The research proposal
The design the thesis runs on: the question, the three cases, the five dimensions and the method, defended before the scientific committee at the University of Lisbon.
A proposal is where a thesis commits itself. It fixes the question, picks the cases and says in advance what would count as an answer and what would count as being wrong.
This one sets out brokerage as the mechanism and five dimensions along which a signed framework either becomes institutional practice or does not, and it compares Wales, Brazil and China. It also names the traps. Comparative work drifts when cases are coded against standards that move, so the standard is written down before the coding starts.
I defended it before the scientific committee at the University of Lisbon. It was not a thesis defence but a defence of the design.