Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Political participation – European Union countries'
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Aldrich, Andrea Stephanie. ""Ignorant and Confused?" Knowledge and Awareness as Determinants of Euroskepticism." unrestricted, 2009. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04152009-143419/.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2009.Title from file title page. William Downs, committee chair ; Jelena Subotic, Charles Hankla, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Sep. 28, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-56).
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Rasco, Clark Joseph. "Demographic trends in the European Union : political and strategic implicaitons /." Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2004. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/04Jun%5FRasco.pdf.
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Carey, Sean D. (Sean Damien). "A Political and Macroeconomic Explanation of Public Support for European Integration." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1997. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278919/.
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This study develops a model of macroeconomic and political determinants of public support for European integration. The research is conducted on pooled cross-sectional time-series data from five European Union member states between 1978 and 1994. The method used in this analysis is a Generalized Least Squares - Autoregressive Moving Average approach. The factors hypothesized to determine a macroeconomic explanation of public support for integration are inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. The effect of the major economic reform in the 1980s, the Single European Act, is hypothesized to act as a positive permanent intervention. The other determinants of public support are the temporary interventions of European Parliament elections and the permanent intervention of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. These are hypothesized to exert a negative effect. In a fully specified model all variables except economic growth and European Parliament elections demonstrate statistical significance at the 0.10 level or better.
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Bubpasiri, Tipparat. "The fifth enlargement of the European Union : the accession of Central and Eastern European countries." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.302543.
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Prosser, Christopher. "Rethinking representation and European integration." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1f596c7e-bfb9-43ff-b3e8-2de716f234ec.
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In representative democracy the chain of political legitimacy runs from voters to governments through votes cast at elections. In order for representation to occur, political parties must offer distinct policy platforms that citizens consider in their vote choices. This thesis examines whether citizens are adequately represented within the European Union. It finds that although representation on left-right issues occurs, it does not occur for European integration preferences. Over the course its history, European integration has changed from being primarily an economic issue to a social issue. This separation from the primary axis of political competition has increased the need for representation on EU issues directly. Political parties have polarised over European integration providing increased choice, but voters have not engaged with the issue. Examining how voters process party signals about policy positions shows that very few are affected by signals on the EU. Accounting for voters' cognitive biases suggests that the influence of EU issues in European Parliament elections has been overestimated and is non-existent in most member-states. As direct democracy might offer an alternative to inadequate representation this thesis examines why referendums have been held on the EU but finds that they are largely driven by governments' desire to contain the threat of EU issues at national elections, further undermining representation. However, as a result of institutional differences between national and European Parliament elections rather than the emergence of the EU as an electoral issue, the size of party systems at European Parliament elections has grown considerably over successive elections in many member-states, a change that has fed into national party systems. Although representation on EU issues is inadequate, the expansion of European party systems and the redrawing of the lines of political competition offers some hope that representation on EU issues might improve in the future.
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RUBIO, BARCELÓ Eulàlia. "Regional governments, territorial political restructuring and vocational education and training policies : a comparison of four cases : Catalonia, Lombardy, Valencia and Veneto." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/7037.
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Defence date: 16 March 2007Examining Board: Prof. Michael Keating (EUI); Prof. Virginie Guiraudon (EUI); Prof. Marino Regini, (Università di Milano) ; Prof. Jacint Jordana Casajuana (Pompeu Fabra University)
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Blew, Dennis Jan. "The Europeanization of Political Parties: A Study of Political Parties in Poland 2009-2014." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2567.
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On May 1st 2004, Poland entered the European Union (EU), introducing new variables into the domestic politics of the Polish Republic. Since gaining its independence from Soviet control in 1989, Poland’s political landscape can be described as a dynamic and ever changing force towards democratic maturation. With the accession of Poland to the EU, questions of European integration and Europeanization have arisen, most specifically with how these two processes effect and shape the behaviors of domestic political actors.
With Poland entering its second decade of EU membership, this study attempts to explain how, and if, further European integration has had any effect on the Europeanization of political parties in Poland. Building upon the work of various scholars, most notably Aleks Szczerbiak, this study examines the years 2009-2014, and examines Poland’s political parties through Robert Ladrech’s framework of Europeanization.
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DAVITER, Falk. "The power of initiative : framing legislative policy conflicts in the European Union." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/7044.
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Defence date: 13 July 2007Examining Board: Prof. Adrienne Héritier, (European University Institute/SPS/RSCAS) ; Prof. Stefano Bartolini, (European University Institute/RSCAS) ; Prof. Ellen M. Immergut, (Humboldt University Berlin) ; Prof. Claudio Radaelli, (University of Exeter)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis asks how the framing of policy issues in EU legislative politics influences the way issues are processed, how it affects which interests play a role during policy drafting and deliberation, and what type of political conflicts and coalitions emerge as a result. Focusing in particular on the European Commission’s role in EU policy-making, this thesis goes on to investigate how actors in EU politics define and redefine the issues at stake according to their shifting policy agendas and in doing so attempt to shore up support and marginalise political opposition. Drawing on the empirical investigation of two decades of EU biotechnology policy-making, the thesis finds that the framing of policy issues systematically affects how the complex and fragmented EU political decision-making process involves or excludes different sets of actors and interests from the diverse political constituencies of the Union. It argues that the Commission’s role in structuring the EU policy space can at times be substantial. Yet the longitudinal perspective adopted in this study also reveals how the structuring and restructuring of the biotechnology policy space led to the increasing politicisation of the EU decision-making process. Eventually, the empirical investigation concludes, the Commission was unable to control the political dynamics set off by the reframing of the policy choices, and the resulting revision of the EU biotechnology policy framework ran counter to the Commission’s original policy objectives. This study thus provides fresh insights into the dynamics of policy-level politicisation and its effects on political conflict and competition in the EU. The framing perspective allows students of EU politics to trace how political agents and institutions interact to shape and at times exploit the complexities of EU policy-making in pursuit of their often conflicting agendas. Finally, the findings suggest that the key to conceptualising the scope of Commission agency in terms of systematic policy dynamics lies in exploring the interlocking effects of policy framing and EU politicisation in the political construction of interests at the supranational level.
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Abellán, Miguel Angel Medina. "The participation of Turkey in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) : how has the European Union managed the 'involvement issue'? (1999-2009)." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610608.
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Etienne, Anne. "Towards European Integration: Do the European Union and Its Members Abide by the Same Principles?" Thesis, University of North Texas, 2004. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4617/.
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In the last few decades the European Union (EU) and its members have emphasized the importance of human rights and the need to improve human rights conditions in Third World countries. In this research project, I attempted to find out whether the European Union and its members practice what they preach by giving precedence to countries that respect human rights through their Official Development Assistance (ODA) program. Furthermore, I tried to analyze whether European integration occurs at the foreign policy level through aid allocation. Based on the literatures on political conditionality and on the relationship between human rights and foreign aid allocation, I expected that all EU members promote principles of good governance by rewarding countries that protect the human rights of their citizens. I conducted a cross-sectional time-series selection model over all recipients of ODA for each of the twelve members for which I have data, the European Commission, and the aggregate EU disbursements from 1979 to 1998.
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SCHULTE-CLOOS, Julia. "European integration and the surge of the populist radical right." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/63506.
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Defence date: 2 July 2019Examining Board: Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Elias Dinas, European University Institute; Professor Liesbet Hooghe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Professor Kai Arzheimer, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Does European integration contribute to the rise of the radical right? This dissertation offers three empirical contributions that aid understanding the interplay between political integration within the European Union (EU) and the surge of the populist radical right across Europe. The first account studies the impact that the European Parliament (EP) elections have for the national fortune of the populist right. The findings of a country fixed-effects model leveraging variation in the European electoral cycle demonstrate that EP elections foster the domestic prospects of the radical right when national and EP elections are close in time. The second study demonstrates that the populist radical right cannot use the EP elections as a platform to socialise the most impressionable voters. The results of a regression discontinuity analysis highlight that the EP contest does not instil partisan ties to the political antagonists of the European idea. The third study shows that anti-European integration sentiments that existed prior to accession to the EU cast a long shadow in the present by contributing to the success of contemporary populist right actors. Relying on an original dataset entailing data on all EU accession referenda on the level of municipalities and exploiting variation within regions, the study demonstrates that those localities that were most hostile to the European project before even becoming part of the Union, today, vote in the largest numbers for the radical right. In synthesis, the dissertation approaches the relationship between two major current transformations of social reality: European integration and the surge of the radical right. The results highlight that contention around the issue of European integration provides a fertile ground for the populist radical right, helping to activate nationalistic and EU-hostile sentiments among parts of the European public.
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RUIZ, SOLER Javier. "Is Twitter the new coffee house? : the contribution of the European political Twittersphere to the European public sphere and European demos." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/63305.
