The elaboration of this thesis involved several stages, and since it is a complex subject matter, it was imperative to maintain a multidisciplinary focus. In the rst stage, the need to improve the innovation performance in Latin America and the Caribbean is identied. In the second, the appropriate methodology for this research is selected. Here, it was determined that a framework comprising the innovation system approach is the most suitable framework for this research. In the third stage, the relevant body of extant literature is reviewed and the research problem formulated. In the fourth stage, the data is collected and characterized. During the fth stage, the gathered information is analyzed and the results presented. In the sixth stage, experiences in other regions are examined and best practices acquired. In the nal stage, the key enablers, best practices and the elements are identied, transformed and adapted into several recommendations for Latin American and Caribbean policy makers.

Corruption has been attracting a great deal of attention recently and various organizations together with free and active media have made great efforts to bring this issue to the forefront of the governance debate. This research uses experimental methods to investigate the effect of supranational governing structures on corruption. A second objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of the model for the United Nations missions given that transparency and accountability in the presence of these kinds of supranational governing structures are generally weak. Results of this research show that the presence of supranational governing structures leads to an increased level of corruption. These findings can be generalized for other situations in the public sector or private sector that involve a type of supranational governing structure. For the case of the UN missions, increased transparency and accountability can help reduce the level of corruption under these governing structures.

Transnational security threats are among the most pressing and complicated problems facing both governmental and non-governmental actors in today's world. Human trafficking is one example of contemporary transnational security threat that is relatively less studied compared to other transnational security threats. Because transnational security threats such as human trafficking exist above and outside the boundaries of state control, it may be supposed that a greater degree of supranationalism in the policy responses to them would yield better results in combatting these modern-day ills. Anti-trafficking efforts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union are examined to assess the impact of degree of supranationalism present in the respective policy responses to determine if any advantage is gained from aligning supranational policies to transnational problems. This question is not answered conclusively due to a lack of supranationalism present in key areas of EU governance responsible for law enforcement efforts.

[pt] A União Europeia se apresenta como a mais bem sucedida experiência supranacional. Diante do seu inevitável, e necessário, projeto de integração regional, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo verificar a existência de um déficit democrático em sua instituição parlamentar. Para tanto, serão abordadas as teorias democráticas liberais que dão forma teórica à democracia representativa ocidental, para que se possa fundamentar as instituições que compõem o bloco. Após, serão analisadas as posições quanto à existência do déficit democrático na União, a perspectiva de um constitucionalismo para além do Estado-Nação, a impossibilidade de aprofundamento federalista, e às críticas à abordagem liberal europeísta, para que assim se analise a atuação do Parlamento Europeu como órgão democraticamente legítimo de representatividade supranacional. / [en] The European Union presents itself as the most successful supranational experiment. In view of its inevitable and necessary regional integration project, the present research aims to verify the existence of a democratic deficit in its parliamentary institution. To this end, liberal democratic theories that give theoretical form to western representative democracy will be addressed, so that the institutions that make up the bloc can be founded. Afterwards, the positions regarding the existence of the democratic deficit in the Union, the perspective of a constitutionalism beyond the Nation-State, the impossibility of federalist deepening, and the criticisms of the liberal Europeanist approach will be analyzed, so that the performance of Parliament can be analyzed. European Union as a democratically legitimate supranational representative body.

