CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Zorina, Elina |
|---|---|
| Title | Boosting Political Participation in a Non-Democratic Context? Political Effects of International Educational Exchange Programs |
| Summary | Educational exchange programs of American institutions have long been seen as contributors of democracy promotion strategies. However, little has been done to practically measure the effects these programs have on university students coming from non-free regimes. This project for the first time aims at addressing the posed research puzzle. Whether Bard College (New York, USA) partnership with St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg, Russia) results in enhanced political participation of Russian students upon their return from a semester exchange – is the question that is explored both from theoretical and empirical perspective in this thesis project. The study combines statistical methods of analysis of survey data, collected specifically for this research, with the interpretative strategy of in-depth qualitative interviews, conducted with the participants of this international exchange. The results of the project are generally skeptical about the direct presence of such a relationship. Nevertheless, the qualitative section of this study suggests that after the exchange students increase and diversify the range of their latent political civil participation practices. Follow-up studies of political effects of international educational exchange programs may bring more clarity and support for these findings. |
| Supervisor | Simonovits, Gabor |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/zorina_elina.pdf |
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