Homeownership and suburbanisation are two sides of the same coin in the context of Australia. This thesis explores the housing system that facilitates homeownership under a framework of institutional path dependence and how that has facilitated spatial patterns of suburbanization in contemporary Melbourne. Australia has been considered a homeowner society for the larger part of the 20th century. Living and owning a house on a ‘quarter acre block’ in one of its major cities is said to have been a virtue even before homeownership was in reach for the majority of the Australian population. The years after WWII enabled up to 70 per cent of the population to access homeownership tenure. In that, this thesis analyses the institutional, societal and economic configurations that enabled increased homeownership provision, but also the historical processes that further facilitated a system around a dominant tenure. Path dependency theory, developed in the field of historical institutionalism, offers an analytical toolbox to examine long-term processes. In a broad sense, path dependency refers to the continuous reproduction of institutional systems in place. The second part of this thesis examines urbanisation processes in Melbourne, under a framework of institutional and spatial change. Cities are changing environments that, although, they inhabit determinist and reinforcing spatial patterns and institutions, transition over time. By looking at historical and contemporary institutional processes, this thesis examines metropolitan strategies to consolidate the outward growth in the city of Melbourne. Under the aspect of change, current challenges to the built environment are presented. A third analysis connects the macro discussion with a case study of a local housing provider in Melbourne, that in some regards may be viewed as antithesis to the contemporary building regime in the Australian and Melbourne context. As the first in-depth path dependency analysis in the Australian context, this thesis can be viewed as a contribution to the growing body of path dependency literature with a housing focus that also combines the spatial nature of urban environments.

This thesis aims to clarify how the Single market policy and the Social policy of the European Union has changed since the Treaty of Rome (1957) and what opportunities and/or constraints there might be for integrating gender mainstreaming within the policies.  In order to determine how the policy development affects the prospects of integrating gender mainstreaming, a case study supplemented with the method of content analysis is carried out. Furthermore, the thesis adopts a historical institutionalist perspective. Thereby, policy change is operationalised with the help of Peter Hall ́s theory of the three orders of change. It is therefore assumed that the concept of path dependency will explain how policy changes opens up opportunities for or constrain the integration of gender mainstreaming in the policy-making process.  The main findings show that the Single market policy mostly changed in accordance with the first order of change and that the Social policy mostly changed in accordance with the second order of change. These findings imply that a paradigm shift of the fundamental ideas and objectives of the policies have not occurred since the signing of the Treaty of Rome which complicates future integration of gender mainstreaming in the policies.

This diploma thesis aims to describe policy design of assisted human reproduction in the Czech Republic in the frame of two examined groups: 1) women undergoing this procedure, 2) service providers. The goals are also to identify the policy framework of assisted human reproduction in the political environment. The theory background is supported by the theory of social construction of the target audience written by the authors Ingram and Schneider and the analysis of the framework by Rein and Schon. The legislation of assisted human reproduction is covered mostly in the period of 2011 - 2021. The analytical part of this work is based on systematic expert surveys, questionnaire surveys and analysis of stenographic records. The benefits and drawbacks arising from the legislations, political power and social constructions in relation to both examined groups are formulated in the paper's results. Furthermore, two competing policy frameworks are identified during the debate of amendments to the Act on Specific health Services and the Act on Public Health Insurance.

The aim with this thesis is to find out how one can understand the exceptions not to introduce the euro as the currency of Denmark and the United Kingdom, as well as their attitude to European integration. It has been implemented in a comparative case study using theories in which the case has been the central focus of the investigation. The theories being used is rational actor model that emphasizes rational decision-making and self-interest. In comparison to that theory has a historical institutional perspective been used, which emphasizes path-dependency and critical events. The focus of the study is the time when the countries became members of the European Economic Community in 1973 to the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 where these exceptions not to introduce the euro as the currency was ratified. In the analysis section, one can see portions of both theories to a varying degree. The conclusions of the study is that both countries show a skeptical attitude to European integration and that the exceptions to not introduce the euro as a currency is based on this critical view of moving power to centralized institutions.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Telmo Antonio Dinelli Estevinho.pdf: 1165004 bytes, checksum: 442ab0824ae72d7a854afcf1e0ed39cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work aim is to make an analysis of Film Industry Policies in Brazil from the 1960s to the late 1990s. In this period, the main state agencies to support the Brazilian movie production were created and this specific policy remained basically constant regardless of political and economic changes in the country. For this, we use the concepts of historical institutionalism to demonstrate the resilience of a specific system in these policies and to explain the mechanisms that allowed its deployment over time. The centralization of the movie production unlinked to its public distribution, and the implementation of these policies by the educational and cultural state agencies were constant during more than 30 years what enabled interactions between the state and influent political sectors of Brazilian Film industry. This shows the influence of formal and informal Brazilian institutions over the public policy design and its respective implementation process. National agencies like Instituto Nacional de Cinema and Embrafilme were important because they meant to be an opened space in the state in order to make possible the interactions among filmmakers, producers and politicians. The cultural characteristics of the brazilian movies were also used for the maintenance and reproduction of these interactions. The research used a systematic analysis of the film legislation, studies and reports produced by professional associations and government institutes as well as interviews with Brazilian filmmakers, producers and politicians / Esta pesquisa tem como objeto uma análise das políticas de cinema no Brasil entre os anos de 1960 ao final dos anos 1990. Neste período foram criadas as principais agências estatais de suporte à produção cinematográfica e o desenho da política foi aqui concebido e permaneceu mais ou menos constante independente das mudanças nos regimes políticos e das transformações econômicas. Para tanto utilizamos os conceitos do neoinstitucionalismo histórico para demonstrar a relisiência de um formato específico nas políticas de cinema implementadas no Brasil e explicar os mecanimos que permitiram o seu desdobramento através do tempo. A centralidade conferida a produção de filmes desvinculada de sua difusão ou circulação pública e a implementação dessas políticas pelos setores educacionais e culturais do Estado mantiveram-se constantes durante mais de trinta anos permitindo contínuas interações entre as burocracias estatais e setores politicamente influentes do cinema brasileiro. Constata-se assim a influência das instituições, sejam elas formais ou informais, sobre o desenho das políticas de cinema e o seu respectivo processo de implementação. Assim agências estatais como o Instituto Nacional de Cinema e a Embrafilme foram importantes porque eram arenas abertas no interior do Estado para que as interações entre cineastas, produtores e políticos pudessem ocorrer. Os atributos culturais conferidos ao filme nacional também foram utilizados para a manutenção e reprodução dessas interações. A pesquisa utilizou uma análise sistemática da legislação cinematográfica, de estudos e relatórios produzidos por associações de classe e entidades governamentais bem como entrevistas com cineastas, produtores e políticos

