The government in Poland led by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and characterized by its anti-genderism and right-wing populist politics, is framing its opposition to the Istanbul Convention in human rights language. This leads to a puzzling occurrence of the women’s rights Convention being opposed with rights rhetoric. This puzzle was addressed in the thesis by investigating how the PiS-led government is mimicking human rights rhetoric in their opposition to the Convention. That was done in accordance with the ‘Rights as Weapons’ theory, developed by Bob Clifford. Findings revealed that the PiS-led government in their right rhetoric denies the necessity, effectiveness, and apoliticality of the Convention, invokes fears, presents Polish society as victims of 'gender ideology,' and puts forward opposing rights to those enshrined in the Convention. Moreover, their rights rhetoric heavily relies on fear, misinformation, and misinterpretation of the Convention.

The global consensus is that the ongoing global warming is unsustainable and that human activity is responsible. The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to keep the Earth's average temperature below 2 degrees and ideally not more than 1.5 degrees. However, currently, we are losing this fight as greenhouse gas emissions and the Earth's average temperature continue to increase. Sweden has embraced its responsibility to lead the transition towards sustainability and has set the world's most ambitious climate goals. However, the new government in 2022 appears to have put Sweden's climate policy on the back burner, causing concern among environmentalists and the general public as Sweden's ambitious climate goals are at risk of not being met. This essay examines the reasons for the climate skepticism of right-wing populism in Sweden, a country known for its leadership in environmental issues. The conclusion is that the reasons for the climate skepticism of the right-wing populist party in Sweden (SD) are primarily based on ideological values. This conclusion is based on the analysis of how SD frames and argues about the climate issue, which is a consequence of their ideology. This essay discusses the political and societal challenges in achieving Sweden's climate goals and the potential consequences of not meeting these targets, particularly in the context of right-wing populism.

There has been a rise in Right-wing extremism (RWE) mobilizing within what is known as the setter-colonial state of Canada, with some groups espousing values and narratives grounded in White nationalist ideology which have led to instances of violence and harm against community members. These incidents of harm and violence occur in the context of the Canadian state's claims to inclusive multiculturalism, civility and benevolence. While there are many looking into the presence of RWE groups to document their existence, mobilizing patterns and tactics, very little analysis exists that offers a deep analysis into these groups and situates their political ideology within the broader context of the Canadian state’s governance logics. Therefore, to push the discussion on this topic further, this project looks at the specific case of the Canadian Nationalist Front's (CNF), a White nationalist group in Canada, and unpacks the discourse shared on their blog. Through dissecting the CNF's blogpost with a theoretical framework of analysis that moves beyond understanding this group as merely a fringe group which holds fundamentally different values than the Canadian state, I make links to the existing literature that demonstrates the parallels between the two. I argue that the racialized governance logics of White nationalist groups, like the CNF, are also shared in the settler-colonial logics of the Canadian state's border governance strategies. Further, I highlight the ways in which groups like the CNF ground their movements in the superiority of Whiteness, while using the state's claims of inclusivity and multiculturalism to justify their entitlement to hold these exclusionary ideologies while presenting themselves as victims of those that they "Other". Finally, I contextualize their discourse within the context of neoliberalism, which has intensified the harms of racial capitalism in a way that has also impacted the White working class and allowed groups like the CNF to use economic grievances to mobilize their movements.

