The main purpose of this study is to examine if variations in voter turnout for the European Parliament elections in each member state is affected by the rate of national party polarization on the EU-dimension of party politics. The theoretical background assumes that a high level of polarization generates higher voter turnout since more alternatives are presented to the electorate. This makes it easier for the electorate to find a party that represents their preferences. This will, in turn, increase the likelihood that they will participate in the election.This study uses a research design based on a quantitative analysis with data from each member state, except those with compulsory voting, in the European Parliament elections of 2004 and 2009. The results of the analysis indicate a relationship between high levels of party polarization and lower turnout in the European Parliament election. There seem to be a tendency that in systems where there is greater polarization, the voters tend to participate less in the European Parliament elections.

Over the past twenty years, the cooperation within the European Union (EU) has strengthened and expanded with both more number of Member States and stronger influence on international politics. The unique character of the Union and its ability to enforce peace and humanitarian intervention has attracted attention in political science. This prominent position of the Union is perceived by many scholars who often hold this derived from the Union's influence in international relations. Various terms have been used to define the powers of the Union. The British researcher Ian Manners states that the unique identity of the Union in the international arena is formed by its normative power.    An important policy area within the Union is the environmental cooperation. It is essential to have a global understanding that an increasing cooperation within the environmental policy area is necessary in order to combat environmental degradation and climate change. In this study I have therefore chosen to examine if the Union can be considered a normative power in the area of environmental policy. To fulfill the purpose of my study I choose to examine the Kyoto protocol (2008- 2012). The Kyoto Protocol is an extension of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and is the dominant global initiative in global environmental activities.   After studying the way towards global cooperation in the battle against climate change I would say that it is obvious that the EU has guided a number of stages of key importance. In international cooperation, states are usually not willing to accept the costs they may incur from taking on greater responsibilities than other parties. The Union’s imprint as a leading party in the global fight against climate change is in many ways tangible.

This study aims at examine what kind of interest the European Union (EU) have in promoting a democracy process in Eastern Europe. The study is a descriptive case study where the case Ukraine is used to draw general conclusions. The questions asked to pursue the aim are: why does the EU want to promote a democracy process in Ukraine, what kind of methods does the EU use  and why is Russia trying to prevent the EU-Ukraine development and instead supporting a Russia-Ukraine development. In this study an analytical model is created and used to analyze EU:s way in promoting democracy in Ukraine. The analyze model consists of six steps used to describe the general promotion of a democracy process and it’s applied in the empirical analysis. The empirical material is based on books, primary documents and EU:s official webpage. One general conclusion of this study asserts that the primary interest of EU: s democracy process in Ukraine is economy and security. Another one affirms that Russia’s interest to prevent the EU-Ukraine development consists also of economy and security and especially security to prevent the development of NATO in Eastern Europe.

No description available.

This thesis covers Turkish and EU maritime policies for the passenger ferry industries. It concentrateso n the positioning of ferry operatorsi n the passengefre rry market in the Eastern Mediterranean. A general background to Turkey and to its maritime industry is drawn before developing a model. A positioning model is developed in a quantitative approach to this research. Furthermore, it is operationalised by using the Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Technique within multivariate analysis. A specific programme, MDPREF, from the MDS(X) Series of MDS Programmes is used for the calculation and illustration of the analysis. The Positionso f the Turkish and EU passengerfe rry operatorsi n the EasternM editerranean are measured and identified, within the positioning model, by data and information from the operators, for 1994, that were received from questionnaires and data files. The data and information are based on the '7P's of the service marketing mix, which are product, price, place,p romotion, people,p hysical evidencea nd process,s incep assengefre rry operationsa re widely considered to be services for people. The resultso f the analysisi ndicatet he positionso f the Turkish and EU passengefre rry market in the EasternM editerraneanw ith the Turkish and EU operatorsg rouping togethera t different places in the market place. An exception is made by one of the EU operators illustrating similarity with the Turkish operators by positioning its place close to them in the market place.I t was also discoveredt hat only the Greeko peratorsa ppeart o representt he EU because Greece is an EU country and there were no operators other than the Greeks in 1994. However Greeced oesn ot totally reflect the characteristicso f the EU maritime policy. The discussionc oncludest hat the EasternM editerraneanp assengefre rry market is a dynamic and a growing market with potential points for further research.

No description available.

No description available.

Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2007.

Univ., Diss.--St. Gallen, 2004.

Univ., Diss.--St. Gallen, 2005.