Research Question. The goal of this thesis is to explore which factors contributed to the withdrawal of the US from the Paris agreement. By exploring the possible factors that led to the decision to 1withdraw, this thesis could provide valuable insights into the policy and political dynamics of decision-making. In addition, the role of politicised science in environmental policies will also be examined. The research question is: Which factors led to the withdrawal of the US from the Paris agreement? In 2008, the notion of man-made climate change was a bipartisan issue. 8 years later a Republican president and the GOP do not recognize this notion. Furthermore, they deregulated the fossil-fuel industry and withdrew from the most comprehensive climate treaty ever made (Republican Party Platform, 2016: Xxxxxxxxx & Xxxxxxxx, 2017). This relatively sudden change in policies that occurred in the US render this study fit for using Kingdon’s (1984) Multiple Streams Framework (MSF). Xxxxxxx’x (1984) argues that policy changes occur not only due to the participants involved but also the context. The acknowledgement of several actors who play a role in the policy dynamics makes the MSF a viable theory to use (Xxxxxxx, XxXxxxxx, Xxxxxxx, 2015). The MSF provides possible factors which could be present in each stream. The MSF is considered to be a universally adaptable theory with clearly described concepts (Xxxxxxxxxx, 2016: Xxxxxxx & Xxxxx, 2015). The relationship between these concepts is clearly described which is beneficial for the conceptualization. Subsequently, this aids this thesis to adequately operationalize the concepts as independent variables (the factors: problem, political and policy stream) which in turn, helps identify the causality with the dependent variable (the withdrawal from the Paris agreement by the Xxxxx administration). Each stream will have distinct theoretical expectations which will be provided in chapter two. Furthermore, the MSF recognizes the influences of non-state actors on governmental policies. Non-state actors in the form of policy advisory systems (i.e. think tanks), could have motives that are in line with their corporate donors (Craft & Xxxxxxx, 2013). By examining the relationship between the think tank, the corporate donors and the policy-makers, this study can help identify if the politicisation of policy advisory systems occurred. Subsequently, if these policy advisory systems then provided politicised science to justify their stance. Further j...
Research Question. How does the use of courts and dispute resolution systems as characterised in the term ‘lawfare’ impact on the conduct and outcome of insurgency? A second question that flows from the first is what does the use of courts and dispute resolution mechanisms tell us about the validity of contemporary counterinsurgency ideas as a doctrine or set of tactics? Traditional (or even current) counterinsurgency posits at its centre that the great bulk of the effort must concentrate on civilian efforts. Clearly justice, as a theme, must be a key, perhaps even pivotal, element in this effort. In recent years, the use of courts in the various ‘counterinsurgencies’ fought by the UK and others has focused on security aspects. Indeed this is the function of criminal courts. There is, of course, far more to courts than crime, as will be seen. Courts and mechanisms of justice also go to the heart of questions of legitimacy, which are said to be central to current ideas of COIN. Finally, if the ‘west’ is to continue involving itself in ‘insurgencies, or indeed any ‘interventions’, what can the ‘justice sector’ and its intersection with counterinsurgency contribute towards attempting to ensure success in whatever strategic objectives are set (or seem to be set). What in terms of ‘judicial strategy’ can assist intervening powers to succeed in their objectives? On occasion, such objectives may well be concerned with assisting, rather than countering, insurgencies. Indeed Western powers are engaged in doing exactly that in Syria, and are using the provision of ‘justice’ to do so.10
Research Question. On one level, the research question can be described as; ‘what factors have affected British government engagement with the public on nuclear deterrence policy?’ It is, however, the central argument of this thesis that government involvement in public discourse about nuclear deterrence policy has been inhibited. The thesis will therefore consider the salient factors considered by British governments when formulating nuclear deterrence policy and identify what causes this apparent inhibition. In short, the thesis will consider; ‘why have successive British governments struggled to sustain a public discourse on nuclear weapons policy and strategy?’ The author’s underlying hypothesis is that there is a connection between the Second World War debate about the legitimacy of the strategic bombing campaign and subsequent government reluctance to engage in public discussion about nuclear deterrence policy. The common element here appears to be a political aversion to being seen to be basing strategy on a willingness to inflict significant non-combatant casualties. The core of the issue is not necessarily the willingness to inflict non-combatant casualties per se, but the aversion to public admission of that as a policy objective. As is demonstrated in Chapter 4 below, this is evident in the highly nuanced correspondence on the purpose and conduct of the strategic bombing campaign between Whitehall and Bomber Command between 1943 and 1945. Early research for this thesis suggested that this moral ambivalence could be 7 UK GOVT 2006. The future of the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent: the White Paper CM6994. London: HMSO.
