Forskningen om lobbyism i Sverige har hittills i huvudsak fokuserat på riksdagen. I den här uppsatsen undersöks lobbyism på kommunal nivå utifrån ett mottagarperspektiv med fokus på beslutsfattare och deras erfarenheter av lobbyism. Syftet är att belysa hur beslutsfattare i svenska kommunfullmäktige uppfattar att lobbyism går till i sina egna kommuner. Studiens utgångspunkt utgörs av lobbyismens relation till demokrati och i den kvalitativt genomförda undersökningen används en analysram baserad på tre värden för demokratisk lobbyism, benämnda transparens, jämlikhet och etik. Empirin har samlats in genom intervjuer med åtta kommunala fullmäktigeledamöter.

There have been debates on the big differences in mathematics knowledge concerning pupils in Sweden and Finland. Especially, one common issue in the discussions of education is the Pisa test results, which take up in the media. In the Pisa research the Finnish pupils get through well year after year. Because of the discussions about the distinct school systems in Sweden and Finland, I found it interesting to investigate the divergence of the curriculums in these two countries. The main research questions asked were, what are the main differences and similarities in the Swedish and Finnish curriculums in primary school? Such as, is the assignment of primary school similar in Sweden and Finland?In my study I analyzed and compared by means of the curriculum especially mathe-matics teaching in primary schools in grade three in Sweden and in grade two Fin-land.

There have been debates on the big differences in mathematics knowledge concerning pupils in Sweden and Finland. Especially, one common issue in the discussions of education is the Pisa test results, which take up in the media. In the Pisa research the Finnish pupils get through well year after year. Because of the discussions about the distinct school systems in Sweden and Finland, I found it interesting to investigate the divergence of the curriculums in these two countries. The main research questions asked were, what are the main differences and similarities in the Swedish and Finnish curriculums in primary school? Such as, is the assignment of primary school similar in Sweden and Finland?In my study I analyzed and compared by means of the curriculum especially mathe-matics teaching in primary schools in grade three in Sweden and in grade two Fin-land.

This is a study that aims to discern whether there are any differences between upper secondary level school textbooks published both before The Living History Forum (a government agency that works with issues on tolerance, democracy and human rights) was founded and after with regards to their depiction of Judaism in general and anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in particular. Underscoring the relevancy of this topic, in 1997 CEIFO (The Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations) and Brå (Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention) conducted a survey among school children which revealed a lack of knowledge regarding the Holocaust (including whether it had even occurred). With this educational deficiency in mind, this study attempts to determine if there is an active development in text-book authoring regarding this subject.Using Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) eight textbooks (four old and four new) are examined and compared in order to see if there have been changes in discourse regarding this topic over time. Fairclough's critical discourse analysis is a method used to analyse the relationship between discourse and changes in social and cultural development, and is thus employed in this case to determine if any significant changes have been made in textbooks regarding this topic.As a future teacher in religion it is important for me (and others) to be aware of this type of issue in order to be able to combat it when encountered in schools. It is also important, and part of one?s responsibility as a teacher, to actively and critically work with and review textbooks.This study has not found any major changes in the depiction of Judaism and anti-Semitism in any of the textbooks reviewed.

AbstractOur purpose was to understand how social workers experience the possible complexities that working with economical aid can entail. As an example we chose to focus on long-term economical aid work. We aimed to address the question of which factors could affect their work. In a prior study, done by Dellgran & Höjer (2003) the conclusion was drawn  that  the combination of economical aid, healthcare and schools makeup a third of  practical social work in the terms of the proportion of the amount of social workers, but only 8 percent of the research is done in those areas. Other studies (Stranz, 2007) demonstrate that the research that is done on working with economical aid is deficient.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the satellite states of the former Communist bloc immediately departed on a journey towards democracy and market capitalism. Among the many tasks of the newly elected governments, one was to transform the paternalist Communist welfare state into a social system that would decrease the oversized role of the state, at the same time as protecting the citizens from the hardships ensued from the transition.I have studied the evolution of new welfare systems in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, three countries generally agreed as the most similar and most successfull transition countries of the Eastern bloc. Gøsta Esping-Andersen's prominent typology of welfare regimes, consisting of the liberal, corporatist and social democratic regime-types, has constituted the theoretical basis of the analysis. Simultaneously, applying new cases to the typology implies an element of theory testing.The study shows that 40 years of Communism and partial isolation from the West has not prevented these three countries from developing welfare states fully compatible with those of Western Europe and the Anglo-Saxon nations and that all three of them in fact fall within the scope of the corporatist regime-type..

