The purpose of this essay is to explore how social media affect the political orientation and commitment of youths. Three scientific questions highlight the purpose from different angles. The didactic perspective is discussed in the initial and closing discussion, and is analyzed in the corresponding chapter. Two methods are involved in the study; one survey and one interview with a focus group. The survey had a total of 98 respondents from four different classes, all in the first grade of upper secondary school.

The aim of this study is to investigate differences that exist in Estonia and Russia with regard to civil society, democracy and corruption and try to find out what can be possible causes to the vast differences in these two countries. Many political scientists claim that civil society plays a key role in democratic transitions. This paper takes its point of departure in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Estonia and Russia became independent. Since then Estonia has had a flourishing economy which attract many foreign investments, with Sweden as the greatest investor. The country has also managed well to adjust quickly from totalitarianism to democracy.

This essay will explain the effects of decentralisation, and what impact it has on the efficiency to create a better integration for immigrants on the Swedish labour market. Examples of literature that has been examined are Marcus Gossas and Jon Pierre. From these authors, I have been trying to explain the relationship between decentralisation, cooperation and efficiency.Since the end of the Second World War until the middle of 1980, Sweden mostly received labour immigrant. Since then, the immigrant pattern has changed to consist of mostly refugees. Changed immigration patterns together with increasing debts for the Swedish government has lead to decentralisation and cooperation between public authorities has therefore become a target to reach better efficiency.

This essay studies the practice of both the political and the administrative leadership at the municipal level from the point of view of the politicians and the chief officers leadership role, and the relationship between politicians and administrators. I discuss and analyse how politicians and senior officials practice leadership, differences or similarities and if their practice of leadership raises any challenges in a democratic framework at the municipal level. I conducted interviews with the municipal political leader and the head of administration at the municipal level in Karlshamn and Sölvesborg. In the analysis I discuss communication as a leadership process which highlights ?enabling elements? and potentials of the leadership process.

This Master?s thesis has governmental cultural policy in focus and concludes a textual idea analysis of the governmental bill Time for culture. (Tid för kultur.) The aim of the study is to examine how the government is seeking legitimacy concerning the cultural policy. One of the starting points is that the society has changed over time in terms of for example increased globalization and multicultural and even the market adjustment is more evident. Also the economical basis in the society is different nowadays.

This is a study about the relation between the Swedish school and the political system of Sweden. I wanted to see if the relation had changed since the election of 2010 as it was in that election the Sweden Democrats got over five percent of the votes and took seat in the Swedish parliament. The thing that is unique about this election is that it was really the first time a right-wing party had been elected into the Swedish parliament. Many experts argue that this is the first xenophobic party that has been elected into the Swedish parliament. This led to a problem for schools and their principals and a difficult question to answer because xenophobia is contrary to the school?s core values and the school?s democratic mission.Should the school still be open for political parties? How do schools manage to distinguish between political information and political propaganda? If parties still are welcome into the schools, which parties should be allowed? The equality ombudsman has said in a report that the schools have to comply with the principle of objectivity, which stipulates that the public sector has to be unbiased.I have chosen to make use of a qualitative method because I think the study then gets a deeper understanding of the topic.

A vivid democracy requires participation from those who live in it, including children. Unlike adults, children have special laws and regulations to ensure them their democratic rights. Librarians? decision on what to buy makes an impact to someone else, which puts the librarian in a hegemonic position. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to, out of the child librarian?s perspective, view children?s participation at the public library in the matter of purchasing literature.

This thesis aims to study the impact of the transition from communism to democracy on the public libraries in Poland. The central areas of study are changes in: the organisation of the public library system, the role of the public library in society, the librarian's daily work and job situation and collection development. The thesis is based on qualitative interviews with public librarians, public library managers and researchers in Warsaw, Torun and Gdansk. The theoretical background consists of chapters outlining thoughts on democratic and communist library ideas and public libraries' responses to a changing society. The results show that the public library system has been affected by two major decentralisation reforms in Poland, leaving the libraries in the care of local governments.

