Considering the South China Sea dispute as a flashpoint of regional stability and power balance within the Southeast Asian region, the first failure in ASEAN history to reach a consensus in 2012 and the deadlock in 2016 on this issue brought up uncertainty towards the ability of ASEAN member states to reach a consensus on the South China Sea issue. This thesis seeks to analyze this issue based on neo-classical realism and the two-level games theory to what extent, if any, do the ASEAN member states’ domestic factors and external relations influence their decision towards the South China Sea dispute. The theoretical framework of neoclassical realism provides three indicators for analysis, which are national interests, domestic politics, and the role and perception of political leaders. The two-level games theory addresses on the preferences and coalitions within states, political institutions, and the role of chief negotiators as the three indicators to determine the win-sets of the ASEAN member states. The conclusions show the different win-sets size of ASEAN member states vary accordingly from a larger win-sets size of an authoritarian state to a smaller win-sets size of a more democratic state.

本論文的研究動機始於有感民族陣線在當今法國政壇的影響力不容小覷，「勒班效應」也使得1980年代中期後極右主義的風潮在西歐蔓延開來，因此吾人在研究歐洲整合的過程時，似應考慮到會員國國內這些反歐洲化的政治現象的發展。然而，主流的國際關係理論認為國際體系構成單位的層次分析並不重要。雖然國際關係體系論的建立被視為是本學門邁向「科學化」的重要嘗試，惟其亦使得學者在研究區域整合時面臨了見林不見樹的困境，本文的研究目的也就在試圖證明會員國國內政治不能被歐洲整合研究所忽視。 本論文以法國極右主義與歐盟移民政策之關聯為例，透過二重賽局的分析架構進行實證研究，研究結果顯示法國右派政府為了爭取極右派選民的票源而吸納民族陣線的反移民訴求，不僅反映在該國自1980年代中期以降的移民政策對非歐盟國家移民的趨於排斥，亦顯現於法國政府在歐盟移民政策共同體化之前與其他會員國協調移民政策時的保守立場。本研究指出，法國極右派在國內層次的影響能夠經由政府的利益匯集過程而到達歐盟層次，從而說明學者不宜貿然分割國內與國際政治研究。另一方面，案例亦顯示政府領袖的偏好在形成後仍有可能發生轉變，因此做為跨層次分析工具的二重賽局尚有修正其架構的必要性，如何發展有效連結國內政治與國際關係的理論途徑與分析架構，對於區域研究學者實屬緊要。

A partir da década de 1990, dois processos político-econômicos alteraram o modo de produção da política externa brasileira e a relação do país com as organizações internacionais do comércio. No âmbito doméstico, igualmente influenciado pelo sistema internacional pós Guerra-Fria e de retorno gradual aos preceitos democráticos na América Latina, procedeu-se a politização da política externa por meio do fortalecimento das instituições democráticas, da organização dos grupos de interesses em associações autônomas e pela abertura de múltiplos canais de comunicação entre essas associações e as agências governamentais que, para além do Ministério das Relações Exteriores, adentraram o processo decisório de produção da política externa. No âmbito internacional, tanto regional quanto multilateral, as organizações internacionais do comércio alicerçadas em princípios não-discriminatórios avançaram a “legalização” dos seus sistemas de solução de controvérsias por meio da fixação de normas e procedimentos judiciais obrigatórios, que implicou a internacionalização da política doméstica. Esse dois processos estão vinculados pelo papel fundamental conferido às instituições democráticas na formulação da política externa do Brasil e na responsabilidade pela implementação das decisões internacionais provenientes dos órgãos de solução de controvérsias que o país participa. Os confrontos entre a indústria multinacional de pneus novos instaladas no Brasil e a indústria de pneus reformados brasileira, mercosulina e européia, cada um transcorrido em âmbitos próprios – nacional, regional e multilateral –, mas reciprocamente relacionados, põem em evidência os mecanismos de politização da política externa e de internacionalização da política doméstica, apontam as qualidades do desenho institucional das organizações internacionais em que se desenvolvem as relações internacionais econômicas contemporâneas e identificam as vicissitudes que emergem desse desenho institucional. / Since the 1990s, two political-economic processes have changed the decision making process of Brazilian foreign policy and the country’s relationship with international trade organizations. In the domestic sphere, also influenced by the international system after the Cold War and by the gradual return to democratic precepts in Latin America, led to the politicization of foreign policy by strengthening democratic institutions, organization of group of interests in autonomous associations ad by opening up multiple channels of communication between these associations and government agencies that, besides the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entered the decision making process of foreign policy. In the international sphere, both regional and multilateral, trade organizations, based upon non-discriminatory principles, advanced the “legalization” of dispute settlement systems attached to them by setting mandatory norms and procedures, which led to the internationalization of domestic politics. These two processes are linked by the role of democratic institutions in formulating foreign policy and in the responsibility for the implementation of international decisions from the dispute settlement systems which Brazil participates. The clashes between new tires multinationals industries installed in Brazil and retreaded tires industries from Brazil, Mercosur and European Communities, each passed on their own spheres – national, regional and multilateral –, but mutually related, highlight the mechanisms of politicization of foreign policy and the internationalization of domestic politics, indicates the qualities of the institutional design in which contemporary international economic relations develops and identify the vicissitudes that emerge from this institutional design.

