The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare why Yemen’s democratization process failed while Tunisia’s succeed after the Arab spring. The main question of this paper is: Why did the democratization process in Yemen failed, but succeeded in Tunisia after the Arab Spring emergence in year 2011 based on Diamonds theory? The method that applied to this study is a comparative case study in form of “Most Similar System Design” known as “MSS-design”. After applied four of Larry Diamonds nine factors, the study finally reached the answer of the main question.     The results showed that the absence of historically solid national unity, internally fragmented civil society and the military intervention of Saudi-led coalition was the main factors that caused why Yemen’s democratization process failed. On the other side the strong civil society, diplomatic peaceful pressure and the historical separation of military from the Tunisian political system was the main factors that pushed Tunisia towards democracy.

A presente dissertação discute o conceito de autonomia da escola na obra do educador José Mário Pires Azanha (1931-2004). A interpretação exposta no trabalho sugere que a expressão era geralmente usada pelo autor num sentido programático, associada a uma proposta específica de atribuição de autonomia educativa às escolas. O programa prático veiculado pelo conceito é considerado uma resposta aos impasses institucionais inéditos deflagrados pela democratização do acesso à escola básica de oito anos a partir da reforma Ulhoa Cintra (1967-70). A argumentação recorre à articulação da ideia de autonomia da escola com outras noções presentes em escritos variados do autor a respeito das avaliações da qualidade do ensino público, em suas considerações acerca da pesquisa educacional e das propostas de formação de professores, entre outros tópicos. Tais conexões conceituais indicam o propósito de Azanha de destacar aspectos das novas condições de ensino interessantes ao encaminhamento das alegadas dificuldades da escola pública democratizada. / This dissertation aims to discuss the concept of school autonomy in the works of educationist José Mário Pires Azanha (1931-2004). The interpretation exposed herein suggests that the term was typically employed by the author program-wise, i.e., associated with a particular proposal of educational autonomy assignment to schools. The practical program conveyed by the concept is considered to be an answer to the unprecedented institutional bottlenecks brought about by the democratization of the access to the eight-year Elementary School after the Ulhoa Cintra (1967-1970) reformation. The argumentation is supported by the connection of the idea of school autonomy with other assumptions from several of Azanhas writings about quality assessments in the public school, concerns regarding educational research, and teacher-training proposals, among others. Such conceptual connections demonstrate Azanha\'s intent to highlight the aspects of valuable new learning conditions when following-up on alleged shortcomings presented by the democratized public school.

The aim of this essay was to investigate European union’s role as a democracy promoter in Kosovo and its impact on the process of the democratization. Kosovo declared independency in 2008 and is a potential candidate country for a EU membership. In order to fulfil the aim of the essay three questions were used; To what extent has Kosovo fulfilled EU’s criteria of becoming a candidate country? In what way has the EU promoted democracy in Kosovo since their independency? To what extent has EU’s democracy promotion politics been successful or not? The method used to accomplish the purpose and answering the research-questions was qualitative text-analysis. The result of the study shows that the EU does perform as a democracy promoter and has contributed to the development of democracy in Kosovo. However, the EU’s democracy promotion is characterized by the enlargement of the European union and Kosovo’s interest in becoming a part of the union.

