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The aim of this thesis is to explore the relation between the extent of abidance to human rights international law provisions in regard to the detention of immigrants in the countries of EU, and the motivations for doing so, as presented in the international relations theories. The principal research question is: Why are immigrants facing problems in obtaining human rights in the context of immigration related detention? The answers are implicitly found in the answers to the underlying question: Why do states crate and obey international law? Methodologically, the problematic is approached through the theoretical analysis of International Relation theories: Realist, Institutionalism, Liberalism and Constructivism. Each of these theories provides different factors as explanatory for the actions of the states, respectively: power, existence of institutions, interest of individuals and social practices. National law remains the key system in the protection of rights due to its enforceability. Despite the existence of provisions relating to the rights of aliens, national law primarily protects the rights of nationals. From the second half of the 20th century international law has developed rapidly and has influenced the development and advancement of human rights and standards. However, due to the lack of strength in its enforceability, its application is dependent of the political interest and motivation of individual states, both in their inclusion of international law provisions into their national legal systems and its enforcement, and in the use of the constellation of power in international relations in applying pressure on other states to do the same. Entities like European Union bring a new quality to this problematic, given its specific legal structure that has influenced the rethinking of national sovereignty as the uncontested authority in creating and abiding the law. Nonetheless, provision and protection of individual's rights remains tightly knit to and dependent upon citizenship.

<p>One of the more interesting changes observed over the Twentieth Century has been the development of industrialized nations such as Canada into "welfare states", wherein there is some degree of a redistribution of national wealth, in the interest of creating a social safety net. While the Canadian welfare system grew and matured during the early and mid 20th Century, the larter quarter has been a time of stagnation and in some cases, retrenchment. A key rationale for proposals to reduce seniors' benefits has been the accelerated rate of population aging, and how current programs cannot be sustained in light of the increasing numbers of the elderly who will draw on them.</p> <p>In response to these concerns, the Progressive Conservative government made a number of structural changes to Old Age Security and the tax system in the 1980's, in the form of partial de-indexation, which would effectively decrease the number of people eligible for Old Age Security, and reduce tax credits available to seniors each year.</p> <p>This thesis uses time series national data to show how benefits and tax credits have declined over the last decade. From a political economy perspective, this process can be viewed as a gradual and stealthy transformation of the welfare state. Government maintained income security is gradually being dismantled and placed back into the hands of the market place. The tax system is being redefined in such a way that tax cuts that middle and lower income Canadians rely on are slowly losing value.</p> <p>While RRSP contribution levels have been increased and some Canadians invest to both prepare for retirement and to gain the tax exemption for the invested income, only those with higher incomes can gain the most from this option. The effects ofthis process are discussed and the implications are considered in terms of distributional equity.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

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The purpose of public schooling in many democratic nation-states is the preparation of an active participatory citizenry. For this reason, educators advocate the use of participatory classroom practices for instilling in students knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes for active civic responsibilities. In this connection, Malawi has since the re-introduction of democracy in 1994, reformed the primary school curricula to emphasize participatory classroom practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore how primary school teachers in Malawi planned and implemented social studies lessons for the preparation of competent citizens in a democratic civil society. The study used a case study genre of qualitative research involving three senior grade teachers as research participants. The study yielded four major results based on four generic research questions. The first result was that the social studies primary school curriculum has content and pedagogical approaches that are appropriate for the preparation of active participatory citizens. The second result was that the three teachers displayed limited understanding of the concept of participatory learning that was suggested to them in the curriculum documents. As such, their planning of lessons was largely teacher-centered, which they thought was participatory in approach. The third result was that the teachers’ limited conception of participatory learning, as reflected in the teaching plans, was transferred to their classrooms. In this way, the teacher-centered classroom practices caused a lot of missed opportunities for the students’ development of skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and rational decision-making that are necessary for active participation in a shared democratic political community. The last result was that state policies on the use of English as the medium of class instruction and the grade eight mandated examinations negatively contributed to the decisions that the teachers made in the organization of participatory classroom practices. Thus, the general picture based on these research results showed that there was a discrepancy between the state’s intended curriculum and the teachers’ enacted curriculum. / Ph. D.

This thesis examines democratic innovations in Hungary, a country governed by Fidesz, an illiberal and populist party since 2010. Democratic innovations aim to engage citizens in the political decision-making process. The thesis analyses and compares two democratic innovations: the National Consultation, first organised by Fidesz in 2005, and the Citizens’ Assembly, first organised by the liberal opposition in Budapest in 2020. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the quality of democratic innovations is influenced by their organizers and the increasingly authoritarian political context of Hungary. Previous research has analysed both innovations in depth but has not systematically compared the two processes.  This thesis primarily uses official reports on both innovations, supplemented by secondary data from semi-structured elite interviews conducted with Hungarian politicians in 2020. The study's results indicate that the quality of the democratic innovations analysed is influenced by the ideology and broader political goals of the organisers, institutionalisation, and the dynamics of the illiberal state apparatus. It is noteworthy that the National Consultation lost its democratic and deliberative character after Fidesz came to power in 2010. Although the quality of the Citizens' Assembly organized by the opposition parties was affected to a lower extent by the seemingly unfavourable political context, the National Consultation and the politics of Fidesz have also negatively affected other practices of the opposition.

