In subsequent to Post-colonialism the African nations have dilated into different political directions. While some nations have established well-functioning democracies, others are still under authoritarian regimes. The aim of this thesis is to examine if civil society has an impact on democratic development in West Africa. Therefore the theoretical starting point is Putnam?s theory of social capital, but this study will also examine other possible causal explanations for democratic transition.This study will be based on a comparative analysis of Ghana and Guinea.

When Vladimir Putin in the year 2000 came to power in Russia many believed that the Russian civil society were weak and had very little influence and with Putin people say that the situation have deteriorated. The purpose of this paper is to establish what kind of relationship exists between the Russian state and the civil society and to analyze this from a top-down perspective. We are looking at Russia during Putins first term in office from the year 2000 until 2004. In order to establish the relationship we have used John S. Dryzeks theory of inclusive and exclusive state and whether it?s active or passive in this process.

The purpose of this essay was to study whether the UN convention on the Rights of the child is implemented in the Swedish executory authority, in cases that include compulsory auction of property belonging to families with children, in the southern area of Sweden. I have especially focused on questions concerning whether civil servants work with child consequence analyses, whether they have been offered education in child competence at work, to what extent they have listened to and taken into account the child's own voice in the execution process, and finally to what extent civil servants have had contact with the social welfare committee.The study was based on qualitative telephone interviews with seven civil servants working with cases that comprise compulsory auction of property belonging to families with children.The conclusions of my study are that there exists no specific child perspective regarding the UN convention on the Rights of the child in the civil servants work regarding compulsory auction of property belonging to families with children. Neither do they work with child consequence analyses nor do they listen to what the child has to say in the execution process. The civil servants have not been offered any kind of education concerning child competence. Regarding contacts with the social welfare committee, the result shows that this is, in general, not based on systematic procedures..

In the new media society, social media has become an important part of many organizations' daily lives. Organizations, whether public or private, must be where their audience is and many times, these can be found on social media channels like Facebook. Leading researchers in the fields of crisis communication and relationship management believe that social media is a great tool for managing relationships between an organization and its' public, whether it's before, during or after a crisis.The purpose of this study is to examine how the Karlstad municipality use Facebook to manage civic relations before, during and after a crisis. The municipality's approach will be compared to the citizens' experiences of the municipality's communication in different stages of a crisis.The theoretical framework used in this essay is the research on crisis communication and relationship management. How these two frameworks can be integrated with social media like Facebook, is an important part of understanding how the Karlstad municipality make use of Facebook to manage civic relations and communicate before, during and after a crisis.The empirical study consists of a qualitative interview, two qualitative content analysis and an online survey.

In 2002 the local council of Lund, Sweden, decides to implement the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. A number of actors, such as the state, the civil society, the political society and the bureaucracy, participate in the political process with different authority and points of departure. This thesis studies the actors´ interactions from an inside perspective by applying concepts such as political power, democracy and implementation. The methodological departure is action research from within, a local NGO, the local board of Save the Children Sweden. The results of the study indicate that governance and steering of the implementation process at the communal level is weak.

This essay captures the process toward a democratic transition in South Africa and tempts on analyzing the efforts made by civil society before the negotiation with the government in the beginning of the 90´s. The method used is a case study.By applying the theory of Elisabeth Jean Wood about the importance of continued mobilization, I try to answer the question: to what extend did civil society influence the democratization process. The focus of the study lies on the years of intensified popular mobilization, from the start of the 80´s until the beginning of the 90´s.The results following this study shows that COSATU, Congress of South African Trade Unions) and ANC(African National Congress) played both a crucial role for the democratization process in South Africa. UDF, however played a role in the process, but not in the same significant way that COSATU and ANC..

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the democratization process in Kurdistan on the basis of consolidation democracy with focus on arenas defined by Linz and Stepan (1997), namely economic, political, legal, civil society and arenas of state bureaucracy. Furthermore, I intend to explain Kurdistan?s road toward democratization in Kurdistan from 1991 until today, with a focus on the years 2003-2012. The main results are that Kurdistan has developed conditions that support a future consolidation of democracy. However, there are weaknesses in the economic situation, rule of law and the arena of bureaucracy.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate Swedish as a second language acquisition in a group of students with diverse culturul backgrounds. my intension is to find out if a dialogical posture in teaching with focus on the students earlier knowledge,experianses, thoughts and feelings, will contribute to a teaching enviroment where the students can express them selves and listen to each other. the teachers task is to help the students to explore their own thinking.According to the theoretical base of the essay, sucessfull second language asquisition occours in a meaningsfull context through dialogue and interaction between students and teacher as well as between student and student.I have used a qualitative method consisting in participating as a teacher in this group of second language learners during four lessons, observing, taking notes and writing diary. The teaching material used during the lessons was a book (fiction but based on a true story) and the dialogue in the group proceeded from the story we read together..