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Defence date: 12 June 2019Examining Board: Prof. Alexander Trechsel, University of Lucerne (Supervisor); Prof. Giovanni Sartor, European University Institute; Prof. Luigi Curini, University of Milan; Prof. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Lund University
A Public Sphere and a demos are intrinsic key elements of any democratic society. The literature has pointed out that social media platforms can play an important role in developing direct interactions between users and creating a sense of community. Can Twitter contribute to the emergence of a transnational networked European Public Sphere and European demos? This thesis examines the contribution of the European Political Twittersphere to this question. I divide the question into three articles. In each I use a different theoretical framework and methodological approach to two datasets of two issue publics (the Schengen agreement and the transatlantic trade partnership, TTIP) collected through the public Twitter Streaming API from August 2016 to April 2017. In the first article I explore the actor level of the networks created from the Twitter data. I investigate whether these Twitter networks constitute networked publics where non-elite actors receive attention and play an important role by the number of mentions and retweets. In the second article I explore the question of the constitution of European transnational networks. To do so, I geolocate the accounts involved in the two networks to identify the type of interactions the users establish, whether national or transnational. In the third article I analyse the content of these networks by extracting what sentiments the users express for the topics, and whether they see themselves and the topics as national or European. The three articles capture three features of the European Political Twittersphere. First, the results indicate the presence of transnational European networks. Second, built from the bottom-up where non-elite actors receive most of the attention. And third, composed of a multilingual demoi where the users see themselves and the topics as European. However, although these mapped Twitter networks contribute to some extent to transnational interaction and a sense of community, the deliberative quality of these networks is low.
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D'ANDREA, Sabrina. "Fluctuating conceptions of gender equality in EU law : a conceptual, legal and political analysis of EU policy, law and case law concerning work and care (1980-2020)." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70998.
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Defence date: 27 April 2021Examining Board: Professor Claire Kilpatrick (European University Institute); Professor Ruth Rubio Marín (Universidad de Sevilla); Professor Sophie Robin-Olivie (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Professor Annick Masselot (University of Canterbury)
Gender equality is a complex and debated concept; feminist scholarship and legal philosophy still struggle to define this notion. The EU context is no exception, as within the European project and literature, conceptions of gender equality have fluctuated. Existing literature has only given limited accounts of the different meanings of gender equality and has failed to identify the variables and reasons for this fluctuation in EU policy and case-law. In order to fill this gap, the present thesis takes onboard the challenge to uncover how the meaning of gender equality has shifted in the EU, across time, policy field and institutions. It starts by developing a theoretical frame which distinguishes between the possible aims of gender equality policy and the legal strategies employed by gender equality policy. It then applies this frame to four decades of EU policy regarding work and care, from 1980 to 2020, and questions to which extent these different gender equality conceptions and strategies have served the aim of women’s emancipation, assessing their effect on the gendered division of care and on the provision of social protection. The thesis shows that the main variable of fluctuation of gender equality conceptions has been the policy issue at stake: while the EU has employed formal equality in certain areas of law, it has been more prone to allow for substantive strategies for equality in others, depending on political priorities and opportunities. The conclusion explains these findings and reflects on the political conveniences of gender equality conceptions. It makes a theoretical, political and normative contribution to existing literature and debates concerning gender equality in the EU and gives directions for future gender equality policy.
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Teusch, Jonas. "Supranational assurance: how European Union membership clears the way for political decentralization in countries with secessionist potential." Thesis, McGill University, 2011. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103773.
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Political decentralization is in vogue. However, it is not clear what political incentives central governments should have to give up authority. Thus, the question guiding this thesis is under what conditions and why central governments shift authority to subunits. The existing literature does not specify the cost-benefit calculus that could underlie such a decision, merely viewing decentralization as a reaction to increased demands for sub-national authority, which are believed to be the result of international trends such as Europeanization or globalization. Working with a sample of 42 industrial democracies that have been observed over a period of up to 40 years, I demonstrate that central governments pursue institutional reforms only under the condition that they are sufficiently reassured that granting autonomy to subunits will not threaten the territorial integrity of the nation-state. When this necessary condition is met, as is shown to be the case for European Union member states, state agents are mainly motivated by reaping the political benefits associated with reforming a malfunctioning political system or with accommodating sub-national demands.La décentralisation politique est en vogue. Toutefois, il n'apparait pas clairement quels incitatifs politiques motivent les gouvernements centraux à déléguer leur autorité. Par conséquent, ce mémoire de maîtrise se penche sur la question de savoir dans quelles conditions et pourquoi les gouvernements centraux cèdent de leur autorité aux gouvernements sous-nationaux. La littérature existante ne précise pas quel calcul coûts-bénéfices sous-tend une telle décision. Les recherches antérieures suggèrent plutôt que la décentralisation est une réaction à des demandes sous-nationales accrues qui sont censées être le résultat de tendances internationales comme l'européanisation ou la mondialisation. À partir d'un échantillon de 42 démocraties industrialisées observées sur une période allant jusqu'à 40 ans, je démontre que les gouvernements centraux poursuivent des réformes institutionnelles uniquement s'ils perçoivent que l'octroi d'autonomie aux gouvernements sous-nationaux ne menace pas l'intégrité territoriale de l'État-nation. Lorsque cette condition nécessaire est atteinte, comme c'est le cas dans les États membres de l'Union Européenne, les agents de l'État voient un intérêt dans la collecte des bénéfices politiques liés soit à la réforme d'un système politique dysfonctionnel, soit aux concessions accordées aux paliers gouvernementaux sous-nationaux.
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Bjugan, Ketil. "Europe's divided north : a comparative analysis of the conflict over European Union membership in four Nordic countries." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1999. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1516/.
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This thesis is a comparative analysis of how the conflict over membership in the European Union (EU) affected people and parties in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) between 1985 and 1997. The purpose of the thesis is to analyse how and why a) the people, and b) the political parties in these four countries have reacted to the prospect of membership - or, in the case of Denmark, continued membership - in the EU. The thesis is divided into two main sections. Section one consists of three theoretical chapters. Chapter one explains why European integration has conflict potential in the Nordic countries, and why this conflict has increased in salience since the mid-1980's. Chapter two outlines and develops a political cleavage model. This has two purposes; firstly, to explain the nature of the Nordic party systems; secondly, to outline social, ideological and institutional limitations to the effect of the conflict over EU membership on the party systems of these countries. Chapter three develops two models derived from rational choice theory. The first assesses how EU membership might be expected to affect the utility of individual citizens. The second focuses on how political parties might be expected to react to the prospect of (continued) EU-membership. Chapters four to seven (section two) assess the explanatory power of the models developed in chapters two and three for each of the countries concerned, by analysing the hypothesised effects of the EU-conflict on individual utility and on the party systems. Chapter eight compares the results of chapters four to seven. Finally, the conclusion assesses the heuristic value of the methods employed, and the implications for theory. In summary, it is argued that, firstly, expected consequences for individual economic utility and left-right ideological position are the most important variables for explaining differences in attitude to membership, both within each country and between the four countries. Secondly, for the majority of parties the increased salience of this conflict complicates their strategy, in particular with regard to the ability to pursue vote maximisation and office maximisation simultaneously. A partial solution is to off-load the EU-conflict away from national elections. This explains in large part why in each of the countries the EU-conflict has been off-loaded from the arena of national elections to that of referendums and elections to the European Parliament.
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Hengari, Alfredo Tjiurimo. "A regional economic partnership agreement between SADC and the European Union within the Cotonou framework : opportunities and challenges for the political economy of regional integration in SADC." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/49851.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the most notable features of the relations between the European Union and SADC is the current reconfiguration of their trading architecture as encapsulated in the Cotonou Agreement. Such a process of change can be shown to have inevitably been the result of policy shifts, which are salient characteristics of a global political economy, whose ontology is embedded theoretically in neo-liberalism. Nevertheless, any process of change in the structure of global trading relations has the logical outcome of systemically imposing either challenges or opportunities, and in some cases both, on the participants of that structure. This study represents a scholarly attempt at creating a lucid and descriptive embodiment of the challenges and opportunities involved for SADC in the negotiation and implementation of a Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (REPA) with the European Union. These challenges and opportunities, obligatory within a REPA framework are theoretically pronounced in as far as they shape the political economy of regional integration in SADe. The process of negotiating such a multifaceted agreement with a sophisticated partner, calls for institutional and negotiating capacity. Undoubtedly, such capacity is beyond the membership of SADe. The point is also emphasized that the process of trade liberalization, ingrained in a REPA will create a complex and difficult interface with the current SADC initiatives underway to deepen regional integration. Tellingly, these would contradict the cautious developmental and bottom up approach taken by SADC in its drive for regional integration. Conversely, this study concedes that a REPA with the EU holds a number of novel opportunities for SADC because such a process would provide scope for the fundamental restructuring of the SADC economies. The competitive pressures through decreased levels of protection within a REPA can create an upward convergence of low performing industries in the region. These, amongst others are important aspects if the political economy of SADC is to move into a virtuous cycle of deeper integration and ultimate insertion in the global economy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die mees opvallende kenmerke van verhoudinge tussen die Europese Unie (EU) en Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG) is die huidige rekonjigurasie van handelsbetrekkinge, soos vervat in die Cotonou Ooreenkoms. Hierdie proses is die onafwendbare gevolg van beleidsveranderinge in die internasionale politieke ekonomie, met 'n. ontologie wat teoreties in neo-liberalisme gewortel is. Sodanige veranderinge in die struktuur van internasionale handelsverhoudinge. bied uitdagings sowel as geleenthede, en soms beide, aan deelnemers van sodanige struktuur. Hierdie studie is 'n akademiese poging om 'n helder en deskriptiewe blik te werp op die uitdagings en geleenthede vir die SAOG met betrekking tot die onderhandeling en implimentering van die Regionale Ekonomiese Venootskapsooreenkoms (REVO) met die EU Hierdie uitdagings en geleenthede, wat verpligtend is binne die REVO struktuur, is teoreties belangrik in soverre as wat dit die politeke ekonomie van regionale integrasie in SADC beinvloed. Die onderhandelingsproses van so 'n komplekse dokument met gesofistikeerde vennote vereis intitusionele en onderhandelingskapasiteit. Hierdie kapasiteit is nie in SAOG te vinde nie. Die punt word ook benadruk dat die proses van handelsliberalisering, wat deel uitmaak van REVO, botsend kan wees met SAOG inisiatiewe om regionale integrasie te versterk. In essensie sal dit die huiwerige ontwikkelings en 'onder na ba' benadering, wat die SAOG tans volg, weerspreek. Aan die ander kant, gee die studie toe dat 'n REVO met die EU 'n hele aantal voordele inhou, aangesien so 'n proses momentum kan voorsien vir verreikende herstrukturering van SAOG ekonomieë. Die kompeterende druk a.g. v. 'n afname in beskermingsvlakke onder die REVO, kan lei tot 'n opwaartse neiging onder tradisionele swakpresterende nywerhede in die streek. Hierdie is onder andere belangrike aspekte wat SADC in gedagte moet hou, ten einde deel te word van die deugsame kringloop van dieper integrasie, en uiteindelike deelwording van die internasionale ekonomie.
