Poliitika ja valitsemine digiajastul – Master´s theses

Selle kollektsiooni püsiv URIhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/82875

Sirvi

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The impact of Europeanization on action against gender-based violence in the Balkan countries: a comparative study
(Tartu Ülikool, 2022) Abzalova, Albina; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Gender-based violence remains a widespread problem, which causes physical, psychological, economic and social damage. It is a brutal violation of women’s fundamental rights and the European Union has committed significant efforts and resources combatting it not only across its territory but also beyond its boundaries. As a gender equality promoter at the international level, the EU has sought to reduce gender-based and domestic violence in the candidate countries. The candidate countries must fulfill certain criteria to become members of the EU including harmonization of legislation on gender equality. This study examines how local actors in three Balkan countries react to EU laws, norms and practices on gender equality, and specifically, EU efforts to reduce gender-based violence. The Balkan countries have a long history of violence against women rooted in patriarchal society, economic inequality, and legacy of wars. The thesis is based on interviews with nine organizations working with victims of gender-based violence in three countries – Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. Besides interviews, the analysis is based on public reports, documentation of international organizations, and reports written by independent expert groups. Through fieldwork, the researcher was able to collect the data from organizations working towards prevention and protection of women from violence. These insights allowed to make several findings. First, lack of state budget impacts implementation of legislation on the gender-based violence, including national strategies, and the provision of services provided by women NGOs, shelters, referral centers and trainings of professionals. Second, it is clear that state does not fully recognize the expertize of specialized NGOs and establishes inadequate requirements to provision of social services for victims of gender-based violence, especially in Montenegro and Serbia.
Migration and EU enlargement attitudes: analysis of public opinion
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Kovalova, Daria; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
The European Union's consideration of further enlargement has reemerged as a significant geopolitical question following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, raising questions about the factors that influence public support for admitting new member states. This study investigates the relationship between public attitudes toward migration and support for EU enlargement, examining whether negative perceptions of migration correlate with lower willingness to expand the Union. The research employs multilevel logistic regression analysis utilizing Standard Eurobarometer survey data from all 27 EU member states, examining three dimensions of migration attitudes: perceptions of intra-EU mobility, attitudes toward immigration from outside the EU, and beliefs about immigrants' societal contributions. The empirical analysis confirms a significant relationship between migration attitudes and enlargement support, with attitudes toward external immigration demonstrating a stronger association with enlargement preferences than perceptions of immigrant contributions. Pronounced regional variation emerged in this relationship, revealing an East-West divide where Western European countries displayed strong positive correlations between favorable views of external immigration and enlargement support. In contrast, Central and Eastern European nations exhibited weaker or even negative correlations. The findings indicate that while addressing migration concerns is necessary for building enlargement support, broader attitudes toward European governance and integration play a more determinative role in shaping citizens' preferences regarding the Union's expansion. These results contribute significantly to post-functionalist integration theory by demonstrating how cultural and identity considerations increasingly structure European integration attitudes, providing crucial insights for policymakers navigating the complex terrain of public opinion as they consider the EU's future institutional boundaries.
Multi-level party politics in the European Union: assessing the coherence between European political parties and their member parties’ positions on EU enlargement
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Gegia, Nana; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Political parties constitute an integral part of democratic representation in the European Union (EU), however, their ability to formulate coherent positions across national and EU levels is still contested. Despite extensive research on the institutional structures of European political parties, limited attention has been paid to position coherence across party levels on specific policy issues. Even less is known about how such coherence changes over time, especially in light of major geopolitical events. Following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, enlargement has become a controversial topic within the EU, providing a timely and relevant case to study multilevel party dynamics. This thesis examines 115 party manifestos from the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament elections to assess how coherent the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and the European Green Party (EGP) and their member parties have been on this policy area. It evaluates coherence across five key areas: overall stance on enlargement, temporal scope, geographical focus, internal EU reforms and security and geopolitical justifications. The findings suggest that over time, there has been an increase in coherence between Europarties and their member parties as well as among member parties. Although several areas showed coherence already in 2019, by 2024, coherence had strengthened in support for enlargement, a gradual approach to this process and security justification of enlargement. Nevertheless, this trend is not uniform; some categories have become fragmented on issues such as EU internal reforms, suggesting that coherence is not a static process.
