d'etudes d'obtenir a terme un diplome de bachelor. Cependant, les gains obtenus jusqu'au milieu des annees soixante-dix ont ete partiellement perdus depuis, particulierement en ce qui concerne l'acces des personnes a faibles revenus, parmi lesquelles les minorites noire et hispanique sont sur-representeesThe diversification of the student population of the various structures of american higher education occurred primarily along gender and race ethnicity lines. Even if access to elite colleges and universities was facilitated, particularly through preferential admissions, progress in equality of opportunity was mainly visible in public higher education, in two-year as well as four-year institutions that have made it easier for women, minorities and older students to eventually obtain a bachelor's degree. However, part of the gains recorded through the midseventies were lost afterwards, especially as regards low-income students, among which black and hispanic minorities are over-represented
6
Wichmann, Nina. "Democratisation without societal participation? : the EU as an external actor in the democratisation processes of Serbia and Croatia /." Berlin ; Münster : LIT, 2007. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=016241269&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
Full text
7
Al-Akayleh, Wa'el A. "Democratisation and public administration reform in Jordan." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.493523.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this study is to examine democratisation and public administration reform in Jordan after 1989. This study defines democratisation and presents its nature and limits in the Middle East in general and Jordan in particular. It presents major arguments with regard to despotism, the rentier state, modernisation and level of development and fragmented societies. We have argued that the democratisation process emerged in 1989 as a result of domestic catalysts and facilitators together with numerous external factors.
8
Vinegrad, Anna. "Guatemala 1963-1970: the limits to democratisation." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 1996. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/1565.
Full textAbstract:
The subject of this thesis is the transition from de facto military rule to constitutional civilian government in Guatemala between 1963 and 1970. The focus is upon the limits to democratisation inherent in this process at a time of intense political polarisation and increasing militarisation. The work opens with a consideration of the debates that emerged in the context of the political transitions in Latin America during the 1980s. The second chapter charts the central characteristics of a foundational period in Guatemalan politics between 1944 and 1954 and argues that later political developments can only be fully understood with reference to this earlier period. Chapter Three addresses the military coup of 1963 and the period of military government which followed. The emphasis is on the effort to define the parameters of the Guatemalan political process and the military response to the guerrilla challenge which emerged after 1962. Chapter Four examines in detail the elections of March 1966 and the political campaign which preceded them. Particular consideration is given to the origins and character of the pact signed with the military establishment before the new government was permitted to take office. The following two chapters present a case study of the civilian government between 1966 and 1970. Chapter Five addresses the rhetoric and reality of the government programme with respect to three key policy areas and suggests that the failure to make progress in each was indicative of the true limits to this democratic experiment. The thematic focus of Chapter Six is insurgency and counterinsurgency and the extensive political violence which became the overarching feature of this period. The thesis concludes with a brief examination of the 1970 elections and goes on to argue that the failure of democratisation between 1963 and 1970 derived from the historic absence of a liberal democratic consensus and the predominant role of the military in the political process.
9
Pongsudhirak, Thitinan. "Crisis from within : the politics of macroeconomic management in Thailand, 1947-97." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.271301.
Full text
10
Phatharathananunth, Somchai. "Civil society in northeast Thailand : the struggle of the Small Scale Farmers' Assembly of Isan." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.250217.
Full text
11
Muriuki, Irene. "Donor conditionalities and democratisation in Kenya, 1991-1997." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003022.
Full textAbstract:
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union has encouraged democratisation in most parts of Africa. At the same time, Western donors' attitudes towards r~cipients of foreign aid have changed. This has resulted in a new practice, which attempts to force Third World states to move toward liberal democracy by conditioning lending on the holding of mUlti-party elections. In Africa this has resulted to the holding of multi-party elections. This study attempts to examine donor conditionalities and democratisation in Kenya by examining the results of 1992 and 1997 multi-party elections. Kenya attained independence from the British and ushered in a multi-party democracy in 1963. Since then, the country has undergone a full circle of political development, starting with a multi-party democracy at independence, through a one party dictatorship between 1982 and 1992 and back to a multi-party democracy in 1993. The need to satisfy foreign donors forced the leadership to amend Section 2(A) of Kenya' s constitution that had legalised single-party rule in 1982 thus allowing plural politics. The externally pressured transition to multi-party democracy though has resulted in increased corruption, state-sponsored ethnic violence, continued political authoritarianism and disastrous economic mismanagement of what was once considered a model for the continent. This study urges that Western donors should focus less on elections and more on the fostering of democratic institutions through breaking patterns of neo-patrimonial rule that have inforn1ed and continue to inform politics in Kenya. Political reforms have been resisted by the incumbency in the fear tha! they may curtail the power of the political leadership whose main objective has been to cling to power.
12
Mabu, Peter Tata. "Democratisation in Africa : with special reference to Cameroon." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.264582.
Full text
13
Niyazbekov, Nurseit. "Protest mobilisation and democratisation in Kazakhstan (1992-2009)." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:494a3742-e7d6-4adf-8728-e644a3f7f249.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis consists of two objectives which divide it into two parts. Thus, part one explores the cyclicity of protest mobilisation in post-Soviet Kazakhstan in the 1992–2009 period and part two investigates the relationship between protest mobilisation and democratisation in the 1990s, a decade marked by early progress in democratisation followed by an abrupt reversal to authoritarianism. Acknowledging the existence of numerous competing explanations of protest cyclicity, the first part of this study utilises four major social movement perspectives – relative deprivation (RD), resource mobilisation (RMT), political opportunity structures (POS) and collective action frames (CAF) – to explain variances in protest mobilisation in Kazakhstan over time and four issue areas. Adopting a small-N case study and process-tracing technique, the thesis’s first research question enquires into which of these four theoretical perspectives has the best fit when seeking to explain protest cyclicity over time. It is hypothesised that the ‘waxing and waning’ of protest activity can best be attributed to the difficulties surrounding the identification and construction of resonant CAFs. However, the study’s findings lead to a rejection of the first hypothesis by deemphasising the role of CAFs in predicting protest cyclicity, and instead support the theoretical predictions of the POS perspective, suggesting the prevalence of structural factors such as the regime’s capacity for repression and shifts in elite alignments. The second research question revolves around variations in protest mobilisation across four issue areas and explores the reasons why socioeconomic grievances mobilised more people to protest than environmental, political and interethnic ones. According to the second hypothesis, people more readily protest around socioeconomic rather than political and other types of grievances due to the lower costs of participation in socioeconomic protests. While the regime’s propensity for repressing political protests could explain the prevalence of socioeconomic protests in the 2000s, the POS perspective’s key explanatory variable failed to account for the prevalence of socioeconomic protests in the early 1990s, resulting in the rejection of the second hypothesis. The second part of the thesis attempts to answer the third research question: How does protest mobilisation account for the stalled transition to democracy in Kazakhstan in the 1990s? Based on the theoretical assumption that instances of extensive protest mobilisation foster democratic transitions, the study’s third research hypothesis posits that transition to democracy in Kazakhstan stalled in the mid-1990s due to the failure of social movement organisations to effectively mobilise the masses for various acts of protest. This assumption receives strong empirical support, suggesting that protest mobilisation is an important facilitative factor in the democratisation process. The thesis is the first to attempt to employ classical social movement theories in the context of post-communist Central Asian societies. Additionally, the study aims to contribute to the large pool of democratisation literature which, until recently (following the colour revolutions), seemed to underplay the role of popular protest mobilisation in advancing transitions to democracy. Finally, the research is based on the author’s primary elite-interview data and content analysis of five weekly independent newspapers.