A partir da década de 1990, dois processos político-econômicos alteraram o modo de produção da política externa brasileira e a relação do país com as organizações internacionais do comércio. No âmbito doméstico, igualmente influenciado pelo sistema internacional pós Guerra-Fria e de retorno gradual aos preceitos democráticos na América Latina, procedeu-se a politização da política externa por meio do fortalecimento das instituições democráticas, da organização dos grupos de interesses em associações autônomas e pela abertura de múltiplos canais de comunicação entre essas associações e as agências governamentais que, para além do Ministério das Relações Exteriores, adentraram o processo decisório de produção da política externa. No âmbito internacional, tanto regional quanto multilateral, as organizações internacionais do comércio alicerçadas em princípios não-discriminatórios avançaram a “legalização” dos seus sistemas de solução de controvérsias por meio da fixação de normas e procedimentos judiciais obrigatórios, que implicou a internacionalização da política doméstica. Esse dois processos estão vinculados pelo papel fundamental conferido às instituições democráticas na formulação da política externa do Brasil e na responsabilidade pela implementação das decisões internacionais provenientes dos órgãos de solução de controvérsias que o país participa. Os confrontos entre a indústria multinacional de pneus novos instaladas no Brasil e a indústria de pneus reformados brasileira, mercosulina e européia, cada um transcorrido em âmbitos próprios – nacional, regional e multilateral –, mas reciprocamente relacionados, põem em evidência os mecanismos de politização da política externa e de internacionalização da política doméstica, apontam as qualidades do desenho institucional das organizações internacionais em que se desenvolvem as relações internacionais econômicas contemporâneas e identificam as vicissitudes que emergem desse desenho institucional. / Since the 1990s, two political-economic processes have changed the decision making process of Brazilian foreign policy and the country’s relationship with international trade organizations. In the domestic sphere, also influenced by the international system after the Cold War and by the gradual return to democratic precepts in Latin America, led to the politicization of foreign policy by strengthening democratic institutions, organization of group of interests in autonomous associations ad by opening up multiple channels of communication between these associations and government agencies that, besides the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entered the decision making process of foreign policy. In the international sphere, both regional and multilateral, trade organizations, based upon non-discriminatory principles, advanced the “legalization” of dispute settlement systems attached to them by setting mandatory norms and procedures, which led to the internationalization of domestic politics. These two processes are linked by the role of democratic institutions in formulating foreign policy and in the responsibility for the implementation of international decisions from the dispute settlement systems which Brazil participates. The clashes between new tires multinationals industries installed in Brazil and retreaded tires industries from Brazil, Mercosur and European Communities, each passed on their own spheres – national, regional and multilateral –, but mutually related, highlight the mechanisms of politicization of foreign policy and the internationalization of domestic politics, indicates the qualities of the institutional design in which contemporary international economic relations develops and identify the vicissitudes that emerge from this institutional design.

