European identity is a topic constantly debated around Europe. There are many takes on whether there is a European identity and what the European identity consists of. In the European Union the Commission has worked towards developing a common European identity since the middle of the 1970?s. The development of a European identity is an important part in the commission?s quest to tie the union and its people closer together.

This essay revolves around two questions: what is the nature of politics, and what kind of political order ensures a high rate of citizen participation? By using Cantal Mouffes theory on the political this essay shows how different understandings of the nature of politics can lead to diverging views on what forms democracy should take. Two such understandings are identified; one that sees the nature of politics as characterized by conflict and power, one that sees it as a space for cooperation in search for the common good. I trace these different ideas about the political in the parliamentary debate concerning Swedish constitutional reform. I conclude that the left-of-centre parties hold a view of the political closer to the conflict-perspective, while the green party together with the liberals/conservatives lean closer to the opposite view..

The aim of this essay is to see how the IOGT, local politicians and the local newspaper acted in the city of Hedemora in Sweden in connection with the referendum held in 1922 whether or not to ban the use of alcoholic beverages. To accomplish this I have examined protocols from local IOGT-groups, the town council and the local newspaper Södra Dalarnes tidning. I find that the local IOGT not only worked with the issue of alcohol but served as an institution that deepened democracy and education in the local community through discussions, study circles and applying pressure on local politicians. The locally elected bodies in turn were generally in favour of the good work the IOGT did, although not always overwhelmingly so. Many of the local politicians that handled the issues of alcohol were themselves active members in organisations promoting absolutism.

The focus of this thesis is the group as a pedagogical tool. It investigates whether and how what is known of group size can help further schools in fulfilling knowledge and democracy goals and moreover how such knowledge can influence the principals? management. The mission of school education is to provide the basis for each pupil?s individual development and in the end it is pupils? individual performances which are graded.

In the process of globalization, identity has become one of the central factors.An understanding of the difference that makes up our society has made thequestion of weather is it possible to envision a society where difference is thecommon ground, one that has been up for contest. To answer this we need to seeif this kind of democracy is possible at all. For this I?m turning to the socialmovments who while they are working close to the reality also can give us somereal answers. Therefore I have looked at how social movements adress identity,difference and conflict and concluded that three things are crucial in organizing ongrounds of difference.

This is a study about the transition process and the consolidation of power in Belarus. In this paper the concept of "authoritarian state building and the sources of regime competitiveness in the fourth wave" is the major theory used. After giving a description of the theory?s concepts a short historical background of Belarus follows. Chapters four describes and explain the political situation in Belarus during five periods.

Abstract Youths and adolescents have for a long period of time, and at a high degree, beenabsent from the party political stage. The causes for this have been discussed inthis essay through a quantitative survey made in an upper secondary school class,consisting of some 19 subjects in the municipality of Kalmar. Tied together withrelevant literature and discourse on the subject, the essay has dealt with thepossible societal-, system- and individual barriers for political interest andinvolvement. Central questions for this essay has been for instance; age, gender,social background, geographical domicile, as well as the decline of ideology, theforms of current party politics, political interest, political engagement and soforth. The concluding remarks contain not only a mix of these barriers existing,not exclusively, for young and adolescents but different ground for them as well.On the one hand, there exist barriers which exclude youth from the conventionalpolitical life, but on the other, the more individualised youth of today, prefer to agreater extent not to participate under the conventional circumstances that partypolitics has to offer.

In this study we have examined how men and women are heard on Sveriges Televisions program Debatt. Debatt broadcast on Sveriges Televison which is a public service broadcaster. Through the use of a quantitative content analysis and a dialogical approach, we have documented how many men and women who speak, how they speak, how long they have the word and the subjects they will be heard in, in the program Debatt. We have investigated the ten last broadcast programs from the fallseason 2011. Every program is 45 minutes long and contains from two to three discussiontopics each time. By categorizing our survey and enter the result in four different tables, we found that the majority, 63%, of those that are heard are men.

