"This study attempts to provide a picture of how parliaments have been contributing to the protection of human rights and democracy and how the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) can draw lessons from the different mechanisms adopted by these parliaments. This study consists of five chapters. The first chapter sets out the problem that this study aims to address and reviews existing studies that have touched upon the issue. The second chapter discusses the dynamics that lead to the establishment of the continental parliament by putting it in the context of continental efforts towards better human rights protection and democratic consolidation. It also discusses the objectives of the parliament and particularly its human rights and democartic mandate. The third chapter sets out a framework for analysis. This is done by examining how parliaments have been dealing with issues of human rights and democracy with particular focus on the European Parliament (EP). This chapter looks at the different structures and mechanisms that the parliaments have employed towards this end but also tries to look further into the powers and compositions of parliaments that [have] enabled them to use such mechanisms and effectively engage in the promotion of human rights and democracy. The fourth chapter discusses in detail the powers, functions and their implications on how PAP promotes human rights and democracy. The activities so far carried out, institutional mechanisms adopted and the potential role it could have and mechanisms it could employ by taking lessons from the design, internal workings, and mechanisms discussed in the previous chapter is provided. Finally the relevant conclusions will be made with recommendations on the way forward for the continental institution in terms of organisation, composition, structures and mechanisms it could adopt towards promotion of human rights and democracy." -- Introduction. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This thesis analyses the interception of the social change in the social science and politically expert literature from a historical perspective of the post-soviet development of the Republic of Moldova. The first chapter introduces the main hypotheses and the research design of the master thesis. The following chapter offers the development of the concept social change in a larger context of the classical and new theories. The aim of the thesis is to find out theories of social change in the Moldovan literature between after 1991. The results of a content analysis will be presented in the third chapter. Finally, the last section of the thesis focuses on suggestions for the further development of this analysis.

This study aims to shed light on the gendered dynamics of nonviolent resistance and democratisation. Illuminating the role that women can play in the democratisation processes can help underline the importance of women's empowerment.  Therefore, this study aims to answer the research question How can female participation in nonviolent resistance movements lead to a higher likelihood of successful democratisation? I theorise that nonviolent resistance movements enable 1) the elevation of pro-democratic female leaders, and 2) the development of political skills and networks of female participants and women’s organisations. These two factors allow women and women’s groups to continue mobilisation and fight for the institutionalisation of egalitarian democratic norms, which influences democratisation. Using the methods of structured, focused comparison and process tracing, the hypotheses were tested on Brazil’s 1984 Diretas Já Movement and the Philippines' 1986 People Power Revolution. This study found no support for the elevated leader argument, but some support for the development of political skills and networks influencing democratic outcomes. Extra research is warranted to confirm this correlation.

This work examines relevancy of theoretical aproaches on the subject of democratization processes presented by Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington and Fareed Zakaria, and it discusses a level of relevancy of their theoretical concepts and theses in comparison to the democratization process in Libya, which started in spring 2011. First, the theoretical part of this work presents specific historical, sociocultural, political, religious and economic contexts of Libya from a historical-sociology perspective with a focus on the democratization and liberalization processes in Libya. It discusses democratization factors and reasons, which are applied on the situation in Libya. The empirical part of this work presents reflections and perspectives of the democratization process in Libya from an emical perspective of a Libyan citizen. These reflections are confronted with the theoretical approaches presented in the first part, especially with Huntington's Third Wave. The empirical part reflects the processes of the previous non- democratic regime of Muammar Kaddafi, then the fall of the regime and the revolution situation in Libya, a new democratic regime and finally, the perspectives of consolidation of democracy in Libya.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy in History in the Department of History at the University of Zululand, 2018 / This is a historical study of modern politics in the Kingdom of Swaziland. It is a study of a leading driver for democratic change in Africa’s ‘only absolute monarchy’. The leading driver is a modern political formation known as the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the study demonstrates a variety of ways in which the Swazi monarchy responded to PUDEMO’s struggle to democratise the Kingdom of Swaziland. These ways are presented as signs of democratic practice in a country that abolished the Independence Constitution and cardinal practices of liberal democracy in 1973, five years after the end of formal British rule. The thesis uses the experience of PUDEMO to show that the signs of change were not simply products of monarchical benevolence, but came about as a result of pressure put by PUDEMO on the Swazi leaders. It is a study of the history of PUDEMO and its contribution to the process of democratisation of Swaziland. It interrogates the various ways in which PUDEMO has influenced change towards a democratic dispensation in the country.

The essay aims to analyze and understand the policy decisions taken by the Americans during their tenure as occupying force from 2003-2004. By understanding what policy was enacted it is possible to judge how it impacted things down the line. Using democratization theory, it becomes possible to categorize a large amount of policy during that time. Meaning there can be a large-scale analysis of the policies and judge if they pushed democracy forward in Iraq. The two research questions are how the US planned to turn Iraq into a democracy and if the policy covered all the five arenas of democratization. After analyzing the material through the five arenas, the two research questions are answered. The US planned for the wrong things and only in Iraq did their plan crystalize. It involved focusing on changes in society that benefitted democracy, but with a top down approach. The policies covered all five arenas of democratisation meaning they were widely applied and pushed democracy in Iraq. The US intended to turn Iraq into a democracy and the policy employed during their tenure supports that goal.