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Michailidou, Asimina. "The European Union online the role of the internet in the European Union's public communication strategy and the emerging European public sphere." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2007. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/3055.
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The focus of this thesis is on the vertical Europeanisation of the online public debate and more specifically on the EU's online public communication strategy, i.e. the top-down process of the unmediated, direct, online communication between the EU and the general public. The empirical data has been collected in four stages, namely public communication policy-making; public communication policy implementation online; online public communication policy impact on key Internet audiences; and interviews with key senior Commission officials. The review of the EU public communication documents has shown that the Commission has unambiguously committed to facilitate direct communication with the EU public as part of the process of building the EU citizens' trust towards its institutions and in addressing the issues of transparency and democratic legitimation of the EU's decision-making process, while the Internet is seen as a key tool in facilitating direct communication. However, after monitoring three of the EU's official websites for a year and analyzing the views of 221 Internet users on the EU's Information and Communication strategy online, it has become evident that the Commission has not yet fulfilled these commitments. The interviews with key Commission officials have revealed that behind this gap between policy and online implementation lie: a) an institutional culture which conflicts with the aims of the Commission's public communication strategy; and b) constant institutional restructuring in the last six years. Very recently the Commission has begun to address some of the shortfalls in the online implementation of its public communication strategy, yet there is no indication that the results of the online debate regarding the EU's future will be incorporated in the decision-making process, while further study is required in the future in order to assess any change in the institutional culture in relation to its public communication strategy.
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Meyer, Martin Federico. "The Europeanization of the public sphere in the foreign policy domain : political action and public discourse in Germany and the United Kingdom." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.608997.
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Pace, Roderick. "Malta and its relations with the European Union : a study of a micro-state and its participation in the process of European integration." Thesis, University of Reading, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286095.
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Elsuwege, Peter van. "From Soviet republics to EU member states : a legal and political assessment of the Baltic states' accession to the EU /." Leiden : M. Nijhoff, 2008. http://opac.nebis.ch/cgi-bin/showAbstract.pl?u20=9789004169456.
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Rasco, Clark Joseph. "Demographic trends in the European Union: political and strategic implications." Thesis, Monterey California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/1526.
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Approved for public release, distribution is unlimitedThis thesis analyzes adverse demographic trends in the European Union, including sub-replacement birthrates and increasing median ages. It investigates the implications of these trends for the EU's prospects for becoming a stronger and more influential actor in international affairs. Pressures arising from population trends in and near the EU could ultimately affect national and EU cohesion, governmental effectiveness, and social stability. Absent remedial measures, social programs in some EU countries will be unsustainable due to the mounting financial burden of pensions and health care for growing elderly populations. Such financial obligations hinder funding other national programs, including modernized military capabilities. Nationalism and national identity are at issue in immigrant integration and assimilation efforts. The role of population trends with regard to the growing threat of radical Islamic fundamentalism is explored. The thesis concludes with policy recommendations that might be considered to avert the looming economic, social, and security crises that may result from these demographic trends. In short, the security and financial consequences foreshadowed by the current demographic trends of an aging, economically weaker, and socially conflicted European Union could present dramatic implications for the vital national interests of the United States.
Lieutenant, United States Navy
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Schilcher, Daniela, and n/a. "Supranational governance of tourism : aid, trade and power relations between the European Union and the South Pacific island states." University of Otago. Department of Tourism, 2007. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20080508.150955.
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This thesis examined the role of supranational organisations (SOs) in the governance of tourism in a North-South context. Focusing on the issue area of development cooperation, this thesis investigated the question of how and why SOs got involved in tourism in developing countries, and more specifically, in small island developing states. Such involvement may occur either directly through aid funded projects or indirectly through international trade regimes that impact on tourism in the aid recipient countries. The thesis adopted a case study approach focussing on the European Union�s (EU�s) involvement in the governance of tourism in South Pacific island states. Grounded in a history of colonialism, the EU has been involved in the �development� of the South Pacific for more than three decades, which allowed to track changes in development philosophy over time. Focusing on the concept of power, the case was assessed in a multi-scalar manner, analysing the EU�s involvement from the global down to the local level. Never before has an entire multilevel polity been assessed in one coherent case study, incorporating actors situated at all levels and ranging from supranational organisations to national governments, businesses, communities, and individuals.
The methods employed in this thesis included interviews, participant observation, document analysis (policy documents and newspapers), and subsequently critical discourse analysis. The latter served to highlight the so-called �third face of power� (Lukes 1974), which is closely related to the concept of ideological hegemony. Interviews were conducted in Fiji and Samoa with officials of the South Pacific Delegations of the EU, officials of tourism authorities, NGOs, tourism operators and community members. Elite interviews in Brussels were conducted with officials of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Under all scales and �faces� of power the EU was found to be the dominant actor, while the issue of self-interest appeared to play a key role. At a macro-level, the EU clearly dominated in most overt decision-making situations during negotiations on aid and trade agreements. As concerned the inclusion of tourism in the agreements, the relative importance of the sector was clearly dependent on the European Commission�s prevailing attitude on �tourism and development� at any point in time. At a meso- and micro-level, the EU�s influence was less obvious yet nonetheless existent, for example through funding rules and the use of European consultants. Indirect influence also occurred at the national level. In particular the substitution of a preferential trade regime with a free trade agreement (the Economic Partnership Agreements), which is currently being negotiated between the EU and the Pacific Islands, is likely to have a significant impact on the economic importance of tourism, as well as public policy in the South Pacific. In a mini case study of Samoa, it was found that the resulting changes in tourism policy would have a significant impact �on the ground�, in particular with regard to rates of local ownership and control.
Overall, power relations were found to be highly unequal and self-determination and empowerment have largely not been achieved. However, more research is needed to examine the ability to generalise the findings to other geographic regions or other types of SOs. The key contribution of this thesis in the theoretical realm constitutes its bridging of agency and structure within multi-level governance, which may be conceived as a �third way� to either dependency theory-influenced studies (global/structure) or community approaches (local/agency).
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Oguzsoy, Cenk Mehmet. "The Structure Of National And Subnational Institutons In European Union Candidate Countries And Eu Implications." Thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/1260459/index.pdf.
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The European Union is now facing with the enormous enlargement processes, which comprise thirteen new countries. Different from the European Union member states, these candidate countries are suffering significant socio-economic problems and have to face with the need for adjustment of their regional policies, administrations and institutions. In this process, the EU is intervening actively into the development of the Central and Eastern European Countries&rsquoregional policies and institutional structures. While twelve of these countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia) will be definitely the member states until the year of 2007, Turkey is not currently negotiating her membership and is highly backward status in comparison with the other candidate countries. In this context, the thesis study is composed of four main parts: 1. the changing system of the European Union regional policy, 2. the realized applications of the candidate countries in the field of regional policy after the year 1989, 3. the developments of the candidate countries&rsquo
institutional structures on regional policy, and 4. the position of Turkish regional policy and institutional structure. Basically, the thesis investigates how the European Union is following a similar system for the candidate countries in the field of regional policy and institutional structure and tries to provide significant outputs in Turkish case.