14
Nabbs-Keller, Greta. "The Impact of Democratisation on Indonesia's Foreign Policy." Thesis, Griffith University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366662.
Full textAbstract:
How democratisation affects a state's foreign policy is a relatively neglected problem in International Relations. In Indonesia's case, there is a limited, but growing, body of literature examining the country's foreign policy in the post-authoritarian context. Yet this scholarship has tended to focus on the role of Indonesia's legislature and civil society organisations as newly-empowered foreign policy actors. Scholars of Southeast Asian politics, meanwhile, have concentrated on the effects of Indonesia's democratisation on regional integration and, in particular, on ASEAN cohesion and its traditional sovereignty-based norms. For the most part, the literature has completely ignored the effects of democratisation on Indonesia's foreign ministry – the principal institutional actor responsible for foreign policy formulation and conduct of Indonesia's diplomacy. Moreover, the effect of Indonesia's democratic transition on key bilateral relationships has received sparse treatment in the literature. This thesis aims to fill the gap in the literature by analysing the impact of democratisation on Indonesia's foreign ministry, and on Indonesia's approach to key bilateral and multilateral relationships in the Asia-Pacific – China, ASEAN and Australia respectively. This thesis argues that the domestic context in which Indonesia's foreign policy is framed has been transformed since reformasi. A conscious attempt has been made by policy-makers to internalise democratic values, such as good governance and human rights, into the ideational basis of Indonesia's foreign policy.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
Full Text
15
Carnegie, Paul. "Uncertainty, continuity and change : an inquiry into Indonesian democratisation /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2006. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe19436.pdf.
Full text
16
Mokvist, Uggla Annika. "Democratisation, traditional leadership and reform politics in South Africa /." Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006. http://publications.uu.se/spikblad.xsql?dbid=6902.
Full text
17
Long, Paul. "U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba and prospects for democratisation." Thesis, McGill University, 1995. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=22603.
Full textAbstract:
In the post-cold war era, debate has been renewed regarding the United States' foreign policy towards Cuba. One aspect of this debate concerns the link between U.S. policy and prospects for future democratisation in Cuba. The thesis examines three theories ("squeeze", "communication" and "normalization"), which suggest that either increasing or decreasing economic and diplomatic ties with Cuba will encourage prospects for democratisation. The paper assesses the validity of these theories by using a theoretical framework to explain regime legitimacy, and considers which policy offers the greatest potential for regime change. Next, the paper looks at the current Cuban political and economic environment to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Castro regime. To conclude, the author suggests that the current U.S. policy of opposing trade and diplomatic links with Cuba will have a counter-productive effect in encouraging democratisation.
18
Blakeley, Georgina. "Democratisation and participation in Spain : the case of Barcelona." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.550332.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores the politics of the Spanish transition to democracy through the experiment in decentralised administration and citizen participation in Barcelona. Its focus is firstly on the role of citizen participation in processes of democratic transition and consolidation and, secondly, on the limits and possibilities of deepening democracy. Finally, it considers the tensions generated by attempts to create a more participatory democracy within the shell of representative liberal democracy. Chapter one provides a critical review of the literature on the Spanish transition to democracy. Chapter two provides an alternative framework, based on the concept of civil society, for understanding the process of democratisation in Spain. Chapter three analyses how associationalism has unfolded historically in Barcelona in order to build a picture of a civil society in a given social and historical context. Chapter four shows how civil society developed during the Francoist dictatorship from 1939 until 1975. Chapter five explores the process by which the political elites in Barcelona built on the legacy of the anti-Francoist opposition to create spaces and mechanisms of participation for associational activists, primarily via a process of decentralisation. Chapter six illustrates the tensions and limitations which have arisen from Barcelona's participatory experiment. The conclusion posits that it is difficult to sustain high levels of participation within a liberal democracy due to both structural and contingent limitations. However, the Barcelona experiment also shows that, notwithstanding the array of contingent and structural factors which serve to constrain participation, liberal democracies can be made more participatory.
19
Mikaelsson, Rickard. "Promoting Democracy : Sweden and the democratisation process in Macedonia." Doctoral thesis, Linköping : Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, 2008. http://www.bibl.liu.se/liupubl/disp/disp2008/arts446s.pdf.
Full text
20
Baker, Gideon B. "Civil society and democratisation theory : an inter-regional comparison." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1998. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/497/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis constitutes an inquiry into the relationship between civil society theory and democratic theory. It revolves around an investigation into, and comparison between, recent discourses on civil society originating from within diverse political contexts. This is in order to uncover what the central claims - both normative and programmatic - of civil society theory are in the contemporary era, how these relate to the political contexts within which they have originated, and why they reemerged when they did. The findings from this investigation then provided the material for a substantive critique of the overall coherence of recent civil society theory, and of the contribution of the idea of civil society to democratic theory and practice; they also enable a comparison of current ideas about civil society with classical civil society theory. The thesis presents a number of new arguments. Firstly, that all models of civil society,since their revival in the 1970s, make assumptions - though often hidden or unconscious - about what democracy is and of where it should take place. Secondly, recent notions of civil society are divided most clearly into radical and liberal-democratic models, with crucial implications for how civil society is conceived. Thirdly, civil society theory illustrates the close linkages between political ideas and the political base within which they are articulated; political discourse, despite its power to shape the political context, must itself evolve in accordance with the exigencies of the political base if it is to survive. Fourthly, contemporary civil society theory has shifted in a crucial aspect from classical civil society theory: while the latter was tied closely to liberalism, today's civil society theory is connected almost exclusively to democratic theory. Finally, it is argued that recent civil society theory adds little that is original to the lexicon of political theory. For despite the novelty of radical models of civil society from the 1970s and early 1980s (which, it is argued, have not retained their initial force), the idea of civil society figures increasingly as a rubric for already established liberal democratic orthodoxies about the desired relationship between the state and society.