Die Studie zur demokratischen Bildung im ländlichen Raum erforscht die komplexen Herausforderungen und Potenziale politischer Bildung in ländlichen Regionen und diskutiert erste Lösungsansätze. Im Zentrum der Ergebnisse stehen die unmittelbaren Beziehungen im ländlichen Raum, die durch die gemeinsam geteilten Lebenswelten und stabile Interaktionsnetzwerke gekennzeichnet sind, aber auch durch die Konfrontation mit verengten Diskursräumen, Konformitätszwängen und Angriffen. Die Studie identifiziert sechs Spannungsfelder, die von politischen Bildner:innen im ländlichen Raum navigiert werden müssen. Dabei werden unter anderem die systemischen Herausforderungen der Finanzierung und bürokratischen Belastung aufgezeigt sowie die Notwendigkeit eines nachhaltigen und inklusiven Ansatzes herausgestellt, um politische Bildung effektiv gestalten zu können. Darüber hinaus werden Lösungsansätze diskutiert, die den Aufbau und die Pflege von Beziehungen und Netzwerken, langfristige Verankerung und Zusammenarbeit mit lokalen Akteur:innen, sowie die systematische Erfassung von Angriffen und deren Prävention thematisieren. Außerdem wird eine gezielte Förderung und Anerkennung der politischen Bildungsarbeit, sowie die Entwicklung bildungsimpliziter Veranstaltungen, die eng an die Lebenswelt der ländlichen Bevölkerung angelehnt sind, gefordert. Die Studie betont den Zusammenhang zwischen langfristiger Handlungs- und Finanzierungssicherheit und der Kultivierung von Vertrauen mit wichtigen lokalen Akteur:innen. Es bedarf dazu einer maßgeschneiderten, prozessorientierten Finanzierungsmechanik, die den einzigartigen Kontext ländlicher Einstellungen respektiert. Die Autor:innen plädieren für eine ganzheitliche Strategie politischer Bildungsförderung in Sachsen, die nicht nur, aber im besonderen Maße den Anforderungen verschiedener Regionen gerecht wird. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass politische Bildung im ländlichen Raum spezifische didaktische Ansätze erfordert, die sich von städtischen Modellen unterscheiden und die ein tiefes Verständnis der lokalen Dynamiken und Bedürfnisse voraussetzen. Die Studie betont die Notwendigkeit einer adaptiven, ressourcenbewussten und langfristig orientierten Herangehensweise, um die demokratische Teilhabe und Bildung in ländlichen Gebieten zu stärken und zu fördern.:1 Einleitung 2 Methodisches Vorgehen 3 Politische Bildung im ländlichen Raum - ein Spannungsfeld .. 3.1 ... zwischen lebensweltlichen Zugängen und Skepsis der Zielgruppen, Beziehungsbarrieren sowie Konformitätszwang 3.2 ... zwischen direktem Zugang zu Entscheidungsträger:innen und Behinderung durch kommunale Politik und Verwaltung 3.3 ... zwischen Bereitschaft zur Solidarität und rechten Strukturen sowie Angriffen auf demokratische Bildungsarbeit 3.4 ... zwischen idyllischer Natur, strukturellen Problemen und städtisch verengten Anforderungen an demokratische Bildungsarbeit 3.5 ... zwischen Mittelvielfalt und fehlender Nachhaltigkeit in der Förderung 3.6 ... zwischen gestaltbaren Freiräumen und didaktischen Unsicherheiten 4 Lösungsstrategien im Umgang mit Herausforderungen demokratischer Bildung im ländlichen Raum 4.1 Beziehungen und Netzwerke aufbauen, pflegen und nutzen 4.2 Langfristige Verankerung in den Regionen, Beziehungsaufbau zu Gatekeeper:innen und Mediationsstrukturen 4.3 Systematische Erfassung von Angriffen sowie rechtliche und strategische Beratung 4.4 Gezielte, prozessorientierte sowie nachhaltige Förderung und Anerkennung politischer Bildungsarbeit 4.5 Bildungsimplizite Veranstaltungen, lebensweltliche Entlastungsangebote und Professionalisierung 5 Diskussion und Schlussfolgerungen 6 Literatur

Essay 1 (with Mikael Elinder): We show that house prices in general did not respond to a large cut in the property tax in Sweden. Our estimates are based on rich register data covering more than 100,000 sales over a time period of two and a half years. Because the Swedish property tax is national and thus unrelated to local public goods, our setting is ideal for causal identification of the property tax on house prices. Our result that house prices did not respond to the tax cut at the time of implementation cannot be explained by early capitalization at the time of announcement. Two other stories appear to explain our results. First, it is possible that house buyers expect an offsetting increase in the supply of housing. Second, house buyers might simply not understand how the tax cut affects total future costs of owning a house. Unfortunately, it has proven difficult to disentangle the two mechanisms, and we must therefore conclude that both may be relevant. Essay 2:  I investigate government consumption smoothing (sensitivity) under a balanced budget rule in Swedish municipalities. In general, I find Swedish municipalities to be highly consumption sensitive. Municipalities consume 87.6% out of predicted current revenues in the time period leading up to the implementation of the balanced budget rule, and they consume 76.3% out of predicted current revenue in thetime period following the implementation. Fiscally weak municipalities are found to be more consumption sensitive than fiscally strong municipalities. Very weak municipalities have become more consumption sensitive compared with very strong municipalities since the implementation of the balanced budget rule. Thus, I find indicative evidence that both credit market constraints and formal budget rules such as balanced budget rules increase municipal consumption sensitivity Essay 3: Using the Swedish municipal sector as my political laboratory, I study the effect of a coalition partner on policy outcomes. I use a version of Regression-Discontinuity Design (RDD) specifically suited to proportional systems to define close elections, which can be used for identifying the effect of the Left Party as coalition partner to the Social Democrats. The Left Party is found to have a positive and medium sized effect on the municipal income tax rate. The positive effect is in line with what we expect given the policy preferences of Left Party representatives, but also given the predictions from political fragmentation theory. I find no effects on expenditures or debt, and the negative result for investments is not robust. Essay 4 (with Linuz Aggeborn): In a model where voters and politicians have different preferences for how much to spend on basic welfare services contra immigration, we conclude that established politicians that are challenged by right-wing populists will implement a policy with no spending on immigration if the cost of immigration is high enough. Additionally, adjustment to right-wing populist policy is more likely when the economy is in a recession. Voters differ in their level of private consumption in such a way that lower private consumption implies higher demand for basic welfare services at the expense of immigration, and thus stronger disposition to support right-wing populist policies. We propose that this within-budget-distributional conflict can arise as an electorally decisive conflict dimension if parties have converged to the median voter on the size-of-government issue. / <p>Felaktigt isbn: 978-91-85519-61-3</p>

本論文的研究動機始於有感民族陣線在當今法國政壇的影響力不容小覷，「勒班效應」也使得1980年代中期後極右主義的風潮在西歐蔓延開來，因此吾人在研究歐洲整合的過程時，似應考慮到會員國國內這些反歐洲化的政治現象的發展。然而，主流的國際關係理論認為國際體系構成單位的層次分析並不重要。雖然國際關係體系論的建立被視為是本學門邁向「科學化」的重要嘗試，惟其亦使得學者在研究區域整合時面臨了見林不見樹的困境，本文的研究目的也就在試圖證明會員國國內政治不能被歐洲整合研究所忽視。 本論文以法國極右主義與歐盟移民政策之關聯為例，透過二重賽局的分析架構進行實證研究，研究結果顯示法國右派政府為了爭取極右派選民的票源而吸納民族陣線的反移民訴求，不僅反映在該國自1980年代中期以降的移民政策對非歐盟國家移民的趨於排斥，亦顯現於法國政府在歐盟移民政策共同體化之前與其他會員國協調移民政策時的保守立場。本研究指出，法國極右派在國內層次的影響能夠經由政府的利益匯集過程而到達歐盟層次，從而說明學者不宜貿然分割國內與國際政治研究。另一方面，案例亦顯示政府領袖的偏好在形成後仍有可能發生轉變，因此做為跨層次分析工具的二重賽局尚有修正其架構的必要性，如何發展有效連結國內政治與國際關係的理論途徑與分析架構，對於區域研究學者實屬緊要。

Existing scholarship suggests terrorism is an ineffective method of political contestation; groups rarely achieve their political objectives and are often disrupted by the security services. These findings invite us to look again at the dominant rational choice paradigm, which suggests that terrorism is selected as the best strategy to achieve predetermined goals. Unpicking the assumptions underpinning this model using historical case studies, comparative analysis and typology development, this thesis broadens our interpretation of what those who use terrorism seek to achieve. It does so via a tripartite framework. First, employing a new reading of American pragmatist thought, interpreting militant group goals as culturally and socially mediated problems opens up a new vista of outcomes, in particular examining the way terrorism seeks to change relations between people. Second, using Social Movement Theory as its organising framework, an empirically derived typology of militant groups sets out the background political conditions and organisational characteristics of 28 dormant groups. Using existing models of interpreting outcomes to assess these historical cases demonstrates the unmet challenges of providing robust explanations for why terrorism ends and what it achieves. Third, the thesis explores the promise of a mechanism and process-led approach to explaining outcomes. It does so through in-depth examination of two historical case studies: Kach and the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army. Despite being classified as failures, using largely neglected primary sources, the case studies reveal a range of fascinating and important outcomes that still resonate in Israel and Yemen today. Most of these methodological and conceptual tools are being applied to the question of terrorism's outcomes for only the first or second time. In doing so, this thesis offers greater depth than existing scholarship on how terrorism ends, by looking beyond measures such as success and failure in interpreting outcomes, whilst affording greater breadth through its ability to make comparative assessments at the level of mechanisms and processes. The result is a more detailed and robust set of explanations as to how terrorism ends and what it achieves, illustrated through detailed historical case studies of two interesting, yet often neglected, groups.

