The thesis makes a constructivist criticism of neo-realism&rsquo / s particular conceptualization of state through a comparative analysis of Turkey&rsquo / s five motions (2003-2007) on military involvement in Iraq. Firstly, neo-realism and constructivism with regards to the concept of state are explored. Then, through the lights of the theoretical discussion, Turkey&rsquo / s five military motions are examined. In the case study, parliamentary minutes are used as the primary historical evidences. In the parliamentary discussions, three themes appeared significant-&ldquo / institutional identity&rdquo / , &ldquo / legitimacy&rdquo / and &ldquo / interest&rdquo / - which provided the ground for a constructivist criticism of neo-realist understanding of state. These three themes obtained from the discussions are tapped under four major topics which have been the main issues for the constructivists: &ldquo / agency&rdquo / , &ldquo / norms&rdquo / , &ldquo / identity&rdquo / and &ldquo / interest&rdquo / . Thesis argues that foreign policy behavior is a political product and &ldquo / state&rdquo / is a social actor whose behavior can only be understood from the social, cultural and historical context in which the state-society relations are embedded. Hence, for the purpose of making a structural analysis, separation of the domestic and the international realm of state is a fallacy with which neo-realism is badly plagued. Constructivism, on the other hand, has the potential to bridge this gap and understand the foreign policy behavior of states more accurately since it gives credence to the inner diversity of states through problematizing the ideational elements in foreign policy making and in international politics.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 77 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Looking back at the past twelve years, many would say that it appears Russia has lost the battle for liberal democratic reform. Among Russia watchers, the following question has been circulated: "Who lost Russia?" This debate has polarized most scholars into one of two camps: those who feel the reforms failed (the critics) and those who feel the reforms were a success (the supporters). This paper will explain why the Russian reforms failed. By filling in the holes left by current research, the author will demonstrate that the truth may lie somewhere in between the two opposing sides. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. A. in Sociology)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2009. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 355-384).

U.S. political leaders must be meritorious to warrant elected office but they also should be average so that they may demonstrate empathy and win the trust of citizens. Rhetoric makes this contradiction work, but no scholarship yet describes it satisfactorily. Worse yet, public opinion now holds politicians in historically low regard. But without a systematic understanding of how elected officials discursively bind themselves to the people, it is impossible to say if or why the rhetorical model of exceptional-ordinary leadership is failing. In this study I describe this rhetoric, which I identify as the Common Style. By listening to politicians' language choices across four speaking situations, I discovered that the Common Styles consists of distinct registers, each appealing to a conventional value, thereby indicating that politicians share something in common with everyday Americans. When speaking to a national audience under expectations of relative formality, as did presidents when delivering a weekly address, chief executives mostly appealed to the American work ethic through a language of production, and in this way presented themselves as honorable laborers. When answering a special-interest group's invitation to speak at one their meetings, governors and mayors relied on a language of progress to show themselves to be concerned with improvement, as were the citizens who joined these voluntary associations. On the nationally broadcast television talk show, leaders shared stories of their uncommon experiences and thereby satisfied the universal need to know what others go through and subtly implied that they, like everyone else, were mortal. When leaders were expected to think on their feet in the presence of local constituents--as they must at town-hall meetings--they turned to a conventional language of deference to indicate their esteem for voters and a mutual desire for respect. I conclude that U.S. politicians seek to build relations with citizens based on the presumption of shared values, but the resonance of these ideals in a fractured society remains uncertain. Future studies must therefore investigate the effectiveness of the Common Style with different swaths of ever-changing Americans. / text

Kai po trečiosios demokratizacijos bangos pagausėjo demokratinę santvarką pasirinkusių valstybių, prasidėjo demokratizacijos procesas. Demokratijos konsolidacija yra demokratizacijos proceso rezultatas, kuris parodo šalies demokratijos būseną. Ji išreiškiama pagal demokratijos kokybės kriterijus, kurie šiame darbe yra politinė kultūra, ekonominė ir socialinė padėtis bei žmonių teisės ir laisvės. Lietuva ir Estija yra vienos iš tų daugelio valstybių, kurios pasirinko demokratinę valdymo sistemą. Vis dėl to šiuo metu pastebimi esminiai šių valstybių demokratijos kokybės skirtumai, kurie atskleidžia pagrindinę darbo problemą. Problemos analizė yra šio darbo tikslas, kuris pasiekiamas, apibrėžiant demokratijos sąvoką ir jos egzistavimo sąlygas, analizuojant Lietuvos ir Estijos politinę kultūrą, ekonominę ir socialinę padėtį bei gyventojų teisių ir laisvių užtikrinimą. Taigi darbo objektas – tai Lietuvos ir Estijos demokratijos konsolidacija. Įgyvendinant uždavinius, pasitelkiami aprašomasis ir palyginamais metodai. Šie metodai padeda analizuoti valstybių demokratijos kokybės skirtumus ir nurodyti svarbiausias jų priežastis. Atlikus analizę paaiškėjo, kad Estija nuo nepriklausomybės atgavimo pasižymėjo geresne ekonomine ir socialine padėtimi. Tam įtakos galėjo turėti palanki geografinė padėtis, atviresnė nei Lietuvos rinkos ekonomika bei paveldėta vokiečių kultūra. Darbas atskleidė, kad kada keičiasi valstybių ekonominė situacija, tuo pat metu kinta politinės kultūros būklė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The democratization process started in post-communits countries after the third wave of democratization. Democratic consolidation is the result of the democratic process that reflects the country‘s democratic status. It is expressed through the quality criteria of democracy. Political culture, economic and social situation and human rigths and freedoms are very important criteria which are used in order to explain the democracy’s consolidation in Lithuania and Estonia. Those countries chose the democratic regime. However, it is noticed that there are differences between Lithuanian and Estonian democracy’s consolidation. This is the main problem of this work. The problem’s analysis is the aim of the research that is achieved by defining the concept of democracy and its conditions, making an analysis of Lithuanian and Estonian political culture, economic and social situation and the human rights and freedoms. So, the paper’s object – is the consolidation of democracy in Lithuania and Estonia. The research uses descriptive and comparative methods that help to analyze the main differences and their reasons. The analysis has shown that Estonia has better economic and social situation than Lithuania since the becoming independent states. It could be influenced by advantageous geographical position, open market economy and German culture. The research has shown that when the economic situation is changing, the political culture is also changing at the same time. The comparison of... [to full text]