21
LECHEVREL, SOPHIE. "La democratisation inachevee du mecanisme de l'election presidentielle americaine." Caen, 2000. http://www.theses.fr/2000CAEN0055.
Full textAbstract:
Le compromis relatif au mecanisme de l'election presidentielle americaine cree par les peres fondateurs faisait une large place au principe federal. Les caracteristiques originelles du systeme ainsi mis en place ont ete renforcees par l'emergence et le developpement des partis politiques. En effet, les constituants de philadelphie n'avaient prevu aucune disposition a leur sujet et leur existence ne sera consacree qu'ulterieurement par le vote au congres du douzieme amendement. Les partis politiques ont alors joue un role determinant a tous les niveaux de l'election presidentielle. En consequence, tous les etats ont choisi, pour des raisons tactiques, d'utiliser le systeme de l'unit rule. A partir de 1836, il existait donc une uniformisation des modes de scrutin utilises par les etats pourle choix des grands electeurs. Ainsi, la conjugaison de ce phenomene avec l'utilisation de la regle dite du << winner takes all >> a renforce la position des etats en tant que relais constitutionnels. En reaction, le congres a tente de limiter la consolidation des etats en placant ces derniers sous son controle. Mais, il n'est pas parvenu a etendre son pouvoir autant qu'il l'aurait souhaite. Face al'echec du pouvoir politique, la cour supreme a repris l'initiative. Son activisme a permis de democratiser le systeme mais d'une facon limitee. La cour supreme a refuse de suivre la voie tracee par l'arret baker v. Carr rendu en 1962 et n'a pas applique le principe << one man, one vote >> au mecanisme electoral presidentiel. Ce souci de respecter le principe de separation des pouvoirs a conduit a un deni de justice et a montre l'impermeabilite de la sphere federale au principe precite. En raison de la prudence du pouvoir judiciaire, le pouvoir politique a repris le flambeau et a presente des propositions de revision constitutionnelle ayant pour objet l'election directe du president. Malgre un soutien de la doctrine et de l'opinion publique en faveur de ce systeme electoral, l'echec de cette reforme proposee par le pouvoir politique est patent. La perennite du mecanisme electoral presidentiel marque donc la recherche vaine d'un compromis entre la democratisation et le federalisme. Elle se trouve illustree par un mouvement pendulaire donnant l'initiative tantot au congres tantot a la cour supreme, l'un et l'autre etant tres limites dans l'exercice de leur pouvoir.
22
Ali, Salari Gholam. "INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL OF DEMOCRATISATION IN IRAN:Reframing the Implications of Knowledge of History, Philosophy and Socio-political Science in the Prospect of Democratisation in Iran." Thesis, Griffith University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/384287.
Full textAbstract:
The original contribution of this study resides in its exploration of the way in which various traditional and modern tangible and intangible factors have contributed to Iran’s intellectual and political transformations from past to present. The focal question of this thesis is: “which factors have played the dominant role in Iran's intellectual orientations and political transformations, in general, and democratisation in particular? And can these factors be explained methodically and theoretically?” This thesis claims that Iranians, in order to proceed with a genuine home-grown democratisation1, need to enhance their intellectual capital of democratisation (ICOD)2. To this end, Iran's intellectuals need to overcome their shortcomings in the three key areas of historical consciousness3, understanding of modernity, and undertaking democratic orientation.
This study employs a qualitative approach and a textual analysis method to provide a multi-principled (history, philosophy, and socio-political science), multi-causal (tangible and intangible) explanation of the multidimensional state of Iran’s tradition, modernity and prospect of democratisation. While taking into account a multi-task of modern, secular and democratic orientation; it is conducted from both insiders and outsiders' perspectives. The proposed method of explanation employs the algebraic term of factorisation to classify the dominant contributing factors to Iran’s intellectual and political transformations from both phenomenological (into tangible and intangible factors) and chronological (into traditional and modern) orders. The traditional tangible factors include geography, climate and invention of Qanats4 that have played vital roles in the success of Persian civilisation in the past. The critical modern tangible factors in Iran’s modern history include discovery of oil, colonial powers interventions, modernisation programs and communication technology. While ancient Persians benefited from the traditional intangible factors effectively and successfully (by establishing the first multicultural (tribal, ethnic, and religious) empire, these achievements were forsaken as soon as the rulers inclined toward tribal, ethnic and religious preferences. The subsequent ethnic/religious systems then have imposed various types of discrimination, which have led to internal conflicts and made the society susceptible to external influence, intervention or occupation (Saleh, 2013, pp. 111-113).
It is discussed throughout this thesis that colonial powers, conservative Shiite Ulama and local tyrant rulers have almost cooperatively prevented the prospect of democratisation. To challenge these powerful forces and in the absence of democracy, Iranian intellectuals have found radical ideological orientations. They have inclined toward various ideological paradigms including Westernisation, constitutionalism, nationalism, modernism, socialism and Islamism. Only during the last two decades, have a great majority of Iranian intellectuals found a democratic orientation (Azimi, 2008, p. iX). This phenomenon has played a crucial role in accelerating the pace and scope of a non-violent civil resistance movement for democratic change. The extent of popular and intellectual support for this paradigm, such as the Green Movement in 2009, reflects the promising achievement of the society in the road of democratisation (Khosrokhavar, 2011, pp. 48-58). It can be argued that despite the presence of a considerable number of internal and external obstacles, the society has gained a promising level of intellectual capacity and popular support to proceed with a genuinely inborn democratisation. It is, however, anticipated that for succeeding with democratisation in Iran, in addition to intellectual capabilities, other socio-economic, cultural and political parameters are necessary, which their detailed explanation requires further studies.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Law School
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text
23
Halldorsson, Jon Ormur. "State, class and regime in Indonesia structural impediments to democratisation /." Thesis, University of Kent, 1991. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/38734269.html.
Full text
24
Brown, Andrea M. "Democratisation in Tanzania, women's associations and the potential for empowerment." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0017/NQ45771.pdf.
Full text
25
Sahle, Eunice Njeri. "Democratisation in Malawi, state, economic structure and neo-liberal hegemony." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/NQ63452.pdf.
