<p> South Africa has a ruling dominant party, the African National Congress (ANC), which has been in power since apartheid ended in 1994. In national elections, the ANC has consistently received an overwhelming majority of the vote, even though the majority of South Africa's citizens have benefitted little from the ANC's policies. This dissertation investigates why so many South African voters continue to vote for the ANC despite little, if any, measurable improvement in their quality of life since the ANC came to power. In so doing, it examines the literature on dominant parties, voter behavior and what motivates it, the incentives created by various electoral systems, and ethnic patronage politics. It also draws on empirical research into these phenomena in both South Africa and an illustrative comparative case study, Malaysia. Ultimately, I argue that both the theoretical framework and the empirical evidence point toward ethnic patronage as the driving explanation of electoral outcomes in South Africa; they also suggest there is little prospect for significant change in the foreseeable future.</p>

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2007. / "Publication number AAT 3266320"

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Patronage networks are said to help elites advance into a regime's inner circle or lead to their downfall, as well as influence regime stability and other political outcomes. But researchers have only systematically studied individual patron-client ties instead of taking advantage of the tools provided by social network analysis (SNA). In three related papers, this dissertation evaluates the best method to measure patronage networks, develops a theory of coalition formation along them, and tests it on the members of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee from 1982 until 2012.</p><p> The first paper argues that informal politics is better conceptualized through networks than factions, and identifies and evaluates two common approaches to measure such networks: the inductive approach, which relies on a qualitative assessment of insider sources, and the deductive approach, which infers the network from publicly available data. The paper evaluates several commonly used approaches to deduce networks among Chinese political elites. Using methods and concepts developed in Social Network Analysis, it finds that coworker networks perform best in these tests, but can be further refined by noting the number of instances of working together, or by taking into account promotions that have occurred while the two individuals were coworkers.</p><p> The second paper develops a model in which one or two leaders form their coalitions along network ties connecting the relevant political elites, the selectorate. Simulations on random networks and real-life patronage networks among Chinese elites illustrate how all but the regular (lattice or complete) network lead to power differentials between the members of the selectorate. The model identifies three specific network positions: those that increase the chances of entering the winning coalition, those that enable coalition leaders to remain in charge of the coalition, and those that help a ruler fend off the opposition. It discusses their respective properties, and shows that powerful Chinese elites do indeed hold the corresponding positions. Furthermore, in a model with two competing leaders the network structure provides an endogenous explanation for winning coalition sizes smaller than the bare majority.</p><p> The third paper tests the theory on promotion networks - indicating who has been promoted under whom - among the Chinese Communist elite 1982-2012. A hazard analysis demonstrates that direct connections to patrons double the chance of being appointed to the Politburo. But links to current and former subordinates - unlike those to superiors - among the other elite also have a significant positive effect. Finally, network centrality measures can identify current patrons and predict appointments to the inner circles five or ten years later even if the identity of the patrons is unknown. Future Politburo members are found in network positions that capture popularity as a coalition partner (closeness centrality), while patrons hold network positions from which they can preempt opposition from within their coalition (betweenness centrality).</p><p> The dissertation thus shows the importance of analyzing informal elite networks instead of just the ties between one specific leader and his or her followers. It also proposes SNA as a new theoretical and empirical approach to the understudied informal institutions of authoritarian regimes, suggesting a more principled, but also more nuanced way of measuring one such institution: political patronage.</p>

<p> This study examines the discourse of Beppe Grillo, founder of the Five Star Movement, a populist political movement created on his personal blog in 2009. It analyzes three of the texts published on Grillo&rsquo;s blog about the constitutional referendum proposed by the ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in 2016 by applying various linguistic models from the field of Critical Discourse Analysis to demonstrate some of the most salient linguistic patterns that coincide with characteristics commonly found in populist discourse. By examining the socio-political background of the movement, this study also aims to reveal the significance of the blog as a tool in the success of their campaign against the referendum. We seek to place Grillo&rsquo;s discourse within the realm of populist discourse by observing how he utilizes the referendum to promote his movement and challenge the established parties of Italy.</p><p>

<p> We live in what is probably the most peaceful time in hundreds, if not thousands of years (Pinker 2012). This peace has major implications for human welfare, yet the causes of peace are not well understood (N. P. Gleditsch et al. 2013). My dissertation helps us understand those causes by examining how internal political institutions and external political competition affect violence.</p><p>

