This thesis provides a critical examination of John Rawls’s political philosophy as it relates to international justice and human rights, Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness has made an enormous impact on contemporary political and ethical theory, yet it has been criticized by some for failing to address the extra-domestic aspects of social justice, including universal human rights. In Chapter One I describe the theoryof.rights, developed in the social contract tradition and how this theory has influenced the modern discourse of human rights. In Chapter Two I discuss Rawls’s theory of justice as fairness, the basic rights and liberties, and the idea of political liberalism. In Chapter Three 1 analyze Rawls’s account of international justice and argue that it fails to uphold the same rigorous principles of justice as found in his account of domestic justice. Finally, in Chapter Four l discuss Rawls’s more recent attempts to theorize international justice and human rights, I conclude that Rawls is not justified in limiting the set of human rights available to persons in different societies, and that this limitation is an unnecessary feature of his theory of justice. In contrast 1 argue for a more cosmopolitan system of social justice that is strongly normative and grounded in Rawlsian ideal theory. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

This thesis will show how authoritarian governments rest legitimacy on their ability to create socio-economic development. It will point to some methods used to consolidate power by authoritarian leaders in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. An authoritarian regime that successfully creates development is strengthened and does not call for democratic change in the short run. It is suggested that the widely endorsed Lipset hypothesis, that development will eventually bring democratic transition, is true only when further socio-economic development requires that the economy transfers from being based on industrial manufacturing to knowledge and creativity – not on lower levels of development. Malaysia and Singapore have reached – or try to reach – this level of development today, but restrictions on their civil societies have still not been lifted. This thesis describes modern political history in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in a Machiavellian tradition. The historical perspective will give a more or less plausible idea of how authoritarian regimes consolidated au-thority and what role development policies played in the leaders’ claims for authority. The conclusion will give a suggestion on how the political future in these three countries might evolve. It will point to the importance of an active and free civil society as a means to develop the nations further, rather than oppression. This thesis will try to point to the dos and don’ts for authoritarian regimes. The ideas of Plato, Machiavelli and Hobbes provide the structures and methods that authoritarian regimes apply. It will be shown that a regime will disintegrate when it fails to comply with Plato’s and Machiavelli’s ideas. Although ancient, Plato and Machiavelli provide methods and structures that seem to carry relevance to the modern history of Southeast Asia. I will point to how authoritarian rule can be maintained in the long run. What is required from the political leadership, what are their strategies and methods? What makes people to tolerate or topple authoritarian regimes? Why do some authoritarian regimes successfully create development while others do not? These are some of the questions this thesis will try to answer.

In today’ democracies, we, citizens, elect individuals to represent us, to talk on our behalf. In this way, political leaders embody the beliefs, wishes, and will of populations, and must act as citizens’ representatives. However, nowadays, a crisis of confidence seems emerge between citizens and politicians. The particular leadership pacing political systems can give to us an interesting point of view to understand this phenomenon. In this way, it is essential, for all of us, citizens, to understand what define us as such, what is our role, what kind of power is in our hands. It is also necessary to understand what the role of politicians elected as representatives is. More significantly, it is a necessity for all of us to have a critical look about what the core components of our societies are. Thereby, in this thesis, I give an enlighten point of view about the meaning of leadership in political systems. I hold six different perspectives in the aim of emphasizing the components of political systems, our role of citizens, and the role of political leaders. Those six perspectives are the following: the reasons explaining the emergence of societies, the role and the explanations about the existence of political parties, the characteristics of political leaders, the characteristics of citizens as political followers, the importance of the authenticity in political systems and finally the moral and ethical dimension as a necessity in the way to handle power.

C’est en 1758 que Rousseau constate qu’il ne peut achever rapidement les Institutions Politiques, et décide d’en séparer le Contrat social et Lettre à d’Alembert sur les spectacles. En 1761, Il finit de travailler sur une partie des textes de l’Abbé de Saint-Pierre qui lui permis d’avoir une approche claire avec les relations internationales. Ce texte dit extrait du projet de paix perpétuelle de l’abbé de Saint-Pierre se veut une solution de sortie de crise politique dans laquelle les États européens s’étaient engouffrés. Les premières notions telles l’idée d’une citoyenneté européenne ou d’une confédération voyaient le jour. / It is in 1758 that Rousseau finds that he can quickly complete the Political Institutions, and decided to separate the Social Contract and Letter to d'Alembert on the shows. In 1761 he finished work on a part of the texts of the Abbot of St. Peter which allowed him to have a clear approach to international relations. This text says excerpt of perpetual peace project of the Abbot of Saint-Pierre wants a political crisis solution in which European states were engulfed. The first such concepts the ideas of European citizenship or a confederation were emerging.

