在忽略企業主體性的情況下，國有企業往往被視為被動的行為體，然而「中國電信」卻透過破壞性創新模式，以「小靈通」突破政府的產業監管原則，為企業開創市場機會。本研究透過理性選擇制度論，恢復國有企業的主體性，探討在改革的制度環境中，「中國電信」經理人如何思維「小靈通」業務？政府如何考量監管內容的變更？以及管制與放鬆管制的變遷過程中，政企之間的互動。 研究發現，在政府政策預期的方向上，找到規制與企業利益的平衡點，乃是微觀放鬆與宏觀加強管理體制下，企業的生存之道。個案中，自主性提升的「中國電信」，便是在制度規範中找到追求利益的空間，推出「小靈通」，並透過改革過程中未能徹底解決的產權問題，利用國家重視國有資產保值增值的弱點，以及斬不斷的政企裙帶關係，促成最終的管制放鬆。 / Under the situation without caring about subjectivities of businesses, the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been defined as the passive actors. China Telecom, however, depended upon “Xiao-ling-tong” (China’s PHS system) to break through the norms of Chinese government by using Disruptive Innovation Model and got the opportunity into the market. This volume in the light of Rational Choice Institutionalism got the subjectivities of SOEs back and discussed with how the managers in China Telecom considered the strategies of “Xiao-ling-tong” in the circumstance during China’s telecommunication industry reform. And would like to know how the government faced the changing of norms and interactions among the SOEs into the process of control and vice versa at the same time. We found, fortunately, that getting the balancing act between government’s principles and SOEs’ interests is the way which could accord with expectations of government’s policy for businesses to exist. The cases showed the reason why China Telecom with added subjectivity can get its own rooms for profit in the norms is by using “Xiao-ling-tong” and through the property rights problems that couldn’t be resolved, by taking advantage of the fact that Chinese government cares about his properties perpetually or increasingly, and by utilizing the uninterrupted relationship between politics and commerce to push the deregulateon finally.

The relations between Greece and Turkey have developed at an unprecedented level in recent years. Behind this development lay certain factors notably the Simitis Governments’ strategy of redefining the parameters of Greek national interests in foreign policy and the Turkish Governments’ subsequent positive responses to this favorable atmosphere. It is thus possible to use the term ‘détente’ to refer to the period which dates back to 1996, the rise of Simitis to the Greek premiership. Some observers on Greco-Turkish Relations tend to trace the origins of Greco-Turkish détente to the devastating 17 August earthquake in Turkey. Some others try to find the origin of détente in the 1999 Helsinki Summit where Turkey was offered the candidacy status for the EU membership. This thesis proposes an alternative approach by defending the view that the rise of Simitis to the prime ministry itself heralded the chain of events which would later pave the road to the relaxation of Greco-Turkish Relations. This thesis is a modest attempt to understand the anatomy of Simitis Leadership and its reflections on Greco-Turkish Relations. On the basis of certain turning points in a chronological fashion, it will uncover the background of an eight-year ruling term with its ups and downs. There is an irony in Greco-Turkish Relations: Outbreak of crises between the two neighbors led both the Greek and the Turkish political actors to re-examine their attitude in the following phase of their relationship. In the Simitis Era, the tensions created opportunities for building up networks of cooperation initiatives to a certain extent. I also argue here that spillover logic in Greco-Turkish Relations has started working- albeit cautiously- and that this spirit could be sustainable if managed by both sides wisely. Continuation of the Greco-Turkish détente even after the governmental change in Athens in April 2004 demonstrates that the Simitis Leadership has determined a new framework for Greco- Turkish Relations. This framework has been set through pushing Turkey to the future EU membership orientation and setting mechanisms of reward/punishment (or carrot/stick) policy on Turkey’s route to Brussels through the EU.