A partir da década de 1990, dois processos político-econômicos alteraram o modo de produção da política externa brasileira e a relação do país com as organizações internacionais do comércio. No âmbito doméstico, igualmente influenciado pelo sistema internacional pós Guerra-Fria e de retorno gradual aos preceitos democráticos na América Latina, procedeu-se a politização da política externa por meio do fortalecimento das instituições democráticas, da organização dos grupos de interesses em associações autônomas e pela abertura de múltiplos canais de comunicação entre essas associações e as agências governamentais que, para além do Ministério das Relações Exteriores, adentraram o processo decisório de produção da política externa. No âmbito internacional, tanto regional quanto multilateral, as organizações internacionais do comércio alicerçadas em princípios não-discriminatórios avançaram a “legalização” dos seus sistemas de solução de controvérsias por meio da fixação de normas e procedimentos judiciais obrigatórios, que implicou a internacionalização da política doméstica. Esse dois processos estão vinculados pelo papel fundamental conferido às instituições democráticas na formulação da política externa do Brasil e na responsabilidade pela implementação das decisões internacionais provenientes dos órgãos de solução de controvérsias que o país participa. Os confrontos entre a indústria multinacional de pneus novos instaladas no Brasil e a indústria de pneus reformados brasileira, mercosulina e européia, cada um transcorrido em âmbitos próprios – nacional, regional e multilateral –, mas reciprocamente relacionados, põem em evidência os mecanismos de politização da política externa e de internacionalização da política doméstica, apontam as qualidades do desenho institucional das organizações internacionais em que se desenvolvem as relações internacionais econômicas contemporâneas e identificam as vicissitudes que emergem desse desenho institucional. / Since the 1990s, two political-economic processes have changed the decision making process of Brazilian foreign policy and the country’s relationship with international trade organizations. In the domestic sphere, also influenced by the international system after the Cold War and by the gradual return to democratic precepts in Latin America, led to the politicization of foreign policy by strengthening democratic institutions, organization of group of interests in autonomous associations ad by opening up multiple channels of communication between these associations and government agencies that, besides the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entered the decision making process of foreign policy. In the international sphere, both regional and multilateral, trade organizations, based upon non-discriminatory principles, advanced the “legalization” of dispute settlement systems attached to them by setting mandatory norms and procedures, which led to the internationalization of domestic politics. These two processes are linked by the role of democratic institutions in formulating foreign policy and in the responsibility for the implementation of international decisions from the dispute settlement systems which Brazil participates. The clashes between new tires multinationals industries installed in Brazil and retreaded tires industries from Brazil, Mercosur and European Communities, each passed on their own spheres – national, regional and multilateral –, but mutually related, highlight the mechanisms of politicization of foreign policy and the internationalization of domestic politics, indicates the qualities of the institutional design in which contemporary international economic relations develops and identify the vicissitudes that emerge from this institutional design.

This thesis examines the deep bilateral tensions surrounding the East China Sea (ECS) disagreements between Japan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the period from August 19th 2003 to June 18th 2008 from an actor-centred constructivist liberal viewpoint. The East China Sea disputes could be described as a conflicting difference of opinion over a) the demarcation of maritime territory and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in which potentially significant energy deposits exist and b) the ownership of the strategically important and historically sensitive Pinnacle (Senkaku/Diaoyu) Islands. This research addresses the question of why, given the fact that China and Japan have a strong interest in co-operation and stable relations with each other, small incidents in the ECS blow up into larger problems, cause approaches to the East China Sea to wax and wane, and move the relationship in a direction that goes against preferred national objectives? In attempting to unravel this puzzle, this work argues that domestic politics and popular negative sentiment have been the major issues that have greatly amplified and politicised the ECS problems and have significantly affected positive progress in negotiations aimed at managing and stabilising these disputes. By examining these, the thesis addresses the question of why China and Japan have been so constrained in their attempts to find a workable bilateral agreement over disputed energy resources and demarcation in the East China Sea. It also indirectly deals with the question of why the conflicting legal complexities surrounding these disagreements contributed to both states so fervently maintaining and defending their claims.