Internet är fullt av udda företeelser som ingen skulle känna till om det inte vore för att Internets tekniska uppbyggnad skapade en ?lika för alla?-miljö. 1998 fick svenska väljare möjlighet att kryssmarkera bredvid en kandidat om väljaren ansåg att partiet hade placerat denne för långt ner på partilistan. Detta i kombination med Internets potential för aktörer att göra sig hörda utan att det kostar några större summor skapar nya utrymmen i den svenska demokratin.I detta arbete tittas närmare på de politiker som blev invalda i riksdagen enbart tack vare personkryss i valet 2002. Jag har koncentrerat mig på deras webbnärvaro och utreder huruvida denna uppfyller demokratiska kriterier eller ej..

The essay deals with adult education from a local perspective more specifically that ofthe IOGT lodge Leon Garnbetta in Varberg. The material that has been used covers a limited period of time, which stretches from 1883 to 1926.This temperance lodge was founded in 1883 and is still active. The essay provides a historical survey of the temperance movement in Sweden and depicts the ideas behind adult educa­tion, but it also gives a more general historical account of the town of Varberg and its popu­lar movements.By studying handwritten records from the lodge it is possible to establish a picture of its work, activities, discussions, its striving for democracy, educational activities and the principles behind these and finally the lodge's own library which was started at an early stage. All these aspects are then treated in a historical and a political context..

This essay is built upon the thoughts of Joseph S. Nye concerning power, and the different ways of exercising that power. The characteristics of Nye's theories are the thoughts about the second face of power, or what he describes as the soft power. The essay seeks to examine what kind of power the US has been in their work for non-proliferation and democracy promotion in the Middle East. It also seeks to find what it is that makes the US to choose to exercise the specific powers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how much influence children perceive and feel that they have in terms of after-school activities and offerings. I have also tried to find out how much influence the children in the selected after-schools feel they have. This is to highlight how children themselves perceive their influence and if the children are aware of their rights in terms of participation and influence. The study also wants to highlight the forums and the ways in which children feel that they are heard. The study used questionnaires and group interviews were made of 15 children aged 8-9 years from two after-schools, located in two different schools in the same municipality.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera kommunsammanläggningen i Sverige under åren 1963 ? 1974 utifrån ett Hästvedaperspektiv. Hästveda kommun tillsammans med flertalet andra småkommuner blev en del av det som kom att kallas Hässleholms kommun 1974. Uppsatsen utreder vilka reaktioner och diskussioner som fanns hos såväl kommunalfullmäktige och anställda i kommunhuset, men också hos invånarna i kommunen. Uppsatsen undersöker också om Hästveda kommun vid sammanläggningen hade några finansiella tillgångar kvar.Syftet är också att undersöka varför Hästveda gick med i just i det som skulle bli Hässleholms kommun och inte i någon annan närliggande kommun.Undersökningen är gjort utifrån protokoll, tidningsartiklar, insändare, intervjuer och krönikor..

Kommunikation med medborgarna är en viktig fråga inom EU. Under hösten 2005 och våren 2006 togs en ny kommunikationsstrategi fram av EU-kommissionen. Strategin ska långsiktigt stärka demokratin inom EU och verka för ett EU där medborgarna har tillgång till den information och de verktyg som är nödvändiga för ett aktivt deltagande i EU-politiken. Den nya kommunikationsstrategin bygger på samverkan med lokala aktörer och ett viktigt verktyg för strategins uppfyllelse är Internet. ?EU-kompassen?, Jönköpings läns webbportal för EU-frågor, har som syfte att skapa kunskap om, samt ett större intresse för och deltagande i EU-frågorna bland invånarna Jönköpings län och är således intressant i sammanhanget.

The presidency of the European Union (EU) is one of the most important institutional actors for the improvement of democracy and equality between the member states. To hold a presidency is a big task and for many countries a tough challenge. What makes a presidency successful? The purpose of the thesis is to examine this question using Ole Elgströms? ?four properties for defining a successful presidency? as the theoretical background. This thesis will employ a comparative framework of four countries, using size and age (age understood as ?time being an EU Member State?) as the defining factors.