Submitted by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2018-09-17T16:26:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Thay Wey Lee.pdf: 965632 bytes, checksum: 3ebd44c4d3df7ac4c5d0239da165fcd5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2018-09-17T16:27:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Thay Wey Lee.pdf: 965632 bytes, checksum: 3ebd44c4d3df7ac4c5d0239da165fcd5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-17T16:27:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Thay Wey Lee.pdf: 965632 bytes, checksum: 3ebd44c4d3df7ac4c5d0239da165fcd5 (MD5) / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal a análise quanto à possibilidade e à necessidade de criação de uma corte supranacional de justiça dentro do sistema de solução de controvérsias do MERCOSUL. Para tanto, inicia-se analisando o fenômeno da integração regional no mundo e, mais especificamente, no contexto da América do Sul, as suas finalidades, a sua origem histórica e as fases pelas quais o Estado deve passar para alcançar a integração total com seus pares. Passa-se então ao exame das características dos países sulamericanos, para elencar as suas semelhanças e distinções e, assim, identificar os desafios para promover a integração regional no subcontinente sul-americano. Em seguida, é traçado o desenvolvimento histórico do movimento de integração na América do Sul, desde CEPAL até a UNASUL. Importante, também, para atingir o fim almejado aqui, é trabalhar com os conceitos de soberania e supranacionalidade para asseverar que esta não macula aquela, mas, apesar disso, é necessário reforma constitucional, ao menos para o Brasil, para admissão da supranacionalidade na ordem interna. Já o capítulo 2 é voltado exclusivamente para o estudo do MERCOSUL, incluindo a sua formação histórica, as suas finalidades, o seu papel de relevo desempenhado na região e, principalmente, a sua estrutura institucional, chamando a atenção para o seu caráter intergovernamental. Finalmente, o capítulo 3 se destina a realizar uma construção teórica quanto à criação hipotética de uma corte supranacional de justiça, voltada principalmente para a solução de demandas comerciais, cujas decisões devem ter primazia sobre o direito interno e ser dotada de eficácia e aplicabilidade imediata nos territórios nacionais. Nesse contexto, defende-se a desnecessidade, a priori, de uso do órgão judicial para analisar demandas que envolvam violação aos direitos humanos e às instituições democráticas, sobretudo para evitar um conflito de competência com a Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos. Por fim, defende-se a necessidade de conceder acesso dos particulares à corte supranacional, de modo a minorar o déficit democrático. / The following work has as its primary purpose the analysis as to the possibility and the need to create a supranational court of justice within the South American Common Market (MERCOSUL) dispute resolution system. For this purpose, it starts off with the assessment of the integration phenomenon occurring in the world and, more specifically, in South America, its objectives, its historical origin and the phases in which the State must go through in order to achieve a full integration with other neighboring countries. Afterwards, it examines the characteristics of the South American countries in order to enumerate its similarities and distinctions, enabling the identification of the challenges that they must overcome to achieve regional integration in the South American subcontinent. Subsequently, it studies the historical development of the regional integration, since the creation of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) until the Union of South American Nations (USAN). It’s also important, in order to achieve the main purpose of this work, study the concepts of sovereignty and supranationalism, to affirm that the latter one doesn´t violate, by any means, the Estate sovereignty but, nevertheless, it´s necessary a constitutional reform, at least for Brazil, to introduce supranationalism into the national legal system. Chapter 2 is entirely focused on the study of MERCOSUL, including its origin, its objectives, its important role played within the region and, most significantly, its institutional structure, calling attention to its intergovernmental feature. Finally, chapter 3 is aimed to describe the characteristics of a supranational court of justice to be created for MERCOSUL, whose main purpose would be to settle commercial disputes through judicial decisions that must prevail over the national legal system and must be immediately effective within the national territories. In this context, the position held in this work is that there is no need, at least initially, for the judicial body to analyze disputes that involves human rights violation or breach of democratic institutions, mainly to avoid a conflict of competence with the Inter- American Court of Human Rights. At last, this work focuses on the need to grant direct access to individuals and private companies to the supranational court of justice in order to diminish the democratic deficit.

International trade has been a staple of the world economy for centuries. In today‟s world, as the pressure of globalization takes hold, and as the role of the state recedes while the role of regions increase, the need to maximize the benefits of international trade and investment inflows becomes even more accentuated. Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in particular, has perennially been on the periphery of global trade and investments, contributing no more than 3-4%, notwithstanding SSA having proportionately much higher population and natural resource base. To improve SSA ability to be competitive in international trade as well as to multiply intra-african trade, the continent‟s leaders have long resorted to forming regional economic communities (RECs). But more than five decades of regional economic integration in SSA has produced mostly failed RECs. Yet regional integration is being touted as SSA surest bet for relevance in the global economy. Therein lies the paradox! How can an undertaking that have produced mostly failures be the self-same route out of global economic irrelevance? In this study, it is shown that the model for regional integration adopted by many SSA RECs, the linear model, also considered the Eurocentric model of regional integration, buttressed by an intergovernmental legal framework, does not suit the peculiar circumstances of the region and is the cause for the near total failure of regional integration on the continent. This research, using the ECOWAS specialized institutions as case studies – the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) – argues for a paradigm shift in the conceptualisation of regionalism on the continent. It argues for a shift to developmental regionalism, buttressed by strong supranational legal framework. The study shows that the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, now recognises the nexus between the development of trade-related infrastructure and intra-african trade on the one hand, as well as the nexus between the development regionalism and the expansion of SSA trade with the rest of the world, on the other hand. Accordingly, the study concludes that ECOWAS institutionalization of a regional electricity market via the establishment of regional institutions of WAPP and ERERA is the new model for regional integration in SSA. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2015 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM / Unrestricted

