This thesis uses critical discourse analysis to examine how the English-speaking press in Hong Kong constructs the conflict between the political movement Occupy Central and the Chinese central government. The empirical material consists of ten articles from the region?s two largest English-speaking newspapers, Hong Kong?s oldest newspaper, the South China Morning Post, and China?s only national English-speaking newspaper, the China Daily. Building on the works of Teun van Dijk, Norman Fairclough, Ruth Wodak and John E. Richardson it examines what political ideologies that are favoured by the press and what attitude the press shows for democratic development.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the subject Swedish is being constructed in syllabuses for the subject. The study includes the syllabuses for the subject Swedish from the Swedish curriculums Lgr 11 and Lpo 94. These are investigated in order to show what conceptions of the subject, i.e. the purpose, content and work models of the subject you can spot in these, and in what direction the perception of knowledge has changed. For the analysis Faircloughs critical discourse analysis and three dimensional model is being used.

Sweden was transformed to a democratic industrial society in the late 19th century. Political influence had been bound to the four estates, nobles, clergy, burghers and farmers. The reforms of the 1860s moved Sweden towards political democracy with universal suffrage. At the national level a two-chamber parliament was established in 1866. Political power should now be a function of economic status.

Digitizing and digital libraries create great opportunities toprovide access to cultural heritage globally, but the quicklychanging information technology environment also raises manyquestions. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to analyse whatvisions and ideas behind one specific digital library, Europeana,that can be found in documentation related to the project. Whatideas can be identified concerning aspects such as userparticipation, access to information, knowledge andinformation literacy? What is the project?s role in relation toeducation, preservation of cultural heritage and democracy?The method used to answer these research questions is adescriptive idea analysis. The empirical material, consisting ofprimary sources written in relation to the project, has beencategorized within dimensions and analysed according toDouglas Raber?s three public library strategies: social activism,the conservative response and the populist initiative.

The current field of research concerning the impact of railroads in Sweden beside from the State main-line network is relatively narrow. Including cultural impact to the area narrows the results even further. The purpose of this study is to open the field even more into the local societies and to what extent the impact of the introduction of railroad might have had on smaller county villages. Sweden holds a unique position concerning ?station towns? or ?railways towns? in terms of railway policy and the industrial development in towns that were affected by the railway, as the affected towns continued development were based on a hybrid between direct democracy and adaptations of city-law policies.This study takes place in Kisa, a small town in southern Östergötland that during the beginning of the 20th century turned into a municipal community due to the building of Östra centralbanan (roughly translated Eastern central-line).

Local participation in nature conservation has gained more attention over the last decades due to international conventions as well as local and national initiatives. This development can be seen as a reaction to a more expert oriented nature conservation characterized by centralized control and strict preservation of so called "original" nature. The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to research on new forms of conservation where democracy and local participation is included. The case study focuses on the process of producing a pre-study for a suggested national park in southern Jämtland in the Swedish mountain region, and aims to investigate to what extent local participation was included. The pre-study was led by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the County Administrative Board (CAB) in Jämtland.

Det övergripande syftet var att ta reda på genren genus demonstrativums betydelse i politisk kriskommunikation och frågeställningarna var:  ? Hur använder Göran Persson genren genus demonstrativum för att bearbeta den politiska kris som ett ministermord innebär? ? Vad vill Göran Persson uppnå med sina tal och med vilka retoriska medel försöker han skapa mening kring mordet? ? Vilka attityder försöker Göran Persson få åhörarna att inta och hur gör han det?  Materialet bestod av fyra tal och den övergripande metoden var strukturell och stödmetoderna stil-, ideologkritisk-, och retorisk analys. