Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Competing Formal And Informal Institutions In A Democratizing Setting: An Institutional Analysis Of Corruption In Romania, Mihaiela Ristei

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the interaction between formal institutions and the informal institution of corruption in Romania from 1997 until 2006. I argue that corruption is an informal institution that creates incentives incompatible with the formal rules, alters the effectiveness of formal institutions, undermines the rule of law, and threatens democratic consolidation. Specifically, I test the capacity of formal institutions to counteract the informal institution of corruption and thus to reduce corruption in four sectors: the judiciary, customs, health care, and public procurement. The research project investigates the methods to restructure incentives and increase the effectiveness of formal institutions, the factors …

The Politics And Consequences Of Stakeholder Participation In International Development Evaluation, Anne Cullen

Dissertations

Participatory approaches to evaluation have long been vogue in the international development evaluation community. However, despite their widespread use, there is a dearth of research on the impact of stakeholder participation in international development evaluations. Although proponents of participatory approaches to international development evaluation assert many advantages of their use, the evidence to support these claims is largely anecdotal. Similarly, critics of participatory approaches do not have empirical data on which to base their assertions. Further confusing the matter are multiple and conflicting definitions of stakeholder and participation. Some interpret stakeholders to mean funders while others view stakeholders as those …

Important Or Impotent? Radical Right Political Parties And Public Policy In Germany And Austria, Marcella J. Myers

Dissertations

Across Western Europe throughout the 1990s radical right political parties emerged and gained some electoral success. Since that time, particularly in the face of the popularity of the National Front in France and the Freedom Party in Austria, many studies have been conducted examining the voting behavior, party membership and ideologies of these parties, and what the parties mean to democratic governments. Largely unexamined are the effects of radical right political parties on public policy. This study attempts to evaluate the effect of radical right parties on public policy by using a most similar, case study research design, relying heavily …

Islamism, State Control Over Religion And Social Identity: Turkey And Egypt, Alper Y. Dede

Dissertations

In post Cold War politics, as a powerful alternative to the authoritarian "status-quo" regimes of the Muslim World, Islamism has become among the most critical political issues as various Islamist movements increasingly challenge governments for more political reforms, democratization, and greater participation and in the political process.

The current debates on Islamism, though useful, often emphasize the issues of security, democracy, or stability. However, they seem to overlook the importance of processes and the mechanisms of Islamism as well as how Islamists' concerns for preserving their Islamic social identity (Muslimness) and government control over religion contribute to their politicization. Thus, …

A Foundation For Democratic Transition: The Evolution Of Korean Civil Society 1972-1987, Sukhee Lee

Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to explain the evolutionary process of Korean civil society throughout the 1970s and 1980s as a foundation for democratization. I argue that the changing character of civil society in the mid-1980s was a necessary condition for democratic transition in 1987. Thus, this study focuses on how an ineffective civil society became sufficiently effective to be a deciding factor in Korea’s democratic transition, and seeks to define what factors led to the change. In the process of development of civil society, several factors, such as political culture, economic development, political opportunity structure, and the external environment, affected the …

International Cooperation In The World Of Sovereign But Interdependent Nation States: Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation As An International Regime, Chien-Hong Lee

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Politicization Of Ethnicity As A Prelude To Ethnopolitical Conflict: Croatia And Serbia In Former Yugoslavia, Agneza Bozic-Roberson

Dissertations

This interdisciplinary research develops a framework or a model for the study of the politicization of ethnicity, a process that transforms peaceful ethnic conflict into violent inter-ethnic conflict. The hypothesis investigated in this study is that the ethnopolitical conflict that led to the break up of former Yugoslavia was the result of deliberate politicization of ethnicity. The model consists o f three variables— ethnic entrepreneurs as actors, and mass media and political rhetoric as their tools for politicization of ethnicity. Ethnic entrepreneurs, with a conscious interest in mobilizing ethnicity, are given this opportunity in transitional societies in which politicized ethnicity …