The purpose of A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES IN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES was to determine the effectiveness of advisory committees within the Virginia Community College system. How effective or ineffective these committees are being used has an effect on the programs within each college division. Data were gathered by means of a survey instrument which was developed and mailed to each community college dean in the state of Virginia. The results of the study revealed that advisory committees were widely used in community colleges in the state of Virginia, however, these committees were not used as effectively as they could be. Advisory committees used in Virginia's community colleges were used most effectively in helping with the identification of occupational skills needed by program graduates and in identifying area labor market needs. / Master of Science

Yes / This paper considers the definitions of spouse, civil partner and partner in European Union free movement of persons law in order to question the EU’s heterocentric approach to defining ‘family’ in this context. It argues that the terms ‘spouse’ should include same sex married partners to ensure there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It further highlights the problems created by basing free movement rights of civil partners on host state recognition of such partnerships. This approach allows Member States to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and is therefore not compatible with EU equality law in others areas. The position of unmarried or unregistered partners is also considered. In particular the paper examines the requirement of a duly attested durable relationship and its impact on same-sex partners wishing to move from one Member State to another. The paper argues that it is time to reconsider the law in this area and bring it in line with the EU’s commitment to eliminate discrimination on several grounds including sexual orientation.

The purposes of this study were to identify which advisory committee functions data processing committees are performing, determine how effectively these functions are being performed, and assess the relationship between leadership style and advisory committee effectiveness. Two year postsecondary schools in the Southeast Region of the United States were studied for an academic year. Descriptive statistic techniques were used to tabulate the operations and organization data of committee members and division heads. Mean scores on performed advisory committee functions determined the effectiveness level for each committee as rated by advisory committee members and business or technology division heads. The Leader Behavior Analysis II-Self provided leadership style for the chairperson. Data processing advisory committees reported the most participation in identifying occupational skills, recommending content of the program, determining course relevancy, and evaluating on-going programs. The lowest reported participation was dealing with instruction for the disadvantaged and elimination of sex bias. Committee members felt they were most effective identifying occupational skills, recommending employment standards, and determining course relevancy. Division heads reported communication with the community was the most effective function the advisory committee performed. Committees in this study did not conform on several aspects to the modal pattern for craft advisory committees in the literature--committee size, terms of appointment, and orientation of committee members. Forty-seven percent of the committees reported eight members or more and 33% appoint members for indefinite terms. Orientation of committee members was neglected by 26% of the committees. Many committees were inactive or nonexistent. The study results indicated a relationship between committee leadership style and Factor II-Developing Curriculum items on the effectiveness instrument; this association was significant at the .05 level. However, no significant relationship could be shown between leadership style and effectiveness of the committee. / Doctor of Education

Digitalization of services in today’s society is moving rapidly forward and to be able to use digital services is usually expected, at least among younger and middle-aged population groups. The generation of people who grew up in a totally analog context are trying to get used to more and more services getting digitised. Some of the senior citizens are automatically getting excluded from the digital world when important services that they need are transforming into digital services. To reduce the digital exclusion and increase the digital literacy among seniors more research is needed connected to the age group and what they need to be able to use online services more easily. Nudging is a well-known theory in the behavioural economics field and a nudge can be described as a gentle push in the right direction. A nudge is supposed to help an individual to make the right decision. Nudging in a digital context is called digital nudging. By designing digital nudges in user interfaces, the choice environments in the digital world can be designed to help individuals make the right decisions in digital services or websites. This thesis explores if digital nudging could be a possible solution to increase seniors ability and motivation in online contexts. It aims to understand how digital nudges affect senior citizens' motivation and ability in online contexts. Empirical data was collected by using an online questionnaire. Twelve senior citizens in Sweden answered the online questionnaire. Three different digital nudges; social, friction and reminder were included in the research. The result shows that most respondents get affected by the digital nudges and so in different ways. Some get affected by the digital nudges in the way that the digital nudges are intended to affect the respondents, while others get affected in other ways, such as feeling sceptical and irritated. The predominant effect of the three digital nudges is overall that motivation and ability increases. A conclusion is that the effect of digital nudges on seniors is diverse and depending on many factors such as personal preferences and that it might be beneficial to use personalised and tailored digital nudges for this particular age group.