This thesis considers the use of independence referendums in state-creation. It investigates whether and how an independence referendum affects secessionist dynamics, and may increase or decrease the likelihood of secession. The analysis consists of a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods approach, which includes the creation of a new dataset on secessionist movements and independence referendums from 1905 to 2014, and an in-depth comparative study of Quebec and Montenegro. Independence referendums, as sovereignty referendums, ask the ‘people’, symbolic holders of the sovereign authority of a state under a democratic regime, whether their sovereignty should remain represented by the current state, or by a new independent sovereign state. A distinction between unilateral and agreed independence referendums is made in order to consider when and how ‘the will of the people’ determines state-creation. It is argued that only an agreed independence referendum can ensure that the referendum itself determines the secessionist outcome. The thesis argues that independence referendums are an important legitimisation tool and their outcome’s binding effect is primarily a result of political, rather than legal, dynamics. The reasons behind the calling and holding of an independence referendum, and why a state government would consent to it, are analysed to account for a possible problem of endogeneity whereby the presence of an independence referendum might be determined by how likely the secessionist movement is to secede in the first place, regardless of the plebiscite. An institutional arrangement that allows for internal self-determination (such as ethnic-federalism), and access to executive powers at the regional level, was found to facilitate the mobilisation of the population in favour of secession, and the ability to call and hold a plebiscite. It is not in itself sufficient however to secure a majority in favour of independence, and other societal, political and economic contextual factors need to be taken into account to explain why a population would wish to secede. Focusing on consensual independence referendums agreed by both the government of the existing state and secessionist leaders, the thesis further explores when and how an independence referendum affects the likelihood of secession, notably existing popular support for independence. The thesis finds that the design and campaign in particular are important elements in deciding whose support counts, how much of it is needed, and how it can be mobilised. Nonetheless, the referendum process, who participates in it and to what extent existing preferences on the question of independence can be altered are context-dependent. Finally, the perceived legitimacy of the referendum process and outcome are argued to be essential for the voting result to be binding on actors operating at the sub-state level, state level and international level and the independence referendum to successfully answer the question of secession. The review of independence referendums since the turn of the 20th century and the thesis findings suggest that independence referendums not only create important precedents within the state they are held, but also have international consequences. As democratic norms compete with the principle of state integrity and becomes entangled with a nationalist narrative, independence referendums may have an increasingly important role to play in state-creation.

This thesis explores the role of the media in voting behaviour in Turkey in terms of the 2010 constitutional referendum. The media is a very important tool for both providing information and entertainment for people in Turkey. Thus, it can be claimed that the media are very powerful and have a large influence on audiences. In this study, I seek to explore the media’s power over citizens’ political choices. In other words, this thesis aims to reveal the affect the media content has on voters. To achieve this goal, I have chosen to analyse the 2010 referendum because of its special characteristics, which differentiate it from other referendums and elections in Turkey. Although there are many studies which examine the media effects on voting in the literature, these generally concentrate on developed democracies. Furthermore, general elections and presidential elections are more common in the field. The number of studies searching for the media’s effect on referendum voting in Turkey is very limited. For this reason, I prioritise referendums and the media systems to provide a better understanding of the Turkish case, as a developing democratic country. In addition to this, media content and public opinion constitute the main data for the methodological part of the study. In order to identify the influence of the media in the 2010 referendum, I employ a three-step method including firstly, an analysis of the public opinion survey data to understand voter preferences; secondly, media content analysis to see the media coverage on the referendum issue and the salience of the referendum in the media and; as the third and final step of the analysis, I link the public opinion data and the media content. My contribution to the field is the analysis of the media effects on referendum voting with a systematic and an extensive methodological approach, which is supported by the analysis of the media system in Turkey, as an example of developing country. I expect to contribute a comprehensive analysis of the referendum voting in respect of the media nested with the voter preferences to the literature on politics in Turkey.

