This article provides a description of the emergence of the Spanish ‘Occupy’ movement, Democracia real ya. The aim is to analyse the innovative discursive features of this movement and to connect this analysis to what we consider the innovative potential of the critical sciences. The movement is the …

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Yet in 2012, it was estimated that around 87 Christian wedding officiants continued to refuse to marry gay couples due to their religious beliefs. Even though municipalities were allowed to hire these so-called …

This paper analyses the regional integration possibilities for MERCOSUR, which is a regional integration scheme in South America. The initial goal of MERCOSUR was the creation of a common market. However, MERCOSUR was not able to reach this goal and it created a customs union instead. This paper analyses …

After the “Rose Revolution” in 2003, Georgia’s political elite announced its new policy direction to follow democratic and liberal beliefs norms, values and ideas. This has formed Georgia’s national identity, which, the country claims, has always been European. Georgia’s powerful neighbor country – Russia …

The paper arguments that a design approach will be essential to the future of e-democracy and e-governance. This development is driven at the intersection of three fields: democracy, information technology and design. Developments in these fields will result in a new scale, new complexity and demands …

The purpose of this dissertation is to determine how West Papua came to be a province of Indonesia and how the Indonesian government has treated its ethnically and culturally distinct indigenous population, and more specifically the Papuan self-determination movements which it gave rise to, from 1963 …

Interest groups play a big role in the functioning of the democracy of the EU. These players that lobby for different interests can make a positive, but also a negative contribution to EU politics. The influence of the interest groups on the EU institutions can vary, and some will always be more influential …

Silvio Berlusconi was Italy's longest serving Prime Minister since the Second World War. As Prime Minister, he exercised control over the three public television channels in Italy. The combination of a strong political figure that controls large parts of public media and has considerable business interests …

Nowadays, the Rule of Law is seen as more and more important for international relations. The concept of the Rule of Law means that ordinary citizens and those who govern should obey the law. It means that the society is ruled by law and not by men. Several main principles are identified, namely government …

The nation-state had a long history of success, but today it is failing its citizens on a global scale. Over the last hundred years, nation-states focussed on maximizing internal unity and jurisdictional sovereignty. Benjamin R. Barber’s ‘If Mayors Ruled The World’ is the central source of this thesis …