of the Diploma Paper ,, Transitions to Democracy " Transition of a particular country from an undemocratic political regime to mostly that of democratic is a head subject regarded by many experts and general public. It may seem that democratic regime is a matter of course nowadays; however, the truth is unlike. The democratic regime dominates scarcely in the half of all countries in the world. Regarding to the situation in northern Africa and other Arabic countries, it has recently been more and more proved that changes of political regimes, especially from the undemocratic to the democratic ones, are taken as a current subject matter not only today, but also in the following days, weeks, months and years. This is why I am focusing on the theme of Transitions to Democracy in my diploma thesis. The thesis is divided into four chapters. First chapter, named Democracy, deals with the conception of democracy. One cannot define the word "democracy" by just one feature, therefore, criteria of volition and division of democracy into the constitutional liberalism and illiberal democracy by Fareed Zakaria is fundamental in my work. Second chapter is focused on the undemocratic regimes. Definitions of these regimes are important mainly for understanding why they had been transferred or why they are to be...

Submitted by Maria Medeiros (maria.dilva1@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-01T14:44:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 CYNTIA CAROLINA BESERRA BRASILEIRO - TESE (PPGCS) 2017.pdf: 1646995 bytes, checksum: 3765626a3a202b6faa820b6f840b57d2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T14:44:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CYNTIA CAROLINA BESERRA BRASILEIRO - TESE (PPGCS) 2017.pdf: 1646995 bytes, checksum: 3765626a3a202b6faa820b6f840b57d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08 / Capes / Esta tese tem como objetivo compreender as visões elaboradas pelos eleitores em Campina Grande – PB acerca da Representação Política no regime democrático. A problemática pretende questionar a existência de uma crise de representatividade e o impacto da mesma sobre a concepção e vivência da política. Parte-se do pressuposto de que as práticas eleitorais vivenciadas por ocasião de uma campanha eleitoral acabam por assinalar toda uma disputa estruturada, ritual e simbolicamente, que nos leva a compreender como se objetiva o restabelecimento da crença do eleitor e, consequentemente no fortalecimento da democracia. Buscou-se no processo político a compreensão de como as disputas eleitorais, as campanhas, a construção de imagens são experienciadas pelo eleitor e como eles pensam este processo. Este momento que, por um lado, fundamenta a opinião pública e conquista o eleitor, por outro lado revela-se um ambiente de diferenças e contravenções que arrefece a concepção democrática. Para realização da pesquisa, tomamos como universo os eleitores da cidade de Campina Grande, considerando uma abordagem socioantropologica que nos permitiu adentrar numa nova compreensão entre o eleitor, o candidato, as instituições e regras que o permeiam. Partiu-se de um roteiro semiestruturado que nos possibilitou dialogar com pessoas selecionadas a partir do critério etário, tomando como base aquelas pessoas que nasceram antes de 1985, que acompanharam um período que antecedem o cenário democrático no país e pós-1985 que compreendem uma nova leitura do espetáculo democrático. Realizando dezesseis entrevistas no período de fevereiro a junho do ano de 2016, priorizou-se em nossa análise as eleições majoritárias, mas, os diálogos com os entrevistados extrapolaram esta referência, o que nos fez pensar o processo político, a exemplo da disputa eleitoral, em outros aspectos, já que o próprio eleitor diferencia os pleitos municipais, estaduais e federais. A chegada da democracia revelou-se um conjunto de desafios, não aparece como algo encerrado, aponta-se toda uma construção de como se sustenta uma disputa entre desiguais, denotando nossas fragilidades na enunciação que os eleitores fazem das atitudes políticas que chamam de (anti) democráticas: descrença nos partidos, nas instituições, na condução do processo eleitoral, na desordem que se instaurou no país. Por outro lado, mesmo que as falas apontem para uma descrença, esse processo de ‘abertura’ democrática foi pensado como momento de mudanças e esperança, no desejo de igualdade entre nós, revelam uma ideia de devir, de uma democracia em construção. / This thesis aims to understand the visions elaborated by the voters in Campina Grande - PB about the Political Representation in the democratic regime. The problem seeks to question the existence of a crisis of representativeness and the impact of it on the conception and experience of politics. It is based on the assumption that the electoral practices experienced during an electoral campaign end up in a structured, ritual and symbolic dispute that leads us to understand how to re-establish the voter's belief and, consequently, to strengthen democracy. We sought in the political process the understanding of how electoral disputes, campaigns, the construction of images are experienced by the voter and how they think this process. This moment, which, on the one hand, underpins public opinion and conquers the voter, on the other hand it reveals an environment of differences and contraventions that cools the democratic conception. To carry out the research, we took as a universe the voters of the city of Campina Grande, considering a socio-anthropological approach that allowed us to enter into a new understanding between the voter, the candidate, the institutions and the rules that permeate it. It was based on a semi-structured script that enabled us to dialogue with people selected on the basis of the age criterion, based on those people who were born before 1985, who followed a period that preceded the democratic scenario in the country and post-1985 that comprise a new reading of the democratic spectacle. After conducting sixteen interviews in the period from February to June of the year 2016, the majority elections were prioritized in our analysis, but the dialogues with the interviewees extrapolated this reference, which made us think about the political process, such as the electoral contest, in other aspects, since the voter himself differentiates the municipal, state and federal lawsuits. The arrival of democracy has proved to be a set of challenges, it does not appear as a closed thing, it points out a whole construction of how a dispute between unequals stands, denoting our weaknesses in voters' enunciation of the political attitudes they call) democratic: disbelief in the parties, in the institutions, in the conduct of the electoral process, in the disorder that was established in the country. On the other hand, even if the lines point to disbelief, this process of democratic 'openness' was thought as a moment of change and hope, in the desire for equality between us, reveal an idea of becoming, a democracy under construction.

