The thesis deals with the topic of operating space for civil society organizations in the Republic of Moldova during the period from March 2017 to February 2019. The main aim of the thesis was to determine whether the case of Moldova corresponded to the concept of shrinking space for civil society defined by Saskia Brechenmacher in her paper Civil Society under Assault in 2017. Shrinking or closing space, which occurs more and more frequently in different countries throughout the world, can be defined on the basis of three main areas: tactics, impact and international reaction. The operational space for the civil sector in the Republic of Moldova differed from Brechenmacher's concept partially in the areas of tactics and international reaction and more significantly in the area of impact due to fact that that the restrictive legislation remained in the phase of a bill. As Brechenmacher's concept does not cover all aspects of operating space in Moldova, a supplementary chapter has been added. The main difference from Brechenmacher's concept was the aspect of "simulated collaboration". State officials pretended that the civil society was involved in the decision-making process, but in fact they ignored its views.

In the case of China, a rising great power, the question of adopting a democratic political system is not just a domestic issue, but has much broader implications for China's relations with the outside world, especially the United States. Whether Washington and Beijing continue to cohabitate without major conflict will depend in large part on the specific form of the regime that evolves in China and on the American perception of this regime. The research hypothesis of this paper proposes that in the event of a democratic transition, China will not adopt a liberal democracy, but a variation of democracy that will include meritocratic and communitarian aspects, due to the strong role of Confucian ethics and morals in influencing Chinese political culture. In an extreme case, China's "non- liberal" democracy may be perceived by the United States as a wholly undemocratic regime and hence, the presumed benign effects of democracy on state-to-state relations, such as "democratic peace", will become void. Yet, if China adopts a "non-liberal" democratic government that primarily strives to ensure "good governance" and if the United States is prepared to accept China as a "non- liberal" democracy, mutually beneficial and peaceful relations can be maintained. The first part of the paper focuses on defining...

Democratic backsliding is a growing threat against peace in Europe. In the 1990s, Europeunderwent extensive democratization, including Poland and Hungary, who were painted asexemplary in the transition. In recent years, however, the countries have shown the opposite development and are today the two countries in Europe that have the fastest declining democracy. The aim of this thesis is to understand this phenomenon and investigate the democratic developmentin Poland and Hungary through process tracing from the end of World War II to the year 2020. To do so, the theory of political culture is applied to elaborate the explanations of the development. Furthermore, there is a need to do further research concerning democratic backsliding in Poland and Hungary as they are often considered equals in the academic debate. Additionally, the purpose ofthis thesis is therefore to rebut this inaccurate presentation of the countries. The results are achieved by using process tracking and most different design as main methods. Thefindings of the thesis are based on the results of the analysis, concluding that the anti-democraticdevelopments in Poland and Hungary do indeed have differences. Through the process tracking, differences are found in the explanatory variables. The countries have similar critical events whichhave shaped the countries collective memory differently. This difference is also found in how the parties have created legitimacy among the population.

This thesis studies the negotiation of political power between the Danish absolutist state, the local government on Bornholm, and its subjects there during the winter of 1738–1739. The aim is to better understand how political power was negotiated in a peripheral region of an early modern state, but also to explore what caused this interaction to begin with and why its eventual outcome was a compromise by the state. The empirical evidence consists mostly of documents created and obtained by an investigative commission formed by the Danish king in 1738 in response to an anonymous letter that accused the local government on Bornholm of corruption and serious criminal offences. The local government had become complicit in peasants’ squatting on disputed land that technically belonged to the king. It will be argued that there existed a distinct political culture on Bornholm that shaped these negotiations and their outcome. Furthermore, the work of the commission and the eventual compromise made by the state demonstrates how this political culture collided with Copenhagen officials’ designs for the island at the time. The investigation into the behaviour of the governor of Bornholm and his eventual treatment sheds light on the role and boundaries of such early modern local officeholders, but also reveals how officials such as him were protected by nepotism and kinship within the Danish absolutist state. Finally, it will be argued that the anonymous letter that led to the establishment of the commission was the product of local conflicts that had escalated to a point of desperation. / <p></p><p></p>

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The essential cornerstone of society and the state is political support. Studying political support is therefore very important in political sciences. The purpose of this study was to research political support and its interrelation with the economic indicators of unemployment and relative income inequality. The study built on previous research. Using social data from the ESS, the results from 15 European countries were in line with previous findings in the field. Decreased unemployment is at all times found interrelated and increases political support. Income inequality is likewise found interrelated to a great extent with political support. When one of the two economic conditions notably decreases while the other increases, unemployment weighs heavier on citizens’ political support. Unemployment may have more direct effects on individuals' lives, life satisfaction and personal well-being. Income inequality has solid results of interrelation to political support when looking at the longest 12 year period. This may be due to income inequality not being as directly discernible for citizens as unemployment. Income inequality may need more time to result in negative effects and eroded political support.

