In this thesis we have tried to answer the question of whether or not the peaceorganizations working in Israel and Palestine have an impact. We have answered the question by analyzing six different organizations; three who work with children and the other three with women issues. The analysis contains a case study of each organization and then a comparison between the two groups. This study is built on theories about; grassroots organizations, women in organizations and intergroup communication. Our conclusions in this thesis show that there are some similarities between the groups as well as there are differences.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain the European Union was challenged partly by an institutionalized organization of the union, as well as by a socio-psychology awareness concerning the meaning of the European Union. The increase in European integration has generated a political collaboration where national understandings in identities are constantly being exposed for reconstruction. This results in a collective European identity where states are united in diversity.National identities are created when boundaries are set up in a relation to other states. In these identity constructions there are thoughts and questions raised such as who we are and who we are not. Ukraine and the European Union has, during a long time, had diversified preconceptions concerning who has been the others.

This paper discuss the possibilities to improve the Swedish political nomination system. It brings up some of the values and norms that can be used to change the existing system. Values as openness, the demand of responsibility and also if there is values from the American spoils system that can be used in the Swedish system. A minor purpose is to discuss the part of the parliament within the nomination process. To investigate this I have some theoretical starting points and a self constructed analysis tool.

The Oresund Region, consisting of the Swedish county of Scania and the Danish islands of Sealand, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, is widely recognised as a successful example of European cross-border co-operation. The purpose of this region building project is to form a cross-border fully integrated functional region in order to accomplish a high level of economic growth and employment.This thesis argues, by the means of discourse analysis, that the project can be viewed as a kind of post-politics, defined as a politics that under a neoliberal hegemonic consensus strives to manipulate citizens (and to redefine them as consumers and investors) into better economic performance.This manipulation is carried out by extensive discourse production aimed at convincing people that the Oresund Region exists, that it is a successful region, and that the people who inhabit it are also successful. The deliberate vagueness and contradictory character of the Oresund discourse is investigated and explained as a discursive strategy to incorporate as many views and desires as possible..

Debatten om Sveriges ursprungsbefolkning samernas rättigheter har alltid vållatstarka känslor och motstridigheter. Konflikten i lappmarken berör en mängdaktörer och intressen. Frågan om samernas rätt till mark och vatten involverar intebara boende i närområdet utan är en fråga som mer eller mindre berör helaSverige. Ursprungsbefolkningars rättigheter diskuteras även på ett internationelltplan, framförallt inom FN:s ramar. 1989 färdigställdes konvention ILO 169, ettregelverk som ska verka för att stärka och skydda ursprungsbefolkningarsrättigheter till egendom, mark och kultur.

Sedan Sverige blev medlem i den Europeiska Unionen 1995 har integrationen inom EU påverkat den svenska förvaltningen allt mer. Syftet med vår uppsats är därför att belysa vilka förändringar som skett inom den svenska myndigheten på grund av EU-medlemskapet över tid och knyta an dessa förändringar till europeiseringsdebatten. För att möjliggöra detta har vi valt att undersöka hur Naturvårdverket och Kemikalieinspektionen påverkats av EU-medlemskapet över tid. Vi gör en tidsjämförelse genom att utgå ifrån två tidigare undersökningar av EU:s påverkan på den svenska myndigheten från 1998 och 2000. De områden vi studerar är påverkan, styrning och samordning samt organisation.

This thesis investigates the Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The DOEs serves as independent third-party auditors with the task of validating, verifying and certifying projects under the CDM. The majority of the DOEs are private entities. This is in line with the CDM objective of including the private sector in the climate change combat. The introduction of private entities in the role of DOEs can be questioned from a legitimacy point of view, but is corresponding to a development in international environmental governance where private actors are increasingly involved in governance arrangements.The thesis concludes the DOEs to be a form of public-private partnership and investigates the legitimacy of this form.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the processes and efforts involved in rebuilding the war-torn state of Afghanistan. The examined period span from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, to the elections in 2005. This period, commonly known as the Bonn-process, sets out the initial time for the reconstruction of the state.A theoretical framework, which considers the necessary mechanisms for successful state-building, will be used to analyze Afghanistan's re-building process. The mechanisms include the prerequisite of a stable security environment, emerging from a cease-fire, together with the development of a well-functioning economy, re-introduction of rule of law and rejuvenating civil society.The failure to establish a secure environment has had a devastating impact on all analyzed aspects of the re-building process. It is therefore crucial that the international society continuing to assists the Afghan government in its efforts to strengthen its capacity, in order to improve the security situation.

