Dissertation Defense Schedule
Academic Excellence
Sharing original dissertation research is a principle to which the University of Delaware is deeply committed. It is the single most important assignment our graduate students undertake and upon completion is met with great pride.
We invite you to celebrate this milestone by attending their dissertation defense. Please review the upcoming dissertation defense schedule below and join us!
PROGRAM | Political Science and International Relations
Public Opinion and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (1992-2004)
By: Zofia Maka Chair: Julio Carrion
ABSTRACT
This dissertation seeks to establish the main sources of support for democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and determine how these have changed over time. Utilizing the New Democracies Barometer datasets I create, estimate, and compare models of support for democracy for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland during different stages of their democratic development in three time periods, i.e. in 1992, 1998, and 2004. I test the trimmed model built for the 2004 dataset out-of-sample, on a dataset encompassing information for thirteen Central and Eastern European countries.
I conclude that performance considerations, both political and economic, are dominant in explaining support for democracy in the region. While trust and values variables have some effect on one’s attitudes toward democracy, it is their assessment of regime performance that mainly determines whether or not one is a democrat. My analysis also stresses the need to look at contextual factors in explaining attitudes toward democracy: when analyzing determinants of support for democracy in the region, country-specific characteristics have to be taken into consideration as they significantly influence people’s views on democracy.
The Process
Step-by-Step
Visit our “Step-by-Step Graduation Guide” to take you through the graduation process.From formatting your Dissertation to Doctoral Hooding procedures.
Dissertation Manual
Wondering how to set up the format for your paper. Refer to the “UD Thesis/Dissertation Manual” for formatting requirements and more.
Defense Submission Form
This form must be completed two weeks in advance of a dissertation defense to meet the University of Delaware Graduate and Professional Education’s requirements.