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Levermore, Roger John. "The European Union/South Africa Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement : decision-making, participation and perceived economic impacts." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/391.
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The European Union-South Africa Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (EU/SA TDCA), signed in October 1999, is viewed by some in South Africa as not only one of the most important trade and development agreements entered into by the 'new' South African goverrunent, but also a significant agreement for setting precedents for other bi-lateral trade and development pacts between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific group of states. This thesis considers two major issues related to the EU/SA TDCA. First, it describes and evaluates the structures that supported the South African side of the TDCA decision-making process. Second, it discusses the potential economic impact of the agreement on South Africa and part of southern African. Prior to the election of the 'new' South African government in 1994, the majority of South Africa's population was excluded - both in terms of access to decision-making structures and from economic prosperity. By exploring the TDCA, the thesis provides a window through wl-dch to examine contemporary access to decision-making processes in South Africa and the likelihood of the TDCA promoting economic prosperity for sections of southern African society, particularly the 'traditionally excluded'. Interviews with key actors who helped formulate the TDCA provide information that enabled the evaluation of the TDCA decision-making process and highlighted potential economic 'winners' and 'losers'. Interviewing representatives of the South African wine and textile sectors provided an opportunity to examine in more detail the likely impact of the agreement and decision-making processes, associated to the TDCA, within South Africa. The results indicate that an overriding message of this thesis is one of complexity. The description of the structures that underpinned the EU/SA TDCA portrayed complex relationships between decision-making 'actors'. In evaluating the inclusivity of the policy formulation process, there was a lack of consensus over who had been included or excluded. Likewise, the identification of potential economic 'winners' and 'losers' proved to be somewhat problematic.
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O'Malley, Terence T. "The impact of participation in the European monetary union of the abnormal returns to U.S. target companies acquaired by European firms." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2002. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/291.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
Business Administration
Finance
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Győrffy, Dora. "Democracy and deficits : the new political economy of fiscal management reforms in the European Union /." Budapest : Akademiai K, 2007. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/526360356.pdf.
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Buckley, Jennifer. "Participatory inequality and the welfare state preferences of the politically active : a study of four European countries." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/participatory-inequality-and-the-welfare-state-preferences-of-the-politically-active-a-study-of-four-european-countries(a96bff18-adee-4a12-a311-d5a738bf7611).html.
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Across Europe, the welfare state is a focus of social and political contention. Participating in the democratic process offers a means for the public to voice their preferences. However, not everyone participates in politics. Research shows that there are significant participatory inequalities as those with greater socioeconomic resources are more likely to participate in politics. In light of these participatory inequalities, this thesis examines the representativeness of the welfare state preferences of the politically active. The main hypothesis posits that, if less advantaged socioeconomic groups are less likely to participate in politics, the welfare state preferences of the politically active are unlikely to be representative. The thesis brings together the comparative study of participatory inequality and social differences in welfare state preferences to examine data from the European Social Survey (ESS) 2008-09 for Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Latent Class Analysis examines how preferences about the welfare state vary within Europe. By grouping individuals, the analysis shows that within societies there are different views about what should be the responsibilities of government. Using the latent classes, and considering a range of political actions, multivariate regression models show how social inequality determines conflict over the welfare state and transforms into political inequality. The association between preferences and political activity is examined to establish the representativeness of participant preferences. Finally, models combining welfare state preferences, political activity and social position address how social inequality shapes the link between political activity and welfare state preferences. Based on survey data for four European countries, the thesis finds that the politically active are not always representative in their preferences; however, the preference bias of participation varies in direction across countries and forms of political participation. Participatory inequalities do lead to the under-representation of support for the welfare state among the politically active but not in all cases. Examining the social stratification of preferences and participation, the thesis suggests that cross-national variations in the representativeness of participants may result from how preferences and participation are socially stratified. For instance, significant participatory inequalities can occur in contexts where there is less contention over the welfare state. Conversely, contention over the welfare state can coincide with egalitarian patterns of political activity. A concluding proposition is that the factors inhibiting the political participation of the socio-economically disadvantaged may also cultivate weaker levels of support for the welfare state.
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Håland, Amanda Louise Bolann. "Protests as a Building Block to Deliberative Democracy? : A Quantitative Study on the Relationship Between Protests and Deliberative Democracy in 30 European Countries." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-445234.
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In a time of decreasing participation in party politics across Europe, both protests and deliberation can be studied as means of expressing political opinion that have not seen the same decline. Traditionally, protests and deliberation have been considered mutually exclusive. This notion has later been challenged, indicating that these factors coexist in democratic societies.The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of the complex causal relationship between protests and deliberative democracy in 30 European countries. This is investigated through the following research question: Do countries with high levels of protest activity also have high levels of deliberative democracy? Two contradicting hypotheses are established, where one considers protests and deliberation to be mutually exclusive while the second hypothesisconsiders them to be coexisting factors in democratic countries. To test the hypotheses, correlation matrices and regression analysis are used, adding relevant control variables (GDP per capita, population and income distribution) to the model. The results imply that protests and deliberation are not mutually exclusive, instead countries with higher levels of protest activity also have higher deliberation. However, this does not appear to be because protests itself drive deliberation, but rather that a confounding variable, measuring the percentage of national income that the bottom 40% holds, drives both protests and deliberation positively. The implications underline the importance of a more even income distribution to foster both more protests and higher deliberation. Further research to continue investigating these findings is encouraged.
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Baranava, Tatiana. "EUROPEAN UNION - BELARUS: A FRIENDLIER, WARMER RELATIONSHIP ? THE CASE OF THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23956.
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After 12 years of isolation, the relations between Brussels and Minsk have been thawing starting in the last year. One of the components of the policy of re-engagement is the new initiative adopted by the EU called Eastern Partnership (EaP). This thesis sought to answer following question: what were the main reasons for the change in the EU policy towards Belarus after 2008? In order to answer the research question I formulated two hypotheses. The first hypothesis argues that while the EU has acted according to the normative power expectations up until 2008, after that date a more pragmatic approach in the foreign policy has been at work. The second hypothesis explains this change by the increasing influence of Eastern European countries in realm of decision-making processes within the EU, which resulted in a reformed EU foreign policy towards Belarus.These hypotheses are tested in a qualitative case study of the launching of the Eastern Partnership initiative, seen as the most important instrument that defines the new policy of EU. I will focus on the process of decision–making in regards to the adoption of the new initiative towards the Eastern European countries, using the rational actor model and the theory of formal leadership. The results of the paper point out that the main reason for changing the EU foreign policy towards Belarus were connected to pragmatic interests in the economic and energy areas, which weakened the EU normative claims. However, EU values are still counted as political conditionality has recently re-entered the agenda. Thus, the current foreign policy is two-fold: based on rational model of acting and normative power. Moreover, the EaP is the result of the strengthened position of Eastern European countries in terms of the power hierarchy among EU members, with Poland, and the Baltic States playing an increasingly larger role.
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Marengo, Umberto. "The European Union in the international energy regime and relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, 1981-2013." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709420.
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Papandropoulos, Sylvie-Pénélope. "Issues in european competition policy: lobbying, reputation and R&D co-operation." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211988.
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Uzuncakmak, Ozge Sule. "European Civil Society:an Emerging Agenda." Master's thesis, METU, 2003. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/1217876/index.pdf.
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The European Union as a sui generis political system has become an attractive subject of inquiry especially within the last decade. By expanding into ever new areas of integration and by widening its competences, the Union has become a complex structure. As a result, the Union has started to be perceived as an entity remote from its citizens. Therefore the debate on the future of Europe has intensified and the legitimacy of the Union has started to be questioned. With this questioning process, the emphasis has begun to be put on creating new channels to reach the Union’
s citizens. Within this context, the literature has focused on the importance of a European civil society. The desire to establish a deeper European political integration by constructing a European public space has made the European civil society a popular concept. On the other hand, the community institutions have also started to introduce policies to increase the role of civil society in order to close the gap between the Union and its citizens. In this respect, it can be argued that this process has been intensified after the publication of White Paper on European Governance. In the White Paper, the Commission has underlined the significance of a European civil society to strengthen the ties between the citizens and the EU. Then, a further step was taken by the Convention on the Future of the European Union. With the Convention, for the first time citizens and their representatives participated in the decision-making concerning the future shape of the Union. This is an important departure from the past and an essential step in the direction of a public debate on the prospective characteristics of European governance and democracy. This debate has raised interesting questions about the relationship between democracy, subsidiarity, efficiency and governance. Within this context, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze whether the development of an organized European civil society, which gains prominence by forms of governance developed by the EU, is perceived as a part of the solution to get the Union closer to its citizens. In this respect, the question of to what extent the European civil society is perceived as an arena, where EU citizens can exercise their rights beyond the nation-state will be discussed. In addition, different attitudes of the community institutions concerning European civil society will be also examined.
