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Here the Radboud University presents theses written by students affiliated with the various bachelor and master programmes offered at the Radboud University, as well as papers written by students of the Radboud Honours Academy.
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Item Influencing Decision Making: the impact of non-mandatory opinions of the Committee of the Regions(2024-08-27)Perhaps the least known part of the European Union is the Committee of the Regions. This consultative body reflects on legislative proposals as put forward by the European Commission – at times required by EU treaties, at times deemed appropriate by itself. This study assesses the power that lies in the non-mandatory opinions issued by the CoR, and attempts to see whether these opinions have tangible results in legislative acts as adopted by the European Parliament. An assessment of four types of documents – legislative proposals, CoR opinions, reactions to the opinions and adopted legislative acts – shows these opinions do have some influence on EU legislation, although it can at times be difficult to pinpoint exact words or phrases that are directly taken from a CoR opinion.Item Echoes of Influence: The Effect of Propaganda and Political Events on the Political Socialisation of the Iranian Diaspora in the Netherlands(2024-06-21)This research examines the effect of encountering propaganda and witnessing political events on the political (re)socialisation of people in the Iranian diaspora in the Netherlands. The tumultuous history of Iran in combination with its oppressive regime has led Iran’s citizens to flee as a result of persecution or to move in search of a country with more rights and freedoms. In this new country of residence, the Iranian diaspora is forced to create a new social and political life. Propaganda and political events can have an effect on how this process of political socialisation takes place and if resocialisation is possible. In order to conduct this research, a qualitative case study is used to do a thematic analysis. The data used derives from the seven semi-structured interviews that were conducted with members of the Iranian diaspora. The analysis suggests that propaganda and political events do affect political socialisation. This manifests in the levels of political trust and political participation as well as in political opinions. Moreover, this thesis argues that resocialisation in a new political and cultural context possible. This thesis adds to the debate by creating a deeper understanding of political socialisation theories and by creating more in-depth data and analyses of the Iranian diaspora. Limitations of this research include the representativeness of the sample and researching a single case. Therefore, future research might focus on increasing the representativeness by adding more people with different backgrounds and looking to different contexts with the same framework.Item Cooperating With the Poster Child of Everything You Stand Against: Exploring the Contradictions in Dutch Foreign Trade Policy: A Case Study of Dutch-Saudi Relations(2024-07-12)This thesis explores the paradoxical deepening of political and economic relations between the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, despite the Dutch state's acknowledgment and condemnation of Saudi human rights violations. Utilizing structural realism and neoliberal institutionalism as theoretical frameworks, the thesis aims to fill a gap in contemporary understanding of Dutch interactions with states characterized by complex normative and geopolitical dynamics. Through a qualitative document analysis with elements of process tracing, the findings reveal that structural realism provides a more robust explanation, highlighting that Dutch-Saudi cooperation is primarily driven by pragmatic considerations of economic resilience and security, rather than normative alignment. Neoliberal institutionalism offers some insights into mutual economic benefits, but fails to account for the dominant security-driven motivations. The thesis also exposes a broader issue concerning the value of human rights within Western states, suggesting these principles are often used selectively when geopolitically convenient, thus challenging the authenticity of their commitment. By critically analyzing Dutch foreign policy through these theoretical lenses, this research contributes to the academic discourse on Western-Middle Eastern relations and the intricate balance between national interests, international obligations, and ethical considerations in contemporary foreign policy.Item Threat or Trad wife? To what extent does the Trad wife movement align with extreme right-winged populist ideology?(2024-07-01)This thesis focuses on to what extent the trad wife movement aligns with extreme right-winged populist movements. The trad wife movement started as an online movement however it has become much more. It is about an identity and a lifestyle for some women. They believe that the world should go back to traditional gender roles and family dynamics. A theoretical framework was developed drawing on literature regarding right-extreme winged ideology, populism, traditional gender roles and feminism. To determine systematically whether and to what extent, the trad wife movement can be characterized as being extreme right-winged populist, a set of indicators was developed. The seven indicators are: nationalism, racism, xenophobia, anti-democracy, the strong state, us versus them, and appealing to emotions. To determine whether the trad wife movement aligns with extreme right-winged populism, a single case study has been conducted. A content analysis of online social media posts of four self-identified trad wives has been done. Based on the analysis of the content of the trad wives examined in this thesis, it can be concluded that there is some alignment between the trad wife movement and extreme right-wing populist ideology.Item The Final Peace of the Puzzle? Operationalizing the Peace Pillar in Triple Nexus Approaches: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo(2024-07-10)This thesis analyzes the operationalization of the peace pillar of the humanitarian-development-peace Triple Nexus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Through 66 semi-structured interviews with actors from different backgrounds operating in the Triple Nexus, this study identifies several challenges that arose during the implementation of the peace pillar. Three main findings stem from the research. The first finding is that in its current form, the peace pillar is limited to peacebuilding, thus excluding peacekeeping and peacemaking elements. Second, tensions between humanitarian and hard security actors prevent the broadening of this mandate. Third, the study finds that there is discussion around the role of localization in the Triple Nexus approaches in the DRC. Additionally, the study highlights that the role of perceptions of the local population in relation to the Triple Nexus has been largely neglected in existing literature, while this proves to be a critical factor. The thesis concludes that the Triple Nexus in the DRC has yet to realize its full potential, suggesting the need for further research into this new approach.
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