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur det demokratiska ledarskapet utövas i den dagliga relationen mellan vuxna och barn. Tanken var även att genom forsningsfrågorna få syn på vad ett demokratiskt ledarskap är för pedagogerna, hur de uppfattar att barnen påverkas av inflytande och delaktighet, samt hur mycket barnen ges inflytande och möjlighet till delaktighet. Studiens tillvägagångssätt i att inhämta material bestod av skriftliga observationer, ljudupptagningar, videoupptagningar och ett fokusgruppsamtal. De skriftliga observationerna lästes igenom och lämpligt material som gav svar på mitt syfte valdes ut till resultatdelen och analysen. Allt annat material lyssnades igenom, transkriberades och de tillfällena som gav mig svar på mitt syfte valdes även de ut till resultatdelen och analysen.

Problem definition and purpose: A debated question in journalism today is if the mass media have the power to affect norms and values in the society. There are therefore many who believe that the media must works for democratic and equitable news coverage. Studies have shown that there are still many differences in how women and men are being portrayed in the Swedish media, even if Sweden is one of the most equal countries in the world. This inequality may affect the democracy and equality in the society negative.Previous studies have mainly been using gender as the only explanatory factor to explain the difference of coverage between men and women in the news content. The purpose of this study will therefore not only be to compare the coverage of the Green Partys two spokespersons, Åsa Romson and Gustav Fridolin, from a gender perspective but also to take in count other factors that could contribute to differences in the news coverage.Method and material: To find an answer to the purpose of this thesis a quantitative content analysis have been done on a total of 238 news articles in which Åsa Romson and/or Gustav Fridolin occur.Main results: The results of the content analysis show that Gustav Fridolin occurs more frequently in the news than Romson does, and that the articles he appears in is lager than the articles in which Romson appears.

The first of the dual purposes of this work has been to describe the research that has been done regarding the root causes of terrorism and second, using a general causal theory and examining the political dimensions of it, to discuss whether or not general causal theories (grand-theories) are helpful for researchers and policy-makers when reacting to social developments in the form of terrorism. The essay is a qualitative literature analysis and I have based my studies on mostly new books treating root causes of terrorism. I have concentrated on discussing international terrorism and how political dimensions may impact the occurence of this form of political violence. The conclusions I have made is that there is no widespread consensus among researchers and scholars as to what really causes terrorism. Neither can the general model examined in chapter 5 be used to predict when and where terrorism will occur next.

In this thesis I have discussed about conflict management in school, from a teacher´s perspective. Focus has been on Swedish schools, especially on the teachers who are active in primary school. Several perspectives have been given, including an intercultural approach which has been the most recurrent. The importance of teachers? emotional maturity, knowledge about democracy and values, as well as teacher?s impact by being a sharp leader in different ways are other subjects the essay has touched.

Koncentrationssvårigheter är något som förskollärare bör ha kännedom om för att kunna möta barnen i förskolan. En pedagogisk filosofi som är aktuell är Reggio Emilia. Därför var syftet med studien att ta reda hur förskollärare på fyra Reggio Emilia-inspirerade förskolor, säger sig arbeta med och förhålla sig till barns koncentrationssvårigheter. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ metod och valt intervju med halvstrukturerade frågor som datainsamlingsmetod. Vi har intervjuat fyra förskollärare som alla arbetar på Reggio Emilia-inspirerade förskolor.

This paper is a critique of the hegemonic democracy ideal in France today, the myth of the Republic. Based on critical theory, the paper also contains a normative attempt giving the chance to subaltern groups to tell their, less often heard, version of the "truth".The theoretical foundation is the ontological narrative perspective, where identities and actions are understood as being constructed by the telling of stories. The interdependent relations of different narrative dimensions are analyzed. The power over who gets to tell the story of the "truth" is understood as decided in the interaction by dimensions of metanarrativity, public narratives, ontological narratives and conceptual narrativity. The author argues, inspired by Chantal Mouffe, that consensus is an illusion based on exclusion of those that differ.

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.

?Claiming the right to space? is an argument frequently used by street artists for justifying illegal art in the public space. The public city space as a room of democracy and right to free speech is by some people considered threatened by commercial interests, and street art has become a way to demonstrate disapproval towards this. Street art is illegal and often anonymously performed in our cities. It developed in the late 1970s from the urban graffiti scene in America, and has therefore a lot in common with the graffiti movement.

Bakgrunden till detta arbete vilar i skolverkets formulering av skolans demokratiuppdrag. Här finns en tanke om att alla verksamma i skolan, vuxna och elever, ska få känna ett direkt inflytande över sin verksamhet. Man menar att detta direktinflytande ska finnas med i alla delar av skolans verksamhet, även den traditionella. Detta visar att alla delar av skolan inte arbetar åt samma håll och inte heller följer sina föreskrifter.Syftet med detta arbeta är att identifiera och kartlägga de kunskaps- och demokratisyner som existerar i skolans olika läroplaner. De läroplaner som är av intresse för detta arbete är Lgr69, Lgr80, Lpo94 samt Lpfö98.