This thesis examines how national identities change and evolve through time. In that sense, it joins other studies that have studied the mechanisms for changes in national identities. While some authors have tended to focus on state structure, institutional changes (i.e. the creation of federal institutions that encourage regional identities) or belief systems, this study argues that political parties play an important role on national identity formulation. Essentially, this study will establish the argument that political parties have an impact on the direction of national identity. Using HI it will illustrate that the institutional framework in which political parties operate affects the direction that they will push national identity towards. Indeed, political actors have a vision for national identity and they will articulate and redefine how national identity is conceptualized but not freely. Rather, how institutions guide actors, preferences and ideas is central to understanding why national identity takes the form and direction that it does. Using the case study of Germany (1949-1969), it will demonstrate that the CDU sought to define German national identity as one based on Christian weltanschauung, integration with the west (westbindung) and social market economy (sozialen Marktwirtschaft) and that with each notion the influence of the Basic Law and previous political institutions could be felt as emphasis would be put on how each concept was related to “freedom”, “individual rights” and “democracy”.

This thesis deals with the question of how the changes in the European Neighbourhood Policy and especially the newly proposed NDICI affect its relations and those of the Member states to Israel. It emphasises the effects of the NDICI's changes in policy settings towards the Palestinian Authority and how those indirectly affect Israel. It concludes that the four main changes, flexibility, development aid, blending and a performance-based approach may have unintended impact on the relations with Israel, especially in regard to security and the political atmosphere. They can damage Israeli relations with some of the Member states or escalate violence in Gaza. The conclusions are reached through ENP related document analysis. It is a single case study.

This thesis deals with the question of how the changes in the European Neighbourhood Policy and especially the newly proposed NDICI affect its relations and those of the Member states to Israel. It emphasises the effects of the NDICI's changes in policy settings towards the Palestinian Authority and how those indirectly affect Israel. It concludes that the four main changes, flexibility, development aid, blending and a performance-based approach may have unintended impact on the relations with Israel, especially in regard to security and the political atmosphere. They can damage Israeli relations with some of the Member states or escalate violence in Gaza. The conclusions are reached through ENP related document analysis. It is a single case study.

The purpose of this thesis is to increase our knowledge about corruption issues. It examines the connection between the institutional frame and the individual’s choice made in his institutional role. The study is based on the theories of rational choice institutionalism and public ethos and the empirical data is analyzed from a social constructivist perspective. The addressed research questions are:-How is the institutional frame within the Mauritian public sphere being created, with special focus on shaping the norms saying that corruption is not accepted?-Does the institutional frame, and specifically the public ethos as a norm, influence the individual’s rational choice when deciding not to act corruptly?The empirical material has been collected in Mauritius, and the study uses the Mauritian local government as the example for the institution. According to the theory of rational choice institutionalism, public servants make rational choices, within the frames of the institution. Institutions are to be seen as a wider concept, where both the formal and informal institutions are included, such as norms, institutionalized actions and processes. The public ethos, a norm specifically connected to the democratic, public areas of the society, states that the public servant’s institutional role is different from a private person’s role. According to the theory about the social construction of the reality, the individual’s perception and understanding of his surroundings, the image of his reality, is shaped by the institutional frame and this frame delimits the options to choose among. The analysis is made with the help of a model which illustrates the layers of the institution, and the individual in the institutional frame, which thereby affects his rational calculations. The model is also used to illustrate the result of the analysis, by showing the factors that influence the norm-shaping process. The analysis and the conclusions of the study indicate that the creation of the institutional frame is strongly influenced from the society with an anti-corruption agenda, in form of legislation and government agencies, which have a resilient effect on the norm-shaping. Further, the presence of the public ethos norm is shown as an element of the institutional frame. The public servant, when making a rational calculation to decide to act or not to act corruptly, is situated within this institutional frame. The conclusion of the thesis indicates that the individual’s rational choice is strongly affected by the institutional frame, showing that the public servant does take in consideration the public ethos norms in his institutional role. Even though economic reasons influence how the public servant decides to act, those are reinforced by the institutional norms.

The devolution of immigration policy to the 50 states has resulted in the enactment of more than 1,500 state-level immigration since 2005. For the record 42 million immigrants living in the U.S., these laws have had tremendous consequences related to healthcare utilization and access, community relations with law enforcement, family dissolution, and the exacerbation of income inequalities. While the legislative arena has shifted to the states, our understanding of immigration policymaking remains unclear due to inconsistent and omitted predictors of immigration policy, subjective coding of immigration laws, and statistical modeling that does not take into account changes in key independent variables. Using data primarily from the Census Bureau’s American Factfinder, the Current Population Survey, and the National Council of State Legislatures, and other sources this research refines the quantitative determinants of immigration policy while using time-series analysis to highlight the factors linked to laws designed to integrate or exclude immigrations in the 50 states. Once empirical analysis is conducted, I delve into the details of state level immigration policymaking by interviewing state level bureaucrats within state health departments to determine the role that they, their data analysis, and the research play when it comes to influencing legislators and shaping immigration policy. This mixed methods approach combining statistical modeling and key informant interviews provides important findings that give a clear picture on why state institutional arrangements are crucial for understating immigration policy at the state level.

