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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Political Science

Doctoral Dissertations

2021

Human rights

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Targeting Drones: Framing, Vetting, And Power In Transnational Advocacy Issue Networks, Alexandria J. Nylen Oct 2021

Targeting Drones: Framing, Vetting, And Power In Transnational Advocacy Issue Networks, Alexandria J. Nylen

Doctoral Dissertations

Existing international relations literature shows that coherent messaging by advocacy networks is a key component for successful transnational mobilization around human security issues. However, traditional models of transnational advocacy do not fully explain how activists working against armed drones have mobilized over the past two decades. This dissertation explores the case of a transnational advocacy coalition that – despite efforts to do so – was unable to coalesce around a central message: the anti-drone issue network. I ask two interrelated questions: 1) Why have international anti-drone activists not been able to overcome disagreements over framings? and more broadly, 2) How …


Roadblocks To Access: Perceptions Of Law And Socioeconomic Problems In South Africa, Kira Tait Jun 2021

Roadblocks To Access: Perceptions Of Law And Socioeconomic Problems In South Africa, Kira Tait

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation explores ordinary Black South Africans' perceptions of the law and how these perceptions impact their views of the desirability and appropriateness of appealing to courts when they have problems accessing constitutionally guaranteed services. Specifically, I study why people choose not to use courts to secure access to water, healthcare, education, and housing when it is both legal and possible to do so. Since it transitioned to democracy, South Africa has become one of the leaders of socioeconomic rights protection through courts. It is globally recognized for its progressive constitution buttressed by an expansive system of rights and a …