The aim of this study was to examine in which way political actors affected the outcome of democratizations during the Third Wave of Democracy. Due to the variety of cases concerning democratization in the 20th century there have been a lot of different outcomes and explanations regarding the contributing aspects of the transition from authoritarian rule. This study was needed in order to analyze how and if explanations regarding political actors was a critical element in the difference of outcomes. This was done by analyzing two similar cases of democratization, but where the outcome differed. The two cases analyzed were Czechoslovakia and Croatia. The study uses theories and models developed by researchers in the area of democratization in order to analyze the chosen cases, especially a model developed by Samuel P. Huntington (1991). This model serves to explain the difference in outcome and categorizes the political actors in a variety of aspects to determine whether or not a democratization was possible. The analysis of the study shows that the political actors of the two cases differs in the aspect of categorization, but also in the way in which they act during the transition phase. This implies that explanations regarding actors effects on democratization may be important in understanding why the outcomes differ. However, since this study only analyses the most prominent actors in two cases of democratization by categorization of a single theoretical model it is impossible to say that the outcome of this analysis is accurate and that it can be generalised. The uncertainty of the conclusions therefore underlines the importance of further research in the area of democratization and the difference in outcome of the chosen cases.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T19:30:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Pereira Chagas.pdf: 8810051 bytes, checksum: 71c70c365f951c61ad63cd8772179ffc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-03 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The object of this study is to examine, within the framework of the ideology upheld by the Sociologist Florestan Fernandes (1920-1995), his understanding of the process commonly known as transition or political opening in Brazil (1974-1988) where he participated as a privileged agent, setting forth a highly elaborated analysis of Brazilian social structures and functioning as an organic intellectual dos de baixo in activities such as: professor, publicist and deputy. Within this framework, we visualize an intense and promising activity but often leading to deep disappointment that discourage the institutionalization of the military dictatorship (counter-revolution) in Brazil and the preservation of archaic structures through conservative modernization , combined with the systematic repression and refrain from popular participation in the nation s destiny . This study emphasizes two aspects that reflect Florestan Fernandes´ ideas: it examines some structural theoretical concepts, particularly, his conception of bourgeois autocracy on the one hand; and introduces his theoretical-practical facet that corresponds with the dynamic history of the struggle of classes / Nossa pesquisa buscou resgatar, através do ideário do sociólogo Florestan Fernandes (1920-1995), sua compreensão sobre o processo comumente denominado transição ou abertura democrática no Brasil (1974-1988) ¬ processo que participou como agente privilegiado, partindo de uma análise altamente elaborada sobre as estruturas sociais brasileiras e atuando diretamente como intelectual orgânico dos de baixo em atividades como: professor, publicista e deputado federal. No conjunto deste ideário, visualizamos uma atividade intensa e esperançosa, mas de grandes desilusões; que amargam a institucionalização da ditadura militar (contra-revolução) no Brasil e a manutenção de estruturas arcaicas através de modernizações conservadoras , conjugadas à repressão e afastamento sistemáticos da participação popular no destino da Nação . O trabalho dá destaque a dois momentos que compõem o ideário florestaniano: por um lado, resgata alguns aspectos teóricos estruturais, principalmente, sua concepção de autocracia burguesa; e, por outro, apresenta sua face teórico-prática, que corresponde à história dinâmica da luta de classes

nÃo hà / O presente estudo teve por objetivo analisar o Programa de Apoio a Planos de ReestruturaÃÃo e ExpansÃo das Universidades Federais (REUNI) com base na perspectiva da democratizaÃÃo do acesso ao ensino superior pÃblico, tomando como referÃncia empÃrica a experiÃncia da Universidade Federal do Cearà (UFC), no perÃodo 2008 a 2012. Buscou-se, primeiramente, explanar sobre conceitos, caracterÃsticas, papel social da Universidade e seu processo de constituiÃÃo no Brasil; bem como discorrer sobre o significado e os desafios da democratizaÃÃo da educaÃÃo superior, enfocando a questÃo do acesso. Em seguida, foi abordado o desenvolvimento da polÃtica de educaÃÃo superior durante os Governos de Fernando Henrique Cardoso e Lula, destacando-se avanÃos e retrocessos que perpassaram a referida polÃtica em ambos os perÃodos. Na sequÃncia, apresentou-se o REUNI em nÃvel nacional e foram feitos esclarecimentos sobre o processo de adesÃo e implementaÃÃo do Programa na UFC. Finalmente, problematizou-se a expansÃo promovida pelo REUNI, considerando em que medida o ideal de democratizaÃÃo do acesso foi alcanÃado na UFC. A metodologia utilizada baseou-se na realizaÃÃo de pesquisa bibliogrÃfica acerca das categorias de anÃlise, quais sejam: universidade, democratizaÃÃo do acesso e REUNI; alÃm de pesquisa documental sobre a proposiÃÃo ensejada pelo REUNI e as contribuiÃÃes especÃficas da UFC. Os principais documentos analisados foram: Decreto Federal nÂ. 6.096, de 24 de abril de 2007, que instituiu o REUNI; publicaÃÃo intitulada âREUNI - ReestruturaÃÃo e ExpansÃo das Universidades Federais: Diretrizes Geraisâ; a proposta da UFC para o Programa; anuÃrios estatÃsticos e relatÃrios de gestÃo da Universidade. A partir da pesquisa realizada, pÃde-se inferir que o REUNI constituiu-se como proposta que vai de encontro à perspectiva de sucateamento das universidades pÃblicas brasileiras, vivenciada especialmente nos anos 1990. Ademais, representou a continuidade do intuito expansionista iniciado em 2003, quando do inÃcio do Governo Lula. Dois aspectos, em especial, demonstraram que o REUNI alinhou-se ao propÃsito da democratizaÃÃo do acesso, quais sejam: 1) a consolidaÃÃo do processo de interiorizaÃÃo dos campi da UFC; e 2) a expansÃo da oferta de vagas e de cursos superiores no perÃodo noturno. Por outro lado, a expansÃo potencializou o aumento da oferta de vagas e cursos de graduaÃÃo à distÃncia, fator que pode comprometer a qualidade da formaÃÃo universitÃria oferecida e representar a precarizaÃÃo da atividade docente. Nesse panorama de contradiÃÃes, inerentes ao sistema capitalista de base neoliberal, considera-se que o ideal da democratizaÃÃo da educaÃÃo superior deva ser perseguido nÃo apenas com foco no ingresso; mas essencialmente na possibilidade real dos estudantes ingressantes concluÃrem seus cursos de graduaÃÃo, o que dà destaque à polÃtica de permanÃncia estudantil adotada nas Universidades Federais. Defende-se, portanto, que a expansÃo do acesso à universidade pÃblica, aliada à ampliaÃÃo de programas de assistÃncia estudantil, bem como à implantaÃÃo de polÃticas afirmativas, poderÃ, sim, conduzir à democratizaÃÃo pretendida.

