This is a dissertation about Swedish liberalism as a political rationality and, more specifically, the conditions that made the transition from an exclusionary society to an inclusive one possible at the beginning of the 20th century. I have made a case study of National Association of Social Work (Centralförbundet för Socialt Arbete, CSA), an association that played a significant role in the institutionalization of social politics in Sweden. The objectives are threefold. Firstly, to analyze CSA as a liberal political rationality. Secondly, to analyze its political ontology. Thirdly, to examine its motives for defending an including society. One of the main arguments in this dissertation is that the political rationality of CSA is characterized by a form of government that works in and through society, as well as through freedom. By using the concept of ”the state of suspension” I try to capture and analyze the ontological ambiguity of the individual in liberal thought; an ambiguity expressed in biopolitical categorizations of the population according to perceived capacities for rational thought. The inclusion of the excluded part, which I describe through the notion of “the social”, was possible due to a new political ontology, which considered the individual as being a product of social circumstances, and as someone possible to shape and govern in and through society. I argue that the political struggle of the excluded not only served to revise the political ontology of CSA, but also provided the rationale for the efforts to create an including society with universal suffrage. CSA did not regard citizenship as a right, but as a political technology and as a solution. Furthermore, I argue that citizenship shouldn’t be seen as a prerequisite for the politization of the excluded. On the contrary, this part of the population was already, at least partially, politicized and they became political subjects through their participation in the struggle for political rights.

This dissertation investigates the relationship of competition and firms' price responses, by analyzing: i) whether new entry reduces price discrimination, ii) when incumbents reduce price discrimination preemptively in response to the threat of entry, and iii) how competition increases prices. The dissertation consists of three independent essays addressing each of the above questions. The first two essays present an empirical analysis of the airline industry and the third essay presents a theoretical analysis of the credit card industry. In the empirical study of the relationship between competition and firms' pricing in the airline industry, I emphasize the importance of distinguishing the equilibrium behaviors with respect to different market characteristics. Major airlines can price discriminate differently in a market where they compete with low-cost carriers comparing to in another market where they don't, and also they can respond dfferently to the threat of entry depending on whether they are certain about the rival's future entry. The study reveals that competition has a positive effect on price discrimination in the routes where major airlines compete against one anther. In these routes, competition reduces lower-end prices to a greater extent than upper-end prices. In contrast, an entry by low-cost carriers results in a significant negative relationship between competition and price discrimination. Thus, the opposite results in the literature are both evident in the airline industry, and it is very important to identify the different forces of competition on price discrimination. Firms can respond to potential competition as well as actual competition. So, I extend the study to the relationship of potential competition and price discrimination, specially in cases where major airlines compete against one another while facing Southwest's threat of entry. I also attempt to suggest major airlines' motives of reducing price discrimination preemptively. The results of the study suggest that incumbents reduce price dispersion when it is possible to deter the rival's entry and that the potential rival discourages incumbents from deterring entry by announcing before its beginning service. Finally, I examine when competition can increase prices in a market, by analyzing the issuing side of the credit card industry. This industry is characterized by a two-sided market with a platform. Under the no-surcharge rule that restricts merchants to set the same price for cash and card purchases, the equilibrium interchange fee increases with competition. This occurs because issuers can compensate losses from competing on the issuing side by collectively increasing the interchange fee. As a result, limiting competition may improve social welfare when the interchange fee is higher than the social optimal level. In contrast, in the absence of the no-surcharge rule, the analysis shows that competition always improves social welfare by lowering the price of the market.

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The objective of this thesis is to analyze the changes in Israeli security policy. The thesis consists of four main parts. In the first part, the factors influencing the formation of Israeli security policy such as history, religion, ideology and threat perceptions are examined. Israeli military doctrine and its offensive, defensive and deterrence strategies are identified as the most important subcomponents of the security policy. The following part analyzes the changes and continuities in Israeli threat perceptions and the implementation of the military doctrine during and after the six main wars of the War of Independence, the war against Egypt in 1956, the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War and the War in Lebanon in 1982. In the third part, the changes in Israeli security policy during 1990s are scrutinized. With the peace process, Israel&rsquo / s existential threat perception decreased but new threat perceptions of terrorism and conventional and nuclear military buildup in the region emerged / therefore security was redefined by the Israeli political and military decision-makers. In the last part the impact of the collapse of peace process and Sharon&rsquo / s coming to power on Israeli security policy is analyzed. Sharon&rsquo / s period can be defined by offensive security strategies aiming at preventing terror which has been the top security problem since the Al Aqsa Intifada. As a result, this thesis argues that Israeli security policy did not indicate significant changes until 1990s, however during 1990s Israeli security situation and security policy changed as a response to the regional and international developments. Post-2000 period witnessed changes as well with Sharon&rsquo / s returning to offensive strategies.

刻板印象威脅效果是指當個人在面臨與其能力有關的負向刻板印象時，會有測驗表現不佳的現象，由於國內尚未有刻板印象威脅的相關研究出現，過去相關的刻板印象威脅研究對自我設限策略也少有探究，對於使用自我設限策略後是否讓自己表現不佳的風險更高亦少探討。因此，本研究除了探究個人在威脅情境中的「測驗表現」外，他（她）在情境中的「自我設限策略」之因應行為、及其自我設限策略的使用對測驗表現的影響亦是本研究關注的議題。 本研究為3(刻板印象威脅：威脅組女性、無威脅組女性、威脅組男性)×4(自我設限線索：宣稱組、行為組、宣稱行為組、以及不告知組)的實驗設計。其中，在刻板印象威脅部分，威脅組受試被告知「男性在此測驗中的表現比較好」，無威脅組受試被告知「男、女性的數學表現無差異」。在設限線索部分，宣稱組受試被告知「宣稱性自我設限對測驗表現有負向影響」，行為組受試被告知「行為性自我設限線索對測驗表現有負向影響」，宣稱行為組受試被告知「宣稱性與行為性自我設限皆對測驗表現有負向影響」。主要依變項有三：數學測驗分數、練習題的答題數目（行為性自我設限之指標）、宣稱性自我設限問卷分數（宣稱性自我設限之指標）。研究對象採用國立政治大學的大學女生158名與男生75名。 研究結果發現，不論設限線索的有效與否，處於威脅情境中的女性受試幾乎都比較傾向使用「宣稱性自我設限策略」以進行因應，其測驗表現也較差。另外，在威脅情境中，自尊越低的女性受試越傾向使用「宣稱性自我設限策略」。但不同「刻板印象威脅」組別的受試在測驗表現上無差異，亦即刻板印象威脅效果的現象並未在本研究獲得驗證，而各組在「行為性自我設限」的使用上亦無顯著差異。最後，研究者針對上述結果進行討論，並對本研究的限制與對未來研究的建議提出說明。

本研究目的在於探討與女性領導者有關的刻板印象與偏見是否會產生刻板印象威脅效果而影響女性的領導表現，以及是否可以消除或減少它對於個人表現的影響。本研究也探討「對特定領域的認同」及「對所屬團體的認同」在女性領導能力的範疇中，是否會使得刻板印象威脅對於個人表現有不同程度的影響效果。另外，本研究為了要更加確認威脅感的產生，故增加行為觀察的方式來測量焦慮的產生，以彌補自陳焦慮方法的不足。 本研究以60位國立政治大學女學生為研究對象，隨機分派至「激發刻板印象威脅」、「不激發刻板印象威脅」、及「減除刻板印象威脅」等三個情境。每位女性受試者另搭配一男一女成為一小組，每組由此位女性受試者擔任領導者，帶領小組討論並解決一新車分配問題。女性受試者的領導表現由自己、小組中的二位成員、以及不知道本研究目的與假設的評估者來予以衡量。另外，本研究除了由受試者及小組成員以情境焦慮量表來評估受試者的焦慮程度之外，也請不知道本研究目的與假設的評估者，以情境焦慮量表來評估受試者的焦慮程度，並觀察其焦慮行為，評量受試者在活動過程中顯出不舒服或不自然的程度及頻率。 研究結果顯示，「激發刻板印象威脅」情境與「不激發刻板印象威脅」情境的受試者在大部分領導表現變項上均無顯著差異；「激發刻板印象威脅」情境中的受試者在部分領導表現變項上的平均得分顯著低於「減除刻板印象威脅」情境中的受試者。在本研究中，性別認同程度及領域認同程度並不會影響刻板印象威脅與領導表現之間的關係。此外，三個實驗情境中受試者的情境焦慮程度及非語言焦慮並沒有顯著差異。 本文也針對研究結果進行整體性的討論，並提出可能的研究限制，及對於後續研究的建議。

When Sweden 2017 changed the risk valuation of an armed attack against Sweden from not likely to that it can’t be ruled out, it got the swedish peoples and medias attention. Russia has during the last centuries had an extensive impact in Swedish security and defense politics. This study examine if there has been any change in the Swedish representation of Russia and as a consequence may have affected the risk assessment. By analyze the discourse in four reports by the Swedish Defence Commission with the method of framing this study will use the theory of securitization developed by Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde as it advocates a wide concept of security. Securitization is the process in which an actor turns a subject into a matter of security. The study finds evidence that the representation of Russia in the Swedish discourse has changed for the worse and it is possible that it has affected the changed risk assessment.

La conduite automobile est une activité marquée par de nombreuses différences de sexe, notamment en termes de comportements et d’accidentologie. Ce travail cherche à comprendre le rôle des stéréotypes de sexe spécifiques à la conduite automobile (SSACA) dans l’explication de ces différences. L’objectif des recherches est ainsi d’analyser l’effet des SSACA sur les comportements autorapportés et effectifs reliés à la tâche de conduite, en prenant en compte les facteurs psychosociaux susceptibles d’influencer cet effet, et en étudiant l’effet du contexte sur ces relations grâce à l’effet de menace du stéréotype. Cette thèse montre ainsi que l’adhésion aux SSACA influence les comportements de conduite déclarés puisque, par exemple, quel que soit le sexe de l’individu, l’adhésion aux SSACA liés à un groupe de sexe est liée à une déclaration plus importante des comportements de conduite typiques de ce groupe. De plus, elle met en évidence que le facteur protecteur des comportements de violations est, chez les hommes, l’adoption des valeurs féminines et, chez les femmes, le sentiment de compétence en conduite. Enfin, cette thèse montre que ces SSACA entrent également en jeu dans les comportements effectifs lorsqu’il s’agit de réaliser une tâche en relation avec la conduite, mais que leurs effets sont différents en fonction de la consigne (menaçante ou non) et de la tâche à réaliser. Ce travail montre donc que les différents comportements de conduite ne sont pas seulement dus à des différences de capacités naturelles entre les sexes, mais qu’ils peuvent aussi s’expliquer par les croyances culturelles socialement construites relatives aux différences de sexe dans la conduite. / The activity of driving is marked by numerous sex differences, especially with regard to behaviour and road accidents. The present doctoral research aims at understanding the role of sex stereotypes specific to driving in explaining these differences. Therefore, the objective of the research work is to analyse the impact of sex stereotypes associated with driving (SSAD) on self-reported or actual behaviour on a task relating to driving. The analysis will take into account the psycho-social factors likely to influence this impact, and will also study the impact of the context on those relationships due to the deterrent effect of the stereotype. This doctoral work thus shows that adherence to SSAD has an impact on self-reported driving behaviour; for example, whatever the sex, adherence to SSAD associated to sex is linked to more frequent reporting of typical driving behaviour for this sex. Moreover, the research highlights the fact that the protective factor of violation behaviour is, among men, the adoption of feminine values, and, among women, a sense of competence as a driver. Finally, this research work shows that those stereotypes come into play in actual behaviour when it comes down to carrynig out a task relating to driving, but that the effects are different depending on the instructions (whether threatening or not) and the tasks to be carried out. As a conclusion, this doctoral research indicates that the different driving behaviours are not only due to differences in sex natural abilities, but they can also be explained by socially constructed cultural beliefs relating to driving sex differences.

In this thesis, I explore sex differences in adult human social learning, and how these sex differences might be underpinned by differences in risk-taking and confidence. The capacity for high-fidelity social learning is fundamental to the complex culture observed in humans. Examining when we choose to learn socially rather than asocially and the factors that influence these choices is valuable for understanding broader patterns of cultural evolution. In Chapter 1, I give an overview of the literature on sex differences in social learning, particularly how individual differences in risk-taking and confidence impact upon social information use. I introduce stereotype threat as a possible factor affecting women's confidence. I then use the stereotype threat literature as an example of the replication crisis in psychology, and discuss how improved methods of statistical analysis could help to elucidate the ambiguity in this literature. Chapter 2 provides an experimental investigation into when adult humans choose to use social or asocial information to solve a virtual construction task. I found that when the asocial information was made to be risky, women, but not men, preferred to learn socially. In Chapter 3, I present experimental data exploring the links between confidence and conformity. I found that lower confidence led to a greater likelihood of conforming, although I was unable to reliably alter confidence levels experimentally. In Chapter 4, I present a model of the stereotype threat literature by simulating numerous datasets and analysing them using four different statistical methods. I found that using informative priors in a Bayesian framework provided greater certainty about the presence or absence of an effect in a population. Finally, in Chapter 5 I conclude that studying the factors that lead to sex differences in social learning provides researchers with a greater understanding of the dynamics of cultural evolution.