Research on the Arab spring has indicated that the failure of democratic consolidation in post-Arab spring countries was, in part, due to economic insecurity. A conclusion that seems to be in line with the general literature on threat and its connection to authoritarian value-shifts. Yet, scholars in the fields of collective action and political socialisation have also demonstrated how events like the Arab spring can be incredibly influential in shaping political values, primarily among younger populations. Raising the question of whether formative experience with the Arab spring could have resulted in a more democratically inclined youth-cohort that would be more resilient to the authoritarian effects of economic insecurity. To answer this question, this master's thesis conducted a cohort analysis on five countries found in at least four waves of the Arab Barometer and tested four hypotheses generated by the previous question. The thesis did not see any evidence indicating that this Arab spring youth-cohort would be any more democratic than other cohorts. Furthermore, the cohort was also not more likely than other cohorts, to stave off the authoritarian effects of economic insecurity. Contrary to previous research, this thesis did not see a correlation between economic insecurity and authoritarianism in all countries studied. Potentially, indicating how contextual the connection actually is, and demonstrating the need for future studies on the topic to be conducted in already authoritarian contexts.

The main purpose of this research was to understand the civil war in Sierra Leone and its antecedents, and to analyse the package of reconstruction reforms which came along in the post-war era and their relevance for and impact on the local challenges for longer term peace. Continued corruption among the political class, the persistent disenfranchisement of important social groups, and emerging tensions along political party lines suggested that, ten years on from the Lomé Peace Accord, there may have been a malaise in the peacebuilding plan. To investigate the complex issues, and to support the hypothesis that the model for reconstruction was not best suited to local conditions and local priorities, the work first made a deep interrogation of the historic political, cultural and economic factors which led to the violent conflict. This scrutiny of the local experience allowed the conceptualisation of a germane ¿framework for peace` which represented the most pressing priorities of the local community and the central challenges for peace. The framework reflected the main concerns of the local populace and was used as an analytical tool to better understand the relevance of the model for reconstruction vis-à-vis the local context. Through a critical analysis of the post-war reforms and their impact on the social dimensions of recovery, in particular macro-economic reforms and the promotion of democracy, conclusions were drawn about the appropriateness and efficacy of the model of reconstruction experienced in Sierra Leone and how it supported local priorities for peace. The enquiry found that, in general, the model for reconstruction was not best suited to the local context because of its inflexibility to support the local peacebuilding and its many challenges. In some ways the model for reconstruction heightened residual tensions from the conflict because it failed to address key issues for reform such as governance and social justice. / Economic and Social Research Council

In the last fifteen years, conflict resolution, a collaborative, problem-solving approach to social conflicts, was introduced to new democracies in an attempt to develop civil society¿s capacity for conflict management (Mayer, 2000). Conflict resolution provides people with an opportunity to advocate effectively for their own interests in a non-violent, constructive manner through systematic educational efforts, skills trainings, dialogue initiatives, and mediation practices (Mayer, 2000). It empowers people to address, manage, and transform difficulties and antagonism into a source of positive social change and, thus, change people¿s negative psychological responses to conflicts (Bush & Folger, 1994). In this view, conflict resolution in new democracies¿ civil society provides citizens as well NGO practitioners with the skills and opportunities to practice how to express and resolve differences in a safe and constructive environment (Shonholtz, 1997). In an effort to provide additional information about civil society¿s conflict resolution practices and their affect in new democracies, this dissertation examines the existing efforts of South Korean civil society organisations to promote conflict resolution methodologies. Specifically, three organisations are examined to understand better South Korean civil society¿s response to PCR issues. Furthermore, by closely examining these three civil society organisations, this dissertation aims to explore what affect increased awareness and engagement in conflict resolution methodologies have on the democratic quality of civil society.

Liberal peacebuilding, the means by which transition societies can be reconfigured and reconstructed to bring about lasting peace, focussed on chieftaincy reform and decentralization as part of the peacebuilding package in Sierra Leone. The main focus of this research is to explore the efficacy of these structures as durable peacebuilding mechanisms in a transition society like Sierra Leone. The core argument is that liberal peacebuilding based on the reform of chieftaincy and decentralisation has failed to deliver effective peacebuilding mechanisms in Sierra Leone. Chieftaincy reform should have taken into consideration the specific context of the nature of chieftaincy in the country which in most cases transcends issues of leadership to one of collective identity. The decentralisation process is also fraught with a host of problems ranging from tension between the councils and the chiefs on the one hand, to the unwillingness on the part of central government to cede some of its powers to the local government. The control of central government over the councils and the decentralisation process is still very visible. The relevance of this research is that it enhances our understanding of key debates and policy intervention practices on post-war peacebuilding and state reconstruction in transition societies. It also contributes to the existing literature on post-conflict peacebuilding by positing that there is a huge challenge to the Liberal Peace paradigm in bringing about peace in war-torn societies. / Commonwealth Commission