Referendums are enigmatic in their sense as consolidating— or erosive tools of representative democracy; nonetheless, an upswing in the referenda from below was recently highlighted in the literature. Thus, how local referendums from below are mobilized and whether they affect trust in local government is a significant question to be answered, which mandates bridging social movements to tools of deliberative democracy. Similarly, little is known about urban social movements and local patriotism as tenon and its mortise in a sub-national referendum. Therefore, this paper set sail from the role of local patriotism within collective action and aimed at exploring how locals are mobilized to petition a local referendum regarding the liquidation of a cityscape. Within an exploratory holistic single-case study design, I used QCA to analyse the data gathered through semi-structured interviews with members of The People’s Initiative for the Airport Future and various peculiar secondary data. The evidence was compelling in depicting the respondents’ solid spatial belonging— and an unmistakable altruistic stance towards Västerås manifested through political participation. Along with other conclusions, the evidence advocated a persuasive presence of local patriotism, a tendency to resort to unconventional political participation, and a fragmented trust in local government among the respondents.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the capital project financing methods of Texas community college districts, including an analysis of successful general obligation bond elections. A two-phase research approach was used in this analysis. The first part of the research investigation surveyed 65 community college executives and administrators representing 50 community college districts in Texas. College leaders were asked to participate in an online survey regarding finance methods used to fund capital projects. This included leaders who have participated in general obligation bond referendums on their college campuses. Thirty-four out of 65 leaders responded to the survey, which resulted in a 52.3% response rate. The second part of the investigation disaggregated survey response information from district college leaders into two groups: Those who finance capital projects utilizing general obligation bonds (GO bond) and those who use other methods than general obligation bonds to fund capital improvements or renovations. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the second phase, which investigated 12 community college district leaders’ processes and strategies of passing general obligation bond elections from 1998 to 2008. As a follow-up to the survey instrument, 11 interviews were conducted from GO and non-GO bond community college districts. The results from the findings led to the following conclusions. Each community college district is unique in how capital projects are funded. The commonalities that existed among survey participants and the personal interviews conducted were establishing strong community relationships prior to the planning of bond campaigns. The data reinforced the basic premise of building key relationships with civic/business leaders early on in the process. The importance of creating an environment that focuses on open communication and trust in support of the college was a determining factor for winning bond elections. The recommendations that emerged from this study were community college leaders must begin a dialogue to share best practices in capital project funding. Secondly, community college leaders must advocate for an organized system of data collection to record general obligation bond elections from their state agencies. Lastly, an organization for capital project advocacy must be created. / text

The creation of devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales in 1999 provided nationalist parties in both the opportunity to act within an institution solely within their nation’s territorial boundaries. In 2007, they entered government for the first time. In so doing, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru embarked upon public engagement strategies in office which were designed to build support for their constitutional ambitions – namely, independence for Scotland and (in the short-term) full legislative powers for the National Assembly for Wales, as outlined in the Government of Wales Act 2006. This thesis explores the public engagement strategy of both parties, focusing on the respective consultations of the parties in government – A National Conversation and the All Wales Convention¬ – and the following campaign for (in Scotland) and at (in Wales) a referendum intended to deliver their preferred outcome. The aim of this thesis is to consider why public engagement strategies were considered the best vehicle to take forward the respective parties’ constitutional goals and to evaluate the success each party achieved in relation to these objectives. This thesis argues that, while both the SNP and Plaid Cymru have achieved some success with regard to their constitutional objectives, this success can be measured differently depending whether short-term or long-term goals are the defining standard. In Wales, Plaid Cymru’s constitutional consultation found limited engagement with the wider Welsh population, and though the referendum succeeded in securing legislative powers for the National Assembly for Wales, public engagement with the constitutional debate in Wales continues to lack enthusiasm. By contrast, the SNP’s National Conversation saw more enthusiastic engagement, but without a referendum at the end of the process, a clear lack of a tangible short-term outcome. However, the SNP in government did succeed in moving the constitutional debate firmly onto the political agenda, and engagement in this debate is now widespread in Scottish society, particularly in the wake of an agreement to hold an independence referendum in autumn 2014.

Le projet européen, à travers ses différents jalons, esquisse les contours d’un nouveau type d’entité sur la scène internationale qui serait étrangère à l’État-nation sans toutefois lui être supérieure. L’intégration toujours plus poussée a été à l’origine de questionnements sur l’interaction entre les identités nationales et l’identité européenne en gestation. La France constitue un champ d’étude privilégié de cette interaction, compte tenu qu’elle organise deux référendums – en 1992 et en 2005 – sur l’intégration européenne. Dans le présent mémoire, il est question de déterminer la manière dont cet approfondissement influence l’opinion publique française dans son processus de construction d’un discours identitaire national. L’analyse porte sur les périodes de débats préréférendaires entourant le traité de Maastricht de 1992 à l’origine de l’euro et celui de 2005 établissant une Constitution pour l’Europe. Le mémoire repose sur le dépouillement de la presse réalisé pour chacune des deux périodes de débats préréférendaires. Afin d’étudier l’évolution de la perception identitaire des Français de toute allégeance politique, le mémoire a pour base documentaire les éditoriaux et les courriers des lecteurs des journaux Le Monde, Le Figaro, L'Humanité et Libération. La comparaison des discours identitaires de 1992 et de 2005 révèle que la relation d’identification entre la France et l’Europe a complètement changé durant cette période. Elle est passée d’une relation basée sur l’altérité entre ces deux entités idéelles à une relation fondée sur un socle de valeurs partagées. En 1992, les Français se servent de l’idée européenne comme d’un référent identitaire autour duquel ils réaffirment les valeurs perçues comme françaises, alors qu’en 2005, l’identité française n’est plus en question. Le débat se situe dorénavant sur le plan des valeurs que les Français souhaiteraient voir composer l’identité européenne à laquelle ils sont appelés à adhérer. Ces valeurs sont dorénavant tirées de l’identité personnelle de chaque Français plutôt que d’une certaine conception de l’identité nationale française. / The European project, through each of its milestones, outlines a new type of entity on the international scene, one which is a stranger to the nation state without being its better. From the intensification of European integration emerged a questioning on the nature of the interactions between national and European identity. In this respect, France represents a very interesting field of study as the country organised two referendums on European integration, one in 1992 and the other in 2005. The main goal of this research is to reveal the way in which the construction of a national discourse within the French public opinion is influenced by the deepening of European integration. The analysis covers both debate periods before the 1992 and 2005 referendums dealing with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on the Euro and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This work is based on a press analysis covering both periods of debate. In order to study the evolution of the French perception of their national identity with the least political bias possible, this thesis relies on documentary resources comprising editorials and letters to the editor of four newspapers: Le Monde, Le Figaro, L’Humanité and Libération. The comparison of the identity discourses of 1992 and 2005 reveals that the relation of identification between France and Europe has drastically changed during this period. It went from a relation founded on alterity to a relation founded on shared values. In 1992, the French use the European idea as an identity referent around which they reaffirm the “frenchness” of their shared values. In 2005, the French national identity is not in question anymore. From now on, the debate turns around the values the French hope to see at the root of the European identity to which they are called to adhere. These values are henceforth drawn from the personal identity of each Frenchman rather than from an encompassing concept of the French national identity.

Le projet européen, à travers ses différents jalons, esquisse les contours d’un nouveau type d’entité sur la scène internationale qui serait étrangère à l’État-nation sans toutefois lui être supérieure. L’intégration toujours plus poussée a été à l’origine de questionnements sur l’interaction entre les identités nationales et l’identité européenne en gestation. La France constitue un champ d’étude privilégié de cette interaction, compte tenu qu’elle organise deux référendums – en 1992 et en 2005 – sur l’intégration européenne. Dans le présent mémoire, il est question de déterminer la manière dont cet approfondissement influence l’opinion publique française dans son processus de construction d’un discours identitaire national. L’analyse porte sur les périodes de débats préréférendaires entourant le traité de Maastricht de 1992 à l’origine de l’euro et celui de 2005 établissant une Constitution pour l’Europe. Le mémoire repose sur le dépouillement de la presse réalisé pour chacune des deux périodes de débats préréférendaires. Afin d’étudier l’évolution de la perception identitaire des Français de toute allégeance politique, le mémoire a pour base documentaire les éditoriaux et les courriers des lecteurs des journaux Le Monde, Le Figaro, L'Humanité et Libération. La comparaison des discours identitaires de 1992 et de 2005 révèle que la relation d’identification entre la France et l’Europe a complètement changé durant cette période. Elle est passée d’une relation basée sur l’altérité entre ces deux entités idéelles à une relation fondée sur un socle de valeurs partagées. En 1992, les Français se servent de l’idée européenne comme d’un référent identitaire autour duquel ils réaffirment les valeurs perçues comme françaises, alors qu’en 2005, l’identité française n’est plus en question. Le débat se situe dorénavant sur le plan des valeurs que les Français souhaiteraient voir composer l’identité européenne à laquelle ils sont appelés à adhérer. Ces valeurs sont dorénavant tirées de l’identité personnelle de chaque Français plutôt que d’une certaine conception de l’identité nationale française. / The European project, through each of its milestones, outlines a new type of entity on the international scene, one which is a stranger to the nation state without being its better. From the intensification of European integration emerged a questioning on the nature of the interactions between national and European identity. In this respect, France represents a very interesting field of study as the country organised two referendums on European integration, one in 1992 and the other in 2005. The main goal of this research is to reveal the way in which the construction of a national discourse within the French public opinion is influenced by the deepening of European integration. The analysis covers both debate periods before the 1992 and 2005 referendums dealing with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on the Euro and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This work is based on a press analysis covering both periods of debate. In order to study the evolution of the French perception of their national identity with the least political bias possible, this thesis relies on documentary resources comprising editorials and letters to the editor of four newspapers: Le Monde, Le Figaro, L’Humanité and Libération. The comparison of the identity discourses of 1992 and 2005 reveals that the relation of identification between France and Europe has drastically changed during this period. It went from a relation founded on alterity to a relation founded on shared values. In 1992, the French use the European idea as an identity referent around which they reaffirm the “frenchness” of their shared values. In 2005, the French national identity is not in question anymore. From now on, the debate turns around the values the French hope to see at the root of the European identity to which they are called to adhere. These values are henceforth drawn from the personal identity of each Frenchman rather than from an encompassing concept of the French national identity.

This PhD thesis explores the question how citizens react when they are confronted with complex institutional questions related to politics. Specifically, we look at how citizens vote when they are asked for their opinion in a referendum on amending the electoral system of their country. Traditionally, electoral systems have been considered the political playing ground of political elites. It is hence interesting to see what happens when the ‘power of decision’ shifts to citizens, who are supposed to have little interest in, or knowledge about, electoral systems. We observe that citizens partially mimic political elites in their behaviour, by following partisan considerations: citizens judge electoral reforms on the consequences for their favoured parties. Moreover, citizens tend to incorporate values when judging electoral reforms: a particular effect is caused by the left-right-distinction, with left-wing voters being more attracted towards more proportional systems. Finally, we observe that how citizens react to electoral systems is affected by their baseline knowledge on politics. More knowledgeable citizens tend to judge more on substantial grounds, while less knowledgeable citizens rather tend to judge on miscellaneous grounds. We conclude by arguing that citizens can and do form substantial opinions on complex subjects like institutional reforms, but that some baseline knowledge is nonetheless required in order to substantially participate in the democratic decision-making process. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

在目前國際社會中，社會變遷讓分裂主義成為一個全球普遍存在的時代議題。考慮到越來越多的國際組織出現，及世界潮流也逐步朝向無國界的道路發展，全球化在公民社會上也開始扮演另一個重要影響的角色。分裂主義和全球化本是兩個矛盾無法共融的概念，歐洲卻是表現這兩個概念間產生關聯的最好例子，歐盟各會員國透過一體化來展現力量，但歐洲中的一些國家及某些區域又具有強烈的分離主義，這兩者彼此是無法共通的，但是現實又已經形成交集，因此也導致出一個有趣的辯論與分析。 這些分裂主義運動不僅現時在歐洲各國擴散，在世界各國也形成一股風潮。英國、西班牙和加拿大這些國家，都處於分裂邊緣的發展，使單一國家的概念被大幅度挑戰。而分裂主義會成為如此熱門的議題，是因為最近世界經濟與社會的變化，鼓勵更多國家的公民與團體，往這麼個方向走出，如2014年克里米亞與烏克蘭分離事件、蘇格蘭公投，讓分離議題持續成為國際社會必須關注的焦點。蘇格蘭分裂主義的公投運動，自2014年以來一直是國際社會關注的焦點，主要的原因是這裡面意涵著，包含了兩個相互衝突的概念:蘇格蘭想要從英國獨立的分裂性，卻又支持全球化的互助性。因此，根據全球化分析加諸於分裂運動上的限制，將蘇格蘭做為全球化-分裂主義的個案研究，本研究提供有趣的見解與論斷，提供分裂運動各個面向的議題，在面臨全球化是否成為獨立成功可能性的參考。 / Separatism has never been as prevalent as it is now with the current shifts occurring in the international society. Globalization has been another prominent influence in the global community as well considering there have been more international institutions enacted and the world is increasingly becoming a borderless one. Separatism and globalization are two contradictory concepts and a prime example of the linkage between the two concepts can be seen through European integration and the regional separatist movements in Europe. Both are paradoxical and thus, they make for an interesting debate. Not only are these separatist movements widespread in countries of Europe but has become prominent in many countries all around the world. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada are on the verge of splitting up and with vivid alterations in society such as Putin’s annexation of Crimea and Scotland’s referendum in 2014, the topic of separatism has been at the forefront of the international community nowadays. Scotland’s separatist movement has been the one to watch since 2014 and the reason for this is because it encompasses both the conflicting concepts separatism and globalization considering Scotland supports globalization but also wishes for separation from the rest of the United Kingdom. Therefore, placing Scotland as the case study in the context of the globalization-separatism debate will offer interesting insights as to the constraints that globalization places on separatist movements, but also, the possibilities of a separatist movement becoming independent in the face of globalization.

The diploma thesis "Komparace postojů Irska a Velké Británie u vybraných aspektů Evropské integrace" deals with attitudes of Great Britain and Ireland to the politics of the European Union. Based on the available literature (using the descriptive and analytical method), the thesis proves how divergent or vice versa accordance are particular policies and approaches of these two states, whose past is completely different and has fundamental influence on contemporary access of these members to the European Union. In the history of Great Britain's and the European Union's relation it is always possible to find a certain fact that distinguished Britain from other partners in the European Union. It is then also different from the neighbouring Ireland. The diploma thesis analyses first of all the financial framework of the European Union, its regional and foreign policy. It is divided into five chapters - besides already mentioned regional, economic and foreign policy, the diploma thesis delas with the access of Ireland and Great Britain to European referendums, accentuated is first of all the referendum on the Treaty of Nice and the contemporary debate on the rejected Treaty of Lisbon. Finally are analysed last two presidencies of Ireland and Great Britain in years 2004 and 2005. The purpose of the diploma thesis...