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Bertelsmann-Scott, Talitha. "The SA-EU trade, development and co-operation agreement : democratising South Africa's trade policy." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52573.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the democratisation of South Africa's foreign trade policy, by evaluating the negotiations surrounding the establishment of a free trade area between South Africa and the European Union (EU). Democracy here is defined as a form of government that rests on three components namely, public participation in and public debate over policy formulation and a governing elite that is responsive to the needs of the majority of the population. The thesis firstly outlines the process of negotiation itself, looking at the developments that shaped the years of talks. It examines the nature of the final agreement, called the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA). It focuses on the Co-operation Agreements that were concluded, South Africa's partial accession to the Lomé Convention and the details of the free trade agreement. It finds that although the negotiations took very long to complete and the EU proved to be a tough negotiator, there are a number of opportunities for South Africans in the TDCA. In the second section the internal process in developing a South African negotiating mandate is examined. This is done to conclude whether or not South Africa's foreign trade policy is being formulated in a democratic manner. However, first of all the question why the democratisation of foreign trade policy formulation is important is addressed. Two possible theories are advanced. Firstly, globalisation has forced countries to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) as a matter of urgency. Seeing as FDI is mostly tied up with western nations that prefer democracies, states are opting to democratise. The focus is to a large extent on satisfying international actors. Or alternatively, the very survival of the nascent democracy today depends on the consultative nature of domestic economic and international economic policy formulation. This is not a question of choice with an external focus, but rather a matter of urgency with purely an internal focus. Four actors in foreign policy formulation, namely parliament, government, the bureaucracy and civil society, are examined in order to understand whether they had access to the process and whether these institutions themselves have been democratised since 1994. The thesis finds that the process was to a large extent democratic in nature. However, the thesis also finds that no matter how democratic policy formulation is in South Africa, the options for policy are limited by a number of international elements. These include globalisation, regional trading blocs like the European Union, and international organisations like the World Trade Organisation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis evalueer die demokratisering van Suid-Afrika se buitelandse handelsbeleid deur die onderhandelingsproses tussen die Europese Unie (EU) en Suid-Afrika rakende die sluiting van 'n vryhandelsooreenkoms te ontleed. Demokrasie word in die tesis definieer as 'n tipe regering wat rus op drie komponente, naamlik deelname in en debat oor beleidsformulering en 'n regerende elite wat die behoeftes van die meerderheid van die burgers in ag neem in beleidsformulering. Eerstens omskryf die tesis die gebeure wat die onderhandelingsproses beïnvloed het. Die finale ooreenkoms word oorweeg teen die agtergrond van die samewerkingsooreenkomste wat tussen die partye gesluit is, Suid-Afrika se gedeeltelike deelname aan die Lomé Konfensie en die vryhandelsooreenkoms. Die gevolgtrekking word bereik dat ten spyte van die feit dat die onderhandelings oor 'n hele aantal jare gestek het, en alhoewel die EU 'n uitgeslape onderhandelaar was, die orreenkoms talle geleenthede vir Suid-Afrikaners skep. In die tweede instansie word die interne proses wat tot Suid-Afrika se onderhandelingsmandaat gelei het, ondersoek. Dit is gedoen om vas te stel of die beleid op 'n demokratiese manier geformuleer is. Daar word egter eers bepaal waarom die demokratisering van buitelandse handelsbeleid belangrik is. Twee moontlike teorie word geformuleer. Die eerste stel dit dat globalisering lande forseer om direkte buitelandse beleggings aan te lok. Siende dat buitelandse beleggings van westerlike state afkomstig is, wat verkies om met demokratiese state sake te doen, word ontwikkelende lande as te ware geforseer om veral hulle buitelandse beleidsformulering te demokratiseer. In die alternatief kan dit betoog word dat die voortbestaan van die demokrasie self afhang van 'n ekonomiese beleidsformulering wat beide binnelandse en internasionale prosesse insluit. Dit is nie 'n kwessie van keuse met 'n eksterne fokus nie, maar 'n noodsaaklikheid met 'n interne fokus. Vier groeperinge wat buitelandse beleidsformulering beïnvloed word ondersoek, naamlik die Parlament, the regering, die burokrasie en die burgerlike samelewing, om vas te stelof hierdie instansies toegang tot die proses gehad het en of hierdie instansies self sedert 1994 gedemokratiseer is. Die tesis kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat al is die formulering van buitelandse beleid hoé demokraties, word die moontlikehede vir beleidsformulering beperk deur globalisering, streeksorganisasies soos die EU, en internasionale organisasies soos the Wêreld Handelsorganisasie. Vir Chris, Gitti, Thomas en my ouers, sonder wie hierdie nooit klaar sou gekom het nie. Baie dankie ook aan Prof Philip Nel vir sy hulp, leiding en ondersteuning.
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SANDU, ROXANA IONELA. "The European Union: Voting, Turnout and Legitimacy." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/1429.
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Perseguendo politiche comuni per gli Stati membri, l'Unione Europea si è trasformata da unione puramente economica ad unione politica. Tuttavia, per quanto riguarda quest'ultimo aspetto, è stato fatto poco. Lo scetticismo è venuto a caratterizzare il clima politico dell'Unione Europea e l’elevata eterogeneità nei termini degli Stati membri hanno causato difficoltà nel processo decisionale.
Questa tesi si concentra sulle politiche europee da tre aspetti: la legittimità, che si riferisce al sostegno politico dei cittadini, il comportamento di voto e di partecipazione dei cittadini. Una delle questioni principali della ricerca riguarda l’esistenza delle basi per la genesi di veri e propri partiti politici europei, come via d’uscita dalla crisi di legittimità dell'Unione Europea. Ci si chiede poi quali sono i principali fattori che influenzano la partecipazione alle elezioni del Parlamento Europeo, dal momento che esso è l'unica fonte diretta di legittimità. Infine, si studiano le cause del gap in affluenza per le elezioni europee e nazionali, guardando la quota di voto del partito. L'argomento principale per l’esistenza dei partiti pan-europei è quello di difendere gli stessi interessi e valori su scala europea. I risultati empirici sottolineano che la polarizzazione di classe sociale, è già presente nei primi 12 Stati membri dell'UE, e anche nei nuovi Stati membri, mentre nelle elezioni del Parlamento europeo gli elettori votano sinceramente. In conclusione: l'Europa soddisfa la base per la creazione di partiti pan-Europei che difendino vere e proprie politiche europee, mirate ai gruppi sociali che rappresentano, come una possibile soluzione per la crisi di legittimità.By pursuing common policies for its Member States, the European Union moved from being a purely economic union, to being a political one as well. However, little has been done to tackle the latter aspect. Skepticism has come to characterize the political climate of the European Union and high heterogeneity in terms of Member States has induced difficulties in the decision-making process. This thesis focuses on the European Politics from three aspects: legitimacy, which refers to citizens’ political support, voting behavior and turnout. One of the main research questions we address is whether or not the basis for the existence of true European party politics exists, as a way out of the European Union legitimacy crisis. Then, we ask what are the main factors that influence electoral participation in the European Parliament elections since it is the only source of direct legitimacy. Lastly, we investigate what are the causes for the turnout gap across European and National elections, looking at the party vote share. The main argument for pan-European to exist is to defend the same values and interests European-wide. Empirical results point out that social class's polarization already exists in the initial 12 EU Member States, as well as later entries, while in the European Parliament elections voters cast their vote sincerely. We conclude that Europe fulfils the base requirement for the creation of true European politics, party politics and social groups' targeted-policies being a possible solution for the legitimacy crisis.
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SANDU, ROXANA IONELA. "The European Union: Voting, Turnout and Legitimacy." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/1429.
Full textAbstract:
Perseguendo politiche comuni per gli Stati membri, l'Unione Europea si è trasformata da unione puramente economica ad unione politica. Tuttavia, per quanto riguarda quest'ultimo aspetto, è stato fatto poco. Lo scetticismo è venuto a caratterizzare il clima politico dell'Unione Europea e l’elevata eterogeneità nei termini degli Stati membri hanno causato difficoltà nel processo decisionale.
Questa tesi si concentra sulle politiche europee da tre aspetti: la legittimità, che si riferisce al sostegno politico dei cittadini, il comportamento di voto e di partecipazione dei cittadini. Una delle questioni principali della ricerca riguarda l’esistenza delle basi per la genesi di veri e propri partiti politici europei, come via d’uscita dalla crisi di legittimità dell'Unione Europea. Ci si chiede poi quali sono i principali fattori che influenzano la partecipazione alle elezioni del Parlamento Europeo, dal momento che esso è l'unica fonte diretta di legittimità. Infine, si studiano le cause del gap in affluenza per le elezioni europee e nazionali, guardando la quota di voto del partito. L'argomento principale per l’esistenza dei partiti pan-europei è quello di difendere gli stessi interessi e valori su scala europea. I risultati empirici sottolineano che la polarizzazione di classe sociale, è già presente nei primi 12 Stati membri dell'UE, e anche nei nuovi Stati membri, mentre nelle elezioni del Parlamento europeo gli elettori votano sinceramente. In conclusione: l'Europa soddisfa la base per la creazione di partiti pan-Europei che difendino vere e proprie politiche europee, mirate ai gruppi sociali che rappresentano, come una possibile soluzione per la crisi di legittimità.By pursuing common policies for its Member States, the European Union moved from being a purely economic union, to being a political one as well. However, little has been done to tackle the latter aspect. Skepticism has come to characterize the political climate of the European Union and high heterogeneity in terms of Member States has induced difficulties in the decision-making process. This thesis focuses on the European Politics from three aspects: legitimacy, which refers to citizens’ political support, voting behavior and turnout. One of the main research questions we address is whether or not the basis for the existence of true European party politics exists, as a way out of the European Union legitimacy crisis. Then, we ask what are the main factors that influence electoral participation in the European Parliament elections since it is the only source of direct legitimacy. Lastly, we investigate what are the causes for the turnout gap across European and National elections, looking at the party vote share. The main argument for pan-European to exist is to defend the same values and interests European-wide. Empirical results point out that social class's polarization already exists in the initial 12 EU Member States, as well as later entries, while in the European Parliament elections voters cast their vote sincerely. We conclude that Europe fulfils the base requirement for the creation of true European politics, party politics and social groups' targeted-policies being a possible solution for the legitimacy crisis.