Full text
26
Tansey, Oisín. "Democratic regime-building : democratisation in the context of international administration." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2fc9be17-09c2-4b7a-97ad-e6ee79ae3c06.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines democratic transitions that occur in the context of international administration, where international actors not only provide assistance and guidance regarding domestic development, but also hold temporary executive authority over some or all of the functions of government. It argues that the process of regime change in the context of international administration is systematically different from more conventional settings, where such extensive international intervention is absent. The theoretical framework of the thesis suggests that the most significant impact of international administration derives from the fact that external actors assume roles conventionally held by domestic actors, and thus have available to them extensive mechanisms of influence at the domestic level. International agents can favour some local elites over others, structure the political environment through agenda-setting and veto powers, and ultimately bypass local actors if deemed necessary by drafting and imposing laws and institutions. As a result, the presence of international administrators heavily shapes the final mode of transition, and one of the most significant implications of the external influence is that purely non-democratic regime outcomes are unlikely to emerge. However, the influences of international administration are not always positive, and neither are they constant across contexts. The final impact on the transition process itself will depend in large part on the nature of the domestic political landscape, and in particular the balance of power and ideology among the domestic political parties. When domestic elites are favourable to democracy, international administrations can work with local actors to co-author a new democratic regime through a pacted transition. When dominant local parties are opposed to democratic development, however, the international and domestic interaction may contribute to a more conflicrual and contentious mode of transition entailing elements of international imposition. The nature of the transition mode will, in turn, have implications for post-transition regime consolidation. These findings are based on a structured, focused comparison of three cases, those of Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor. In attempting to isolate the international influence, the case studies utilise the process tracing method to identify the causal mechanisms that connect international actions to democratic political outcomes, and the experiences in each case are compared to facilitate the generation of bounded generalisations about the impact of international administration on the processes of regime change.
27
Mlitwa, Nhlanhla Boyfriend Wilton. "Globalisation : democratisation, neo-liberalism, and development-aid in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52288.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study has set to describe and explain the causal relationship between the process of globalisation, and that of democratisation and development in South Africa. Understanding this process required an analysis of the political and economic patterns followed, and policy choices made by state elites in South Africa, and to compare these processes with other countries that are also integrating into the global political economy. In South Africa, the dominance of the external factor on the country's socio-economic and development policy making process is exposed in this study. Analysis of the progress of South Africa's macro-economic policy (GEAR) in creating sustainable economic growth, and in linking it with the locally defined notion of 'people-based development' (as per RDP document, 1994) over a five-year period reveals firstly, that while GEAR is portrayed as both an economic and a 'people-based development' policy, it is an externally oriented policy whose ends are largely the promotion of transnational capitalist interest. The contradiction is that while a redress of development discrepancies (i.e. by providing social-welfare, health, education, clean water, electricity, transport and housing) calls for an increase in government expenditure, GEAR's fiscal stance prohibits such spending. South Africa's development policy represents a much broader and a common problem in the global socio-economic superstructure, solutions for which cannot be derived by analysing the policy of only one country, but the whole transnational political-economic system. The problems of the current global political-economic order and its development programs remains naked for all to see. Even common sense indicates that the North-South power relations are one-sided, problematic and should not be allowed to continue indefinitely as they stand. In addition, that the underdeveloped countries should continue to play an active role in global structures such as the UN, the UNOs such as UNCTAD, the WTO, and other international institutions if they are to impact on policies that govern the North-South relations.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om die verhouding tussen die proses van die ontplooiing van globalisasie, demokratisering, neo-liberalisme en sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in Suid- Afrika, te beskryf en te verduidelik. Om hierdie verhouding te kan verstaan is 'n analise van die politiese en ekonomiese patrone wat gevolg word en beleidskeuses wat deur staatselites gemaak word, van hierdie nuwe demokratiese staat, nodig. Die oorheersing van eksterne faktore oor die Suid-Afrikaanse beleidsmaking ten opsigte van sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkelings het in die studie na vore getree. 'n Analise van die vordering van die Suid-Afrikaanse makro-ekonomiese beleid (GEAR), in die skepping van behoudbare ekonomiese groei en die skakeling daarvan met die plaaslike nosie (RDP dokument, 1994) van "mens-gebasseerde" ontwikkeling oor 'n periode van vyf jaar, het geopenbaar dat GEAR, wat voorgestel is as 'n ekonomiese en sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkelingsbeleid, terselfdetyd 'n eksterne georienteerde beleid is wat transnationale kapitalistiese belange promotiseer. Daar bestaan kontroduksie tussen die oogmerke van GEAR. Eerstens beoog GEAR die vernouing van die ontwikkelingsgaping in Suid-Afrika (deur die voorsienig van maatskaplike dienste, gesonheidsdienste, opvoeding, skoon water, elektrisiteit, vervoer en behuising) iets wat 'n verhoging van staatsuitgawes tot gevolg sal hê, terwyl GEAR se beleid sulke verhoogde uitgawes aan bande lê. Dit is voor die handliggend dat die Noord-Suid magsverhouding eensydig is, en problematies is vir ontwikkeling en moet dus nie toegelaat word om voortgesit te word nie. Verder moet onderontwikkelende lande voortdurend 'n aktiewe rol speel in globale strukture soos die UNCTAD, die WHO, die VN en ander internasionale institusies as hulle enigsins 'n impak op die beleid wat die Noord-Suid verhoudinge beheer, wil maak.
28
Hesmondhalgh, David. "Independent record companies and democratisation in the popular music industry." Thesis, Online version, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.243541.
Full text
29
Jin, Xuelian. "Towards democratisation? : understanding university students' Internet use in mainland China." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/8775/.