This thesis presents a cross-national, cross-regime examination of foreign policy decision-making in the Spratly Islands dispute, focusing on China, Malaysia and the Philippines. It argues that how and why these countries have acted in particular ways towards the dispute relates to the relationship among foreign policy decision-making, government behaviour and domestic politics. The theoretical foundation of the study is foreign policy analysis. It applies the decision units approach advanced by Margaret and Charles Hermann and Joe Hagan to investigate who made foreign policy decisions on the Spratly Islands dispute in the three countries during the period 1991-2002, and how this influenced government behaviour. In addition, the contextual influence of domestic politics is considered. Four case studies inform the empirical analysis: the approaches taken by Malaysia and the Philippines to bolster their respective sovereignty claim, China???s establishment of a comprehensive maritime jurisdictional regime covering the Spratly Islands among other areas, China-Philippines contestation over Mischief Reef and the development of a regional instrument to regulate conduct in the South China Sea. Three conclusions are drawn. First, the decision units approach identifies the pivotal foreign policy decision-makers in each of the countries examined and the process involved. Second, it explains the relationship between decision unit characteristics -- self-contained or externally influenceable -- and each government???s behaviour towards the dispute. Injecting domestic politics into the analysis highlights motivations of and constraints faced by decision-makers, conditioning the form and content of government action. Third, it demonstrates a low predictive capability: the ???fit??? between hypothesised and actual government behaviour is poor. While it is not a comprehensive analytical tool, the combined decision units-domestic politics approach offers deeper insight into government decisions and behaviour on the Spratly Islands dispute than hitherto reported in the literature.

This thesis presents a cross-national, cross-regime examination of foreign policy decision-making in the Spratly Islands dispute, focusing on China, Malaysia and the Philippines. It argues that how and why these countries have acted in particular ways towards the dispute relates to the relationship among foreign policy decision-making, government behaviour and domestic politics. The theoretical foundation of the study is foreign policy analysis. It applies the decision units approach advanced by Margaret and Charles Hermann and Joe Hagan to investigate who made foreign policy decisions on the Spratly Islands dispute in the three countries during the period 1991-2002, and how this influenced government behaviour. In addition, the contextual influence of domestic politics is considered. Four case studies inform the empirical analysis: the approaches taken by Malaysia and the Philippines to bolster their respective sovereignty claim, China???s establishment of a comprehensive maritime jurisdictional regime covering the Spratly Islands among other areas, China-Philippines contestation over Mischief Reef and the development of a regional instrument to regulate conduct in the South China Sea. Three conclusions are drawn. First, the decision units approach identifies the pivotal foreign policy decision-makers in each of the countries examined and the process involved. Second, it explains the relationship between decision unit characteristics -- self-contained or externally influenceable -- and each government???s behaviour towards the dispute. Injecting domestic politics into the analysis highlights motivations of and constraints faced by decision-makers, conditioning the form and content of government action. Third, it demonstrates a low predictive capability: the ???fit??? between hypothesised and actual government behaviour is poor. While it is not a comprehensive analytical tool, the combined decision units-domestic politics approach offers deeper insight into government decisions and behaviour on the Spratly Islands dispute than hitherto reported in the literature.