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Barker, Roger M. "Competition, parties and the determinants of change in European corporate governance : a macro-comparative analysis /." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2008. http://ora.ouls.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:31d9f1df-60e4-413d-80b2-e35e8790bac9.
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Magnusson, Erika. "The Importance of Participation Across Transnational Spheres for Democratic Development : A content analysis of the emergence of a European public sphere within the European Economic and Social Committee." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43880.
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The last 15 years has exemplified severe deficiencies in the institutional design of the European Union (EU). The EU suffers from a democratic deficit, which is demonstrated in the neglect if citizens preferences and their influence on decision making processes. This democratic deficit impacts not only the authority and legitimacy of the union but raises concerns between the EU and the world. The democratic deficit remains because of the lack of a European public sphere (EPS), an element which Habermas argues is necessary for democracy development. While previous research has found evidence for its existence in social networks and masss-media, this study broadens the field and investigates the potential existence if an EPS in a physical political network, namely the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). By conducting a quantitative content analysis, the study reveals clear indications of an EPS within the committee in which it is highly engaged in. Their engagement in the sphere is crucial to increase influence and power, as their engagement can decrease the democratic deficit, increase the legitimacy of the EU, and favour smooth cooperation between the member states, and between the EU and the world.
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Tanrikulu, Osman Goktug. "A Dissatisfied Partner: A Conflict - Integration Analysis of Britain's Membership in the European Union." PDXScholar, 2013. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1064.
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Since 2009, the European Union has faced the worst economic crisis of its history. Due to the devastating impact of the Eurozone crisis on their economies, European countries realized the need to deepen the integration. Without a fiscal union, the Monetary Union would always be prone to economic crises. However, the efforts to reinforce the Union’s economy have been hampered by the UK due to its obsession with national sovereignty and lack of European ideals. In opposing further integration, the UK officials have started to speak out about the probability of leaving the EU.
The purpose of this paper is to present benefits and challenges of Britain’s EU membership and to assess the consequences of leaving the Union both for the UK and for the EU. This study utilizes Power Transition theory to analyze British impact on European integration. With the perspective of this theory, the UK is defined as a dissatisfied partner. By applying the conflict– cooperation model of Brian Efird, Jacek Kugler and Gaspare Genna, the effect of the UK’s dissatisfaction is empirically portrayed.
The empirical findings of the conflict– integration model clearly show that Britain’s dissatisfaction has a negative impact on European integration and jeopardizes the future of the Union. Power Transitions analysis indicates that the UK would become an insignificant actor in the international system and lose the opportunity for the Union’s leadership if it leaves the EU. On the other hand, although Britain’s departure would be a significant loss in terms of capability, economic coherence is more important for the EU. Without enough commitment for the Union, increasing the level of integration with the UK would raise the probability of conflict with the integration process in the future.
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Weerts, Laurence. "Mutations et utilisations du concept de "frontière" dans l'intégration européenne: une analyse des recompositions des modes de gouvernement et de légitimation dans l'ordre politique européen." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211212.
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Van, der Holst Marieke. "EPA negotiations between the EU and SADC/SACU grouping: partnership or asymmetry?" Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1931.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science. International Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.Europe and Africa share a long history that is characterized both by oppression and development. The relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is a particularly important aspect of EU development cooperation policy. The developmental history between the EU and Africa started with the Yaoundé Conventions of 1963 and 1969, which were replaced by the Lomé Convention. Unfortunately, the favourable terms and preferential access for the ACP countries to Europe failed and the Lomé Convention was replaced by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) in 2000. As a result of a WTO-waiver, the discriminatory non-reciprocal trade preferences, which were previously enjoyed under the Lomé Convention, continued until December 2007. The Cotonou Agreement points out that these trade preferences will be replaced by joint WTOcompatible Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). During the EPA negotiations, the EU preferred to negotiate on a regional basis instead of negotiating with the ACP as a whole or with individual countries. Consequently, Sub-Saharan Africa formed two negotiation groups; the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) EPA group and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA group, represented by the five Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries, together with Mozambique and Angola. Although Southern Africa is the region that leads the continent; from an economic perspective, the Southern African states show considerable disparities. Due to the economic differences between South Africa and the BLNS countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland), the interests of the individual SACU countries are diverse and often contradictory, which resulted in complicated EPA negotiations. However, maintaining a favourable long-term trading relationship with the EU is of great importance to the economic and political well-being of the SADC, since the EU is the main trading partner of most African countries. By December 2007, an interim EPA (IEPA) was initialled by the BLNS countries as a result of the pressure to fall back to the unfavourable Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Due to the bilateral Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) that is in force between South Africa and the EU, South Africa was not negatively influenced by the expiry of the WTO-waiver. The EPA will have a negative impact on regional integration within SADC and will promote distinction within the regional economic communities. Duty free, quota free access was offered to the BLNS countries, but the EU did not extend this offer to South Africa because of the developmental status of the country and the pre-existing TDCA. Consequently, South Africa will be required to export at higher prices and will experience increased competition within the region. The downside of the removal of import tariffs for the BLNS countries is that government revenues will decrease, which might result in income losses and will accentuate poverty. The standstill-clause of the IEPA prevents the SACU countries from diversifying economically and from developing new industries. The Most- Favoured Nation clause primarily impacts negatively on South Africa, since it prevents South Africa from negotiating freely with other countries such as Brazil and China. Furthermore, the strict intellectual property rules of the IEPA undermine access to knowledge and hereby fail to support innovation. The content of a chapter on liberalization of services, that will be included in the full EPA, is still being negotiated. Liberalization of services might lead to more foreign investments in the BLNS countries, as a result of which the quality of services will increase, leading to better education, infrastructure and more job opportunities. However, foreign companies will gain power at the expense of African governments and companies. South Africa is the main supplier of services in the BLNS countries and will therefore be confronted with economic losses when the services sector is liberalized. From an economic nationalist perspective, the EU included numerous provisions in the IEPA that were not necessary for WTO compatibility. However, the EU is aware of the importance of trade agreements for the BLNS countries and found itself in the position to do so to fulfil its own interests. By making use of the expiry date of the WTO waiver; the IEPA was initialled by the BLNS countries within a relatively short period of time. South Africa, in its own national interests, opposed the provisions of the IEPA, which has led to the negotiations deadlock. Because of the economic power and negotiating tactics of the EU and the selfinterested attitude of South Africa in this respect, regional integration is undermined and the poorest countries are once again the worst off. Although Economic Partnership Agreements have to be established, the partnership-pillar is, in my opinion, hard to find.
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Savevska, Maja. "The evolving governance structure of the European Union : asymmetric, but not disembedded : immanent possibilities in the social and environmental policy domains." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2014. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/67645/.
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The subject of inquiry of my research is the socio-economic restructuring of the European Union (EU). The project provides an innovative interdisciplinary intervention that uses the canonical texts of Karl Polanyi and the insights from the burgeoning Polanyian scholarship in an attempt to explain the morphology of the contradictions that underpin the EU integration project. The starting point of analysis lies in the recent debates instigated by the critical turn in the EU studies scholarship that tries to shift the focus from the causes of the EU integration to its consequences. My original contribution to the scholarship consists of providing a Polanyian critique of the EU political economy. The ever-growing Polanyian scholarship proves a formidable alternative to the already established Gramscian and Marxist routes of critical inquiry. Based on a close reading of Polanyi and the wider Polanyian scholarship the thesis proposes a new take on the established practice of using Polanyi’s concept of dis/embeddedness as an all-or-nothing phenomenon and instead suggests conceptualising the social reality in terms of tendencies. The lenses through which I evaluate the EU predicament consist of the following conceptual vocabulary: a) dis/embedding tendencies b) habitation and improvement, and c) the rate of change. The main puzzle that the project endeavours to explain is the interplay between the disembedding and the embedding tendencies in the EU. The examination of the disembedding tendency consists of excavating the self-regulating market logic inscribed into the EU edifice by analysing the development across three policy fields: competition, finance and education. The findings suggest that the disembedding tendency is manifested not only in the monetary orthodoxy inscribed in the Economic and Monetary Union since the Maastricht Treaty and further reified during the Great Recession, but also in the privatisation, depoliticisation and commodification dynamics evident in the three policy domains discussed in the thesis. Given Polanyi’s observation that the embedding tendency is immanent to the disembedding one, the second empirical endeavour consists of investigating the surge of socio-environmental measures. Notwithstanding the institutional divergences between the social and environmental policy domains, the appraisal of the policy output demonstrates that the embedding tendency is characterised by the same marketisation dynamic that we see in the disembedding one. This thesis recuperates a critical Polanyian reading that highlights the disruptive dialectics between the disembedding tendency and the seemingly protective measures predicated on fictitious commodification. In addition to unearthing the structural bias towards the market form that constitutes the two tendencies, this project develops a normative critique of the market society, based on Polanyi’s ferocious appraisal of neoclassical economics’ formal understanding of the economy, by problematising the extension of the economising rationality within previously unaffected spheres.