Over the last decade, a confluence of strategic and security concerns has threatened the European Union’s survival both within and beyond its political dimension. As a result, security and defence have risen to the top of the EU’s political agenda, culminating in the approval of the EU Global Strategy (EUGS) in 2016. The EUGS represented a watershed moment in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy: the EU agreed on ambitious levels of security and defence. The new policy is based on supporting capacity building among member states through instruments such as PESCO. Nonetheless, these instruments have caused variations in patterns of member state behaviour that have enhanced defense integration. This research aims to understand what was the PESCO institutional effect on Member States' preferences and how it has affected the European security and defense goals. The research highlights the role of European agencies and how they contributed to solve collective action problem through a ‘forum effect' on participants, using pro-actively the task of assessing co-operative projects proposals. As a result, PESCO’s institutional effect led to cooperative outcomes between nations that allowed them to overcome coordination dilemmas, namely uncertainty about the willingness to contribute to a common project, which is typical of defense cooperation. Here, we used Rational Choice Institutionalism theory to investigate the PESCO project structure and its interaction with the European Defence policy. Cooperation between participating member states is presented within a cooperative game action, as part of a theoretical approach to game theory. It explains formally how PESCO entails elements to overcome collective action problem among participating member states, while emphasising the institutional design that promoted the European interests, and how this has led to more Europeanised security and defence. Findings are interpreted under the Differentiated integration concept.

The aim of this paper is to examine how the Swedish political parties the Sweden Democrats (SD), Social Democrats (S), and the Moderates (M) relate to the principle of freedom of expression and the burning of the Quran, which has sparked a Koran crisis as well as a security crisis in Sweden in 2023. The analysis methodology applied in this study is a descriptive idea analysis, which aims to identify values, descriptions, and prescriptions conveyed by the parties during their speeches and debates. The paper also applies three theoretical perspectives:Sociological institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism and John Stuart Mill's harm principle, to explain and evaluate the parties' arguments and positions through institutional factors, rational choice, and moral principles. The study reveals noteworthy disparities in the perspectives of the parties concerning the significance of freedom of expression, the causes and consequences of the Koran burnings, and the appropriate measures to deal with the situation. This research facilitates comprehension of the political discourse and the course of action associated with a contentious and delicate topic that impacts the democracy and security of Sweden.

This research focuses on agencification and quangocratisation (AQ) through a comparison of the experiences of South Korea and the UK. Although a number of studies of AQ have been produced recently, these reforms remain inadequately understood. Since AQ involves the structural disaggregation of administrative units from existing departments, executive agencies and quangos have distinct characteristics which are quite different from ordinary core departments. There are a number of factors which influence these changes; and this thesis explores nine existing theories which are available to explain these phenomena. Case studies are presented of Tate Modern in the UK and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), which are carefully analysed to examine the validity of those nine arguments. Although cultural agencies, which show some unique features, have become increasingly an essential part of the national economy, they have scarcely been researched from the viewpoint of public policy. This thesis endeavours to explore distinctive characteristics of this policy area; and moreover, it examines the diverse variables which have an impact on policy formation and its results through the process of comparison of arguments. The major tasks of this thesis are to investigate the applicability of the nine arguments and to weigh their merits. As a corollary of this comprehensiveness, it examines the whole public sectors of both countries, in order to show the broader picture and to understand the processes of changes and their backgrounds. More profoundly, similarities and differences between both countries are compared from both macro and micro perspectives. At the same time, the results of AQ are analysed through the comparison of outputs or outcomes before and after these changes, with a view to exploring whether their rationales are appropriate. Furthermore, it also examines the institutional constraints which influence not only the change of agencies but also their performances. Besides which, it seeks to find strategies for overcoming these constraints. This thesis adopts systematic and comprehensive approaches regarding basic concepts and data. It draws on theories of comparative research, the scope of the public sector, the classification and analysis of agencies and quangos, and theories underlying the detailed components of each argument and epistemological assumptions. Therefore, it suggests various aspects which enable us to broaden our understanding of the changes within the public sector; and to generate practical understanding to inform real world reform.