Full textAbstract:
This research explores university students’ use of the Internet in order to understand in what ways, if any, Internet use might be considered a contributory factor in the process of democratisation in China. The research topic is situated within broader debates about the extent to which the Internet might ‘democratise’ authoritarian regimes in general and China in particular. China is a country with a long history of authoritarian rule, yet some propose that the process of reform post 1978 demonstrates a gradual transition to a more open and democratically accountable system of government; a process that has arguably intensified since the development of the Internet. However the development and expansion of the Internet since the early 2000s, along with its penetration into Chinese life thereafter, has meant that the Chinese authorities have sought to control the purported liberalising tendencies that Internet technologies bring. Systems of censorship and filtering have been a major component in China’s strategy of managing the impact of the Internet. Principally censorship has been undertaken because of perceived challenges to the legitimacy and authority of the Chinese system of government, a perspective not historically divorced from student activism in China. University students in particular have arguably played an important role in protests and social movements in China. Not only therefore are university students of particular concern to the Chinese authorities, they are also technologically savvy and among the largest group of Internet users in China. Such users are also of course central to China’s future as they fuel economic growth into the twenty first century and will no-doubt contribute to the country’s economic and political stability in the future. In attempting to understand the democratic implications of Internet use amongst university students the research takes a grounded theory approach based upon six face-to-face in-depth interviews, one focus group, search and analysis of web content, and digital auto-ethnography. A total of twelve participants were recruited from three universities in the City of Chongqing, in the southwest of China. This thesis provides an original contribution to our understanding of how Chinese university students view the Internet in relation to politics. It produces a number of original findings that will be of interest to the broader community of scholars researching China’s Internet in particular and scholars who study the influence of ICTs on emergence and consolidation of democracy in general. These findings include how university students disengage from political activities for both practical reasons such as a lack of opportunity, or lack of interest and ideological concerns, for example, a revolutionary view of democratisation that democratisation has to necessarily be a radical, revolutionary process, and that individuals are powerless to bring such a revolution about. It reveals patterns of how different Internet applications are employed by an individual to achieve one goal and how a politically sensitive message travels through different platforms online. More importantly, it discovers that seemingly trivial online exchanges may nevertheless contribute to a changing social and political environment, albeit in ways that interviewees may not themselves describe as ‘democratising’. Provided with certain conditions, online entertainment and political disengagement can be a way to liberate, given its potential to distract individuals from the party-state propaganda, to create a plural ideational climate, and to increase discontent with the current system through facilitating social comparison. Participants’ joining and organising associations at private level online is found to cast influence on the real world and provides opportunities to practice skills of democratic citizenship. Those associations thus function as an emerging civil society.
30
Kamal, Youssef Ahmed. "Segmented pluralism and democratisation in Africa : the case of Ethiopia." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2004. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/291/.
Full textAbstract:
The principal aim of this dissertation is to examine the dynamics of the contemporary reconstruction of the Ethiopian state on the basis of "ethnic federalism" and democratisation. Among the many African multiethnic polities, Ethiopia is the only country that recognises ethnicity explicitly as an organising principle, even to the extent of de-emphasising the idea of a unitary state and national identity. According to Article 39 (1) of the new Ethiopian Constitution, "every nation, nationalities and peoples in Ethiopia has a right to selfdetermination, including secession. " No other constitution (except, briefly, the former Soviet Constitution) has ever gone so far as to allow such a right. This is perhaps understandable in view of the recent history of regional and ethno-political violence in Ethiopia. The study adopts an historical approach using a qualitative methodology. It analyses and demonstrates how the policies of state centralisation and Amhara hegemonic control transformed ethnic identity into nationalist mobilisation and conflict that finally ended military rule and brought about the demise of Amhara hegemony. It then examines the government that replaced the military regime of Mengistu, its theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of "ethnic federalism" and the democratic accommodation of diversity. The study finds that Ethiopia's political system that began in 1991 has successfully established a new federal democratic order but has so far failed to become a truly "selfgoverning unit" and consolidated democracy. Democratisation and devolution of power opened channels for Ethiopian nations and nationalities to participate as equal citizens in Ethiopian political life and to access to political power, resources, and to protect their ethnic interests both at the national and local levels. It resulted in the formation of local autonomy where regional states were set up on the basis of ethnicity. Ethiopian political change has taken place under inauspicious circumstances that are generally unfavourable to democratic transition and consolidation. And, whilst the EPRDF has made major strides towards successful democratisation in spite of these conditions, it has been unable to consolidate fully the new federal institutions in Ethiopia. As a result, it has instead been transformed into a pseudo-federal and democratic state with minority [Tigrean] hegemony at the centre. The study concludes that non-democratic federalism, with which the EPRDF regime tried to experiment, can generate violence rather than serving as a political panacea for ethnic conflict, as also attested by Yugoslav and Soviet experience. The study stresses that successful federalism requires the end of TPLF hegemony and a democratic arrangement that can facilitate "real self-government" for the nation, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia in line with the new Ethiopian Constitution. It notes that a democratic mechanism is effective as a means of dealing with ethnic cleavages in plural societies like Ethiopia. Thus, only if Ethiopia's democratisation can truly progress, can its political integration also advance and support for separatist movements consequently weaken If not, ethno-political conflict will continue and at worst the Yugoslav scenario might follow. Clearly the study of Ethiopian efforts at democratic change has relevance for similar problems beyond its boundaries. Recent events around the world have shown that nationalist conflicts are an important feature of the post-Cold War World. Although not a completely new phenomenon, ethnic conflicts are considered crucial challenges to national and international politics alike and are often accompanied by a gradual collapse of state authority, particularly in Africa. The persistence of ethnic identity in developed societies as well as in the former communist and developing states has challenged theories that assume that ethnic identity would disappear through modernisation. The ongoing civil war in many countries illustrates the problems of ethno-political conflicts and the needs for its management. Democratisation and power-sharing is emerging as a key element in contemporary [post] civil war settlements and to manage conflict in deeply divided societies.
31
Isakhan, Benjamin. "Discourses of Democracy: 'Oriental Despotism' and the Democratisation of Iraq." Thesis, Griffith University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367762.
Full textAbstract:
The discourses of ‘Western democracy’ and ‘Oriental despotism’ provide for us a
lens through which to view both contemporary political developments and the
ideological and historical context in which they occur. Illuminating this optic is a
particular vision of the past in which the West imagines itself to have an exclusive
claim to democracy, to be the legitimate legatee of this advanced form of governance
and burdened with the responsibility of spreading this doctrine amongst the
uncivilised ‘lesser breeds’. Paradoxically, the political history of the East is viewed
as a dark and brutal wasteland in which megalomania, tyranny and bloodshed has
always triumphed, creating a cultural and historical landscape that is antithetical to
inclusion, diversity and debate. This project therefore begins by documenting the
genealogy of the juxtaposition between these ‘discourses of democracy’, tracing
their twin histories back through many of the seminal texts of the Western scholarly
and literary canon. Moving forward, it notes that this lens has often been brought to
bear on the political history of Iraq, reducing the complexities of Iraqi politics down
to an austere picture in which the benighted and savage Iraqis are seen as simply
incapable of civilising, modernising or democratising. Most recently, the Western
mainstream media has invoked this long-held and deep-seated picture of Iraq in its
coverage of the democratic elections and referendum held across the nation in 2005.
Here, the successes and complexities of post-Saddam Iraqi politics were covered in a
highly racialist and overly dismissive lexicon, one that emphasised the political
ineptitude of Iraq despite the best efforts of the West.