<p> This thesis uses a specific domestic violence case (<i> Town of Castle Rock v Gonzales</i>) to examine how domestic violence is currently constructed and addressed in the American legal system. In <i> Town of Castle Rock v Gonzales</i> (2005) the Supreme Court denied a domestic violence victim the opportunity to sue a police department for failure to enforce a restraining order. The Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision, which was based on a problematic notion of property, as well as the nature of mandatory arrest statutes, has had lasting implications for domestic violence victims and advocacy. </p><p> This thesis examines the continuing impact of <i>Castle Rock</i>, and argues that this ruling reveals profound inadequacies in the ways that domestic violence is handled by the American legal system. <i>Castle Rock</i>&rsquo;s ruling shows the challenges, limits and constraints of the current legal and criminal framework for grappling with domestic violence. Additionally, beyond just implications for domestic violence victims and advocacy, this case also illuminates troubling underlying conception of women as citizens, and their relationship with property. Property, and what constitutes a property interest, formed the core of the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ruling, and due to the long history of property and gender, and property and citizenship, the inability of the Court to find a property interest in a restraining order raises troubling ideas regarding women as citizens. Finally, <i>Castle Rock</i>&rsquo;s impact extends beyond just domestic violence, as the Court&rsquo;s unwillingness to hold police departments accountable underlines the importance of appropriate ways to limit state power, or hold state actors responsible for their actions (or lack thereof). </p><p> <i>Castle Rock</i> was a disturbing holding that ignored the context of gender inequality and other structural inequalities that influenced the case. More than a dozen years later, the problem of the state&rsquo;s duty to protect, and lack of options to seek redress when the state fails to do so, remains. Even though protective orders and criminal prosecution are flawed approaches to solving the problem of domestic violence, a reversal of <i>Castle Rock</i> would not only provide the promise of justice for domestic violence victims, but would represent a demonstrated interest in holding state actors responsible for their actions against citizens.</p><p>

Through the analysis of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey with Islamist roots, this dissertation examines the relationship between “moderation” of religious political parties, i.e. moving towards programmatic positions compatible with liberal democracy and their ongoing mobilization practices. Based on data collected through fieldwork conducted in Turkey over 22 months, from September 2006 through June 2008, this study argues that the transformation of the Islamist party into a mass based center-right party in Turkey was possible to the extent that the AKP pursued “moderation” not only at the external level by moving towards a more accommodative stance vis-à-vis the other political actors and the regime, but also at the intra-party and grassroots levels. This transformation entailed re-drawing the boundaries between religion and politics through efforts to forge a “conservative democratic” party identity within the mass organizational network it has inherited from its predecessors and to develop multiple modes of linkages between the party and mass base moving away from religious mobilization, reconciling the principles of secularism, nationalism and liberal economic policies with its constituents religious sensibilities. AKP’s effort in developing a more inclusive and representative party involved structural transformation through new recruitment patterns, constructing a new party genealogy and diffusing a new symbolic and discursive structure through training and other intra-party activities as well as through the everyday practices of the local party units and municipalities. By continuing to rely on the diffuse Islamic networks for filling the important party positions, the AKP sought to retain its Islamic credentials while shedding Islamic insignia (except for the women’s headscarves), ending gender segregation, incorporating more women into the party’s administrative cadres. At the local level, through its grassroots organizing structure, the AKP has been able to continue to carry on its strong social embeddedness. The AKP’s base units working with the local municipality run by the party communicated the AKP government’s policy positions that dramatically differed from its predecessors without Islamic justification, but instead worked as a liaison between the state and the local constituency, delivering constituency-service effectively through its social service provision and cultural activities.

Women occupy an increasingly significant proportion of professional and managerial positions in the United States. This dissertation asks whether this shift translates into importance and power for women by examining their connections within a particular occupational context--corporate-government affairs management. Workplace and family ties have been characterized by social scientists and economists in gendered ways. Women's ties in the marketplace and in the home are typically characterized as "expressive," compared to men's "instrumental" connections. These characterizations are rooted in traditionally male conceptions of power that stress domination rather than influence, capacity, and strength. Drawing primarily from in-depth interviews and a mail survey of government relations officials who are their corporations' political action committee (PAC) managers, this dissertation examines the character of women's connections in the workplace and family, whether they differ from men's, and what these differences reveal. The findings indicate that, although women's and men's networks are similar in many ways, there is a significant difference in their character. This dissertation concludes that although women's connections at work and in the home are limiting in a variety of ways, they nonetheless potentially empower women by placing them in key positions to influence their own conditions as well as the character of corporate-government affairs. One of the broader implications of this study is that by studying women's connections in the context of the occupations within which they are embedded, and using a more inclusive conception of power, we can move beyond traditional dichotomies that denigrate and devalue women's work and women's connections to a better understanding of women's opportunities and power.

<p> This dissertation examines how transnationalism can affect Islamists&rsquo; moderation in both Egypt and Morocco. In this dissertation, I do an in-depth comparative case study analysis to assess the prospects of moderation of two Islamists political entities, the Muslim Brotherhood as a transnational social movement and the Morocco Party of Justice and Development (JDP), which has no transnational ties. Both the Muslim Brotherhood and PJD came to power after the Arab uprising in 2011 and were key players in the democratic transitions in both countries; however, the entities are not related. Further, the dissertation will explore the moderation level of the Muslim Brotherhood and PJD. Current literature on Islamists and moderation theory focuses on political inclusion, political learning and repression as factors that would affect the moderation of an Islamist group. Looking at Islamists as a transnational social movement is a new aspect in the study of Islamism. Recently, scholars have addressed the transnational aspect of Islamist social movements; however, these studies focused on radical Islamist groups such as Al Qaeda. To date, there has been no study to assess how transnationalism can affect the moderation level of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. This dissertation attempts to fill that gap by assessing the moderation level of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Justice and Development Party in Morocco. Furthermore, extant studies have ignored transnational <i> identity</i> in conceptualizing &ldquo;Trans<i><u>national </u></i>ism&rdquo;. My dissertation corrects this gap by bringing this new element into consideration. In addition, most of the research conducted on the Muslim Brotherhood stops at 2012. My dissertation gives in-depth examination of the development of events up until February, 2015.</p>