This study investigates error fossilisation in the written English of Xhosa - speaking students. It is hypothesised that there is no statistically significant difference in the language errors of two groups of Grade 10 and Grade 12 students. Two randomly selected groups of 30 Grade 10 and 30 Grade 12 students in a rural senior secondary school in the Eastern Cape province were required to write two essays, of which the first two hundred words of each essay were marked. A frequency count of errors was done and comparisons were made. The findings indicate that the Grade 12s consistently made fewer errors. However, the difference is only statistically significant in the case of prepositions and concord, and is insignificant in tenses, pronouns and articles. The findings also show evidence of fossilisation given the persistence of some of the errors. Certain features in the student's language were not eradicated by the additional two years exposure to English. / English Studies / M.A. (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

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Sexuality-driven political participation refers to the political engagement of people of sexual minorities. While progress has been made in understanding the motivation behind their political participation, this study seeks to address the limitations of the existing literature which are designed explicitly to work in democratic contexts where engagement can bear fruit and for mostly quantitative inquiries which imply homogeneity and fail to map out the heterogeneity in the meanings of sexual minorities’ political participation. To fill these gaps, this thesis aims to answer the following question: how do sexual minorities make sense of their political participation in an increasingly undemocratic context? To explore the plurality of meanings that sexual minorities attach to their political participation in a context where democracy is under threat and homophobia is persistent, I conducted in-depth individual interviews and focus groups with 16 politically active LGBT+ citizens in Hungary. Through qualitative meaning-centred content analysis and with the help of deductively developed analytical lenses, I found that while existing theories can explain to a great degree the meanings that sexual minorities attached to their political participation in increasingly undemocratic contexts, this thesis also sheds light on the multifaceted drivers of political engagement. This includes not solely social identity and discrimination but also a broader pursuit of justice, civil liberties, democracy, and empathy. Overall, the paper makes an important contribution to a more in-depth understanding of the political participation of LGBT+ citizens, highlighting the complex and multifaceted motivations behind their engagement.

The thesis studies the most recent debate on the issue of democratic backsliding in Hungary, and more specifically, if a rhetoric of inaction was dominant in the plenary debate of the European Parliament. Democratic backsliding is a crucial topic to research in the context of the European Parliament’s recent attempts to take a more active role in defending the European  Union’s fundamental values. The different type of rhetoric used by the European Parliament’s eight party groups makes the political clash over Hungary even more interesting. In this thesis, the type of rhetoric and empirical basis used by the party groups will be described. The study finds that the majority of party groups in the European Parliament use a rhetoric of action towards the democratic backsliding in Hungary despite prior research arguing against such a pattern. Moreover, the most common empirical basis being used, is democracy and rule-oflaw. These results are intriguing because they address an important research gap in the literature on EU institutions and action on Hungary.

Over the past decade, a third wave of autocratisation has stormed the world, hitting democracies and autocracies alike. The ongoing democratic backsliding is attributed to a range of factors. From “executive aggrandisement” and strategic manipulation of elections to "autocratic lawfare”. Such autocratic tendencies are contributing to autocratisation in dominant party regimes in Africa. If most dominant party systems are increasingly autocratising in Africa, then there is a problem with the dominant party structure that warrants academic inquiry. However, the literature on one-party dominance and democratic consolidation in Africa are a bit old, hence do not address the current debates on democratic backsliding in the continent. Botswana and Tanzania are interesting cases of autocratising dominant party systems because they have witnessed rapid erosion of democratic qualities over the decade. But what effects do these patterns of democratic backsliding have on the quality of democracy in dominant party systems in Africa? Employing a comparative research design (MSSD) and using historical institutionalism and the substantive democratic theory as well as relying on secondary data in Botswana and Tanzania (Mainly Afrobarometer surveys, V-Dem Index, CPI Index, Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and Freedom Index), this study explores this question within the framework of peace and development research. It analysed four variables: management of social tensions facing the regime, the scope of presidential power, governance performance, and the nature of the electoral competition. Findings suggest that a dominant party structure in Botswana and Tanzania creates conditions that erode the quality of democracy, hence democratic backsliding. Therefore, the thesis argues that autocratisation in Botswana and Tanzania suggests reproduction of one-party dominance at the expense of consolidation of substantive democracy. This way, a dominant party structure in Africa appears to be a peace and development research problem because it creates strong incentives for dominant parties to autocratise rather than democratise when challenged by a strong political opposition.