In order to see beyond the doctored image provided for us by the ‘discourses of
democracy’, this thesis utilises a body of work referred to here as critical theory. By
employing such scholarship, this project navigates between ‘Western democracy’
and ‘Oriental despotism’, it investigates their internal contradictions, identifies the
gaps and fissures that fall between them and illuminates alternate histories and
narratives of democracy as they pertain to Iraq. To develop this more complex and
nuanced picture of Iraqi politics, this project focuses on four key periods in the
history of Iraq that demonstrate the nation’s long struggle towards egalitarianism,
collective governance and democratic reform. Beginning with ancient Mesopotamia,
this study finds the political system of ‘Primitive Democracy’ in widespread use
across the region from the very earliest days of civilisation itself. During the
Colonial period (1921-1958) we find that despite British occupation and Hashemite
hegemony, the Iraqi populace nonetheless fosters a thriving public sphere of political
dissent and pro-democracy movements. This continues throughout the series of
oppressive regimes that constitute Post-colonial Iraq (1958-2003) where the central
state’s manipulation of the ‘discourses of democracy’ ultimately undermines their
authority and provides the vacuum in which various ethno-religious political factions
emerge and strengthen. Finally, Re-colonial Iraq (2003-2005) is not only witness to
extensive attempts by both foreign and domestic powers to control the parameters of
debate and discourse, it is also home to an unprecedented spike in political parties
and media outlets keen to encourage a more inclusive political order. A more
thorough analysis of Iraq’s political history therefore reveals an alternative and more
complex lens through which to view Iraq’s past and present. On the one hand it
illuminates the Iraqi people’s resistance to oppression and tyranny as well as their
struggle towards a more robust and democratic order. On the other, it brings to light
various questions about the democratic nature of the West, undermining its claims of
democratic exclusivity and probing its potential as a force of tyranny and despotism.
This study concludes with an examination of the implications and questions it raises
and by identifying recommendations and opportunities for future research. Foremost
amongst these however, is the projects final assertion that further work needs to be
done in order to salvage democracy from discourse. It argues that we need to move
beyond the reductive and simplistic ideologies implicit in the existing ‘discourses of
democracy’ towards a more inclusive and robust narrative, one that includes
marginalised movements, histories and stories. This would not only help to see
beyond the lens provided for us by ‘Western democracy’ and ‘Oriental despotism’ as
it pertains to Iraq, but to develop a more kaleidoscopic image of democracy itself.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Arts
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text
32
Smith, Saori. "Democratisation in Indonesia : transition to democracy, transition to 'something else'?" Thesis, University of Manchester, 2005. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.531014.
Full text
33
Howard, Stephen. "Biography and the cult of personality in eighteenth-century Britain." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.310363.
Full text
34
Kim, Yoon Bae. "Towards Korean reunification : historical background and political realities." Thesis, University of Hull, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.262438.
Full text
35
de, Souza Motta Celina Maria. "Constitutional change in Brazil : political and financial decentralisation, 1981-1991." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1995. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2839/.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of the present study is to investigate how and why a country facing issues that needed to be tackled nationwide chose to decentralise political power and financial resources when it moved from military rule to redemocratisation. Furthermore, the study examines whether the decision to decentralise taken in Brazil in the period 1981-1991 has changed the allocation of public expenditure at sub-national level, especially to education. By analysing the decision to decentralise and its results at the sub-national level, the study embodies both an upstream and a downstream approach. The upstream approach encompasses the topics related to decentralisation in the Brazilian Constituent National Assembly that sat from 1987 to 1988. Research sources are based on the archives of the Constituent National Assembly and on interviews with key political leaders in Congress and practitioners. The decision to decentralise is analysed in three dimensions: the relationship between political parties and the State; intra- and inter-party competition; and regional cleavages. The downstream approach comprises three case studies: the state of Bahia, its capital, Salvador, and its most industrialised municipality, Camacari. The political analysis is based on (a) interviews with politicians in executive and in legislative positions, and officials and (b) newspaper material as a complementary source. The financial performance is based on the analysis of expenditure extracted from balance sheets. This study fills four gaps in political-science and public-administration works on contemporary Brazil First, it deepens the understanding of how and why Brazil became such a decentralised nation. Second, it links the analysis of political and financial resources. Third, it highlights differences between levels of government in their experiences with decentralisation. Fourth, it investigates the impact of decentralisation on political arrangements and on education expenditure. The results suggest that in Brazil there was a lack of social consensus on what was to be achieved by decentralisation. They suggest that decentralisation fosters democracy but its impacts on policy results have so far been limited. The evidence further implies that decentralisation and democratisation bring about a fragmentation of power without necessarily disintegrating previous political coalitions or changing the way public resources are spent. These findings indicate that various political and economic factors influence the outcomes of decentralisation, thus exposing the limits of decentralisation on policy results.
36
Konjhodzic, Indira. "The process of political development of small European nations at the point of their historical conjunction : the finnish and the slovene experiences in the comparative perspective." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.285350.
Full text
37
Daly, Thomas Gerald. "Judging democratisation : courts as democracy builders in the post-war world." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/28687.
Full textAbstract:
Can courts really build democracy in a state emerging from undemocratic rule? If so, how they do this, and what are their limits in this regard? This thesis seeks to explore the development since 1945 of a global model of democracy-building for post-authoritarian states, which accords a central position to courts. In essence, constitutional courts and regional human rights courts have come to be viewed as integral to the achievement of, or even constitutive of, a functioning democratic state. The roles courts play in supporting a democratisation process are onerous, and differ starkly from the roles of such courts in long-established democracies of the Global North. Courts in the new democracies of the post-war world have been freighted with weighty expectations to ‘deliver’ on the promises of a new democratic order, while navigating their own place within that developing order–or, in the case of regional human rights courts, inserting themselves into the democratisation process from without. At both the domestic and regional levels, from within and without the state, they are somehow expected to ‘judge’ democratisation. They are required to assess what is needed to support the democratisation process at any given point, especially in light of key deficiencies of the newly democratic order, and to judge when the democratisation context requires a different approach than may be appropriate in a mature democracy, such as the US or Ireland. However, the grand claims made for these courts as democracy-builders in existing scholarship have never been subjected to systematic analysis, nor have the overlapping roles of constitutional courts and regional human rights courts been considered in tandem. This thesis addresses a very significant research gap by drawing together a scattered and fragmented scholarship on the roles of courts in new democracies, integrating discussion of regional human rights courts, providing an innovative conceptual framework for how courts at each level act and interact as democracy-builders, and tracing connections between different normative arguments concerning the roles courts should play. As the first attempt at a wholesale exploration of the effectiveness and viability of the existing global court-centric model for democratisation, this thesis examines what we think courts do as democracy-builders, what they actually do, and what they should do. In doing so, it argues for a significant re-evaluation of how we conceive of, and employ, courts as democracy-builders.