The thesis focuses on the behaviour of the largest world superpowers, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the People's Republic of China, in terms of internet freedom. The aim is to examine in what manner and to what extent these countries limit or protect their citizens' right to freedom of expression on the internet. The resulting data should reveal or disprove significant discrepancies between the character of the political regimes which the selected countries represent, and their real practices towards the freedom of speech on the internet. The subject of the analysis is to compare these countries' data which were presented in the Freedom on the Net 2011-2015, a series of reports by the independent non- profit organisation of Freedom House. The data are compared through comprehensive graphs and charts, which help to illustrate and map the development of the individual countries' behaviour in time. The thesis is complemented by a chapter focusing on the historical development of internet, illustrating who participated at its birth and who has a major influence on its current form.

Объект исследования - понятие социальная справедливость в условиях недемократического режима (на примере Беларуси), воплощаемое в различных дискурсивных практиках в изменяющемся институциональном контексте в период 2006 – 2010 гг. Концепт социальная справедливость рассматривается как одно из содержательных оснований существующего в стране режима благосостояния. Новизна работы определяется недостаточной разработанностью темы в академических исследованиях как белорусских, так и зарубежных исследователей. Цель работы – исследовать основные (властный и альтернативные) нарративы социальной справедливости в Беларуси. Работа состоит из шести глав. В первой рассматриваются теоретические подходы к понятию социальная справедливость и анализируется понятие постсоциалистическое состояние (Фрэйзер). Во второй представлены использованные в работе методы и материалы исследования. В третьей главе описывается социально-экономический контекст Беларуси в период 2006-2010 гг. В четвертой главе рассмотрена специфика политического поля Беларуси, его разлом на властную и оппозиционную части. В пятой главе в соответствии с выделенными властными субъектами политического поля анализируются их высказывания, составляющие нарратив социальной справедливости, используемый как одно из идейных оснований существующего в стране режима благосостояния. В шестой главе проводится анализ нарративов оппозиционных субъектов: кандидатов в президенты во время двух кампаний (2006, 2010 гг.); третьего сектора, включая... [полный текст, см. далее] / Tyrimo objektas - socialinio teisingumo sąvoka nedemokratinėje valstybėje (Baltarusijos pavyzdys), įgyvendinama įvairiose diskursyvinėse praktikose besikeičiančiame instituciniame kontekste 2006-2010 metais. Sąvoka socialinis teisingumas nagrinėjama kaip vienas iš kertinių šalyje egzistuojančio gerovės režimo pagrindų. Darbo naujumą sąlygoja tai, kad tema nėra išgvildenta nei užsienio, nei baltarusių autorių akademiniuose tyrimuose. Tikslas - ištirti pagrindinius (vyraujantį ir alternatyvų) socialinio teisingumo naratyvus Baltarusijoje, išaiškinti ir dinamikoje palyginti jų turinio dedamąsias, o taip pat išanalizuoti jų įtaką viešosios politikos procesui. Darbas susideda iš 6 dalių. Pirmojoje nagrinėjami teoriniai požiūriai į sąvoką socialinis teisingumas ir analizuojama posocialistinės būklės (Fraser, Furs) samprata, kuri svarbi darbo turinio kontekstui. Antroje dalyje aprašyti darbe naudoti metodai. Trečioji dalis skirta Baltarusijos socialinio ir ekonominio konteksto problematikai. Ketvirtojoje dalyje pateikti Baltarusijos politinio lauko ypatumai, įskaitant jo skilimą į valdžios ir opozicinę dalis. Penktojoje dalyje aptariami valdžios subjektų pasisakymai, formuojantys socialinio teisingumo naratyvą. Šeštojoje dalyje analizuojami opozicinių subjektų naratyvai. Analizė leidžia daryti išvadas, kad reikšminį sąvokos socialinis teisingumas užpildymą Baltarusijoje vykdė valdžia ir jis neturėjo jokių reikšmingų alternatyvų. / The subject of research is the concept of social justice in a non-democratic state (here, Belarus) implemented in different discursive practices and changing institutional context in the period of 2006-2010. The concept of social justice is considered to be one of the conceptual foundations of the welfare regime existing in the country. The novelty of the work is determined by the underdeveloped nature of the topic in the academic research of foreign as well as Belarusian authors. The objective is to research the main (governmental one and alternative ones) narratives of social justice in Belarus. The work is divided into six chapters. The first one examines theoretical approaches to the concept of social justice and analyses the concept of post-socialist condition (Fraser). The second chapter informs of the methods applied in the work. The third one is dedicated to the issues of the socio-economic context of Belarus in the period of 2006-2010. The fourth chapter examines the specifics of the political field of Belarus, its breakup into the governmental and oppositional parts. The fifth one analyses their statements comprising the social-justice narrative used as one of conceptual foundations of the welfare regime existing in the country. The sixth chapter investigates the oppositional narrative. One of the main conclusions of the research is that the concept of social justice in Belarus was determined by the authorities and had no alternatives comparable in importance.