The study examines to what extent Levitsky & Ziblatt’s theory of democratic backsliding, as a universal three-step sequential process of democratic deterioration, can explain the novel phenomena of Covid-19 autocratization, in the context of Poland. Via said aim, the research serves as an explorative investigation into the strategies and methods used to invoke democratic backsliding amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The theory’s external validity is assessed by analyzing the most blatant and far-reaching policies of Polish Covid-19 autocratization, targeting the presidential election, health personnel, and civil servants. To structure said analysis Vedung’s goal-attainment evaluation model is utilized. Results conclude that the theory lacks significant explanatory power. While the targets of democratic deterioration remained relevant, theoretical conformity only occurred for one of the analyzed policies, while the rest revealed tactics of democratic deterioration not theoretically applicable. Moreover, substantial parts of the theory remained irrelevant, and the theory’s sequential aspect did not apply. Consequently, the study proposes a revised version of the theoretical framework, encompassing strategies of democratic deterioration specific to the examined context and that disregards the sequential aspect. The likely explanation for the lack of theoretical conformity is attributed to the structural component; the theory suggests democratic backsliding as a gradual and strategic process, whereas Covid-19 autocratization occurred more chaotically and opportunistically, instigating autocratization whenever and wherever possible. The opportunistic structure also elucidates the novel and imaginative strategies through which autocratization was invoked, capitalizing on the alternative prospects of democratic deterioration presented by the crisis.

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Like in many parts of the world, South Africa has experienced a democratic decline. However, every country has its own reason for that decline. This paper will with the help of a case study method detect and analyze the possible reasons for the democratic backsliding in South Africa. The paper will keep its originality with the involvement of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it possibly affects the democratic state in the country. This study finds that there has been a lack of positive development in South Africa since the end of the apartheid regime. Poverty, Corruption, and a prevalent relative inequality still stain the South African society and the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed it to a new elevated level.

The essay examines how Polish representatives defend constitutional sovereignty over EU-law by analyzing, and comparing, the argumentation from the Polish prime minister Matteuz Morawiecki and the Polish constitutional court. The primary source material is Morawiecki’s letter to heads of governments as well as his statement in the European Parliament. After close qualitative content analysis the argumentation has been categorized and concrete analysis questions have been formulated from the theoretic framework’s three main headlines: democratic backsliding and illiberalism; the rule of law and the constitutions precedence and eurosceptic populism. The tribunal argues mainly from a legal standpoint while Morawiecki’s argumentation is based on EU-skepticism influenced by populism. The main result of the essay is that Morawiecki and the tribunal’s argumentation to defend Polish constitutional sovereignty is categorized as “soft” euroscepticism. Morawiecki furthermore argues that Poland is a strong supporter of the EU, while the tribunal does not take a definitive stance. Both argue that Poland is a liberal democracy that lives up to the Copenhagen criterias while questioning to what extent the EU does so in practice.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elton Abreu Cobra.pdf: 1967699 bytes, checksum: 5e06ccb1f7659e310d04c2c5bf7e697f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-03 / The objective of the present work is the analysis of 12.651/2012 law and the identification of the advances and setbacks in environmental regularization of rural properties.The implementation of this environmental Law in relation to the Forestry Legal Reserve Areas and Areas of Permanent Preservation is necessary to ensure quality of life to Brazilian society. We develop the analysis of the need for preservation and restoration of these areas and distortions brought by the New Forest Act that could bring trouble to the protection of these environmental assets, as a threat to the protection of ecological processes that ensure the sustainability of natural resources and biodiversity conservation. The work approach bases itself on the principle of the prohibition of environmental backsliding in order to verify the possible weakening of the regulation and its constitutionality towards the dictates of the Constitution of 1988. The study proposes alternatives to the effectiveness of the law based on the Payment for Environmental Services - PSA. The goal is to collaborate with the evolution of the effectiveness of law enforcement and the pursuit of sustainability in the use of our environmental assets for the promotion of social and environmental well-being / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo uma análise da Lei 12.651/2012 e identificar os avanços e retrocessos na regularização ambiental das propriedades rurais. O cumprimento desta Lei Florestal em relação às Áreas de Reserva Florestal Legal e Áreas de Preservação Permanente se faz necessário para garantir qualidade de vida à sociedade brasileira. Desenvolvemos a análise da necessidade de preservação e recuperação destas áreas e as distorções trazidas pela Nova Lei Florestal que poderá trazer transtornos para a proteção destes bens ambientais, com ameaça à proteção dos processos ecológicos que garantem a sustentabilidade dos recursos naturais e a preservação da biodiversidade. O trabalho faz uma abordagem com base no Princípio da Proibição do Retrocesso Ambiental para verificar o possível enfraquecimento da norma e sua constitucionalidade frente os ditames da Constituição Federal de 1988. O estudo propõe alternativas para a efetividade da lei com base no Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais PSA. O objetivo é colaborar com a evolução de sua efetividade do cumprimento da lei e a busca da sustentabilidade da utilização dos nossos bens ambientais para a promoção do bem estar socioambiental