This thesis explores the shifting political culture of inter-war Scotland and Britain via an examination of political identities and practice in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh. Drawing on the local and national archives of the Labour movement and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) alongside government records, newspapers, personal testimony and visual sources, relations on the political Left are used as a means to evaluate this change. It is contended that, as a result of the extension of the franchise and post-war fears of a rise in political extremism, national party loyalties came to replace those local political identities, embedded in a sense of class, trade and place, which had previously sustained popular radicalism. This had crucial implications for the conduct of politics, as local customs of popular political participation declined, and British politics came to be defined by national elections. The thesis is structured in two parts. The first section considers the extent to which local identities of class and established provincial understandings of popular democracy came to be identified with an appeal to class sentiment excluded from national political debate. The second section delineates the repercussions this shift had for how and where politics was conducted, as the mass franchise discredited popular traditions of protest, removing politics from public view, and privileging the individual elector. In consequence, the confrontational traditions of popular politics came to be the preserve of those operating on the fringes of politics, especially the CPGB, and, as such, largely disappeared from British political culture. This thesis thus offers an important reassessment of the relationship between the public and politics in modern Britain, of the tensions between local and national loyalties, and of the role of place in the construction of political identities.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The constant growth in information and communications technology (ICT) broadens the capabilities of researchers to understand and interpret the social world. New multidisciplinary methods of measuring social realities are constantly being developed and improved. This methodological study aims to incorporate novel methods of automated, computerised content- and sentiment analysis software in order to produce a usable instrument for measuring public expressions on democracy from the social network site, Twitter. Adapting methods developed by O‟Connor et al. (2010) and using an online platform called Chatterbox Analytics Ltd., this study attempts to complement traditional survey research data on democracy. The creation of this method allows researchers to automatically and without deep programming knowledge, extract and analyse opinionated data from a substantial segment of the population, namely Twitter users. This is the first study, as far as this researcher is aware, that develops automated instruments for the measurement of expressions on democracy from online social networks. The rationale for the development of this instrument lies in the apparent recent rise in negative sentiment on democracy in academic spheres and political realities alike. Throughout history support for democracy has swayed, which in turn placed democracy on a rocky path of development. As negative opinions on democracy became overwhelming this system of governance was forced to adapt by changing its core structure. This could be the case again today. Authors such as Crozier, Huntington and Watunaki (1975) have already warned of a crisis of democracy in the 1970s. More recently authors such as Dalton (2004) and van Beek (2012) expressed opinions indicating that globally citizens are steadily becoming more critical of political parties, politicians, political policies and the whole democratic process. These negative sentiments might be indicative of what van Beek (2012:12) calls “an erosion in support for democracy”. Traditional survey projects examining opinions on democracy, such as the World Values Survey, offer insights into global expressions on democracy, but are time consuming, costly and complicated to conduct. The method developed in this study allows researchers to complement traditional survey data with insights that are automatically gathered and analysed from the influential social media network, Twitter. This introductory study finds that automated analysis of expressions on democracy from Twitter is indeed feasible. In order to express the extent to which the developed method is feasible, this study offers an example case, examining expressions on democracy from Twitter for the period of 1 May to 31 July 2012. Furthermore the study offers a quantitative manual evaluation of the accuracy of the developed measurement instrument. With the present level of content- and sentiment analysis technology this study finds that the accuracy of the results from this method, though informative, is still limited. The study therefore concludes with an advisory section highlighting methods for future studies to improve on the accuracy of this measurement instrument. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Deur die konstante groei in inligting- en kommunikasietegnologie (IKT) word die veld waaruit navorsers kan put om die sosiale wêreld te verstaan en te interpreteer al groter. Nuwe multidissiplinêre metingsmetodes om die sosiale werklikheid te verstaan, word konstant ontwikkel en verbeter. Hierdie metodologiese studie beoog om nuwe metodes van geoutomatiseerde, gerekenaariseerde, inhouds- en sentimentanalisesagteware saam te voeg om 'n bruikbare instrument vir die meting van publieke uitsprake oor demokrasie, op die sosiale netwerk Twitter te skep. Metodes wat deur O'Connor et al. (2010) en die aanlyn platform, Chatterbox Analytics Ltd ontwikkel is, is aangepas om 'n instrument te skep wat gebruik kan word om by te dra tot tradisionele opname-navorsingsdata oor demokrasie. Hierdie nuwe metode sal navorsers toelaat om outomaties en sonder veel programmeringsvaardighede opiniegelaaide data van 'n beduidende segment van die samelewing, naamlik Twitter gebruikers, te verkry en te analiseer. Hierdie is die eerste studie, sover hierdie navorser bewus is, wat geoutomatiseerde instrumente ontwikkel vir die meting van uitsprake oor demokrasie op sosiale netwerke. Die beweegrede vir die ontwikkeling van hierdie instrument vloei uit die oënskynlike onlangse styging in negatiewe sentiment oor demokrasie in sowel akademiese- as politieke sirkels. Die ondersteuning vir demokrasie het dwarsdeur die geskiedenis sy hoogte en laagtepunte gehad en hierdie onsekerheid het die ontwikkelingspad van demokrasie taamlik met dorings besaai. Die hele kernstruktuur van híérdie regeringsisteem was geforseer om hewig aan te pas elke keer wanneer die negatiewe opinies oor demokrasie oorweldigend geraak het. Dit wil voorkom asof demokrasie weer op die rand van verandering is. Skrywers soos Crozier, Huntington en Watunaki (1975) het alreeds in die 1970's gewaarsku teen 'n krisis rondom demokrasie. Meer onlangs het skrywers soos Dalton (2004) en van Beek (2012) opinies gelug dat burgers reg oor die wêreld stadig maar seker besig is om meer krities op politieke partye, politici en oor politieke beleide en die demokratiese proses in geheel raak. Hierdie negatiewe sentimente mag dalk 'n aanduiding wees van “'n erosie in die ondersteuning van demokrasie,”, soos Van Beek (2012:12) dit noem. Tradisionele opname-navorsingsprojekte wat na opinies oor demokrasie kyk, soos die „World Values Survey‟, bied wel 'n blik op globale uitsprake oor demokrasie, maar is duur, tydsaam en moeilik om deur te voer. Die metode wat in hierdie studie ontwikkel is, kan bykomende insigte tot tradisionele opname-navorsingsprojekte bring. Díé insigte word outomaties ingesamel en geanaliseer vanuit die invloedryke sosiale netwerk, Twitter. Hierdie inleidende studie bevind dat geoutomatiseerde analise van uitsprake oor demokrasie op Twittter inderdaad moontlik is. Ten einde die mate van sukses van hierdie metode wat ontwikkel is te illustreer, analiseer hierdie studie 'n datagreep van uitsprake oor demokrasie uit Twitter oor die tydperk 1 Mei tot 31 Julie 2012. Hierbenewens bied die studie ook 'n kwantitatiewe waardasie per hand wat die akkuraatheid van die ontwikkelde meetingsinstrument toets. Met die huidige ontwikkelingsvlak van inhouds- en sentiment-analisetegnologie vind hierdie studie dat die akkuraatheid van hierdie metode, alhoewel informatief is, tog beperk is. Die studie sluit af met 'n afdeling wat advies oor hoe verdere studies die akkuraatheid van hierdie meetinstrument kan verbeter, toelig.

