Democracy is said to uphold the dearest values and be the most moral system. But it cannot be characterized as a rigid "syste" but a continuously changing political framework, under which aims and values can be fulfilled - and replaced.The increasingly diverse and ever-changing environment of contemporary democracies forces change upon the systems' natural evolution, which makes their future features uncertain and unforeseeable. A powerful change-force doctrine does however claim change is mainly (or merely) caused by the power of ideas; the elite power over ideas can thus provide a natural foundation for the analysis of the direction of development for democracy. This study aims to provide such a foundation by reconstructing empirical and normative descriptions of democracy at two certain points in time, following extensive government studies.As a tool for analysis, this study identifies values of substantial and procedural character central to democracy theory and discourse. It further creates ideal types of democracy based on these values, to which the nature of democracy is measured.

Although Sweden has democracy implemented in its Constitution, because of being a monarchy, it has a non-elected Head of State. The purpose of this thesis is on the one hand to show if it is possible to normatively legitimate the Swedish monarchy and on the other hand to display if and how the three biggest Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Expressen justify monarchy by making a content-oriented analysis of their coverage of King Carl XVI Gustaf's political statement during his state visit in Brunei 2004.By using consequentialism and deontology as perspectives I will show that it overall is not possible to normatively justify the Swedish monarchy compared to a Swedish republic with an elected Head of State. This is mainly because democracy is implemented in the Swedish Constitution. In all three newspapers there is only little debate on the Constitution. Most commonly journalists criticize the King's statement but not monarchy as an institution.

This is an essay in Swedish on the subject of democracy and demonstrations of collective violence. The study is based on a conflict between the youth-house movement in Copenhagen and the state of Denmark - the city of Copenhagen. The focus is over the period December 2006 until January 2008 with reflection on the political movement around the youth-house from the 80's and onwards. This political movement roots back to the late 60's and especially the squatting movement, the BZ, of Europe which had a strong period in Denmark both in the 60's and the 80's. There is also a strong connection to other political movements of anti-fascism, anti-globalisation, queer activism and equal rights.

In this study we examine five selected media organisations with different forms of productionplatforms that all appear in Stockholm's southern and western suburbs, which are part of themillion-construction project. Their stated ambition is to present an alternative image of thesuburbs than that found in mainstream media. They want to portray themselves instead ofconstantly being described by others.The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of the reason for the emergenceof these media, their visions according to the media producers themselves, and how theyrelate to mainstream media. The study is based on a theoretical framework that focuses ondiverse approaches of alternative media and the journalists' role in a democratic society.The wide data analysis from qualitative informant interviews, with small observations as acomplement, showed results indicating criticism against the misrepresentation of Stockholmsuburbs in mainstream media. Furthermore the results show that the overall dissatisfaction ofthis misrepresentation is one of the main reasons why the different media, which are bothrepresented by citizens and journalists, were founded.

AbstractAt the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 the nations stated that traditional environmental policies were not sufficient to handle the multidimensional challenges posed by sustainable development. Governments needed to broaden their political decision making procedures in order to coordinate and integrate environmental, social and economic policies. Therefore a new tool was introduced in Agenda 21, National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSDS). The aim of an NSDS would be to bring together actors from all parts of society to jointly reach a consensus on how to work towards the vision of a sustainable society. An NSDS would be seen as a strategic tool to help focus national policies for SD.

Introduction: As the media landscape has changed so has fierce competition in the market, giving an effect of stronger commercialization of the media. Societal problems in our society are caused by increased commercialization and market orientation. Media has gone from trusted social institutions to focus on their own economic interests, where owners are expected revenue. The content of the media is characterized more and more by entertainment, because it attracts a larger audience. On one side media is expected to contribute to democracy in society and on the other they are expected to contribute profits to their owners, which creates a conflict in today?s media society.

The public relations business has grown from almost nothing to a large international industry the last decades. Throughout the history the industry has struggled with a lot of critique and public relations has become a negative symbol for manipulation of information. Because of this negative view of the industry and the medial change taking place, the purpose of this study is to investigate how two different generations think about public relations. More accurate, the study will through a qualitative interview study explore how young people from a highschool in Luleå and elder people from Luleå township thinks about pubic relations, and most imortant why they have this particular view. By creating four focus groups, two with men and two with women, this also enables a comparative study between the gender. The focus groups were later analyzed and compared to two selected groups of theories on public relations, the theories were positive and critical theories compound in two categories.

