This master?s thesis attends to a debate in the Swedish daily press concerning the public library which arose after the Swedish Moderate Party?s publication of their cultural political document Kulturen 2.0. This document contains a number of standpoints, of which three directly concern the public library: charges on book loans, libraries on contract and politically balanced purchase policy. In all, 28 articles are examined by means of an idea and ideological analysis. The purpose is to find out what is behind the conflicts surrounding attitudes about the public library's mission and activity in an era of needs for change.

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.

The aim of this paper is to map out the purposes of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. This is done in order to see if humanitarian tendencies have been an increasingly cause for the UN to initiate an intervention with military means. This paper uses the time period from the end of the cold war until today, since that historic occurrence increased the U.N.?s involvement in peacekeeping. By using this time span it enables the survey to indicate changes in the mapping of humanitarian interventions.

Discussions about the democratic deficit of the European Union have gotten more intense and the criticism usually points towards a great gap between the citizens and the EU politics. In this study the political communication policy is being put under the scope to investigate to what extent the policy is designed to counter the democratic deficit, supported by the theory of deliberative democracy. The analysis examines three aspects of the deficit ? decentralization, participation and the distribution of information ? and makes research into the communicative measures that have been implemented. The importance for EU to make deliberation possible is stressed throughout the essay and in the conclusion I argue that improvements still need to be made.  .

This study examines imagined boundaries between Swedes and non-Swedes. Rather than using pre-determined definitions as a starting point, the attempt is to examine the discursive construction of difference. The purpose is not to study the portrayal of immigrants per se but to examine how the ?immigrant-ness? is constructed. The result shows the perception of ?immigrant-ness? is linked more to a person?s origin than to the act of immigration itself. The selected newspapers are Dagens Nyheter (DN) and Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) for the period of 15th November ? 21st November, 1999.

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.

Today, Sweden is to be regarded as a country formed by the influences and effects of immigration. The government is considering integration as a process aimed to influent all forms of welfare politics and as a project working both at an individual and at a social level. The aims of integration policies are to guarantee equal rights and opportunities, to form a public community characterized by diversity, and to mobilize all citizens to participate in and to be jointly responsible for a social development characterized by mutual respect and tolerance. During the Swedish election campaign of 2002, integration policies became one of the most reported and discussed political questions in the media. The aim of this essay is to study and analyze discursive statements on integration policies made by politicians during this election campaign.

Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att undersöka om klassråd och elevråd är fungerande demokratiska fora. Arbetet innehåller en enkätundersökning på tre skolor där vi vänt oss till elever i årskurs fem. Vi har även intervjuat klasslärarna i respektive klass. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att elever och lärare upplever klassråd och elevråd som bra demokratiska fora, men att den demokratiska processen upplevs som enklare i klassråd än i elevråd..

This master?s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ?Year 2010 against Poverty?. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe.It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty.

This essay is a case-study of a phenomenon called ?ostalgie? which could be described as GDR-nostalgia. ?Ostalgie? is a compound of the two German words ?ost? (east) and ?Nostalgie? (nostalgia.) It is, like a similar phenomenon referred to as ?communist nostalgia?, a type of nostalgia. However, if one were to define ?ostalgie? as ?communist nostalgia? important aspects of the phenomenon would be left out.

ABSTRACTSince Robert D. Putnam first wrote about the causes behind the regional differences in economic and political development in Italy, the theory of social capital has truly flourished in the fields of social science. This days you constantly hear politicians and scholars stressing the important role of the quality of the social fabric to a society?s wellbeing. There all looking at ways to construct policies and institutions that help the spread of social capital.

This essay sets out to compare political participation in two e-petition systems: The Malmö initiative in Malmö, Sweden, and Better Reykjavik in Reykjavik, Iceland. The main question of the essay concerns the aggregative and deliberative qualities of the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik, as well as the relationship between aggregation and deliberation. This main question is divided into four subqueries that lead the empirical analysis. These are: (1) Which similarities and differences in terms of design are there between the Malmö initiative and Better Reykjavik? (2) To what extent have these systems mobilized an aggregative political participation? (3) What similarities and differences are there concerning aspects of deliberation? and (4) What is the correlation between aggregation and deliberation like in the two e-petition systems?The method in use is a comparative cross-sectional study with a 'most similar research design'.

This master?s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ?Year 2010 against Poverty?. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe.It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty.

From a democratic viewpoint, the way in which the media frames politics is essential. Should issue frames be left out in favor of other types of frames, it could result in voters struggling to make informed decisions come Election Day. What is more, research shows that game frames may cause lack of confidence in politicians and declining political interest. Against this background, the present study aimed to find out how two broadsheets, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, and two tabloids, Aftonbladet and Expressen, framed politics in connection with the 2014 Swedish parliamentary elections. The thesis also intended to identify possible differences between the two newspaper types and to make tentative comparisons with previous studies so as to be able to comment on framing developments.

In 1998, 'the Naval Port of Karlskrona' was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and thus, it is equally protected as China?s Great Wall and the Pyramids of Egypt.The essay is a case study of Karlskrona, one of Sweden's most well planned cities, where famous urban planners and architects such as Erik Dahlberg and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder has been involved.Today, Karlskrona is a rather unknown small town in Sweden's outskirts, where population growth has been a problem. When Karlskrona was founded, in the late 17th century, Sweden was a major power. The Blekinge archipelago was in the middle of the Baltic dominion and Karlskrona represented a midpoint in the kingdom. Therefore, Karlskrona has a small town charm with the history and style of a cosmopolitan city.By initially studying how the town?s character of today is expressed, the history of Karlskrona is explored.