Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Democratic Consolidation In Eastern Europe, Michael Rudy

Masters Theses

This thesis examines democratic consolidation in five Eastern European countries. The Baltic States have consolidated their democratic regimes but Romania and Bulgaria have struggled to do so. I attempt to explain why this has happened. In chapter one, I introduce the topic and provide an overview for the next six chapters.

In the second chapter, I examine the literature that pertains to this topic. The literature focuses on several aspects of democratic consolidation. I examine how economic growth, privatization, foreign direct investment, modes of transition, violence, initial post-communist political contest winner, electoral laws, and the citizenship law all play an …

Nuclearization Of Pakistan: Motivations And Intentions, Rabia Akhtar

Masters Theses

Pakistan conducted six thermonuclear tests in response to five Indian nuclear tests in 1998. There existed an interplay of various actors at the external and the internal level which enabled Pakistan to reach the decision to detonate. This thesis examines the motivations and intentions that acted as a driving force for Pakistan to make the decision to go nuclear. In order to identify these intentions, this thesis applies the national decision making model presented by Graham Allison. The arguments presented will demonstrate whether Allison's model explains the complexity of Pakistan's decision to go nuclear and which part of the model …

Corporatist Features Of The Security Sector In Democratizing Countries: A Cross-Regional Analysis Of Brazil And Romania, Sebastian Huluban

Masters Theses

The topic of the thesis is to analyse, from a cross-regional comparative perspective, the relationship between the corporatist features and the civil-military relations in two democratising countries, Romania and Brazil. I choose Romania and Brazil because these two countries present peculiar features regarding the civil-military relations within their regions, and, in addition, these countries share a peculiar heritage regarding the corporatist arrangements both in terms of intellectual-cultural legacy and contingent decisions. The paper encompasses a double attempt as an answer to the current appeals within the civil-military relations literature for new analytical perspectives. First, I will show that the corporatist …

Conflict Resolution In Africa: A Comparative Analysis Of The Demilitarization Process In Burundi And Rwanda (1993-2003), Victoria Chipoka

Masters Theses

The civil wars that have occurred in Africa have had destabilizing effects on the political and social structure of African countries. The massacres and genocide of 1993 and 1994 in Rwanda and Burundi shocked the whole world into experiencing the horror of the news that more than one million people had been slaughtered in cold blood. The causes of the conflict in Rwanda and Burundi are many and complex. In this paper, my major focus will be on the role the armed forces have played in the conflict and how demilitarization should be the alternative solution in bringing permanent peace …

Political Leadership And The Quest For Unity And Development In Africa, Thierno Thiam

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Factors That Affect Party Institutionalization: Ethnicity, Electoral Systems, And Economics In East Europe, Joe Robbins

Masters Theses

This thesis examines party institutionalization in East Europe. Ethnicity, electoral systems and economics are variables explored in the substantive chapters. Many political science studies examine the number of parties in East Europe, but only a few studies study party institutionalization. Chapter 1 establishes the foundations for this thesis and provides an overview of each chapter.

In the second chapter, I analyze the relationship between institutionalized parties and ethnicity. Kitschelt (1992) argues that in the absence of institutionalized parties, voters look to other factors, such as ethnicity, when voting. The results from this chapter report that ethnicity plays a limited role …