本論文將重新探討湖南新政的實際成效與其形象的塑造過程。在現今的學界中，對湖南新政的認識受限於維新人士的觀點。因而對湖南新政之認識，往往停留在「新舊之爭」上。此觀點往往過於僵化，侷限研究者的視野。因而，在這種歷史認識的限制下，研究者沒法解釋當時錯綜複雜的歷史事實，故只有去熟悉化，以不同的眼光去重新書寫此段歷史，重新還原當時之歷史時空，才能找回失去的歷史知識。 本論文會先探討地方官吏在湖南新政中的角色與貢獻。江標、陳寶箴、張之洞等人在湖南新政中所扮演的角色相當重要，惟後人對其的認識，往往是經過維新人士而來，因而不免與歷史事實有所落差。所以，重新研究地方官吏的角色，則有助於重新檢討湖南新政之形成過程。 在以往的研究中，對於湖南保衛局在湖南新政的影響力，缺乏深入的研究。事實上，在湖南新政的主事者看來，湖南保衛局是為湖南新政成敗之關鍵。本論文將探討湖南保衛局的興起與頓挫，其重點將放在湖南保衛局的構想之形成，在其實行過程中所遇到之困難，以此作為了解湖南新政的一個側面。在湖南保衛局施行過程中，不同人士都對於保衛局的實行有所討論，亦對於其有所批評。而從保衛局的實施過程中，可以證明這些批評有其道理。不過，由於受到「新舊之爭」思維的影響，後人對於這些批評者，多視其為「守舊」，因而對其言論多以負面眼光看待。事實上，這些批評者也是推動新政的主力。但是，在後來的歷史論述中，往往忽略這些史事。究其原因，與湖南士人之間的論爭有所關連。而這亦是決定湖南新政前途的重要關鍵。 所以，本論文將分析湖南士人之間論爭之起因，以及論爭的經過。在此過程中，不同士人之間因各種原因而產生矛盾與衝突，從而使得湖南新政遭受衝擊。這些衝擊有的來自於湖南士人本身，也有一些是來自於省外。而這些衝擊，很大程度上與康有為有相當密切之關連。湖南新政與戊戌變法在本質上就有所不同，而康有為一派意圖影響湖南新政的發展，引來不少士人的反彈。因此，士人之間開始出現分歧。而反對康有為一方之人士，往往援引省外反對康有為的言論作為思想資源，以抗衝康學，拿回新政的主導權。因此，他們所反對的，只是康有為一派的康學，而非針對西學。 因此，從當時的歷史時空看來，參與論爭的雙方在思想上均沒有太大的分別。他們對於西學，都抱持接納的態度；在新政的事務上，他們都有所參與。但在後人看來，王先謙等人被貼上「守舊」的標籤。因此，這種觀點如何形成？本身就是一個值得探討的課題。所以，本論文將探討當時人如何看待湖南新政，並從而形成中國近代政治文化的其中一種特色。在當事人看來，湖南新政並沒有因戊戌政變而中止，在後來仍有所延續。而在日本人看來，湖南士人並沒有所謂的新舊之別。革命黨人和立憲黨人都以湖南新政作為他們的政治本錢，因而塑造一種「新舊之爭」的氛圍。在報刊等傳播媒介的推動下，這種湖南的「新舊之爭」成為當時人的歷史想像，並成為後人對於該段歷史的集體記憶。