Research Question. Xxxxxxxxx’x Xx xxxxxxxx Dei would seem, at first sight, an unpromising starting-point for rulers of ‘states’1 in search of ideological support, since – strictly and theoretically speaking – it ultimately predicts failure, whatever their earthly endeavours may be. Nevertheless, Xxxxxxxxxxx’s imperial plan for a Carolingian ‘state’ and ‘church’2 as well as his cultural reform have tempted some historians to propose that his scheme involved the realisation of Xxxxxxxxx’x civitas Dei.3 After all, Xxxxxxx maintains in his Xxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxx that the emperor particularly enjoyed listening to Xxxxxxxxx’x text De civitate Dei.4 However, although it may have become standard practice in medieval scholarship to relate the Carolingian empire to Xxxxxxxxx’x civitas Dei, a comprehensive investigation of how Xxxxxxxxx was perceived in the Carolingian period and of those parts of Augustinian thinking which had the greatest impact on Carolingian ideas of ‘state’, rulership and Christian ethics, is still outstanding. This is the aim of my research. Since it is not possible in a doctoral thesis to look for Augustinian influence in the entire 1 The use of the modern term ‘state’ in scholarship concerned with the Early Middle Ages is problematic in various ways. See Xxxx 2006, pp. 9-38. A more detailed treatment of my use of the concept of ‘state’ in my research can be found in this chapter under ‘State’ and ‘Church’.
Research Question. How does a distributed construct with opening and closing dynamics on different levels of analysis – Opening one dimension triggers value creation from opening the other dimension – Opening one dimension triggers value appropriation from closing the other dimension – Common resources develop through iterative forking and merging of options and micro- alliances of heterogeneous actors to deal with the contradiction by pursuing open and closed innovation at the same time – Combining temporal and spatial separation enables open and closed innovation to become mutually enabling – Alternating between forking and merging is a temporal separation strategy to organize and manage the centralized opening and closing dynamics influenced by value creation and appropriation opportunities – Combining open and closed innovation requires temporal and spatial separation – Unpacking contradictions of multiple types of dimensions adds to understanding how to organize and manage them – Contradictions play out differently on various levels of analysis arguing for a dialectical perspective of open innovation – Micro-alliances accommodate the differences and dependencies between heterogeneous actors when boundary objects are developing – Micro-alliances reflect the heterogeneity – Further develop dynamic open innovation building on contradictions literature – Further studying collaboration and innovation in settings with open knowledge flows and system architectures – Further study the development process of common resources and applicability of micro-alliances in complex and extreme settings – Develop technical and organizational common resources – Do not formalize collaboration of – Micro-alliances enable finding versus decentralized control inside seemingly single-minder collaborations – Study material influences of but let micro- organizations with agreement without involving all actors contradiction – Forking of options and micro- – Micro-alliances explain organizing in settings where hierarchy is not feasible options in development digital infrastructures alliances emerge heterogeneous – Alternating between forking and alliances is a spatial separation – Divergence in collaborations is not necessarily – A study of options and micro- backgrounds and interests develop an merging accommodates differences and dependencies between heterogeneous actors strategy to organize and manage the centralized versus decentralized control an indication of failure to cooperate – Interdepend...
Research Question. As laid out in the previous sections, I intend to understand the growth processes of technology-based new ventures and link them to performance. Therefore, I apply the concept of dynamic capabilities in order to observe growth in the entrepreneurial firm over time. To realise the objective of this dissertation I seek an answer to the following research question: How is the evolution of dynamic capabilities linked to the growth processes and the performance of technology-based new ventures?
