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.

In this study I?ve examined bilingual high-school students? experiences of their education held in their native language. The purpose of this study is to examine bilingual high-school students? experiences of how their school organizes the education that?s held in their native language, and how the students feel that the education in their native language has helped their overall language development and also in terms of learning in general. To complete this study I?ve interviewed six high school students and analyzed their answers using other studies and theories on this subject.

The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of how young people's current identity is affected by their criminal background. We also want to understand the impact of resources in these young people?s social networks (that is their social capital) on their life course and formation and reformation of their identity. The theoretical frameworks used (as a tool to be able to analyze the empirical data) are theories of stigma, identity and social capital. The empirical study was conducted using semi-structured interviews that focused on questions about the life-story of informants.

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 bachelor thesis is based on interviews with staff from three Egyptian NGOs in Cairo during the spring of 2013. The study examines how three Egyptian NGOs discuss the woman?s situation within the Islamic legal discourse in the contemporary Egypt. The empiric material was analysed through a theoretical framework of gender in Islam, and a discussion of the concept of human rights laws in a local context.The respondents emphasize the societies gender stereotypes as obstacles in the discussion regarding women?s rights.

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.

The purpose with this final paper was to examine how the collaboration between parents and teachers can manifest itself. With collaboration, we mean the dialogue that has to exist between parents and teachers in regards to e.g. how well informed the parents are about the regulated principles on which the education plan is built on, and in which way they can take part in and influence the system. This is to empathize on the fact that a good collaboration between parents and teachers help create a good foundation for the pupil?s ability to learn.The method that we have used are questionnaires given to parents and teachers along with studies of literature both as means of furthering our studies as well as a basis for the design of the questionnaires.

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 purpose of this study has been to compare teachers' differing methods of teaching mathematics and their perspectives on the learning process in a municipal school to a Waldorf school. The study has examined which approach best promotes student engagement and learning in mathematics in the first three years of schooling. The study is based on four interviews. The informants? accounts are interpreted using theories from previous research.

The purpose of our research is to study how guidance counseling initiated by the students themselves differs between girls and boys in high school. We want to study if there are any differences between girls and boys regarding guidance initiated by the students themselves. We conducted a quantitative survey consisting of a questionnaire survey with 125 respondents. The respondents are second year students at the Science program. The result of the survey shows that there are hardly any differences between girls and boys regarding guidance initiated by the students themselves.

Engblom, Gustav (2009) De nya riksdagspartierna och den politiska dagordningen ?The new parilament parties and the political agenda.?1988 and 1991 the swedish parties Miljöpartiet, Ny demokrati and Kristdemokratiska samlingspartiet made it over the 4 percent threshold and successfully entered the Swedish parliament. Sweden was once described as one of the most stable political systems in the world, but the parliament elections of 1988 and 1991 showed that Sweden was no exception from the growing instability in west democratic political systems.The stability and instability that followed in the west democratic political systems is believed to be explained by the political parties? efforts to adjust to changes in their political environment. This has lead them to cartelize and the cartel party is believed to prefer stability over triumph for various reasons.The established political parties are believed to be able to manipulate the political agenda in such a way that political topics that would have caused great turbulence in the political system, if debated, are kept away from the political agenda.

AbstractThe aim of the study is to investigate what the concept of ?love of reading? means and how selected teachers act strategically to increase the love of reading in pupils in grade two. The Swedish concept of love of reading (läslust) has not always had the same meaning; in the past it was used in connection with the desire to pursue further studies, while the term is used today when talking about pupils? own will to read books. The ability to read is a significant part of a pupil?s schooling, and therefore it is important to work to ensure that pupils love reading.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to illustrate and analyze the approach and parental involvement of a group of mothers in their children's schooling. Also their reflections on parental involvement will be highlighted and what the parents experience as obstacles in their involvement.Method: I conducted six semi structured interviews for my research. I chose to interview six mothers who have a child in the sixth grade. I chose specifically the sixth grade because the mothers will have had quite a few contacts with the school at this point. I also chose not to reveal their ethnicity because they cannot represent a whole ethnic group anyway.Result: The result of my interviews show that the parents have different approaches when it comes to parental involvement.