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The main purpose with the essay is to highlight the difficulties and challenges that newly arrived women experience in the labor market. Furthermore, the essay aims to analyze theefforts that the Swedish Government is making for the establishment of newly arrived women in the labor market and what support is offered for these women. The essay will be referring to following three questions; 1. What obstacles and challenges do newly arrived women face in the establishment process?- What are the underlying factors to them according to the theory of gender systems and feminist institutionalism? 2. What initiatives in the forms of measures and decisions are proposed by theGovernment for the establishment of newly arrived women in the labor market?The content was studied through policy documents, official reports, and statistics. With the help of the questions, the content was investigated in which efforts are being made in the labor market for newly arrived women seen from a feminist perspective in the documents.The material was read and analyzed based on a qualitative analysis using a content analysis. The results of the study were analyzed through two theories, that is embedded in two feminist perspectives which are Institutional feminism and the gender system.Parental leave is described as the primary reason for refugee women’s absence from labor, followed by health issues, lack of education and discrimination. The presented results indicate that the establishment of newly arrived women in the labor market is not only important for their own integration and autonomy, but it also plays a significant role in the development of society and for immigrant children's education and integration. Furthermore, the study shows that the Government's efforts are deficient and unsatisfactory in relation to the establishment of newly arrived women in the labor market. The analyzed results of the study show that there is a lack of research on the subject and further efforts are requested.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第24307号 / 経博第659号 / 新制||経||302(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)准教授 WANG Tao, 教授 澤邉 紀生, 教授 山内 裕, 准教授 Thinley Tharchen / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

This research draws on New Institutionalist theory as interpreted by Fligstein and McAdam (2012) to explore the relationship between structure and agency within one nonprofit organization, Appalshop, located in Central Appalachia. Since 1969, Appalshop has worked with peer institutions to form a larger community cultural development (CCD) field, characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective imagining and reimagining of communities. Through an exploration of archival documents and interviews with 18 current and former Appalshop staff, I analyzed the organization's 50-year evolution. I identified ways in which Appalshop has operated in the midst of different enabling and inhibiting structural forces, how its staff has sought to assert agency by contesting or circumventing those extant forces, and how the ensuing tensions have shaped the organization's approach to social change. During its evolution, Appalshop can be seen as having gone through four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. In order to withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstance, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based. / Doctor of Philosophy / Appalshop is a community cultural development organization located in central Appalachia. Community cultural development (CCD) is characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective reimagining of communities. Founded in 1969, Appalshop and its staff have approached CCD in many ways, including through media production, youth education, theater and community organizing and, more recently, through community economic development. I explored Appalshop's evolution and sought to assess the ways in which this arts nonprofit has reacted to changing circumstances nationally and within its region, how those external forces have influenced the organization, and how its staff members have worked to contest forces that inhibited their organization's avowed mission and preferred activities. I used New Institutionalist theory, an analytic framework that emphasizes the need to explore the different fields of influence on any organization as well as the individual actors within that entity who, through their drive to create and perpetuate shared social meaning, may adopt or contest the narratives of external fields. I employed new institutionalism to make sense of the factors that have shaped Appalshop's trajectory as an institution to date. During its evolution, Appalshop has experienced four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. To withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstances, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's established modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based.

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, a number of Latin American countries have undergone a marked shift to the left in their politics. With this, a number of Latin American countries have been pursuing economic policies that give a greater role for the state in economic affairs. Hugo Chavez has promised to build "twenty-first century socialism" in Venezuela, while Bolivia's Evo Morales often attacks the "neoliberalism" that previously guided economic reform in that country. This thesis investigates these economic institutional changes through a discursive institutionalist perspective, focusing on two Latin American countries: Bolivia and Peru. The goal is to analyze the role discourse and ideas played in impacting economic institutional change, or the lack thereof, in these two countries. This analysis suggests that institutional change in Bolivia can be explained by the skill political figures such as Evo Morales had in linking certain economic policies to notions of Bolivian sovereignty and a defense of natural resources. However, in Peru, discursive limitations presented barriers to a shift towards greater state intervention. By emphasizing the impact of discourse and ideas, this thesis aims to provide a novel theoretical interpretation of these events transpiring in Latin America.