<p>Three main theoretical approaches to the study of the causation of prejudice can be distinguished within psychological research. The cognitive approach suggests that prejudice is a function of cognitive processes where stereotypic information about social groups, stored in memory, is automatically activated and affects people’s judgements and behavior toward members of the target group. The personality approach suggests that prejudice is a function of people’s personality characteristics. Finally, the social psychological approach emphasizes people’s group membership and group identification as the as major source of causation.</p><p>Previous research has almost entirely focused on only one approach of causation at a time. The focus has also shifted periodically – with attention paid to one approach at each period of time. The present thesis is an attempt to integrate these approaches and suggests an integrative model where the relative contribution of each approach could be assessed. The underlying assumption is that all three approaches are meaningful and that prejudice is a complex phenomenon that is best explained by taking into account all approaches jointly.</p><p>Examining the cognitive approach, Paper I revealed that people are knowledgeable of the cultural stereotypes and that stereotypic information is automatically activated and affects people’s judgments. Paper II (and Paper III) supported the personality approach and revealed that prejudice is highly related to primary personality characteristics and, in line with a central idea in this approach, different types of prejudice (ethnic prejudice, sexism, homophobia, and prejudice toward disabled people) are highly correlated. The results of Paper III revealed the importance of group membership and group identification, supporting the social psychology approach.</p><p>The findings are discussed in relation to previous research and the necessity to integrate various approaches and disciplines to explain psychological phenomena in general and prejudice in particular. Also, implications of the findings for prejudice prevention are discussed.</p>

Three main theoretical approaches to the study of the causation of prejudice can be distinguished within psychological research. The cognitive approach suggests that prejudice is a function of cognitive processes where stereotypic information about social groups, stored in memory, is automatically activated and affects people’s judgements and behavior toward members of the target group. The personality approach suggests that prejudice is a function of people’s personality characteristics. Finally, the social psychological approach emphasizes people’s group membership and group identification as the as major source of causation. Previous research has almost entirely focused on only one approach of causation at a time. The focus has also shifted periodically – with attention paid to one approach at each period of time. The present thesis is an attempt to integrate these approaches and suggests an integrative model where the relative contribution of each approach could be assessed. The underlying assumption is that all three approaches are meaningful and that prejudice is a complex phenomenon that is best explained by taking into account all approaches jointly. Examining the cognitive approach, Paper I revealed that people are knowledgeable of the cultural stereotypes and that stereotypic information is automatically activated and affects people’s judgments. Paper II (and Paper III) supported the personality approach and revealed that prejudice is highly related to primary personality characteristics and, in line with a central idea in this approach, different types of prejudice (ethnic prejudice, sexism, homophobia, and prejudice toward disabled people) are highly correlated. The results of Paper III revealed the importance of group membership and group identification, supporting the social psychology approach. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research and the necessity to integrate various approaches and disciplines to explain psychological phenomena in general and prejudice in particular. Also, implications of the findings for prejudice prevention are discussed.

The topic of racism and prejudice is a very sensitive issue for many Canadians. This is primarily due to Canada's cherished image as a tolerant society leads even the most progressive people to adopt the belief that racism is comprised of only overt acts. However, what is not acknowledged by this old-fashioned view of prejudice is that the nature and expression of prejudice has evolved into a more covert form of prejudice known as modern prejudice (McConahay, 1986). This is particularly important because there is a well documented history of prejudice and discrimination of Aboriginal peoples in Canada, and without a proper understanding of the changing face of prejudice in Canada it is difficult to determine if there in fact has been a reduction in prejudiced attitudes towards Aboriginal peoples in Canada.<p> This study examines the criterion-related validity of the Prejudice Attitudes Towards Aboriginals Scale (PATAS) (Morrison, 2007) a 25 item (11 old-fashioned prejudice items and 14 modern prejudice items) newly developed measure of prejudicial attitudes towards Aboriginals developed using the theory of Modern Prejudice (McConahay, 1986). Four hundred and five undergraduate students completed a questionnaire including the PATAS, Right-wing Authoritarianism scale (RWA scale) (Altemeyer, 2007), Social Dominance Orientation scale (SDO5) (Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, and Malle, 1994), Motivation to Control Prejudice Reactions Scale (MCPRS) (Dunton and Fazio, 1997), and Form C of the Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Renolds, 1982).<p> The results of this investigation revealed evidence attesting to the criterion-related validity of the PATAS. Participants who scored high on the PATAS also had high scores on the RWA scale, SDO5 scale, and tended to have a conservative political orientation. However, contrary to expectations, religious self schema was not found to be associated with PATAS scores. Practical applications and limitations of these findings are discussed as are possible directions for future research.