This thesis is about EU energy security in relation to Russia and its proposed Nord Stream 2 project. In this thesis the Copenhagen School theory on securitisation is applied with the help of a combination of content analysis and discourse analysis as methods, which will together with the theory become the framework of this study. While the focal point will fall on EU’s Parliament and how the project Nord Stream 2 is securitised within this EU structure, where the project itself will serve as an exhibitory example of the energy security relationship between EU and Russia. The main findings that are made in this thesis are that the securitising actors in the debate are the countries not the political parties and that Russia, not Nord Stream 2 is the true object of securitisation. In addition to that it was established that there is little unity amongst the EU member states, which is supported by the finding in previous academic studies that have been conducted within the field.

This thesis aims to investigate the attitudes of several Swedish stakeholders towards regulating the business sector from a sustainability perspective. Focusing on the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the study furthermore aims to examine the stakeholder’s positions on supranational versus national regulation of the business sector. By examining the early stage of Swedish implementation of the EU's CSRD directive, the study aims to contribute new empirical evidence to research in Corporate Social Responsibility and national implementation of supranational regulations. The study also aims to provide additional empirical support for current theories on stakeholders' attitudes toward national implementation of supranational regulations with CSR in mind. What are the perceptions of Swedish political parties, businesses, and environmental organizations regarding the growing standardization and supranational regulation of business introduced by the EU's new directive CSRD? Utilizing a qualitative method, viewpoints from the stakeholders were examined and compared to each other. Findings reveal that left-leaning parties are generally more favorable towards the EU directive compared to right-leaning counterparts. While the business sector demonstrates some acceptance of increased regulation, companies continue to prioritize profit maximization despite potential shifts toward climate-conscious practices. Environmental organizations exhibit nuanced viewpoints, expressing reservations about the directive's efficacy in achieving climate goals. The conclusions suggest a shift in the landscape of resistance to EU influence in Sweden, with right-wing populist parties and environmental organizations emerging as key players rather against supranational business regulation. Thus, the business sector might be viewed as more climate-conscious than expected.

Europe stands at the face of transformative changes, where the study of EU integration becomes crucial in comprehending the complex dynamics between member states and EU institutions, as well envisioning its future. Since its origin, the parliament has played a fundamental role in advancing political integration across national borders by representing EU citizens.  However, recent years have witnessed shifts that seem to alter the European Parliaments role and its leaning towards integration, indicating a move towards increased intergovernmentalism within the EU.  By examining its historical progress and stances towards integration, we can gain deeper insights into how its role has shifted and how it affects the EU's future, done by comparing two different periods, 2004-2009 and current election period 2019-2024. By using competing theories of European integration, this paper purposes to map out implications for the European union future. This study seeks to seal a significant research gap by investigating the European Parliament's role in integration. By analyzing parliamentary materials with debates longitudinally, this research aims to identify shifts in attitudes towards European integration. Results were shown that indicated the European parliament’s attitude towards integration had its changes in recent decades. From previously being a strong advocate for deeper integration, the European parliament has now a more nuances view of supranationality and intergovernmental collaboration. Future directions for European integration suggest a more cautious and gradual approach, continuing to cooperate without transferring excessive power to central EU bodies. This could have reaching implications for the future of the union and for the role of the European parliament in the continued integration process.  This study on the role of the European Parliament and its integration is of great importance to political science, since of its ability to surround various aspects of the EU’s political landscape. Understanding these dynamics is essential for predicting future developments and shaping policies that foster a solid and strong European union.

This thesis entitled "Globalization: the sociopolitical consequences of the activities of supranational corporations" examines the effects of actions of supranational organizations in the process of globalization, on the basis of contemporary sociological literature. In the first two chapters I assess the process of globalization itself and its most important aspects. The third chapter inspects the supranational corporations, their development, functioning and characteristic attributes and then presents the consequences of these actions. The final chapter focuses on socially responsible behavior.