Politics
Politics @ Otago
Politics involves the operation of power in society: physical power, economic power, legal power, and power over opinion. Power is used to pursue the interests of human beings. These interests are often aggregated into alliances, both within countries and across national borders. Politics is the academic discipline that tries to establish how power operates, how people use it to pursue common ends, and how conflict can arise as a result.
For further information go to the Department of Politics.
Recent Deposits
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Unity and diversity: National identity and multiculturalism in Indonesia
In adherence to its national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), Indonesia maintains a narrative of a culturally plural but unified nation. The government represents a people of over 1,000 ethnic groups across ... -
Normative foreign policy - the Kiwi way. To what extent has New Zealand been acting as norm entrepreneur in the areas of nuclear free policy and promoting free trade?
Norms are standards of appropriate behaviour for actors and as such they do have a role in international politics. When norms are adopted by actors, they affect the actors’ policy behaviour, and consequently, the actors’ ... -
The Effects of Proportional Representation on Election Lawmaking in Aotearoa New Zealand
It is widely recognized that most politicians are self-interested and desire election rules beneficial to their reelection. Although partisanship in electoral system reform is well-understood, the factors that encourage ... -
Atomic reactions: How and why states respond to nuclear proliferation
How do states react to countries pursuing nuclear weapons? And why? These questions are central to both academic and policy debates about the consequences of proliferation and speak directly to current challenges in nuclear ... -
Understanding the ‘Pink’ vote in Aotearoa
There is little written on how gay men engage in the electoral process, and this lack of data extends to New Zealand. When speaking to peers about this topic, it was the widely held view that gay men support the Labour ... -
Ladies in the backroom : a study of women party activists in the National and Labour parties
The findings that men and women participate differently in political activities of all kinds - from voting to membership of parties, to interest in politics and political attitudes is one of the most thoroughly substantiated ... -
Atomic Reactions: How and Why States Respond to Nuclear Proliferation
How do states react to countries pursuing nuclear weapons? And why? These questions are central to both academic and policy debates about the consequences of proliferation and speak directly to current challenges in nuclear ... -
Objectives and priorities in New Zealand's foreign policy in Asia 1949-75 : a study of the issue of the recognition of the People's Republic of China and of security policies in South-east Asia.
The evolution of New Zealand's policies concerning the diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China and concerning the security of South-east Asia is examined with a view to identifying the major objectives ... -
The Community Funding Agency and the voluntary sector : a study in purchase of service contracting in the Otago/Southland region
The research is focused on purchase of service contracting in the Otago/Southland region - from 1992 to 1998. For the purpose of this research, purchase of service contracting is defined as purchase of social services by ... -
Ecampaigning
This thesis is an attempt to answer the following question: How can the Internet be used to win political campaigns? Most political campaigns use the Internet, with email lists and web sites, but there appears to be ... -
Uneasy Co-existence: Pakistan’s National Security Approach and the Post-Cold War Security Environment
This PhD thesis explores the paradox whereby the Pakistani state has emphasised improving its national security but has done so in a way that has increasingly led to greater insecurity in the country in the post-Cold War ... -
Can Criminal Justice Systems Harness Restorative Power? The Impact of Legislative Mandate and Policy Design on the Implementation of Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative justice is regarded in modern criminal justice systems as one approach to address some of the shortcomings of conventional justice models. Many governments have begun to legislate for restorative policy and ... -
Debt and Default from a Post-Keynesian Perspective: A Historical Case Study of the Argentine Puzzle
The subject of sovereign debt and default has received intense focus since the beginning of this century. This interest was fuelled by the largest default in history - by Argentina in 2001 - but it was the Global Financial ... -
The struggle for and against the Employment Contracts Act, 1987-1991
On May 3rd 1991 the legislative framework of industrial relations in New Zealand was revolutionised by the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act. This legislation was opposed by an overwhelming majority of workers. ... -
Election special : New Zealand election campaigns in the newspaper, The New Zealand herald, 1946-2002
This thesis investigates the changing campaign coverage from 1946 to 2002, in The New Zealand Herald (The Herald), New Zealand's most-read newspaper. From tracking the percentage of news coverage devoted to parties and ... -
Eclipse of Courage: Technical Reason and the Limits of Self-Affirming Bravery
Courage is among the most popular and least-understood virtues, with a seemingly endless array of paradigms and descriptions. Does courage relate primarily to physical or to moral struggle? Is courage fortitude, or is it ... -
From Freetown to Kinshasa: Reassessing Nigeria and South Africa’s Foreign Policy Behaviour and Conflict Intervention Roles in Africa
Based on the meta-theoretical approach of eclecticism, and drawing on the insights of structural realism and constructivism, this study comparatively analyses Nigeria and South Africa’s intervention roles in Africa, with ... -
United in Diversity? Immigration and Opposition to European Integration
The forces and processes of globalization have led to regional integration in certain areas around the world. The European Union (EU) presents the most deeply integrated institution with a system of multi-level governance. ... -
The Post-Politics of the 2014 New Zealand General Election: A Symptomatic Discourse Analysis
In this thesis, I submit the 2014 election campaign in Aotearoa to a logics-based discourse analysis in a post-positivist manner tracing the post-political elements of contemporary politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. For ... -
The Strategic Narratives of the BRICS: A Coherent Story?
Strategic narratives play a fundamental role in generating public support for political objectives. The formation of strategic narratives has intensified in the twenty-first century due to the pluralization of state and ...