This thesis will show how authoritarian governments rest legitimacy on their ability to create socio-economic development. It will point to some methods used to consolidate power by authoritarian leaders in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. An authoritarian regime that successfully creates development is strengthened and does not call for democratic change in the short run. It is suggested that the widely endorsed Lipset hypothesis, that development will eventually bring democratic transition, is true only when further socio-economic development requires that the economy transfers from being based on industrial manufacturing to knowledge and creativity – not on lower levels of development. Malaysia and Singapore have reached – or try to reach – this level of development today, but restrictions on their civil societies have still not been lifted. This thesis describes modern political history in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in a Machiavellian tradition. The historical perspective will give a more or less plausible idea of how authoritarian regimes consolidated au-thority and what role development policies played in the leaders’ claims for authority. The conclusion will give a suggestion on how the political future in these three countries might evolve. It will point to the importance of an active and free civil society as a means to develop the nations further, rather than oppression. This thesis will try to point to the dos and don’ts for authoritarian regimes. The ideas of Plato, Machiavelli and Hobbes provide the structures and methods that authoritarian regimes apply. It will be shown that a regime will disintegrate when it fails to comply with Plato’s and Machiavelli’s ideas. Al-though ancient, Plato and Machiavelli provide methods and structures that seem to carry relevance to the modern history of Southeast Asia. I will point to how authoritarian rule can be maintained in the long run. What is required from the political leadership, what are their strategies and methods? What makes people to tolerate or topple authoritarian regimes? Why do some authoritarian regimes successfully create development while others do not? These are some of the questions this thesis will try to an-swer.

This thesis has identified and analysed the role of an NGO called Gadra Education in advancing education rights to the less advantaged people of Grahamstown in South Africa. Gadra Education’s role has been identified as twofold. Firstly as an educational NGO, Gadra Education’s initiatives directly impact on the lives of the less economically and socially privileged learners who, due to their previous learning environment in state schools, do not achieve academic results that ensure entry into tertiary level. Secondly its role is identified in its nature as an organisation that emerged due to the deficiencies in the state schooling system. It therefore stands de facto as a critical institution for critique of the state’s education system. The thesis concludes that without confronting the Department of Education or collaborating with it, Gadra Education offers a significant alternative approach which can potentially influence the state to improve the state schooling system. Its strategy of non-confrontation to the state, informal and non-corporatist is advantageous as an NGO that focuses on the actual provision of education. It focuses on instilling Ubuntu values of sharing and giving that are of critical significance in teaching and learning. The context of the thesis is located broadly within socio-economic rights and specifically on education rights. In South Africa where the state has not adequately met the educational obligations for the economically and socially less privileged citizens, the emergence of educational NGOs that focus on providing education to the poor is of vital importance. Although other NGOs that confront the state are important in pushing the state to deliver especially on school infrastructure, teacher deployment and other educational challenges, Gadra Education model ensures academic success for the learner. Lessons can be drawn from Gadra Education which can be potentially useful to state schools and other NGOs that seek to advance education rights to disadvantaged communities.