<p>Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1998</p> / digitalisering@umu

This qualitative research focused on the political knowledge holdings of adults. The research was conducted from the perspective and for the field of adult education. A purpose of this dissertation research was to provide a new and expanded footing for future inquiry and to enhance the further development of both theory and practice. The methodology was selected with that in mind.This study involved two distinct components. Part one involved a systematic random sample of 30 adults from a small midwestern city. A 16 question telephone survey was administered to each of the 30 adults. The survey consisted of the type questions used by previous researchers to measure political knowledge. The questions required respondents to identify political figures and election issues. Respondents were also asked to answer political parties questions and civics questions.The qualitative component, part two, was the primary thrust of this research. Seven informants were identified from different life circumstances. The informants and the 30 randomly selected adults resided in the same community. A minister, a law enforcement officer, a small business person, a retired person, a minimum wage worker, a factory worker, and an adult college student were individually interviewed on twoseparate occasions. Each interview was transcribed and analyzed by the researcher. At the conclusion of each informant's final interview, the 16 question survey, previously given to the 30 telephone respondents, was administered to each informant.Conclusions of this study were not generalized beyond the study's research participants. The informants were found to have varying areas of political knowledge. These varying areas of political knowledge arose from the informants varying personal experiences and life circumstances. Informants were not well informed, nor were they equally informed, across multiple areas of political knowledge. The seven informants performed virtually the same as did the thirty telephone respondents on the sixteen question survey.This study demonstrated that qualitative research methodology can illuminate and make meaningful that which is undetected through the use of questionnaires. Where the results of the questionnaires reflected a sameness between and among the informants and telephone respondents, the seven case studies uncovered distinct differences. / Department of Educational Leadership

This dissertation examines the issue of intercultural understanding. I explore the role played by language in constituting human subjectivity in accordance with the common insights of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, and Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, in order to: (1) affirm the complexity and fragility of the process of building understanding in fight of our immersion in specific cultural-linguistic worldviews; and (2) demonstrate that human beings are ontologically predisposed to achieve understanding, and that this ontological predisposition is enhanced by a constant and inescapable process of crossing "language boundaries" in daily life. I argue that the very manner of human induction into cultural-linguistic worldviews suggests the means by which intercultural understanding might best be fostered: through the bestowal of recognition and the cultivation of dialogical relationships. / I assemble key elements of an assortment of different theories of intercultural understanding in which these techniques are assigned a central role; this exercise generates a Wittgensteinian "perspicuous representation" of the process of crafting intercultural understanding itself, and reveals the unique strengths of two convergent approaches in particular. Both the contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional ideal of intercultural understanding of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en First Nations of northwestern British Columbia, and the recent writings of Charles Taylor on the subject of international human rights standards comprise variations of what I call the "shared horizons" paradigm. The great advantages of this paradigm are its ability to address the distortive effect exercised by power inequalities upon efforts to create intercultural understanding (demonstrated through a case study of the Gitzsan-Wet'suwet'en land claim), and its amenableness to a variety of distinct culture-specific normative justifications. The shared horizons approach does not offer a blueprint for achieving intercultural understanding, but rather, a modest and adaptable set of principles that can serve as the foundation for efforts to work toward the resolution of intercultural disagreements.

This thesis analyses the &lsquo / dualistic&rsquo / structure of Greek political culture formed by traditionalist and modernist wings in a historical context by concentrating on post-1974 era. The dissolution of the dictatorship in 1974 constituted a turning point both for Greek politics and Greek political culture. In this point, political parties played the key role in the process of transition and consolidation of democracy and reshaping Greek political culture. Accession into the EC was another historical step for Greek politics and political culture. Deepening of integration with the EC (EU) and Europeanization process has profoundly affected socio-political, economic structure and institutional modernization of Greece. Europeanization of Greece reformulated the hegemony struggle between traditionalist and modernist wings in favor of the latter. Especially, coming to power of Simitis with a pro-European understanding and &lsquo / modernization&rsquo / discourse reinforced the hegemony of modernist wing over the traditionalist one.