38
Pernu, Lauriina. "Towards democracy : How can we explain the democratisation process in Myanmar?" Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för statsvetenskap (ST), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-53012.
Full textAbstract:
Myanmar (former Burma) has not had an easy path towards democracy. Once a British colony, the country has struggled with the violent military junta for several decades. The international community has been said to have failed in trying to stabilise Myanmar, in spite of good intentions. Although Myanmar is still far from being a consolidated country, there has, however, been some progress with democratisation. This research will study how we can explain the democratisation process in Myanmar. It will concentrate on three key events which are analysed within a framework of two theories: Joseph S. Nye’s soft power, and realism. This study is conducted as a theory testing case study and is therefore using a qualitative method. Previous research in the form of democratisation theories from Diamond and Linz & Stepan are discussed as well. With the help of the theoretical framework, the study aims to discover whether the democratisation process can be explained with the help of those theories.
39
Orthia, Lindy A., and lindy orthia@anu edu au. "Enlightenment was the choice: Doctor Who and the Democratisation of Science." The Australian National University. ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, 2010. http://thesis.anu.edu.au./public/adt-ANU20100810.152632.
Full textAbstract:
The democratisation of science - shifting science governance, work opportunities and ideologies away from the exclusive domains of elite minorities and into the hands of the people - is an important aim of science communication. If communication products such as television series can influence people�s relationships with science in terms of their career choices, belief systems and feelings of ownership over science, then it is important for science communicators to understand what television series are saying about science.
In this thesis I examine representations of science in the long-running science fiction television series, 'Doctor Who'. In particular I analyse the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of this representation to assess its consistency with four goals for the democratisation of science: goals that I name franchise (lay empowerment in science governance), equality (equal access to opportunities in science workplaces and careers), progress (democratic choice about the role of technology in our lives and our societies) and enlightenment (democratic freedom to choose our beliefs and worldviews about the universe).
Analysing the more than 200 'Doctor Who' serials broadcast between 1963 and 2008, I first give an overview of broad trends in the way the program has dealt with science themes and characters across four decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 2000s), finding significant changes over that period.
I then analyse in greater theoretical depth three ways that debates about the democratisation of science manifest within 'Doctor Who'. I show that the program varies in the degree to which it is consistent with the goals for the democratisation of science.
First, I investigate plotlines that depict struggles for science governance within societies and that show people trying to achieve democratic outcomes by renegotiating their relationship to science. Within that discussion I show that the literary construct of �the hero� can obstruct democratic outcomes in the struggles for science governance that disenfranchised characters face. In this regard, I link �the hero� to the social construct of �the expert� in real world science, which has also been critiqued as obstructive to democratisation ends.
Second, I investigate real-world public dissent to ideologies of science as they are expressed allegorically in the program. Such expressions manifest through themes that counterpose one ideological position on science (such as liberal humanism) to another ideological position (such as technorationalism) in the form of a battle between archetypal characters who embody these principles. Responding to the work of scholars who have elaborated this point, I show that such expressions of dissent to science can be twisted and undermined to serve scientistic ideals through the clever manipulation of the literary imagery that is generally associated with antiscience protest.
Third and finally, I investigate the role-modelling function of scientist and non-scientist characters in 'Doctor Who': do they role-model empowered or disempowered positions for audiences within the institution of science? In concert with the literature I show that some structural elements of fiction - including the presence of a fallible scientist hero or an ensemble cast - can contribute positively to the capacity of characters to fulfil a positive role-modelling function that encourages equality in the science workplace and open access to science for all.
40
Olayode, Kehinde Olusola. "Civil society and democratisation in Africa : the Nigerian experience (1990-2002)." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.616185.
Full text
41
Chung, Po-lun, and 鍾寶倫. "Democratisation and the Hong Kong middle: class towards an integrative approach." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1994. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31212256.
Full text
42
Martin, Brenda. "United States economic aid policy and democratisation : the case of Egypt." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.443525.
Full text
43
Almazkuri, Fatemah A. H. A. "Political reforms and the process of democratisation in Kuwait, 1992-2013." Thesis, Durham University, 2017. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12242/.
Full textAbstract:
The study examined the four major political reforms undertaken in Kuwait post- liberation: the restoration of the National Assembly in 1992, the separation of posts of the Crown Prince from the post of the Prime Minister in 2003, women’s suffrage in 2005 and the redefining of the electoral districts in 2006. These were analysed to establish whether these political reforms represented a process of democratisation or political liberalisation that ultimately consolidated the power of liberalised autocracy and was merely a regime survival strategy. To do that the study employed a theoretical framework that considers Robert Dahl’s (1971) criteria: political participation, contestation and expansion of civil and political rights to assess whether Kuwait’s political system is democratic or not, in conjunction with David Potter’s scheme (1997) of the six pre-requisites that can promote and/or inhibit the process of democratisation: relation of state and political institutions, societal divisions, economic development, civil society, political culture and transnational/international engagement in order to identify the drivers and/or the obstacles to a democratic transition. This analysis contributes to the wider discussions on democratisation processes, furthering the understanding of the necessary conditions for democratisation, as well as what the nature of the obstacles to reform are in the Gulf region. The study concluded that the political reforms were not evidence of democratisation; rather they were part of Al Sabah’s own survival strategy and are better understood in terms of a liberalising autocracy. Nonetheless, they brought to the surface the contradictions inherent in the political structures and processes and allowed a space for civil society movements to emerge, mobilise and attempt to counter the dominance of the state as well as coming forth as another significant factor (the first being the National Assembly) pushing for democratisation. This apparent increase in civil society activism gives hope that change is possible.
44
Ruus, Anton. "Collaboration or Polarisation : The Effects of Political Power Sharing on Democratisation." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-384858.
Full textAbstract:
Does political power sharing foster or inhibit democratisation in post-civil war states? Previous research dedicated to the study of power sharing and democratisation has been limited to the early post-conflict period and used minimalistic definitions of democracy. This thesis uses a wider definition of democracy and hypothesise that the empowerment of elite actors from relevant communities would strengthen democratisation in the short-term, as these groups would gain a patron that could protect their democratic liberties. Meanwhile, a digression was expected in the longer term as power sharing would equip these elite patrons to avoid accountability and suppress opposition. Democracy score changes were analysed using an OLS regression on 127 cases of civil war settlement between 1945-2006. Findings suggest that political power sharing promotes democratisation in the short term. Moreover, no negative long-term effects were found. Practitioners should therefore host no hesitations against introducing political power sharing when resolving conflicts. The absence of negative long-term effects could be attributed to criticisms not recognising the different setups that power-sharing institutions can take which promote accountability. Possibly, there are also other mechanisms which facilitates interaction between elite actors and their communities at play, counterbalancing the negative effects that power sharing would otherwise entail.