The role of religious beliefs in shaping public attitudes toward EU integration in Serbia
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Xu, Chongtian; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
This thesis examines how religious affiliation, particularly to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), influences public attitudes toward European Union membership in Serbia. The relatively low public support for EU integration in Serbia highlights the importance of identifying contributing factors. Religion emerges as a key determinant, especially in contexts where religious institutions have a significant impact on societal values and political preferences. The Serbian Orthodox Church, beyond its role as a religious authority, serves as a symbol that is deeply tied to Serbian national identity. The thesis uses data from the European Social Survey (ESS10) and applies quantitative methods, including logistic regression, interaction, and variance analysis, to assess the impact of religious affiliation on attitudes toward EU membership, with national attachment as a conditional effect. The findings reveal that being a Serb Orthodox alone does not significantly affect attitudes toward the EU, while religiosity plays a more important role, with higher levels of religiosity associated with stronger opposition to EU membership. Incorporating European attachment as an additional moderator provides a deeper and statistically significant interpretation of the conditional effect of national attachment; as European identity strengthens, the conditional effect of national attachment diminishes among Serb Orthodox individuals. Variability in attitudes was more pronounced among Serb Orthodox individuals, particularly those with higher levels of religiosity, reflecting greater ambivalence on the issue. Overall, the thesis highlights the critical role of religious faith and identity dynamics in shaping public opinion on EU membership in Serbia, offering valuable implications for policymakers aiming to bridge societal divides and strengthen support for EU integration.
The transformations of physical, digital and social spaces during COVID-19 pandemic
(Tartu Ülikool, 2022) Harutyunyan, Shushanik; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
Since the end of the 20th century, the interconnection between physical and social spaces has been widely explored (Löw, 2001). However, “quarantine” as a new social-spatial practice, as well as the universal digital transformations of daily practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, led to spatial refigurations in social, digital and physical spaces. Hence, this study contributes to the advancement of the knowledge of the new social-spatial reality. In the framework of the critical practice theory, qualitative in-depth interviews have been conducted with educational and labour migrants from post-soviet space lining in Berlin to understand transformations of the social-spatial practices of the social agents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The promise of this study is threefold: to understand the transformations of the social- spatial connectivity practices of social agents; to compare social connectivity practices in digital and physical spaces; to understand the interrelation of the social, digital and physical spaces. The research findings show that practice is more relevant than the structure of the network in the context of social connectivity. Moreover, the spatial context of the communication influences on connectivity practices. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to spatial refigurations in social, digital and physical spaces and these refigurations are interrelated. The findings of this research can be applicable in many fields starting from urban planning to the algorithms of digital applications.
Understanding the relationship between political trust and populism. Evidence from 26 European countries, 2020-2022
(Tartu Ülikool, 2025) Bushuieva, Yeva; Ehin, Piret, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
A comparative analysis of 26 European democracies between 2020 and 2022 examines how populist ideology and institutional trust interact under varying conditions of political power. Drawing on Cass Mudde’s thin-centred definition of populism and Pippa Norris’s multidimensional model of political trust, the work disaggregates two pathways: one in which low trust precedes populist support, and another in which populist success reshapes citizens’ confidence in state institutions. Harmonised data from the European Social Survey, PopuList, and ParlGov are used to construct an index of trust in parliament, the judiciary, and political parties, alongside a binary indicator of populist voting and measures of cabinet participation and parliamentary seat share. Fixed-effects OLS regressions with clustered standard errors and controls for demographic and socioeconomic covariates reveal a “power-contingent trust cycle.” In countries where populists remain in opposition, supporters exhibit significantly lower trust (over one point on a 0–10 scale), whereas in those where populists govern, support is associated with a modest trust boost. Seat-share magnitude exerts no consistent additional effect. These findings underscore that populism’s impact on democratic legitimacy is highly context-dependent: exclusion amplifies scepticism, while inclusion can restore or even elevate confidence among its electorate.

Sirvi

Sirvi Poliitika ja valitsemine digiajastul – Master´s theses Autor "Ehin, Piret, juhendaja" järgi