Thesis (Ph.D.(History)) -- University Of Limpopo, 2022 / The problem under investigation in this thesis is centred on the complex changes and transformation in student activism at the University of Limpopo (UL) during the period 1968-2015. The overreaching objectives of the study were to unpack the changing conceptualisation of student politics, tactics and strategies deployed in realising student needs and interests in the creation of South Africa’s contested transition from the openly racist apartheid system to a liberal democratic regime enshrined in the 1996 constitution. Periodisation theory, which conceptualises and frames development or change and transformation of historical phenomena as unfolding in terms of distinctive time periods, was used to provide historical insight into the evolution of student activism. The cognitive merits and possibilities of periodisation theory were enhanced by integrating Altbach’s Theory of Student Activism, which stresses the Importance of recognising and grasping the unique characteristics of student activists and their organisations in higher education systems. The resultant theoretical framework produced a cognitive structure which provided the researcher with concepts and ideation to make sense of the difficult and complex reconfiguration demanded, especially by the transition. The methodology utilised in the study involved collecting and analysing data from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was acquired from a sample of former students who were registered at UL during the period covered by the study. The Thematic Content Analyses (TCA) approach distilled themes embedded in the data collected. An overreaching finding of the study is that while it was relatively easy for Black students to conceptualise and decode the nature of oppression and struggle in an openly racialised system, such as apartheid, the ascendance to state power of Black leaders of liberation movements, some of whom were militant student activists prior to 1994, created a political landscape which made it difficult for students to decode what was required to deepen liberation and freedom. Some of the difficulties manifested themselves inter alia in the scandalous vandalisation of University resources, such as libraries, cars and classrooms. More than twenty years into “democracy”, however, student activists began to penetrate and decode deeper layers of oppression, hidden by the dense fog of liberal democracy, which needed to be dismantled. It is in this sense that the thesis views the eruption of the 2015 #Fees Must Fall movement and the accompanying curriculum decolonisation battles in South Africa as constituting a revolutionary landmark in the evolution of student activism. Student activists since 2015 seemed to have come to the realisation that liberal democratic rights and freedoms were incapable of dismantling white supremacy (racism), which is at the heart of the subjugation and oppression of Black people in South Africa and beyond. The thesis recommends, inter alia, that the relative invisibility of the role of women in studies of this nature is troubling and that historians must urgently solve this lacuna

The aim of this master thesis is to analyze political regime of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and to find out some possible effects, which could have had an influence on its stability and survival in the last 25 years. The Jordanian political regime had gone through several crises in the examined years. Not only did it survive all of them but also became stronger. Which factors caused the survival of the regime? In the first part of the thesis we typologize the regime from three possible perspectives (institutional, formalistic and legitimation). The second part deals with an analysis of factors, which enable the survival of Jordanian political regime. The emphasis is given on the role of institutions.