45
Ivancic, Antonny John Social Sciences & International Studies Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences UNSW. "The transformation in direct private share ownership in Australia: Embourgeoisement? Democracy?" Publisher:University of New South Wales. Social Sciences & International Studies, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/42985.
Full textAbstract:
The increase in direct personal investment in capital market assets by Australians over the past two decades represents an unprecedented engagement with that sector of Australian economic life. This dissertation critically investigates claims that this engagement heralds a shareholder democracy. Increased economic participation based on private direct ownership of corporate securities could be interpreted as a weak form of democratisation. Using a class-theoretical framework, the dissertation conceptualises the private shareholder phenomenon as a process of embourgeoisement and argues that the development of a macro-level mass consumer financial products market is the result of capitalist class development and expansion. A thesis of strong democratisation proffers the notion that the private shareholder, as an ascendant class of financial actor, engages with real democratic processes in addition to simply owning securities. To test this thesis the dissertation measures the extent to which small shareholders control the objective conditions under which they accumulate greater wealth by seeking evidence of potential or actual engagement with macro-market and meso-corporate level social processes. The dissertation assesses macro-level practice by drawing on the work of Bourdieu and on notions of the social field. It considers the entry of the new class of financial actor to the financial field and analyses their capacity to accumulate and deploy informational capital, and compares their ability to influence a state-sponsored economic reform process (CLERP) with that of other actors. The dissertation analyses longitudinal ownership and shareholder voting data from a set of over 30 major Australian companies. It finds that the new class of economic actor is most prevalent in privatised state-owned enterprises and mutuals. In the context of an ideal Habermasian public sphere, the study considers the potential for small shareholders to participate in meso-level, corporate agenda-setting and deliberation. Using the ideal political space of Arendt, it searches for methods of achieving democratic outcomes. The dissertation finds that while the personal ownership of tradable financial assets may constitute a weak form of economic democratisation, small shareholders?? inability to influence real outcomes, even in companies in which they constitute the majority, places substantial restrictions on the overall strength of the share ownership-as-democracy thesis.
46
Fournier, Dominique. "The international dimension of democratic transitions : Argentina and Chile." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.320932.
Full text
47
Tanoh, Yao Armand. "The role of the Peace and Security Council and the Assembly of Head of States and Government of the African Union in pursuit of democratisation in Africa." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/5761.
Full textAbstract:
This paper discusses the involvement of the African Union in addressing the issues of democratisation. Focuses on the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Union and the Peace and Security Council. Gives an overview of all treaties and declarations adopted by the African Union.Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007.
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr Patrice VAHARD of the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
Centre for Human Rights
LLM
48
Dawidson, Karin E. K. "Property fragmentation : Redistribution of land and housing during the Romanian democratisation process." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Social and Economic Geography, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-4646.
Full textAbstract:
In the context of democratisation in the early 1990s, the governments in Central and East Europe (CEE) had to decide how to deal with property that had been confiscated under state socialism. Nationalised housing and collectivised land were to a varying extent returned to former owners and their heirs by means of restitution, as well as being distributed to other citizens who were in possession of the users’ rights to such properties.
This thesis examines the spatial impacts, in terms of ownership patterns, of the way the redistribution of nationalised housing and collectivised land has been dealt with politically and at the local level in post-socialist Romania. It also locates the Romanian property reforms in relation to those of the rest of CEE. The impact of political directives on the property redistribution is analysed in relation to both structural influences, such as democratisation and antecedent property regimes, and implementation patterns in varied place-contexts. The thesis demonstrates that restitution was stifled due to disagreements between leftist and rightist political blocs, with the latter arguing for restitution whilst their opponents wrote the first restitution laws. A re-privatisation law allowed for the public sale of nationalised housing to tenants and thereby blocked the implementation of a restitution law, thus constituting a dilemma for constitutional democracy. In liberal place-contexts in West Romania, these obstacles to housing restitution were in part avoided. By contrast, land restitution was most widespread in the east, a stronghold of the left. This was because the legislation gives priority to restitution in areas of this kind, where smaller land-holdings dominated prior to 1945. The left-wing government pursued an electoral strategy of distributing small properties to a large number of citizens, and to current users in particular. This resulted in a fragmentation of historical property.
49
Dawidson, Karin. "Property fragmentation : redistribution of land and housing during the Romanian democratisation process /." Uppsala : Deptartment of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University, 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-4646.
Full text
50
Tedesco, Laura. "The crisis of the Argentinian State : democratisation and economic restructuring, 1976-1989." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1994. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2352/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the crisis of the Argentinian state during the period of the 1983-1989 democratic government. It suggests that the 1976 military dictatorship attempted to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state by implementing an economic structural reform and State Terrorism. The consequences of the economic structural reform and State Terrorism constrained the margin of manoeuvre of the 1983 democratic government. The main economic constraints were the huge external debt and the impoverishment of the working class. The main political constraint was the need to bring the military to trial while avoiding a direct confrontation with the Armed Forces. The huge external debt constrained not only Argentina's economic growth but also the Radical government's economic strategies. A 'monetarist' restructuring of the state was imposed on debtor countries through IMF 'conditionality' loans. While the Radical government initially opposed such a restructuring, it later gradually began to implement the IMF's requirements. The impoverishment of the working class intensified the government's confrontation with the trades union movement. The Radical government unsuccessfully attempted to control and demobilise the working class. The trades union movement and the workers were able to block state policies, becoming the ultimate barrier to the restructuring policies adopted by the state. The attempt to bring the military to trial exacerbated the relationship between the Radical government and the Armed Forces. The government was unable to implement its own policies towards human rights violations, which prevented a definitive solution to this problem. In addition, the failure to resolve this problem intensified internal unrest within the Armed Forces, fostering the breakdown of the Army's hierarchy. The main political objective of the Radical government was to consolidate democracy. The economic legacy of the military dictatorship obliged the government to deepen the 'monetarist' restructuring of the state and the impoverishment of the workers while consolidating democracy. Implementing 'market-oriented' reforms made the transition to democracy more difficult. The thesis suggests that the Radical government, although unable to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state, was able to begin the path towards consolidating democracy due to its policies towards human rights violations, which undermined the political role of the Armed Forces.