How does the international climate policy frameworks influence the domestic institutional responses to climate mitigation in emerging economies? And how, in turn, do domestic institutions and politics in emerging economies influence the fate of international climate policy frameworks? The thesis provides answers to these questions by studying domestic engagements with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in three emerging economies – India, Brazil, and South Africa. The thesis specifically studies how these engagements were influenced by the domestic institutional context provided by national climate policy, norms, and institutional capacity in the three countries. Drawing upon the variations in the engagements with nationally appropriate mitigation actions, made visible by use of the policy cycle as a heuristic device, the thesis informs the implementation of another nascent, yet prevalent, international climate policy framework – Nationally Determined Contributions. The thesis identifies how engagements with nationally appropriate mitigation actions varied in India, Brazil, and South Africa in agenda-setting, policy formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. In cases where international support is considered crucial for taking mitigation actions, external factors such as lack of clarity on definitional aspects and availability of international support can hamper the prospects of such frameworks at the agenda-setting and policy formulation stages. Efforts to engage with these frameworks under this uncertainty are held back by non-decisions, overriding national climate policy, as well as by uneven inter-ministerial coordination. The thesis argues that successful implementation of upcoming Nationally Determined  Contributions will be influenced by a country’s ability to align them with its national climate policy, localization of the transnational norms, and the extent to which efforts to enhance institutional capacity for  coordinating the implementation of national climate policy are made. In sum, the effective implementation of International Climate Policy Frameworks will be dependent on the willingness of the state to  provide oversight and coordination, and clarity on the availability of international support. / Hur influerar ramverken för internationell klimatpolicy nationella institutionella åtgärder för att begränsa utsläpp av växthusgaser i framväxande ekonomier? Och hur påverkar, i sin tur, dessa länders nationella institutioner och politik dessa ramverk för internationell klimatpolicy? Denna avhandling studerar nationella engagemang i Nationellt lämpliga utsläppsminskande åtgärder (s.k. NAMAs) i tre framväxande ekonomier – Indien, Brasilien, och Sydafrika. Avhandlingen studerar i synnerhet hur dessa engagemang har påverkats av de tre ländernas nationella klimatpolicy, normer, och institutionella kapacitet. Genom att använda policycykeln som heuristiskt analysverktyg identifierar avhandlingen variationer i hur länderna utvecklat sitt engagemang i NAMAs. Avhandlingen visar att och hur engagemang med nationellt lämpliga utsläppsminskande åtgärder varierar mellan Indien, Brasilien, och Sydafrika vad det gäller fastställande av dagordning, policyformulering, beslutsfattande, implementering, och policyutvärdering. I de fall internationellt stöd anses vara avgörande för att vidta utsläppsminskande åtgärder kan externa faktorer såsom bristande definition av de internationella policyramverken för åtgärder samt tillgänglighet på internationellt stöd försvåra utsikterna för att internationella ramverk tas upp i de nationella dagordnings- och policyformuleringsstadierna. Arbetet med dessa ramverk försvåras även av icke-beslut och ojämn interministeriell koordinering samt om tvingande nationell klimatpolicy inte ligger i linje med de internationella besluten. Avhandlingens slutsatser har betydelse för implementeringen av ett annat framväxande ramverk för internationell klimatpolicy: Nationellt fastställda bidrag (s.k. NDC:er). En framgångsrik implementering av   NDC:er kommer att influeras av en stats förmåga att anpassa dem till nationell klimatpolicy samt transnationella normer, så att dessa överensstämmer eller jämkas med nationella normer, samt den institutionella kapaciteten för att koordinera implementering av nationell klimatpolicy. En effektiv implementering av ramverk för internationell klimatpolicy kommer, sammanfattningsvis, att vara beroende av staters villighet att tillhandahålla tillsyn och koordinering, samt tydlighet vad gäller tillgänglighet till internationellt stöd.

Is religion a vaccine against radical right populism? The opposite has often been taken for granted in many debates. This study tests the theory of religious immunity by examining three Swedish evangelical newspapers: Dagen, Världen idag and Sändaren. By performing an analysis of ideas on evangelical contribution to public debate in the years of 2010 and 2021, the degree of radical right populism is estimated. Differences between the newspapers and change over time are the investigation’s comparative elements. By utilizing theological variation among the cases and the development over time, the strength and endurance of the immunity is examined.  Results show an evangelical opinion making in change. From a starting point in 2010, where all cases proved a solid immunity, to a more complex picture in 2021. Two parallel trends where observed: the immunity found in Dagen and Sändaren endured the test of time. At the same time, Världen idag developed a radical right tendency, harmonizing with the Christian Democratic party. Being a least likely case, the turn in Världen idag does not write off the theory of immunity, but challenges the idea of evangelical homogeneity in regard to radical right populism. Theological ideas about the nation is suggested being a possible division. In whole, this study has deepened our knowledge in how theological motives are used to affect the connection between religion and radical right populism, and given a more nuanced understanding of evangelical politics in Sweden.