This thesis examines the quality and effectiveness of online political deliberation, within the framework of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere and discourse theories. The thesis analyzes a deliberative process that took place online, in June 2011, as part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s Extraordinary Convention, specifically through content and discourse analysis of data from online discussion platforms. The analysis sought to ascertain whether the objectives of the convention were met, measured the quality of discourse and identified insights to support the creation of more effective spaces for political deliberation online. Analysis of the results revealed a difference in the discourse quality for each platform, attributed to the synchronicity or asynchronicity of the platform. The thesis concludes with suggestions for a design that makes use of both the synchronous and asynchronous features of the online discussion platforms in order to more specifically target the objectives of the political process.

This thesis examines the quality and effectiveness of online political deliberation, within the framework of Jurgen Habermas’ public sphere and discourse theories. The thesis analyzes a deliberative process that took place online, in June 2011, as part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s Extraordinary Convention, specifically through content and discourse analysis of data from online discussion platforms. The analysis sought to ascertain whether the objectives of the convention were met, measured the quality of discourse and identified insights to support the creation of more effective spaces for political deliberation online. Analysis of the results revealed a difference in the discourse quality for each platform, attributed to the synchronicity or asynchronicity of the platform. The thesis concludes with suggestions for a design that makes use of both the synchronous and asynchronous features of the online discussion platforms in order to more specifically target the objectives of the political process.

The dissertation will address the ongoing debate in Comparative Politics about the virtues and pathologies of rational choice theory by testing competing hypotheses and predictions to account for three aspects of party politics in India: the transformation of the Indian political party system from a predominant to an even multiparty system; the politics of government formation; and the politics of government stability. Overall, the dissertation will pursue two arguments. First, rational choice models and predictions can account for the empirical cases more consistently than hypotheses and predictions derived from other paradigms. Second, by using India as the case on which to test competing theories, it will be shown that non-Western political phenomena are not sui generis and they may be accounted for in terms of comparative theory the same way as Western phenomena have been.

Šio darbo objektas – pasirengimas vaišėms bei pačios vaišės. Darbo tikslas – aptarti XX a. II pusės – XXI a. pradžios Suvalkijoje ruošiamų vaišių ypatumus. Siekiant šio tikslo, keliami tokie uždaviniai: 1) aprašyti pasiruošimą vaišėms: parodyti, kiek dėmesio moterys skiria savo išvaizdai, kokias dovanas perka, kaip vaišėms puošiama namų aplinka bei vaišių stalas; 2) aptarti samdomų muzikantų kolektyvą, progas, kuriomis jie samdomi, atliekamą repertuarą, muzikantų užmokestį; 3) aprašyti samdomų šeimininkių darbo ypatumus, progas, kuriomis jos samdomos, užsakovų keliamus reikalavimus, šeimininkių atlyginimą; 4) aptarti įvairioms vaišėms patiekiamų patiekalų bei gėrimų asortimentą; 5) palyginti Suvalkijos ir Žemaitijos regionų XX a. II pusės vestuvių puotas. Rašant darbą, daugiausia remtasi pačios darbo autorės surinktais duomenimis. Tam buvo parengtos keturios anketos. Apklausos buvo atliktos 2006 – 2007 metais Suvalkijoje. Darbo pradžioje aptariamas pasirengimas vaišėms. Dėmesys sutelktas į einančiųjų į vaišes proginius drabužius bei aksesuarus. Siekiama išsiaiškinti, kokios dovanos kokiomis progomis yra perkamos bei kiek tam skiriama lėšų. Taip pat kalbama apie vaišių aplinkos bei vaišių stalo puošimą. Iš atsakymų matyti, jog, atėjus šventėms, suvalkiečiai mėgsta puošti savo namų aplinką bei vaišių stalą. Aptariamos samdomų muzikantų pasirinkimą muzikuoti lėmusios priežastys, progos, kuriomis jie samdomi bei darbo sezoniškumas. Nemažai dėmesio skiriama švenčių metu... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the work – the preparation for parties and the parties. The aim of the work – to discuss the parties‘ peculiaritys, which are organized in the second half of the 20th century – in the beginning of the 21st century in Suvalkia. To reach this aim, there are a few tasks: 1) describe the preparation for parties: show how much attention women allow to their appearance, what presents buy, how they for parties decorate surroundings of the houses and of the parties‘ tables; 2) discuss the association of the hired musicians, occasions, when they are hired, repertoire, their payment; 3) describe the work‘s peculiaritys of the hired cooks, occasions, when they are hired, demands, which give clients and their payment; 4) discuss dishes and drinks, which are prepared for various parties; 5) compare the wedding‘s balls in Suvalkia and in Samogitia. The work is written with reference to the information, which was collected by work‘s author. For that reason was prepared four questionnaires. Interviews were done in 2006 – 2007 in Suvalkia. In the beginning of the work it‘s talking about the preparation for parties. Attention is concentrated to the occasional women‘s clothes and other similar things. Author wants to find out, what presents for what occasions people buy and how much money they spend for that. Also it‘s talking about parties‘ surroundings and parties‘ tables decorations. Respondents‘ answers tell, that suvalkiečiai like to decorate their houses‘ surroundings and... [to full text]