This thesis uses the evidence for a wide range of phenomena relating to the exile of citizens, by judicial decision or through stasis, to investigate the political cultures of Greek poleis in the period c. 404-146 BC: the fundamental ideas about citizenship which were in circulation in poleis in that period. Political communication in the context of exile phenomena forced citizens to make explicit their fundamental assumptions about the criteria for civic inclusion and exclusion and about the extent and basis of civic obligation. Analysis of surviving evidence for that communication thus offers unique insights into prominent Greek ideas about citizenship. This method is applied, in chapters 1 and 2, to laws and discussions relating to, first, lawful expulsion and exclusion and, second, civic reconciliation and the reintegration of exiles; and, in chapters 3 and 4, to the political rhetoric, organisation and ideas of participants in exclusionary stasis and of exiled citizens. Wherever possible, ancient Greek philosophers’ arguments, rhetoric and assumptions are compared with those of non-philosophers. Study of the four different bodies of evidence suggests that most poleis’ political cultures were distinguished by their extremes, paradoxes, indeterminacies and contradictions. In particular, many poleis’ political cultures included very significant, radical norms of civic voluntarism, encouraging citizens to exercise extensive voluntary initiative in political contexts. Moreover, most poleis political cultures were dominated by two coexisting, radically opposed basic paradigms of the good polis and of good citizenship: these are defined in the introduction and chapter 1 as a ‘unitarian teleological communitarian’ paradigm and a ‘libertarian contractarian’ paradigm. In addition to revealing fundamental ideas of citizenship, some of the exile evidence enables study of the effects of those ideas in practice in this period: citizens’ political choices, claims and behaviour in relevant periods of stress, such as a bout of exclusionary stasis or a spell of political agitation while in exile, represent a well-defined and revealing case-study of the multiple, competing effects of those ideas on political interaction. It is argued that the exile evidence suggests that the same fundamental ideas of citizenship were conducive both to civic stability and flourishing and to destructive civic unrest.