There is a debate within the field of policy studies whether disasters are drivers of policy reforms, as encapsulated by the disaster-reform hypothesis. Since the disaster rate for extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change, it is of high relevance to study if these disasters have any effect on climate polices. The aim of this thesis is therefore to empirically explore if there are any discernible global trends of disasters preceding a subsequent increase in Climate resilient development (CRD) policies and to show the variation of “effect lag” between income groups and regions. The research design operationalises the most severe disasters through “milestone events” and creates a CRD index by the arithmetical mean of sustainable development, climate adaptation, and climate mitigation. The results show a proportional share of countries experienced an effect lag of 1-3 years after their milestone events, while a large incidence of HIC and LMIC countries had a lag of 4-6 years. This explorative thesis has provided a research design and results on CRD, previously undescribed, that suggests several pathways for future studies such as interesting samples for case studies and alternative designs to the operationalisation of concepts.

There are two primary purposes of this study. One is theory development and the other is empirical. The first aim will be conducted by proposing a framework for the integrated approach between Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. The empirical purpose will be conducted by applying the framework on Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Numerous scholars and researchers have conducted research regarding why an integrated approach between DRR and CCA is favourable for the development in reducing vulnerability in areas and countries which are heavily affected by climate-related disasters. Although multiple convergences, there still exist certain obstacles and differences across the approaches. These include separation in institutions and actors, financial mechanisms, the gap between typologies and terminology and spatial scale differences. The main findings that can be gathered from this study is that Nepal's NAP includes many objectives and aspects which is pointing towards that the Integrated Approach is becoming more evident in today's DRR and CCA efforts. The areas which lacked the most in the NAP was the centralisation of poverty reduction and a lack of details regarding how and by whom many of the objectives and activities were planned to be implemented.

This paper looks at the motions sent into the Swedish government’s Committee on Environment and Agriculture between 2018-2022 to see if gender impacts the environmental content. Much research has been done on the environmental attitudes of representatives; however, little research has been done on environmental legislative behaviour. When it’s been done, there have been varying results Some find that women engage in more pro-environmental legislative behaviour than men, and some find that there is no difference (e.g. Fredriksson & Wang, 2011; Jones, 1997). The hypothesis for this study was that women would show more pro-environmental behaviour in their motions. However, the result from this study shows that there was no significant difference in number of environmental motions sent in by women and men. Nevertheless, the results showed that there is a significant connection between parties and pro- environmental motions, where the more right a party was on the left-right scale, the less pro-environmental motions were sent in. In addition, the results show that right wing parties handed in more anti-environmental motions. These findings could strengthen the research on environmental attitudes and environmental behaviour amongst legislators.

Throughout the past few decades, accusations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers have emerged against the United Nations, ultimately proving to be true. This thesis investigates the UN’s own narrative surrounding sexual misconduct of its peacekeeping personnel, identifying the dominant frames present within UN response to these events. Investigating these frames is a vital contribution to research within SEA, as understanding every angle of an issue can lead to a more competent approach to eventual solutions. Press releases, reports, transcribed interviews, and policy documents are analyzed using framing analysis to do so. Three frames are suggested as reference points, with opportunity for new frames to present themselves during analysis of the material. Ultimately, the study proposes that four multiple frames are present within the UN discourse, however three are of distinct influence, and two are clearly dominant. Finally, the study comes to the conclusion that the UN frames sexual violence perpetrated by peacekeeper as a primarily systemic issue, with individual peacekeepers responsibility playing a secondary role. Further research is encouraged within the field of study, specifically in regards to the ways other actors within the peacekeeping context frame SEA.

Child mortality rates do not only reflect the development in a society but also reflect access to basic health interventions and socio-economic conditions. The uneven distribution of child mortality rates is a matter of inequity. Even though there has been a reduction in the child mortality indicator neonatal mortality rate on the global level, the rate is still unacceptably high. Data indicates that it in a few countries, such as Lesotho, the neonatal mortality has an arrested decrease even though being a focus area within the sustainable development goals. This explorative case study aims at finding and explaining the factors behind the arrested decrease in neonatal mortality in Lesotho. Framing this study are the social determinants of health. The results indicate that the combination of HIV and droughts with exacerbated poverty and increased requirements for adequate care as a result, in combination with the vulnerable situation of women has aggravated the situation for new-borns in Lesotho. In order to improve the survival of new-borns in Lesotho measures cannot solely be aimed at improving health care but also have to be directed beyond the direct cause of death such as measures to improve the factors causing poor health. In order to achieve better prerequisites for new-borns measures have to overcome health inequity. It is a fundamental human rights concern.

The last 15 years has exemplified severe deficiencies in the institutional design of the European Union (EU). The EU suffers from a democratic deficit, which is demonstrated in the neglect if citizens preferences and their influence on decision making processes. This democratic deficit impacts not only the authority and legitimacy of the union but raises concerns between the EU and the world. The democratic deficit remains because of the lack of a European public sphere (EPS), an element which Habermas argues is necessary for democracy development. While previous research has found evidence for its existence in social networks and masss-media, this study broadens the field and investigates the potential existence if an EPS in a physical political network, namely the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). By conducting a quantitative content analysis, the study reveals clear indications of an EPS within the committee in which it is highly engaged in. Their engagement in the sphere is crucial to increase influence and power, as their engagement can decrease the democratic deficit, increase the legitimacy of the EU, and favour smooth cooperation between the member states, and between the EU and the world.

In this thesis, I examine whether there has been an increase in negative campaigning and trait attacks in Sweden, and whether some of the drivers of negative campaigning found in the United States two-party system - that is, the factors that motivate parties or candidates to attack their opponent’s policies or character traits - are active likewise in the Swedish multi-party system. Based on the results of a quantitative content analysis of Swedish parliamentary election manifestos 1970-2022, I conclude that there has been no increase in negative campaigning and trait attacks in Sweden. Furthermore, out of the three well-established drivers of negative campaigning found in the United States’ two-party system, only one (ideology) was found to be active likewise in the Swedish multi-party system. It seems that contextual factors, such as the character traits of the party leaders at the time of the campaign, the social and political environment at the time of the campaign, and the parties’ party cultures in general - indeed challenging factors to operationalize and hence measure - play a large role in influencing the use of negative campaigning, at least in Sweden.

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This paper argues that the EU’s enlargement discourse can be understood as a form of political myth wherein a subject must align itself with an fantasmatic ideal type ofEuropean state. It works through positing a past from which the subject must advance, and a mythical horizon towards which the subject strives. The stage in between these temporal phases is understood as liminality, an ontological limbo of sorts. To illustrate how the political myth works, a discourse analysis is conducted by investigating reports by the UN and EU on the status of Kosovo’s alignment with ‘European standards’ and evaluations of the political situation. By applying the political discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, it was found that the image of the past in Kosovo was filled with symbols of ethnic conflict, clan affiliation andlingering communism, while the mythical horizon of European integration promised a utopian idea of multi-ethnicity, rule of law and freedom of movement. Kosovo in the process of integration is then stuck in a liminal phase between these temporal points, while the EU through a set of categorical measurements constructs not only Kosovo’s identity but also the ideal image of a European state and how to become one.

No description available.