After the appointment of a new European Commission in 2004, ?communication? was made a top priority on the agenda. The Commission presented a new communication policy, which would establish a dialogue with the citizens, thereby bringing more democracy to the union and bridging the gap to the citizens. Three documents containing the policy were published, namely an internal action plan for the Commission, Plan D which establishes the framework for national debates and a whitepaper on EU communication policy. These documents were met by mistrust and criticism from many different actors such as journalists and experts.The aim of this master thesis is to examine this new communication policy from a deliberative democratic perspective.

This BSc thesis is a part of an initial step of a collaboration between Skansen and Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) and constitutes of an inventory of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage run by KWS. Animal Orphanage takes care of orphaned and injured animals arriving from throughout Kenya. The project started out as a refuge and as a temporary place for animals in need of care and help. With time it has evolved to an establishment that resembles and functions more like an animal zoo. The aim of this inventory is to focus on how the biological needs of Congo grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus erithacus) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are met, in terms of management and housing.

AbstractAt the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 the nations stated that traditional environmental policies were not sufficient to handle the multidimensional challenges posed by sustainable development. Governments needed to broaden their political decision making procedures in order to coordinate and integrate environmental, social and economic policies. Therefore a new tool was introduced in Agenda 21, National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSDS). The aim of an NSDS would be to bring together actors from all parts of society to jointly reach a consensus on how to work towards the vision of a sustainable society. An NSDS would be seen as a strategic tool to help focus national policies for SD.

The potential of information technology as a means to invigorate democratic practise is constantly under discussion. Regardless of the differing opinions as to the most suitable way to utilise IT, there are certain democratic core values that have to be considered. One of these is freedom of information, defined by us as the right of every citizen to seek, obtain and express information. The aim of this study is to explore whether the use of IT as a means to enhance democracy can strengthen the citizens right to freedom of information. As an instrument for analysis we use an article by Jan van Dijk, professor of communication science.

Studies have shown that politicians are significantly more likely to become victims of violent crime than other citizens in Sweden. In fact increasing political rank and engagement are directly proportionate to increased risk for violence. Threat towards politicians is not only dangerous to the individuals involved but also to the democratic system as a whole.Political scientists the world over have done a lot of research on democracy, but I have been unable to find a single method or theory that examines how violence, threat and harassment affect political leaders and democratic systems.The aim of this study is to expand the existing model made by Tommy Möller, professor in political science. In his model he presents 11 factors that affect political leaders ability to act. My aim is to develop his model by adding a 12 th factor ?violence, threat and harassment?.

This BSc thesis is a part of an initial step of a collaboration between Skansen and Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) and constitutes of an inventory of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage run by KWS. Animal Orphanage takes care of orphaned and injured animals arriving from throughout Kenya. The project started out as a refuge and as a temporary place for animals in need of care and help. With time it has evolved to an establishment that resembles and functions more like an animal zoo. The aim of this inventory is to focus on how the biological needs of Congo grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus erithacus) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are met, in terms of management and housing.

The amount of electricity is limited in Namibia and the large distance between towns andvillages complicates the energy supply in the country. Therefore an alternative way to provideaccess to appropriate energy technologies is needed. The Government of the Republic ofNamibia (GRN) has adopted an approach of helping off-grid households by establishing EnergyShops in each region in Namibia and these shops are going to sell basic renewable energy andenergy efficient products. The Renewable Energy Efficiency Institute in Namibia (REEEI), theinitiator of this thesis, is coordinating the establishment of these Energy Shops.The main purpose of this thesis was to examine the needs of energy products for the Namibianpopulation and develop an assessment method for the Energy Shop in how to select appropriateenergy products already on the world market. The purpose was also to develop a method forchoosing an Energy Shop.

The use of alcohol, narcotics, and tobacco have all long been considered health hazards, especially among children and teenagers. It is therefor not surprising to find that schools have promoted against the use of these substances in different preventative programs for many decades, and the Swedish school system is no exception. However, the use of, as well as the laws restricting alcohol, narcotics, and tobacco are, and have historically been, highly political issues. Individuals, groups, institutions, and states may all have different opinions on how these substances should be regulated and of their place in society, which in turn may lead to conflicts of values and different approaches. One can not expect parents or guardians to share the views on alcohol, narcotics, and tobacco policy presented by schools, laws or state regulations.