This study will examine the democratic development of Albania. The purpose is to analyze the Albanian regime's preconditions for a consolidated democracy also what speaks for and against a development, through three different factors that are central to achieving a consolidated democracy. To achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative method has been chosen where the study is applied to a case-study. The theory of consolidated democracy where used to analyze Albania’s case. The result shows that political arenas' internal conflicts have contributed to unstable political institutions and reforms for several years after the fall of the Communist. Civil society has for a long time been affected by politicization, but Albania's most serious problem is the extensive corruption. For Albania to be able to achieve a consolidated democracy, it requires the country to tackle corruption and the judicial system that is subject to high levels of corruption. The conclusion is that the three shortcomings have contributed to Albania's slow development towards a consolidated democracy.

<p>C-essay in political science by Anna Höjenberg and Maria Stenberg, spring of 2006</p><p>“The Grey Zone – An essay on the characteristics of a hybrid regime and a case study of Russia”. Supervisors: Joakim Ekman and Jonas Linde</p><p>This essay deals with the concept of hybrid regimes. The purpose is to describe the structure and the content of such a regime-type and try to create a model which can help us to analyse different countries. The essay is divided into two sections. The first part is a theory generated study which describes the characteristics of the concept hybrid regime. With the support of the different characteristics we have created a typology divided into four dimensions. The main material consists of articles from the scientific journal Journal of Democracy and academic books. The second part of the essay is a qualitative comparative case study of Russia, with the purpose to see whether Russia can be characterised as a hybrid regime or not.</p><p>In our typology a hybrid regime is something between a democratic regime and an authoritarian regime. In contrast to an authoritarian regime it is possible for the opposition in a hybrid regime to come into power, but in comparison to a democracy the struggle is much harder and it requires a more extensive mobilisation. We consider Russia to fall into the category of hybrid regimes, but the recent developments under President Putin demonstrate that the country also inhabits several features that we considered authoritarian.</p>

<p>The goal of this paper is to analyze the influence of the EU on Turkish democracy. In order to achieve this aim, the paper concentrates on three areas, as representative institutions, opposition parties and freedom of expression. The impact of the EU on Turkey has been more explicit during the last decades. In particular since 1999 when the country became a candidate for membership, and that will eventually lead to Turkey joining the European Union. Thereby this paper will examine the demands EU set up for the country and how Turkey accomplishes these criteria. The first part of the analysis focuses on the conditions EU set up for Turkish membership, while the second part explains Turkey’s progress in meeting those demands.  The theories are Europeanization and the institution of freedom of expression which is part of Polyarchy. These will be used to answer the question: Which demands EU set up for Turkey and to what extent the country applies to those demands? The paper is based on qualitative method as a case study. Turkey has in some areas made progress regard to freedom of expression and representative institutions, however the country must continue with political reforms in those areas.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-200). Also issued online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.