Although largely overlooked in much of the previous research on political tolerance, I argue that contextual factors, specifically state-level features, play a significant role in influencing individual tolerance judgments. Drawing from extant theories of public opinion, international conflict, and political institutions, I seek to further our understanding of the determinants of political tolerance by trying to answer the following question: What accounts for the significant differences in political tolerance levels across countries? While models using individual-level predictors account for some of the disparity in tolerance levels, a substantial amount remains unexplained. I assert that several macro-level theoretical frameworks offer compelling explanations for the marked difference in tolerance levels across countries. Specifically, I examine the effect of state-level external threats, internal threats, and the role of domestic political institutions in shaping individual attitudes towards unpopular groups. To test my propositions, I use data from the 1995-1997 World Values survey as well as multi-level statistical modeling to estimate the aggregate effects of state-level factors on political tolerance levels across 33 countries while also controlling for individual-level predictors.This dissertation demonstrates that elevated objective threats to the state, whether international disputes or incidents of civil conflict, serve to dampen overall tolerance levels. In doing so, this study also highlights that not all types of external threat resonateequally amongst the public. Individuals in countries involved in territorial disputes or countries targeted in international disputes are generally less tolerant overall than those in countries involved in disputes over other issues. In terms of domestic political institutions, I find that electoral rules designed to build consensus and ameliorate societal tensions among groups may actually serve to foster intolerance in countries under certain conditions. Finally, my analyses reveal that the effect of democratic longevity on political tolerance levels is actually conditional based on the type of political institutions that exist in a country. Overall, the findings discovered here underscore the importance of contextual factors in shaping political tolerance levels across countries and stresses the need for this type of analysis in future studies of political tolerance.

The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate which issues that are portrayed as external threats during a disarmament process versus an armament process in Sweden by studying two Defence Committee reports. To understand what is portrayed as external threats, an analysis of both reports and a comparison between them have been made. The research question for this thesis is: How are external threats portrayed in Defence Committee reports during a disarmament process versus an armament process? A qualitative text analysis is made with Carol Bacchi’s WPR method combined with the theory of securitization to analyse the material. The material consists of two Defence Committee reports, one from 2003 and one from 2019 to represent disarmament and rearmament. Previous research of Sweden’s disarmament process has shown that Russia is the main objective affecting Swedish defence policy. However, this thesis concludes that representation of the stability of the world order is affected by the United States being portrayed as reliable in case of conflict which affects the Defence Committee’s representation of external threats.

Most studies examine how homeland policies influence the host state and what role the homeland plays for diaspora. In this paper, I will examine the reasons and conditions for why ethnic groups do or do not support violent ethnic groups. This study tests how external threats impact the level of support within the same ethnic groups. I will examine the causal relationship between external pressure and non-cooperation through a structured, comparative study of Kurdish ethnic groups.

Previous research has shown that Taiwan's military spending is affected either by China's military buildup or the US's military pipeline. This study investigates whether it is also true an ongoing US-China relationship has dynamic effects. Three major findings are obtained from the statistical analyses. First and foremost, the level of US-China conflict has a contemporaneous positive effect on Taiwan's military spending. Second, the analyses also indicate that the volatility of US-China relations has negative effects on Taiwan's military spending. This finding suggests that instability in US-China relations will prompt Taiwan to decrease its military spending due to a higher amount of perceived security on the one hand, and Taiwan wants to avoid further provoking China on the other. Third, analyses indicate that an error correction model fares better than a simple budgetary incremental model in explaining the re-equilibrating effects of GNP growth on Taiwan's military spending. Overall, the results demonstrate the interplay of domestic and international constraints and may help to predict what will be the expected military spending when Taiwan's economy changes. I suggest that Taiwan's military spending is likely to be influenced by US-China relations as well as by foreign investment and domestic economic constraints as long as the United States policy toward the Taiwan problem remains unchanged.

Cette thèse est composée de trois essais empiriques issus d’une enquête ethnographique conduite dans une entreprise innovante en Inde, et étudie les processus permettant l'innovation durable. Cette recherche aborde le rôle du jeu dans les processus de travail innovant, ainsi que le rôle de l'identité organisationnelle comme une réponse de l'organisation aux menaces extérieures. Cette thèse montre comment le jeu se déroule dans les organisations, sa nature et son rôle dans les processus de travail créatifs. Les résultats indiquent que le jeu a plusieurs effets sur les tâches et les relations qui affectent les processus collectifs de travail créatif qui soutiennent l'innovation durable. Je montre aussi les transitions entre le travail intense et jeu intense et expose un modèle incluant des conditions initiales, des mécanismes et des signaux qui facilitent les transitions. Ce faisant, cette thèse construit les bases d'une théorie du travail et du jeu. Cette recherche décrit un nouveau genre de jeu dans les organisations, différent de ceux observés et étudiés précédemment. Elle contribue aux théories du jeu et au travail créatif dans l'organisation. Prenant en compte le fait que l'innovation durable dépend aussi de la capacité de l'organisation à faire face aux menaces extérieures, cette recherche montre également comment l'identité organisationnelle joue un rôle crucial dans l'élaboration des méthodes de travail pour faire face aux menaces extérieures. Ainsi, cette étude contribue à la littérature sur la formation de l'identité organisationnelle, et son rôle dans les pratiques organisationnelles, la survie et l'innovation durable / This dissertation consists of three empirical essays based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an innovation-based firm in India, and investigates the processes enabling sustained innovation. More specifically, it addresses the role of play in innovative work and its processes, as well as the role of organizational identity in organization’s response to external threats. I show how playfulness unfolds in work organizations, its nature, and its role in the creative work processes. Results indicate that play has several task and relationship related effects on group creative work processes on which sustained innovation rests. It also show how people transition between intense work and intense play – and explicate a model of initial conditions, mechanisms and cues for such transitions. By doing so, this study starts to lay the grounds for a theory of work and play, and provides an answer to how innovative work gets accomplished amidst playfulness in organizations. This study describes a new kind of play in work organizations, different to those observed and investigated in previous organizational studies and contributes to theories of play and creative work in organization. Mindful of the fact that sustaining innovation also depends on organization’s ability to cope with external threats, this study also shows how organizational identity play a crucial role in shaping its work practices for responding to external threats, and how threat can even lead to the formation of an organization’s initial identity. Thus, this study also contributes to the literature on organizational identity, and its role in organizational practices, survival, growth and sustained innovation