This thesis is an inquiry into the challenges to the role of civic organisations in political reform during and after political transitions. The major question this research addresses is: How do institutions and institutional dynamics constrain political reform during a transition? The thesis examines how demands for reform by non-governmental organisations in Lebanon and Libya were not translated into concrete political decisions taken by regimes during a transition period. The thesis suggests that the combination of weak states and power-sharing agreements marginalizes civic organisations, and poses institutional constraints on the likelihood of reform. The thesis is based on contemporary research on events and reform trajectories in Lebanon and Libya, with a focus on the demands and strategies employed by activists during periods of transition. Lebanon between 2005 and 2010 and Libya between 2011 and 2013 underwent critical political events but subsequently did not adopt political reforms despite demands by civic organisations in two main areas: the electoral system in Lebanon and the constitutional process in Libya. A study of these two reform campaigns reveals deeply entrenched historical patterns and elements of continuity that led to path dependent outcomes during transition. By utilising theory and concepts from the perspective of historical institutionalism, the thesis identifies the factors behind path dependent outcomes in Lebanon and Libya. I argue that the transitions in Lebanon and Libya were a result of only ‘partially' critical junctures. The thesis builds on the approach of path dependence by offering insights as to how historically inherited institutional dynamics from the previous regime can cause junctures to be only ‘partially' critical for the broader political order. The main source of data comes from participant observations, interviews and focus groups with two organisations that tried to advance electoral reform and constitutional development.