In the year 2002 a commission wasappointed by the government and taskedto clear up possible flaws in the lawgoverning spatial planning (Plan ochbygglagen, PBL). The commission's reportlaid the foundations for a new law whichwas adopted by the Swedish parliament onthe 20th of June 2010 and is scheduledto come into effect on the 2nd of May2011.The purpose of this thesis has been toexamine the changes made in the new law,primarily from a civil-rights point ofview, focusing on the appeal process.This is a highly interesting subjectconsidering one reason behind the newlaw was to simplify and streamline theplanning process while keeping civilrights intact.Through a comprehensive literature studyand interviews with experts the currentplanning process was mapped out andrelevant changes in the new law wereexamined. After the study had beenconcluded we were able to distinguishseveral areas that underwent especiallyinteresting changes;The requirement of a plan program wasremoved and the exhibition process wasremoved and replaced by a writtenreview. Individuals were given thepossibility of requesting a plan notice.The different spatial plan documentswere merged into one single document andthe number of responsible authoritiesfor spatial plans is no longer limitedto one.The study has shown that the aspirationfor a more effective spatial planningprocess has mostly been conducted at theexpense of individual rights.The single biggest obstacle forachieving a democratic planning processis learning how the law works and howthe spatial planning process isimplemented, this is has been proven tobe a very hard and time consuming taskfor individuals to undertake..

This paper aims to broaden the discussion on how press freedom can be a powerful tool in the war on corruption. Previous studies have shown a significant relationship between more press freedom and less corruption, it also shows that the causal link runs from press freedom to corruption and not the other way around. There are quite a few studies on the impact of a free press on corruption and therefore there is a lot more to be published on this issue.This paper looks at press freedom as one of the most important parts of a democratic society and that it plays a vital role in reducing corruption as both an informant on key issues and also as a ?watchdog? on society. But press freedom cannot be seen as an ?easy fix? in a country or the international community's struggle to reduce corruption.

Fornföreningen Fibula on the Aland Islands contacts the author because its members want to create a museum.The purpose of this two years master?s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies is to shed light on what a museum really is. The research question I have answered is ?what is a museum and is this what Fibula really wants in their reconstructed Viking village??. Based on interview material, ethnographic field studies, relevant research in the subject and documents from Fibula, I have answered the research question.

The aim of this work is to understand the recruitment of candidates to the local representative assembly in the municipality of Täby. The method used is qualitative interviewing, of a total of eight local politicians in Täby. The theory in which this work rest upon is based on a new-institutionalist perspective. Of great importance is the thoughts of the politicians involved in the recrution process, what do they think were the reasons that controlled the order of priority in the party list among the pool of candidates? Were there any obstacles for minorities in the politics like for example foreigners, women or young people? The study is taking it?s departure from the politicians who candidated in the election of 2002-2006 and the ones which are candidating to the election this coming autumn.In conclusion the aim is to understand the reasons that gives some of the candidates electable places to the assembly, and what the actors themselves think are the conclusive qualities that matters the most.

Public participation is a key aspect in the planning of Swedish municipalities. It is probably the most important tool of them all in the planning towards a sustainable future within the cities and the municipalities as a whole. Participation from the public can take on several different forms. In this paper I focus to research and discuss in and around the usage of a web-based 3D platform called City Planner. The tool allows the user (the public) to view the municipalities planning in a fairly new (but quickly growing) environment.

The EU Services Directive has caused an intense debate across Europe. Its purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to open up the public sector to increased competition. The Swedish labour movement has been deeply involved in the policy process, and union leaders have proclaimed the compromise reached in the European Parliament in April 2006 as a success.In the paper two major aspects have been considered: the meaning of the Swedish model and the process of Europeanization. The Swedish model previously allowed for a strong labour movement, through a social democratic hegemony, but the EU membership has implied new conditions for union influence. The paper examines how this change has affected the strategic choices of the Swedish labour movement, and how it has been manifested in the union's work with the Services Directive.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this c-level essay shall try to illustrate how a good leader is formed. We have investigated what influences leadership style, personal characteristics or individual competence have when recruiting a new manager. This study has been carried out with comparative applications because we wanted to study the similarities and differences between the Unemployment Office, the Social Insurance Office and the Social Welfare Administration.We have used a qualitative method in interviews both with employers as well as the from the trade union representative?s perspective. Part of our results indicates that the trade union representatives and the employers are not always unanimous and do not request equivalent characteristics and knowledge at recruitment.