Research Question. These issues will be addressed from a case study. It addresses is how spatial management, i.e. the formation and implementation of law and policy pertaining to the use of land, in Bandung and West Java Province has evolved since the 1990s, what its results have been, which factors underlie it, and finally how spatial management in West Java and Bandung can potentially be improved. The study will describe the transformation process of law into lower and detailed regulations, following existing levels of governments, and how it informs decision makers at the ‘street level’ dealing with permit applications. Considering the impact of the Regional Government Law 22/1999 (RGL 1999) as amended by Law 32/2004 (RGL 2004) on the government structure and power distribution between different government levels, this study also will trace how decentralization has influenced the distribution of authorities in spatial management. It will and analyze in detail the unexplored map of how permits -- possessing the dual function of informing citizens what to do and not to do, as a government instrument to protect the ‘public interest’ – function in practice. Particular attention will be paid to how public officials interpret major ‘open’ concepts in implementing spatial management policy and law such as sustainable development, public interest, social and environmental cost, and the like. This is related to how the social and environmental cost has been internalized in the whole spatial management process. Another point of attention in this study is how such government instruments (permits) influenced peoples (comprising of landowners and investors or government actors acquiring land in the name of development) access to land. It will analyze who get most benefit from existing spatial planning and the permit system which putatively controls who gets access to land and to what purpose available land should be put to use. While the focus of this study is West Java and Bandung many of its findings and conclusions are likely to be applicable at a more general and theoretical level. As regards land acquisition, the thesis explores how the current system of land acquisition and utilization for development purposes could be improved by making it more sensitive to social and environmental issues. This entails questions such as how immaterial losses associated with land alienation can be translated into monetary compensation. According to the law, land use has a social function36, whic...
Research Question. During the process of removing the cataract, the amount of trauma inflicted on the eye can depend on various surgical techniques that are used. If such options produce more trauma on the eye, more refractive error may be expected, due to the malleability of the eye at such a young age (Xxxxxx and Travedi, 2005; AAPOS, 2011). This thesis focuses on the prevalence and severity of astigmatism in infant aphakic patients, and the differences in levels of this astigmatism that may arise from different demographic and surgical factors. Specifically, we answer the question of whether choice of an intra-ocular lens versus a replaceable contact lens has any long term effect on astigmatism. We also investigate whether factors such as age at surgery or gender have an effect on the astigmatism levels. Finally, we will discuss whether various surgical factors over the course of surgery to remove the cataract and insert the IOL had any significant effect on post-operative astigmatism levels.
Research Question. Three What is the relationship between the students’ financial literacy level and future financial planning and decisions? The relationship between the students’ financial literacy level and future financial planning and decisions was not as expected. The study found no significant correlation between the students' financial literacy level (from the 2016 test) and future financial planning and decisions amongst the 2019 survey respondents. This may be because the initial data was collected 3 years earlier, or it could also be that the subsample was very small. The results are inconsistent with other studies' results (Barua et al., 2014). Previous research by Barua et al., (2014) indicated that students receiving financial planning education showed 11% improvement in financial knowledge scores. The evidence of this study is inconsistent with previous research, the higher the students' financial literacy level, the better equipped the students are in considering financial decisions. Research Question Four To what degree does self-efficacy relate to financial literacy levels? This study found a significant positive correlation between the participants' self-efficacy and financial literacy levels in an analysis that included three hundred forty-six participants completed Xxxx'x Financial Self-Efficacy survey. For this sample the traditional undergraduate students' mean score was (𝑀=16.1), and Jumpstart/Wings' means score was (𝑀=15.4). Recent studies on financial-help-seeking behavior of college students found that students having a "higher financial self-efficacy level" was associated with "lower financial stress" (Lim et al., 2014). Self-efficacy has a significant influence on financial behaviors and is a central principle of Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx'x Social Cognitive Theory (1997). Xxxxxx & XxXxxxxxxxx (2020) describe Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory of human functioning emphasizes the critical role of personal efficacy in human reasoning, motivation, and behavior. Bandura (1997) explains the central beliefs of personal efficacy as: Unless people believe they can produce desired effects by their actions, they have little incentive to act. Efficacy belief, therefore, is a major basis of action. People guide their lives by their beliefs of personal efficacy. Perceived self-efficacy refers to belief in one’s capabilities to organized and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainment” (p. 3). However, we know that financial literacy knowledge alon...
Research Question. What are the barriers HIV positive youth in Atlanta face with respect to HIV status self- disclosure?
