Following conflict, peace agreements bring an opportunity to profoundly change societal structures and add to women’s empowerment. Using affirmative action tools like electoral gender quotas, women’s numerical presence, or descriptive representation, has more than doubled since the 1995 Beijing Declaration. However, women’s descriptive representation does not always result in women’s representation beyond numbers, or substantive representation. This thesis aims to solve why quotas do not always lead to a rise in women’s substantive representation by exploring one possible explanation: the effect of women’s rights provisions in peace agreements on the outcomes of electoral gender quota-implementation. It argues that women’s rights provisions in peace agreements can affect policymaking outcomes in the postwar context in terms of increased substantive representation of women. The thesis employs the method of structured, focused comparison to compare the two post-war countries, Nepal and Angola. It finds support for the hypothesis that electoral gender quotas implemented following a peace agreement with women’s rights provisions leads to a larger increase in women’s substantive representation than those implemented following a peace agreement without such provisions. However, further qualitative cross-case analysis and large-n quantitative research are needed to draw more certain conclusions.

Right and good : Argumentation and Discourse of Czech Activists for Women's Suffrage Jitka Gelnarová Abstract The dissertation deals with the concept of suffrage within the discourse of Czech women's suffrage activists between 1897 and 1914. The aim is to define how the concept of suffrage was constructed by Czech suffragists within the context they lived in, how their notion of the suffrage was influenced by the fact that different women were positioned differently within the system of hierarchies based on gender, class and nation. The dissertation focuses on the hierarchies present in the discourse; the relation of "public" and private" in the discourse; the notion of "political representation" in the discourse; positions the suffragists spoke from and their representation of the enemy ("us/them"); the functions the concept of "Czechness" fulfilled in relation to the demand of female suffrage in the discourse; and the relation of "universality" and "particularity" to the demand of female suffrage in the discourse.

Cycling advocacy has taken a form of a popular worldwide social movement in the beginning of the 21st century. Cyclists demand not only improved conditions for cycling, but also a reform in the way the city is being run in order to be "livable" and saturated with "quality public spaces". This dissertation attempts to put the phenomenon in the context of the theory of risk society and it attempts to incorporate impulses from the theoretical tradition of ANT. The cycling controversy is being read as a re-invention of politics in urban arenas. What is political about the bicycle? More than it may seem. The bicycle has endured a long trajectory of political appropriation by various groups in order to arrive at a point where it began to be conceived as the default starting point of the critique of automobility and Western modernity. As a consequence the bicycle emerges as a loaded political symbol that is being appropriated by cycling advocates in order to problematize the alienated city colonized by cars, appropriated by business interests and neglected by the political representation. The bicycle is being reinvented as a symbol of urban revolution. This dissertation introduces the results of an empirical research undertaken between June 2013 and April 2015 that maps the shape of the cycling controversy in...

The results in previous studies indicate that the electoral system plays an important role in women's political representation. Some researchers believe that the proportional electoral system contributes to more representation of women than the majority electoral system. The proportional electoral system is considered to be the most important factor explaining the cross-border differences in women's political representation.  The aim of my research is to test whether similar results to those shown in previous studies will occur when using another method. To fulfill this purpose, I answer the following questions:Can electoral factors explain the variation in women's political representation in the democratic countries of Africa? Is there any indication that other factors are important, if so, which ones?  In this research, different factors are used as the theoretical framework and starting point. After a theoretical review, the previous studies used to explain the underrepresentation of women in politics are introduced. The results from the previous studies are then compared to the results shown in this research to see if they can explain the variation in women's representation within the democratic countries in Africa.  This study is a comparative and employs most similar system design (MSSD). The table analysis is used as a method to analyse the collected data. Consequently, the results from the previous studies are used to analyse whether the same results on the electoral system also occur in democratic countries in Africa.  The findings show that countries with proportional electoral systems have a higher proportion of women in parliament compared to countries with a majority or mixed electoral system. However, the results also show that when compared with Catholic and Anglican countries, Protestant countries have a higher percentage of women in the national parliament. The explanation for this may be since the Catholic church is more associated with a hierarchical and authoritarian culture. The results in this study also indicate that the use of gender quotas is one of the factors that affect the women's political representation, which is consistent with the results shown in previous studies.