I have studied how network in a broad sense can affect decision-making. The primary purpose is to see if the political initiative somewhere disappears when it comes to understand the relations between power, actors and politics. The study discuss in a theoretical area that concerns the reliability in neoinstitutionalism to use as an analytical instrument. Some criticism is given to the theoretical standpoint in the sense that there is no power perspective included in the theory. I include a discussion about a concept of power, which I include to the theory.

This thesis examines information seeking and information needs at the Swedish Government Offices. The Government Offices comprise the Prime Ministers Office, the Government Ministries and the Office for Administrative Affairs. Approximately 4 500 members of staff are employed, of whom around 120 are political appointees. For this study, interviews have been conducted with 15 senior officials and political appointees at the Government Ministries and the Prime Ministers Office. The interviews have been supplemented with literature studies based on user studies research in library and information science.

The association between social parameters (i.e. socio-economy and level of education) and voting behaviour has been reviewed and analysed based on data from municipal council elections in Stockholm and Gothenburg in 2002. Some social scientists argue that the class voting is in decline and that new social cleavages have emerged. However, by using regression analysis techniques, this study implies a strong dependence of voting behaviour on social parameters, such as socio-economic status (SES) and level of education. Socio-economy appears to be a dominant predictor in the analysis.

In this thesis the construction of identity within the EU is discussed. A thesis problem in three dimensions is used to explain the purpose of the construction, its realization and the consequences of such identity. These aspects show the complexity of the problems related to identity construction on a structural level.By using a post-modern and a social constructivist theoretical approach identity is presented as socially constructed by discourse. The theory of discourse makes it possible to analyze the development of an identity forming discourse within the EU and its status today.With an approach inspired by critical theory, we use discourse analysis as a methodological tool to illustrate the ideas that govern discourse, and in what way it is related to the social reality.The analysis states that the purpose of identity constructing is the striving for legitimacy. Without identification, the legitimacy is threatened.

Denna uppsats är en idéanalys av den mediala debatten av friskolor i dag. Vårt syfte med uppsatsen är att förstå den uppsjö av debatter om friskolor som uppkommit de senaste åren. Vi menar att media spelar en stor roll i skapandet av den bild svenska folket har av friskolor. Vår utgångspunkt är att analysera hur skolans funktion och valfrihet diskuterats i media.Tomas Englund, professor i pedagogik menar att synen på skolan har gått från att fokusera på likvärdighet och jämlikhet, till profilering och individuell anpassning.Så vad säger politikerna? Vår studie belyser att debatten om skolan är begränsad utifrån vissa normer, exempelvis att friskolan ska finnas men samtidigt vara under stark statlig kontroll.

The failure of Structural Adjustment Programs and its neoliberal policies to effectively reduce poverty have led to the creation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) by The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. PRSP, connected to both the Comprehensive Development Strategy and the HIPC initiative, are built on the notion of national ownership and stakeholder participation and thereby expand potential conditionality to include matters of governance. This thesis examines the evolution of PRSP and how the process of participation affects national governance structures. By analyzing the role of rules and norms within the World Bank and IMF from a historical point of view the thesis explains why the participation process has developed the way it has. It concludes that neoliberal norms, still at heart within the World Bank and IMF, have an impact on the process of participation within nation states and thereby its governance structure.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka varför hemvärnet har överlevt, baserat på hypotesen att en stark organisation- kultur spelat en betydande roll för dess fortlevnad. I uppsatsen används diskursanalytisk metod och teori, med inslag av andra relevanta teorier, såsom institutionell teori. Uppsatsen består av en analys av tidningen Hemvärnets ledare och framsidor, SIFO: s undersökningar om hemvärnets folkliga förankring samt överbefälhavare Håkan Syréns böcker om Försvarsmakten idag. Fokus ligger på hemvärnets identitet och funktion. Vårt resultat visar att hemvärnets identitet i huvudsak har bestått.