The primary objective of profit-maximizing companies has long been seen as satisfying its shareholders. However, this orthodox view of corporate governance has been modernized as corporate social responsibility have become more relevant. In essence, corporate sustainability performance has evolved and is now divided into environmental, social and corporate governance, also known as ESG, closely scrutinized by all stakeholders.  The main purpose of this study is to investigate how ESG disclosures about Swedish-listed companies affect their market value. By analyzing these results, using both conventional and complementary theories in behavioral finance, the researchers in this study also aspires to add new perspectives to the research field on why and how the market reacts as it does. This aim was then fulfilled by quantifying the impact of 195 ESG news on market capitalization using three-event studies.  The results are sufficiently reliable to confirm both hypotheses of the study. The findings support both theories and previous research in the sense that deviations from the social contract between firms and stakeholders damage firms' legitimacy. Furthermore, the study’s results show that market reactions are asymmetric. Firstly, with the implication that the negative impact of negative news exceeds the corresponding positive impact of positive news. Secondly, with the meaning that positive news results in a negative impact on market value.  This can be attributed to market psychological factors and other factors, such as Swedish investors' valuation of sustainability work. In addition, the opposite market reaction to positive news is consistent with studies suggesting that certain ESG news are perceived as greenwashing. Against this background, the study concludes that companies' sustainability work and ESG compliance are not profitable to the extent previously advocated. However, the indirect cost of not acting in a socially responsible manner is greater than the opposite. / Det primära målet för vinstmaximerande bolag har länge ansetts vara att tillfredsställa aktieägarna. Denna ortodoxa syn på bolagsstyrning har dock moderniserats i takt med att hållbarhet och samhällsansvar blivit mer aktuellt. I huvudsak har bolagens hållbarhetsarbete utvecklats och delas numera upp i miljöfrågor, sociala frågor och bolagsstyrning, även kallat ESG, något som noga granskas av intressenter.  Det primära syftet med denna studie är att undersöka ESG nyheters inverkan på svensknoterade bolags börsvärden. Genom att analysera dessa resultat, med såväl konventionella som kompletterande teorier inom beteendeekonomi, ämnar författarna även att kunna bidra med nya perspektiv till forskningen om hur, men även varför, marknaden reagerar som den gör. Detta syfte har sedan uppfyllts genom att kvantifiera 195 ESG nyheters inverkan på börsvärde med hjälp av tre eventstudier.  Resultaten är tillräckligt tillförlitliga för att bekräfta studiens båda hypoteser. Fynden stödjer såväl teorier som tidigare forskning, i den mening att avvikelser från det sociala kontraktet mellan företag och intressenter skadar företagens legitimitet. Vidare visar studiens resultat att marknadsreaktionerna är asymmetriska. I första hand i det avseendet att den negativa inverkan från negativa nyheter överstiger den positiva inverkan från positiva nyheter. I andra hand i den bemärkelsen att positiva nyheter leder till en negativ inverkan på marknadsvärde.  Detta kan hänföras till marknadspsykologiska faktorer och andra faktorer, som exempelvis svenska investerares värdering av hållbarhetsarbete. Vidare är den motsatta marknadsreaktionen till positiva nyheter i linje med studier som antyder att vissa ESG nyheter kan tolkas som grönmålning. Mot denna bakgrund konkluderar studien att bolagens hållbarhetsarbete och efterlevnad av ESG inte är lönsamt i den utsträckning som tidigare förespråkats. Dock är den indirekta kostnaden för att ej agera socialt ansvarsfullt större än motsatsen.

The aim of this study is to analyze legitimacy of policy. Its fulfillment should emerge from detailed inquiry of the essential sense of social institutions. The work is divided into three chapters therefore. The first chapter deals with law as a basic system of order of social relations. It explains its fundamental social goal (reducing transaction costs of social action) and its influence on the development of civilization. It discusses in detail the property rights as a fundament of any real legal system - both at the legal level and economic level (i.e. how the system of property rights coordinates social activities and allocates scarce resources, how it creates the elite, and when there is a fault efficiency of this process). The second chapter deals with the social obligations which are necessary condition for preservation of law. These obligations are labeled as taxes (as opposed to tributes that basis is not in the obligation to maintain the legal system and are only ransom inherently). Particular attention is paid to the fair distribution of these obligations (tax justice) and also to the impact of taxation on the development of civilization. The last (third) chapter deals with institutional framework of society, i.e. the exercise of public power and public administration (government...

This thesis presents results of analysis of internet forum, which appeared under article from internet server aktualne.cz in 2006. The article is dealing with abusing of cage beds in context of on people with mental handicap and people with mental illness focused social care system. For qualitative research was used the method of coding inspired by methodological approach of "grounded theory". In theoretical part of this thesis I analyzed relevant theoretical concepts from area of disability studies and gender studies with special focus on critic of concept of liberal citizenship and social contract theory. The key theoretical concept of the thesis is dichotomy of private and public sphere. In next part of the thesis is I am describing context of causes of cage beds in Czech Republic and I am delineating the basic traits of debate here. In empirical part I am describing five key themes, axial codes. In framework of these themes I am defining the differences of people with mental handicap or people with mental illness. The themes are: space and isolation, efficiency, responsibility, stigmatization and care work. In framework of every theme is I am describing the way of defining of these differences and I am searching for their cause and origin. In next part I am figuring the way of argumentation of...

Feministische Staatstheorie analysiert den Staat in seinen vergeschlechtlichten und vergeschlechtlichenden Dimensionen. Konzepte des Kanons der Politikwissenschaft (wie Gesellschaftsvertrag, Staatsbürgerschaft, Recht, Gewalt) werden erweitert, indem deren Vergeschlechtlichung sichtbar gemacht wird. Ebenso werden neue Konzepte wie bspw. Maskulinismus, Privatheit, Reproduktions- und Verwandtschaftspolitiken in die Staatstheorie aufgenommen, um staatliche Machtausübung umfassend theoretisieren zu können.