This study focuses on oral communication in the classroom involving discussion and dialogue amongst pupils, but also between teacher and pupil. The overall aim is to study the choices regarding the group composition and working methods that might occur in four individual teachers? lessons plans with the intention of increasing the pupils? knowledge through oral communication. The main focus is to explore what the teachers think of the choices they make and how they believe these changes affect the pupils. It is also focused on how the teachers perceive their pupils? learning is improved by oral communication and how they incorporate all pupils, especially the pupils who rarely participate in classroom activity.The methods used are qualitative studies using interviews and observations.

Behovet inom FM att transportera militära förband i fredstid inför en övning eller vid mobilisering, har alltid varit stort inom Sverige. I och med att FM ominriktades så uppstod bl.a. förändringar av förbandstyper. Detta i kombination med den tekniska utvecklingen på civil och militär sida, kommer troligen att medföra både problem och möjligheter vid transport av militära förband i framtiden. Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera vilka möjligheter FM kan komma att ställas inför, avseende utnyttjande av civil och militär transportutrustning i framtiden.

V?stv?rlden s?rskiljer m?nniskan fr?n naturen och betraktar den f?rra som ?verl?gsen den senare. Enligt antropocentrismens kritiker ?r m?nniskans uppfattning om ?verl?gsenhet en av orsakerna till klimatf?r?ndringarna. F?r att kunna bek?mpa klimatf?r?ndringarna beh?ver m?nniskan ?verg? fr?n ett antropocentriskt till ett ekologiskt perspektiv p? kunskap och verkligheten; d.v.s.

In this thesis a study about funding in civil-society organizations is carried out. The aim is to understand how an organization in civil-society is affected by different forms of financing models. The empirical material in the thesis consists of a case study of three Swedish civil-society organizations (CSO) producing social services in the field of rehabilitation of people with a drug addiction. The case study consists of mainly interviews with people holding a leading position in the three organizations together with a study of for the research question relevant documents. From the empirical material, including an extensive analysis of these organizations different income sources, a partial model of how to categorize and analyze different forms of funding in CSOs is developed.

Violence against teachers in Swedish schools, according to recent reports has increased and there have been many studies to investigate the situation for teachers. The surveys show that teachers are especially vulnerable to students. This study aims to examine the relationship between a number of teachers and their students to study the power relations that exist in the classroom. This is to see what violence is an expression of and also how violence is perceived by the teachers. The issues that are central in this study are:What is the importance of dialogue in the relationship between these teachers and their students?Is there power relations between teachers and their students?What is the violence against teachers and expression of?Is there any connection between dialogue, power relations and violence?The theories of the materials in this study was analyzed using power relations theories of the historian of ideas Michel Foucault and Philosophy Doctor Anders Persson, who to some extent has his theoretical basis in Foucault?s power relations.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to illustrate Serbia?s democratic development on the basis of consolidate democratic perspective. Linz & Stepan´s five arenas (political, civil, economic, legal and bureaucratic) are required for the possibility to become a consolidate democracy. In order to fulfil the aim, I have chosen to focus on the political and civil arenas that are most central in the study of consolidate democracy.The purpose of this study is to process how far Serbia has come towards a consolidate democracy and which obstacles still remain in the transition.The questions in this study are:? What problems has Serbia faced since the democratic transition in the beginning of 1990?? What possibilities are there for Serbia to consolidate the democracy, with focus on the two key arenas of consolidation?By applying the theoretical framework to the data, I have been able to present answers and build up an analysis.

Swedish trade unions are engaged in several activities at the European level. One of these isthe sectoral social dialogue, an institutionalized part of the European Union. This bachelorthesis examines the motives for Swedish trade unions in three different sectors to engage themselves in the European social dialogue. The three sectors are chosen because of their differences according to their exposure to competition caused by ongoing globalization and europeanization processes. By interviewing central informants in trade unions which are active in the three dialogues this thesis seeks to learn more about the motives stated by the trade unions.