South Africa has had a free mandate theory of representation up to 1994. From 1994 to 2002 an imperative theory applied and in 2003 a limited hybrid free mandate was introduced. The origin of parliament, the development of representation as a concept in Public Law and the birth of political parties are studied. It is shown that parliament and representation were natural developments that occurred at the same time, not by grand design, but by chance. It is also shown that political parties appeared first as informal intra-parliamentary groupings that developed into extra-parliamentary organisations, organised to achieve and exercise power in the political system as the franchise became more liberal. The factors that influence a member's mandate and floor-crossing as such are discussed. Finally it is concluded that from a legal historical perspective, a free mandate of representation is the preferred theory of representation in public law. / Jurisprudence / LL.M. (Public Law)

The thesis "Monument as the materialization of memory in relation to the current generation and the role of the media" is devoted to the analysis of media discourse of contemporary memorials. The discourse of contemporary memorials is represented in the thesis by media coverage in the Czech periodical printed media regarding to two memorials installed in the Czech Republic. The first is a monument of General Patton in Pilsen and the second is a monument of the Czechoslovak RAF aviators in Prague - Klárov. Examined media coverage related to memorial scandal in Deník VLP, Mladá fronta DNES, Lidové noviny, Blesk, Metro, Haló noviny and Právo belong to the years: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015. The form of contemporary memorial discourse was examined with the help of multiple methods including quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis represented by textual and argumentative analysis. Based on the combination of the mentioned methods basic form of the discourse of contemporary memorials was described with the main focus on media communication containing the topic of foreign affairs and the concept of memory. For this purpose, Marshall McLuhan's perspective was used, which describes the media exposure of artistic interpretation, or the concept of memory as described by Pierre Nora. The various...