Esta dissertação compara historicamente dois modelos nacionais de regulação jurídica das relações de trabalho o brasileiro e o britânico , opostos no papel que o direito desempenha, com o intuito de avaliar seus impactos nos padrões específicos de ação sindical verificados nessas duas nações. Ela analisa a formação, transformações e a resiliência de algumas instituições, políticas e valores relacionados à regulação das relações de trabalho e os padrões resultantes de ação sindical nessas duas nações. Empregando um modelo explicativo informado pelo institucionalismo histórico e pela teoria das oportunidades políticas, procura demonstrar que o processo de construção e desenvolvimento de modelos nacionais de regulação jurídica do trabalho são dependentes de sua própria trajetória (path-dependent) e que esses modelos mobilizam instituições, políticas e valores, além de angariar apoio social, fatores que freqüentemente se tornam enraizados e interagem dinamicamente em circunstâncias concretas influenciando as preferências dos atores. / This dissertation historically compares two national models of legal regulation of employment relations the Brazilian and the British , opposite in the role that law plays, in order to assess their impacts on the specific patterns of trades unions action verified in these two nations. It analyses the formation, transformations and the resilience of some institutions, policies and values regarding the regulation of employment relations and the resulting patterns of trades unions action in these two nations. Employing an explanatory model informed by the historical institutionalism and the political opportunities theory, it attempts to demonstrate that the process of construction and development of national models of legal regulation of labour are path-dependent and that these models mobilise institutions, policies and values, besides eliciting social support, factors that often become entrenched and interact dynamically in concrete circumstances shaping the preferences of actors.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Telmo Antonio Dinelli Estevinho.pdf: 1165004 bytes, checksum: 442ab0824ae72d7a854afcf1e0ed39cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work aim is to make an analysis of Film Industry Policies in Brazil from the 1960s to the late 1990s. In this period, the main state agencies to support the Brazilian movie production were created and this specific policy remained basically constant regardless of political and economic changes in the country. For this, we use the concepts of historical institutionalism to demonstrate the resilience of a specific system in these policies and to explain the mechanisms that allowed its deployment over time. The centralization of the movie production unlinked to its public distribution, and the implementation of these policies by the educational and cultural state agencies were constant during more than 30 years what enabled interactions between the state and influent political sectors of Brazilian Film industry. This shows the influence of formal and informal Brazilian institutions over the public policy design and its respective implementation process. National agencies like Instituto Nacional de Cinema and Embrafilme were important because they meant to be an opened space in the state in order to make possible the interactions among filmmakers, producers and politicians. The cultural characteristics of the brazilian movies were also used for the maintenance and reproduction of these interactions. The research used a systematic analysis of the film legislation, studies and reports produced by professional associations and government institutes as well as interviews with Brazilian filmmakers, producers and politicians / Esta pesquisa tem como objeto uma análise das políticas de cinema no Brasil entre os anos de 1960 ao final dos anos 1990. Neste período foram criadas as principais agências estatais de suporte à produção cinematográfica e o desenho da política foi aqui concebido e permaneceu mais ou menos constante independente das mudanças nos regimes políticos e das transformações econômicas. Para tanto utilizamos os conceitos do neoinstitucionalismo histórico para demonstrar a relisiência de um formato específico nas políticas de cinema implementadas no Brasil e explicar os mecanimos que permitiram o seu desdobramento através do tempo. A centralidade conferida a produção de filmes desvinculada de sua difusão ou circulação pública e a implementação dessas políticas pelos setores educacionais e culturais do Estado mantiveram-se constantes durante mais de trinta anos permitindo contínuas interações entre as burocracias estatais e setores politicamente influentes do cinema brasileiro. Constata-se assim a influência das instituições, sejam elas formais ou informais, sobre o desenho das políticas de cinema e o seu respectivo processo de implementação. Assim agências estatais como o Instituto Nacional de Cinema e a Embrafilme foram importantes porque eram arenas abertas no interior do Estado para que as interações entre cineastas, produtores e políticos pudessem ocorrer. Os atributos culturais conferidos ao filme nacional também foram utilizados para a manutenção e reprodução dessas interações. A pesquisa utilizou uma análise sistemática da legislação cinematográfica, de estudos e relatórios produzidos por associações de classe e entidades governamentais bem como entrevistas com cineastas, produtores e políticos

This study is a case study that observes the development of equality strategies in the European Union. After the former strategy for equality ended in 2015 there has been expectations that the European Commission would present a new strategy for equality. Therefore, the new strategy for equality was a disappointment for several actors and institutions of the European Union. The new strategy for equality is a work document and has a lower status in comparison with former strategies for equality in the EU. As a result, several actors and institutions are worried about the development of equality without a complete strategy.   To examine the development of strategies for equality in the EU historical institutionalism and a process called historic process tracing is used in this case study. The current strategy for equality 2016-2019 is going to be compared to the former strategies for 2006-2010 and 2010-2015. Are there any indications that the new work document represents a critical juncture or is it the result of path dependency and the way that EU equality strategies follows? To observe this case Hall and Taylors´ four distinct features of historical institutionalism has been the theoretical vantage point in this study.   To summarize the results of this study there has not been many substantial changes between the different equality strategies. However, changes has been identified through the way the commission presents their strategies. The new strategy for equality has also been criticised for the way the Commission has presented the document.  There are signs of a conflict in the union where different institutions rely on different patterns and structures. While the Commission presents a work document other actors and institutions in the EU are currently debating for a concise and formal strategy.

Esta dissertação compara historicamente dois modelos nacionais de regulação jurídica das relações de trabalho o brasileiro e o britânico , opostos no papel que o direito desempenha, com o intuito de avaliar seus impactos nos padrões específicos de ação sindical verificados nessas duas nações. Ela analisa a formação, transformações e a resiliência de algumas instituições, políticas e valores relacionados à regulação das relações de trabalho e os padrões resultantes de ação sindical nessas duas nações. Empregando um modelo explicativo informado pelo institucionalismo histórico e pela teoria das oportunidades políticas, procura demonstrar que o processo de construção e desenvolvimento de modelos nacionais de regulação jurídica do trabalho são dependentes de sua própria trajetória (path-dependent) e que esses modelos mobilizam instituições, políticas e valores, além de angariar apoio social, fatores que freqüentemente se tornam enraizados e interagem dinamicamente em circunstâncias concretas influenciando as preferências dos atores. / This dissertation historically compares two national models of legal regulation of employment relations the Brazilian and the British , opposite in the role that law plays, in order to assess their impacts on the specific patterns of trades unions action verified in these two nations. It analyses the formation, transformations and the resilience of some institutions, policies and values regarding the regulation of employment relations and the resulting patterns of trades unions action in these two nations. Employing an explanatory model informed by the historical institutionalism and the political opportunities theory, it attempts to demonstrate that the process of construction and development of national models of legal regulation of labour are path-dependent and that these models mobilise institutions, policies and values, besides eliciting social support, factors that often become entrenched and interact dynamically in concrete circumstances shaping the preferences of actors.