Browsing by Subject "QCA"

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges our planet and humanity are experiencing. The time window for finding ways to miti-gate carbon emissions is getting smaller and there is an urgent need to find solutions that aim not only to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but to address the complex problems of land use change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and inequality. REDD+ is a multi-objective initiative under UNFCCC designed to reduce GHG emissions through deforestation and forest degradation togeth-er with non-carbon co-benefits of livelihoods, poverty, biodiversity, and local peoples and indigenous peoples rights. By applying a Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) this thesis compares 12 various REDD+ countries national political contexts and particularly REDD+ policies and measures over time in order to identify conditions that enable or hinder the countries from achieving results in reversing forest cover trajectories. All the countries analyzed here are tropical, developing, or emerging countries with a political commitment to REDD+ with characteristics that hinder carbon-effective, cost-efficient, and equitable (3E) implementation of REDD+. The thesis builds on three previous REDD+ qualitative comparative analyses of various REDD+ countries' progress in developing and implementing national REDD+ policies and measures. The analysis follows an underlining theoretical assumption that both insti-tutions and agencies affect the REDD+ policy outcome. The longitudinal data used in the analysis is based on expert assessments conducted in three various data collection rounds in 2012, 2014, and 2016. The results show a set of enabling conditions under which countries can achieve a positive outcome. The findings from the previous studies have highlighted the importance of already initiated policy change and effective forest legislation from the institutional context, and from the actor-centered policy arena, the presence of powerful coalitions and the availability of performance-based payments. Here, two enabling remote conditions are identified (1) pressure from the forest resources and (2) the presence of effective forest legislation. The pressure from the forest resources leads to a positive outcome together with (3) strong national ownership and politi-cal will combined with (4) performance-based payments or (5) REDD+ policies and measures. The effective forest legislation.leads away from business-as-usual practices towards a broader transformational change when combined with (6) powerful transformation-al coalitions and (7) inclusive policy processes. Policy relevance: Well over a decade has passed since REDD+ was launched in 2007 but the progress has been much slower than it was initially expected. The evidence on what works and what does not is essential to achieve the GHG reductions needed to keep the global warming below 2C. The findings from this study can guide towards more effective, efficient, and equitable REDD+ policy design formulation and implementation.

This thesis investigates the skills acquired through a Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK) -experience and contemplates if they can be useful in politics as well as in the representation and understanding of diversity. The main purposes of the thesis are: (1) to concur that the interviewees are indeed CCKs, (2) to describe what kind of CCK-related skills they may or may not have acquired, and (3) to discuss how and to what purposes these skills have been used in politics and in the representation of diversity. In an ever-globalizing world, moving and travelling from one country to another has become the norm. Consequently, most societies, including Finland, have become ever more diverse. In the past two decades, Finland’s immigrant population increased fourfold, currently totalling over five per cent of the population. Globalization has also contributed to an increase in children that have been raised in-between cultures, namely CCKs, in Finland and elsewhere. As the size of the migrant population grows and the heated public debate revolving around immigration-related topic intensifies, it becomes crucial to properly represent the increasing diversity in political arenas, too. Previous research on CCKs suggests that CCKs have gained unique skills through their experience of having been raised in-between worlds, such as expanded worldviews, adaptability, observational and social skills to name a few. The literature on descriptive representation by Anne Phillips (et al.), the concept of shared experience by Jane Mansbridge and the idea of a preferable descriptive representative introduced by Suzanne Dovi form the theoretical framework of the thesis. The research is based on interviews of six candidates in the 2015 parliamentary elections of Finland, conducted 3 months prior to the elections. The candidates belong to different parties, ethnicities, and social backgrounds. The interviews are coded and analysed by using the QCA (Qualitative Content Analysis) method, as presented by Margrit Schreier. The results of this thesis support that the interviewees are CCKs and that they qualify as descriptive representatives of their electorate, claiming they shared a similar experience. The interviewees describe many abilities that are useful in politics and in the representation of diversity – particularly concerning the ability to relate to others, adapting to changing situations like a “chameleon” and a sensitivity to the society’s silent voices. In addition to these skills, the interviewees had also benefited from amplified media attention at a time when their distinctive phenotypes are subject to an increasingly heated and divisive political debate. The thesis provides some unique research into the CCK -experience, bringing the concept into the realm of Political Science for the first time. Combining theories of descriptive representation and the CCK -experience provides crucial insight into political representation of diversity.