En prenant le MF20 comme principale étude de cas , je plaide contre les affirmations du caractère nouveau, unique, fructueux, manqué ou achevé de ces mouvements arabes. Je passe en revue la première décennie du 21ème siècle et la déclaration de la Guerre contre le terrorisme (2003) comme déclencheurs de conflits socio-politiques déjà installés dans la région MENA. La deuxième décennie de ce siècle, à travers les soulèvements arabes, a seulement rendu visibles aux yeux du monde les transgressions des droits de l'homme et les atrocités prenant place au Moyen-Orient.Ces soulèvements ont rapidement été réduits à des soulèvements épisodiques. La troisième décennie semble malheureusement entre les mains des idéologues de droite qui s’opposent au multiculturalisme et à l'extrémisme religieux, et qui, de fait, réorientent le débat loin des problèmes sociaux en mettant en avant le récit « nous contre eux ». Pour ces raisons, je prétends que les soulèvements arabes sont loin d’être achevés ; ils n’ont fait que débuter. Contrairement au dessin qu’en fait Davis (2013), ils ne s’estompent pas pour disparaître complètement mais seulement pour revenir en force.L'analyse approfondie dans le projet de la saga des luttes de ces mouvements arabes avec les régimes autocratiques arabes, qui n’ont fait rien d’autre que mettre en place des réformes préventives, nécessite de notre part une attention particulière pour les décennies à venir. Même les cas dits « fructueux », notamment la Tunisie et le Maroc, indiquent que ce qui est célébré est en fait un état de stabilité temporaire qui cache des faiblesses majeures et alarmantes dans le cadre du changement social et de la justice sociale ; deux des principaux déclencheurs du soi-disant printemps arabe.Thomas Friedman fait appel à des détails historiques, dans son excellent article pour le New York Times, demandant à ce que l'expression « Printemps arabe » soit retirée et remplacée par la « Décennie arabe » d'Anthony Cordesman ou le « Quart de siècle arabe ». Je propose que nous nous situons au-delà, et que nous assistons en fait à un Siècle arabe en mutation.Si l’on se fie aux changements politiques récents dans le monde, il apparaît que les changements sociaux dans le monde arabe seront négligés pendant au moins une autre décennie. La montée au pouvoir de l’extrême-droite aux États-Unis et en Europe a déjà retiré l’accent des injustices sociales dans le monde arabe au profit de la question éternelle de l'islam et de l'extrémisme en Occident. Cela s'avère offrir une pause aux régimes autocratiques arabes qui utilisent cette ascension de l'islamophobie en Occident comme un argument unificateur qui distrait des injustices sociales au sein de leurs républiques et leurs royaumes. Ainsi, la lutte des citoyens arabes dans les états arabes pour la dignité sociale sera négligée jusqu'à ce que le récit revivifié du choc de l'islam et de l'Occident disparaisse. / With the MF20 as the major Case Study , I argue against the claims of the newness, uniqueness, success and failure or finality of these Arab movements. I revisit the first decade of the 21st century and the declaration of War on Terrorism (2003) as one trigger of sociopolitical conflicts that were already entrenched in the MENA region. What we witnessed in the second decade of this century is that the Arab uprisings only exposed transgressions in human rights and atrocities in the Middle East to the world. These uprisings were hurriedly reduced to seasonal uprisings. The third decade unfortunately looks to be in the hands of right-wing ideologues standing against multiculturalism and stressing the fear of religious extremism to change the focus from social issues and force the narrative of us-against-them on the forefront. For these reasons, I claim, there is no finality to the Arab uprisings, they have just begun and they are not in a state of thaw as Davis (2013) depicts them, but they are in slumbering phase recouping for a stronger come back. The close analysis in the project of the saga of struggles of these Arab movements with the Arab autocratic regimes who engineered nothing but preemptive reforms, requires our close attention for the remaining decades in this 21st century. Even the so-called successful cases, Tunisia and Morocco, indicate that what is celebrated is a state of temporary stability with major and alarming short comings in social change and social justice; two of the main reasons of the so called Arab Spring. Thomas Friedman suggests great historical details, in his great piece for the New York Times, calling for the expression “Arab Spring” be retired and be replaced by Anthony Cordesman’s the “Arab Decade” or “Arab Quarter Century” . I claim we are beyond that, and that we are witnessing an Arab Century in movement.If the recent political changes around the world are any indication, social change in the Arab world will be overlooked for at least another decade. The rise of the extreme right to power in the US and in Europe has already shifted the focus from the social injustices in the Arab world to the everlasting issue of Islam and extremism in the West. This is proving to be a big break for Arab autocratic regimes, who are using this rise of Islamophobia in the West as a unifying argument that distracts from the social injustices within their republics and kingdoms. Thus, the struggle of Arab citizens within the Arab states for social dignity will be overlooked until the revived narrative of the clash of Islam and the West dies down.

Il Bilancio Partecipativo (BP) è probabilmente l’esempio più famoso ed interessante di governance locale per i suoi effetti democratici e redistributivi. Per via del coinvolgimento diretto dei cittadini nel processo decisionale, il BP è considerato una forma di democrazia diretta capace di ovviare agli attuali limiti della democrazia rappresentativa moderna. Tuttavia, ad un’attenta analisi, è possibile identificare nel suo funzionamento anche degli elementi rappresentativi che non sono mai stati presi molto in seria considerazione. Infatti, poiché la partecipazione avviene solitamente attraverso gruppi ed associazioni, nuove forme di rappresentanza e nuovi rappresentanti emergono in competizione con quelli tradizionali politici in termini di consenso, sostegno popolare e dunque legittimità. Il presente lavoro vuole andare oltre il pensiero corrente e proporre un’interpretazione originale del modello istituzionale del BP come una forma nuova ed alternativa di democrazia rappresentativa, in cui le organizzazioni della società civile assumono un ruolo centrale: dietro al BP vi sarebbe una sorta di democrazia ‘civile’. Questo punto di vista alternativo non solo può stimolare un ulteriore dibattito in letteratura, ma aprire anche degli scenari interessanti in relazione ai temi più generali della crisi delle istituzioni liberal-democratiche e del ruolo e dell’identità della società civile. / Participatory Budgeting (PB) is probably the most famous and interesting example of innovative local governance for its redistributive and democratic effects. Due to the direct involvement of citizens in the decision-making process, PB is celebrated as an example of direct democracy which can help to deal with the limits of representative democracy. However, on closer analysis, it is possible to identify elements of representation in its functioning, which are taken into little consideration and which could probably modify the prevalent theoretical belief. In fact, as citizens usually participate through their groups and associations, new representatives emerge challenging the traditional channels of political representation in terms of popular approval, consensus, hence legitimacy. This work aims to go beyond the prevailing narrative and propose an original interpretation of the PB’s institutional model as a new and alternative representative democracy, where the main political actors become organizations from the civil society: behind PB there seems to lie a sort of ‘civil’ democracy. Hence, introducing this alternative viewpoint can, not only further questions which are never fully considered in the literature, but also open interesting scenarios in the debate over the crisis of liberal-democratic institutions and the role and the identity of civil society.