State subventions to parties have been introduced in many Western democratic states with little discussion about the effect that such payments from a state to a political party have on the party. Political scientists, though, have conducted a lively debate about the effect of these state subventions on parties and party systems. With the introduction of state subventions in Canada, there is a significant opportunity to study the effects of the subsidy on parties. This thesis is a case study of the Green Party of Canada during the first three years after the introduction of state subventions to parties. The Green Party of Canada offers us a unique opportunity to see a party emerge from fringe status with the assistance of a state subvention to the party. There are many important findings we can draw from this party’s experience of the state subvention. / ix, 128 leaves ; 29 cm.

The primary aim of this thesis is to advance economics' understanding of the organization of political parties, for the purpose of explaining the policy choices that result from collective decision procedures. Motivating this inquiry is the benign neglect that the political party as an organization has long suffered from in economics, in a manner that mirrors depictions of the firm in early neoclassical analysis. Accordingly, this thesis first considers the question of the relative influence of different contributors to the political parties' electoral activities, i.e. special-interest groups contributing money and individual party activists volunteering their time, on their choice of policy platforms. It is found that the presence of activists induces parties to offer differentiated policy platforms, even in the presence of a special-interest group whose contributions are perfectly substitutable with those of activists. Concurrently, the special interest's influence is to bias the parties' platforms towards its preferred policy. Second, the internal dynamics of parties organized into factions sharing common goals are investigated. It is studied how they affect the party leader's choice of policies while in office and her accountability to voters, through the threat of her removal from the party's helm. While occasionally acting as a distortion on the election mechanism's effectiveness for keeping politicians accountable, the presence of the politician's party is accountability-enhancing especially in the presence of other distortions. This contributes to a second-best theory of politics. This thesis' secondary aim is to contribute to restoring the use of moral and ethical concerns in normative analysis and political economy. This is warranted by the fact that moral and ethical motives matter more in such contexts than in most market transactions, where rational self-interested behaviour largely prevails. This objective is primarily represented in this thesis' study of normative analysis as conditioned on a societal consensus. This study asks how redistributive policies are to be optimally-chosen when the extent of societal co-operation regarding work participation depends on a social norm. Its main finding is that constraining the social planner's choices on the extent of societal cohesion restricts the scope of redistribution compared with an unconstrained social planner. / Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2011-11-03 12:16:33.632

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This thesis is an analysis as to whether or not Subcultural Theory may be utilized to understand how self-identification is configured within a subculture such as rave. Typically, subcultural membership requires various performative rites that express and maintain a group sensibility and identity. Rave, however, is a subculture that involves a relationship to space and technology that changes the nature of group affiliation within the subculture. This thesis focuses on how a body immersed in subcultural practices, and organized around varying technologies, must look toward an analysis of individual and subjective adaptations of those technologies. In essence, rave allows for identification that is shaped and altered by the participant, but only at each moment of interaction with the technologies of the club. Highly individualistic, dynamic, and technology-driven, the rave subculture offers the potential to examine the body as the site for identification, and escape, within an abstracting technological world.

<p>This thesis explains the role universal values play in several aspects of American political life.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis concentrates on the cause, structure, location and context (rather than the function) of factions within the French Parti Socialiste, from the Congress of Epinay, in June 1971, until Mitterrand's election as Socialist President of the Republic, on May 10th, 1981. It argues that factionalism results from a complex, interrelated cleavage structure: groups are differentiated according to a number of salient variables, of which the most important are personality (accentuated by the presidentialised Fifth Republic); ideology/policy; strategy/tactics; organisational interests and different historical origins. Factional relations are a product both of the intra-party consequences of the party's external objectives, and the internal dynamic created by factional competition itself. The party is thus an evolutive, rather than a static entity. [continued in text ...]