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Breindl, Yana. "Hacking the law: an analysis of internet-based campaigning on digital rights in the European Union." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/209836.
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Digital rights activism constitutes an exemplary case of how internet affordances can be mobilised to engender political change. The values and principles stemming from the hacker imaginaire, and free and open source software practices, underpin digital rights activism, which uses the internet as a tool, object and platform for the protection of rights in the digital realm. The analysis focuses on how digital rights activists use and adapt the political affordances of the internet to intervene in European Union policy-making. Two original case studies of internet-based campaigning at the European level (the “No Software Patents” and the “Telecoms package” campaigns) provide in-depth insight into the campaigning processes and their impact upon parliamentary politics. The cases highlight the complementarity of online and offline collective action, by examining processes of open collaboration, information disclosure and internet-assisted lobbying. The success of the “Telecoms package” campaign is then assessed, along with the perspective of the targets: members and staff of the European Parliament.The belief in values of freedom, decentralisation, openness, creativity and progress inspires a particular type of activism, which promotes autonomy, participation and efficiency. The empirical evidence suggests that this set of principles can, at times, conflict with practices observed in the field. This has to do with the particular opportunity structure of the European Union and the characteristics of the movement. The EU favours functional integration of civil society actors who are expected to contribute technical and/or legal expertise. This configuration challenges internet-based protest networks that rely on highly independent and fluctuating engagement, and suffer from a lack of diversity and cohesion. The internet does not solve all obstacles to collective action. It provides, however, a networked infrastructure and tools for organising, coordinating and campaigning. Online and offline actions are not only supportive of each other. Internet-based campaigning can be successful once it reaches out beyond the internet, and penetrates the corridors of political institutions.
Doctorat en Information et communication
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Tjernström, Vanni. "Europa norrifrån : en nordisk komparativ studie av europeisk politisk kommunikation." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Kultur och medier, 2001. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-59863.
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The study examines the European coverage in four leading Nordic newspapers during two periods in 1993 and in 1996. During the first period, three countries were negotiating for membership in the European Union. During the second period, work on a new European Constitution was ongoing, to be negotiated by the Intergovernmental Conference at the end of the period. Two of the applicant countries, Finland and Sweden, were then members of the union since Jan 1, 1995. Voters in the third country, Norway, opted to stay outside the union. Norway is, however closely linked to the union by the previous EEA agreement. Finally, the fourth country, Denmark, had limited its longstanding membership in four important areas. Results of the main study in 1993 indicate a great difference in the degree of Europeanness of the coverage of European affairs, as indicated by the share of European issues, sources, players, institutions etc. The Danish paper, the Politiken, was on all counts genuinely European in its coverage. This could, to begin with, be understood in terms of a relational context - Denmark was a member of the European Community, the other countries were not. In 1996, as could be expected, the Norwegian paper, the Aftenposten, reduced its coverage of European affairs to about half the previous volume, the Finnish and Swedish papers, the Hufvudstadsbladet and the Dagens Nyheter, increased their volumes to new highs. The Danish paper maintained its previously comparatively high volume of European coverage, and was still distinctly more European in its outlook on transnational politics. This could be understood in terms of a new Maturity proposition - it may take a long time for the national media to come to terms with a new political environment. The study also puts forward the proposition that Danish political culture requires a different coverage of European affairs, and also requires an opportunity to discuss and evaluate European politics. On a theoretical level, the study supports the idea that national experience, historical and relational contexts influence media content. National agendas powerfully determine the orientation of transnational political communication . Three in-depth studies by and large confirm results from the content analysis. A separate exercise inspired by Grounded Theory gives rise to three theoretical concepts that seem to be fundamental dimensions of European political communication: Legitimacy (media coverage contributes to status conferral and encourages deliberation of cooperation as an idea), Participation (media coverage as expressions of intrinsical and instrumental motives for joining and taking responsibility towards European cooperation), and Mondialization/Universalism (media coverage of Europe's efforts in the global arena)digitalisering@umu
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Penwarden, Mia. "Suur druiwe? Wyn, die TDCA en Suid-Afrika." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53076.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In October 1999 South Africa and the European Union (EU) signed a free trade agreement, the Trade Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA), which came into effect on 1 January 2000. The TDCA was developed to enhance bilateral trade, economic-, political- and social cooperation and consists of three components - the creation of a Free Trade Area between South-Africa and the EU, EU financial aid to South Africa through the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development (EPRD), and project aid. However, the EU, in an effort to secure the best possible deal for itself, often behave in its own interests (through the manipulation of the Wine and Spirits Agreement) during the negotiations for the TDCA. The goal of this study was to establish what exactly trademarks are, and what implications the EU's protection of intellectual property rights on wine and spirits trademarks will have on i) the South African wine industry, ii) whether South Africa could have exercised another option, iii) whether this action has created a precedent with which the EU can, in future, again force South Africa or any of its other developing trade partners to make concessions, and iv) who gains the most from the TDCA. The concludes that the EU, through the manipulation of the Wine and Spirits Agreement, left South Africa with no choice by to concede the use of the contested trademarks - something that has already taken its toll on the South African wine industry - in order to save the TDCA. This action created a precedent that the EU will, in future, again be in a position to threaten developing countries with the termination of an agreement should they fail to comply with its demands. Finally, the conclusion is made that even though the TDCA was created to assist South Africa with its reintegration into the world market, it will ultimately be the EU that benefits most from the agreement.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika en die Europese Unie (EU) het in Oktober 1999 In vryehandelsooreenkoms, die Trade Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA) onderteken, wat op 1 Januarie 2000 in werking getree het. Die TDCA is ontwerp om bilaterale handel-, ekonomiese-, politieke- en sosiale samewerking te bevorder en bestaan uit drie komponente, naamlik die skep van 'n vryehandelgebied tussen die EU en Suid-Afrika; finansiele steun deur die EU aan Suid-Afrika onder die European Programme for Reconstruction and Development (EPRD) en projekhulp. Die EU het egter dikwels in eiebelang opgetree (deur middel van die manipulasie van die Wyn- en Spiritus Ooreenkoms) tydens die onderhandelingsproses in 'n poging om die beste moontlike ooreenkoms vir homself te beding. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te bepaal wat presies handelsmerke is, en watter implikasies die EU se beskerming van intellektuele eiendomsregte aangaande wyn- en spiritushandelsmerke op i) die Suid-Afrikaanse wynbedryf sal he, ii) of Suid-Afrika 'n ander opsie kon uitoefen, iii) of hierdie aksie In presedent geskep het waarmee die EU Suid-Afrika of enige van sy ander ontwikkelende handelsvennote in die toekoms weer sal kan dwing om toegewings te maak, en iv) wie die meeste baat vind by die TDCA. Die studie het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die EU deur die manipulasie van die Wyn- en Spiritus Ooreenkoms aan Suid-Afrika geen keuse gegee het nie as om die gebruik van die betwiste handelsmerke op te se - iets wat reeds die Suid-Afrikaanse wynbedryf geknou het - in 'n poging om die TDCA te behou. Hierdie optrede skep 'n presedent dat die EU voortaan in onderhandelings met ander ontwikkelende state weer kan dreig om die hele ooreenkoms te verongeluk indien daar nie aan sy eise voldoen word nie. In die laaste instansie is daar tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat, alhoewel die TDCA daarop gemik was om Suid-Afrika te help met sy herintegrasie tot die wereldmark, dit uiteindelik die EU is wat die meeste daarby gaan baat.
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Coosemans, Thierry. "Les Libéraux dans l'Union européenne: étude de cas :le groupe libéral, démocratique et réformateur du Parlement européen, 1979-2002 :un bilan." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/210544.
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Sente, Christophe. "L'étude des idées politiques au sein des partis de la social-démocratie européenne: de l'utilité du concept du révisionnisme." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/210006.
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La thèse s'attache à étudier la validité conceptuelle de la notion de révisionnisme pour la compréhension de la dynamique idéationnelle et programmatique de la social-démocratie européenne.Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
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Stilwell, Jonathan. "Sustainable development and the governance of fisheries frequented by heterogeneous user groups : a political economy perspective on the case of European Union participation in the Senegalese marine fishery." Versailles-St Quentin en Yvelines, 2008. http://www.theses.fr/2008VERS003S.