South Africa has had a free mandate theory of representation up to 1994. From 1994 to 2002 an imperative theory applied and in 2003 a limited hybrid free mandate was introduced. The origin of parliament, the development of representation as a concept in Public Law and the birth of political parties are studied. It is shown that parliament and representation were natural developments that occurred at the same time, not by grand design, but by chance. It is also shown that political parties appeared first as informal intra-parliamentary groupings that developed into extra-parliamentary organisations, organised to achieve and exercise power in the political system as the franchise became more liberal. The factors that influence a member's mandate and floor-crossing as such are discussed. Finally it is concluded that from a legal historical perspective, a free mandate of representation is the preferred theory of representation in public law. / Jurisprudence / LL.M. (Public Law)

La démocratie représentative souffre de nombreuses lacunes qui remettent en question la légitimité même des gouvernements démocratiques modernes. Tandis que la représentation directe pourrait théoriquement éliminer ces incongruités, elle a jusqu'à présent été considérée comme irréalisable en raison de limitations spatio-temporelles. Cette thèse adresse ces problèmes en introduisant le concept de Démocratie Internet - distinct de l’e-démocratie et de l’e-gouvernement existant. La Démocratie Internet consiste à cerner la représentation démocratique de telle manière qu’elle puisse être opérationnalisée par le biais de l’informatique. Pour ce faire, cette thèse remonte d'abord aux problèmes de la démocratie et de la représentation indirecte dans ses principes premiers, et propose une nouvelle approche (structurelle symbiotique) à l'application de l'Internet pour la démocratie. Ensuite, elle montre que la Démocratie Internet peut fonctionner grâce à l'analyse des données collectées passivement sur l'accès et la production de l’information. Enfin, elle offre de nombreuses contributions à l’informatique, qui jusqu’alors était limitée dans la précision de l'analyse des sentiments. La thèse développe une Proposition d’Opinion Asymétrique (AOP) et l’applique à un nouveau concept de ‘Espace des Sentiments’; elle développe également la première base de données assez nuancée pour l'analyse des sentiments; et elle utilise l'Espace de Sentiment afin de développer la méthode de calcul originale «Split-Fit » qui accroît la précision de l’apprentissage automatique. / Representative democracy suffers from numerous shortcomings that are so significant they bring into question the very legitimacy of modern democratic governments. While direct representation might theoretically eliminate these multiple defects, it has until now been considered unworkable due to limitations of space and of time. This thesis addresses these deficiencies by introducing Internet Democracy, which is distinct from existing e-democracy and e-government. Internet Democracy is an operational, computational formulation of democratic representation. To support this contribution, this thesis first derives the problems of democracy and indirect representation from first principles. It then proposes a new approach (the symbiotic structural approach) which applies the Internet to democracy. It then supports the proposition that Internet Democracy can operate through the analysis of passively collected data on information access and on information production (for instance, using sentiment analysis). Finally, it makes numerous topical contributions to computer science based on the observation that sentiment analysis hits a ceiling of accuracy which cannot currently be transcended. These contributions range from suggesting an Asymmetric Opinion Proposition (AOP) and applying this to a Sentiment Space describing the computational structure of sentiment; developing the first extremely fine-grained dataset for sentiment analysis; and applying Sentiment Space to develop the original ‘Split-Fit’ computing method which increases the accuracy of machine learning based Sentiment Analysis.