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Cette thèse aborde, d’un point de vue d’économie politique, des questions relatives à la gouvernance des pêcheries maritimes constituées de plusieurs groupes hétérogènes de pêcheurs. Les caractéristiques politiques et économiques liées aux modes de décision dans la gestion économique sont présentées à la lumière des théories existantes. Cela conduit à observer que la gouvernance des activités est généralement principalement influencée par des intérêts micro-rationnels à court terme, plus que par des considérations d’intérêt général macro-rationnels à long terme. Nous alléguons que cela résulte d’un manque d’information susceptible d’illustrer les implications à long terme des décisions économiques principalement fondées sur la recherche de profits à court terme. Le développement durable offre un concept susceptible de fournir un cadre permettant une gouvernance permettant de satisfaire à la recherche d’une éthique macro-rationnelle. En conséquence, une méthode multicritère est développée pour décrire les conséquences des choix de gestion économique selon divers aspects, économiques ou non, liés aux développement durable. Cette méthode est nommée « Sustainable Development Directives (SDD) approach ». Elle est appliquée au cas de la gouvernance de la pêche maritime au Sénégal. La pêche maritime sénégalaise est le fait de plusieurs secteurs très différents, artisanal, industriel local et industriel étranger (Union Européenne). L’application de l’approche « SDD » à ce cas d’étude inclut une évaluation qui nous permet de comparer certaines des implications économiques et non économiques que les activités de chaque secteur ont pour le développement soutenable de la pêche maritime sénégalaise. Cette application conduit à observer que l’hétérogénéité des secteurs de la pêche peut être largement mise à profit au bénéfice du développement durable de la pêcherie. Ceci permet de proposer aux autorités de décision une orientation politique macro-rationnelle susceptible d’aider la poursuite d'une pêche maritime plus soutenable au SénégalThis thesis addresses questions surrounding the governance of marine fisheries frequented by heterogeneous sets of user groups, from a political economy point of view. A review of relevant theory explores some of the characteristics of political and economic aspects to economic governance decisions, as well as how the relationships between these two facets can be seen to impact upon governance decision processes. This review of theory permits an observation that the governance of economic activities is frequently closely influenced by the pursuit of short term micro rational interests, rather than by a long term macro rational ethic. This, it is argued, results in part from a lack of information that is capable of illustrating the long run implications of economic decisions that may be based primarily on the pursuit of short term financial or in some cases political gain. In an attempt to find a framework that is capable of providing macro rational policy orientation to such governance processes, sustainable development is reviewed as a concept, and is found to be capable of providing policy orientation that accords with the pursuit of a more macro rational ethic. Subsequently, a multi criterion analysis methodology is developed in the thesis in a view to describing the sustainable development implications, accounting for economic and non economic implications, of economic policy choices. The methodology offered is named the Sustainable Development Directives (SDD) approach, and is applied to the case of the governance of the Senegalese maritime fishery. As a starting point the case study provides significant contextual background to the governance situation faced in the Senegalese fishery, which is frequented by a heterogeneous set of user groups. Among these groups are a local artisanal sector, a local industrial sector, and a foreign European Union (EU) sector. The application of the SDD approach to the case study entails an evaluation that permits us to compare some of the economic and non economic implications that the activities of each user group have for the sustainable development of the Senegalese maritime fishery. The application of the SDD approach to the case study leads to an observation that the heterogeneity of the user groups frequenting the fishery can be capitalised upon to a greater extent for the benefit of the sustainable development of the fishery
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Van, De Walle Cédric. "Le rôle de la Fédération européenne des partis verts: étude de la coopération multilatérale entre partis verts à l'échelle européenne." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211213.
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Renard, Philippe. "Les politiques de l'enseignement supérieur en Europe: de l'intégration à l'harmonisation." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211983.
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Paparouni, Evgenia. "La rhétorique des institutions européennes: le débat sur les perspectives financières 2007-2013." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/209385.
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Abstract (version française suit)Although the EU is a privileged point of focus for political science studies, its discursive activity has not received all the attention it deserves. This corpus analysis adopts a descriptive approach, based on the Neo-Aristotelian trend in argumentation theory, by using both analytical categories of classical rhetoric and (emic or etic) categories that belong to the conceptualization of the debate entertained by its own participants. The corpus consists of public interventions by representatives of the three main EU Institutions (Commission, European Council and Parliament). The speeches were pronounced between June and December 2005. Since it is discussed every seven years, the topic of the Financial Perspectives offers the possibility of making diachronic comparisons; it also allows identifying values, projects and means of the European construction at a rhetorical level. The last six months of 2005 followed two significant events: the conflicting attitudes of European Governments regarding the Iraq war and the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by referendums.
In the absence of any other metaphysical or natural foundation, the technocratic enterprise provides the European project with a rational and secular justification that is not always assumed as such, though, by the presidents of the Commission. The conceptual metaphors stemming from the preambles to the treaties convey the idea that European integration will be achieved by triggering a gradual process that should lead to the realization of an ultimate aim.
From a rhetorical point of view, the Financial Perspectives are in need of legitimacy. In 2005, the rhetorical invocation of dates/milestones, abundantly used by former presidents of the Commission, does not seem to work anymore. Both the requirement of unanimity in the legislative procedure and the habitus of European deliberation make it necessary to find an agreement; this consequently promotes “consensus” as a meta-communicational argument. The notion of a “consensus” runs against such theoretical (epistemological) and pragmatic objections that it proves imperious to wonder about its origin and roots. One should take into account not only scholarly conceptions of “consensus” (Habermas, the Deliberative Democracy movement), but also naïve and popular visions of it.
The EU Institutions are aware of the difficulty they meet in awakening citizens’ interest, and they have developed their Communication Policy in order to give themselves the means to overcome this obstacle. A systematic reflection on their strategy should take into account the divergent opinions of Moravscik and Hix, as well as the possibility of grounding the EU project anew on a revival of ancient homonoïa.
DISCLAIMER. The content of this thesis represents solely the views of its author and cannot in any circumstances be regarded as the official position of the European Commission.
Résumé
Quoique l’Union Européenne (UE) soit un objet de prédilection pour les politologues, son activité discursive n’a pas reçu toute l’attention méritée.
La thèse offre une analyse de corpus effectuée sur base d’une grille de lecture incluant des catégories rhétoriques étiques et émiques. Elle adopte une approche descriptive puisée dans le versant néo-aristotélicien de l’étude de l’argumentation. Le corpus a été constitué d’interventions publiques tenues par les représentants des trois principales Institutions Européennes (Commission, Conseil Européen, Parlement Européen) entre juin et décembre 2005. Le sujet des Perspectives Financières, débattu à intervalles réguliers, permet des comparaisons diachroniques ;il permet aussi de contraster les valeurs, les projets et les moyens de la construction européenne. La conjoncture des six derniers mois de 2005 présente la particularité supplémentaire que le projet de Traité Constitutionnel venait d’être rejeté et que les gouvernements européens s’étaient auparavant divisés sur l’intervention en Irak.
En l’absence d’un fondement métaphysique ou naturel, l’entreprise technocratique fournit au projet politique européen une justification rationnelle et laïcisée, même si elle n’est pas assumée explicitement en tant que telle par tous les présidents de la Commission. Les métaphores conceptuelles mobilisées dans les préambules des traités traduisent le fait que l’unification européenne devrait s’accomplir à la fois par l’entremise de réalisations progressives et à travers la poursuite d’un objectif lointain.
Sur le plan rhétorique, les Perspectives Financières sont en manque d’une légitimité emblématique. La clause des rendez-vous, des étapes cruciales, abondamment utilisée dans le passé par les présidents de la Commission, cesse de fonctionner en 2005. La nécessité d’un accord, issue tant de la lettre de la procédure législative par unanimité que de la coutume des délibérations, est devenue matière à un argument méta-communicationnel qui en est arrivé à englober toute circonstance susceptible de faciliter le « consensus ». Cette dernière notion soulève des réticences théoriques (épistémologiques) et pragmatiques qui imposent de s’interroger sur son origine. La problématisation que nous avons opérée tient compte non seulement des conceptions savantes du « consensus » (Habermas, courant de la Démocratie Délibérative), mais aussi de ses variantes populaires ou vulgarisées.
Les Institutions Européennes sont conscientes de la difficulté qu’il y a à motiver l’intérêt citoyen, et elles ont voulu, à travers leur Politique de Communication, se donner les moyens de dépasser cet obstacle. La thèse mène, à ce propos, une réflexion plus générale qui tient compte des avis opposés de Moravcsik et Hix, et d’une éventuelle refondation dans l’homonoïa de la rhétorique classique.
DISCLAIMER. Le contenu de cette thèse représente le point de vue de son seul auteur et ne peut en aucune circonstance être considéré comme la position officielle de la Commission Européenne.
Doctorat en Langues et lettres
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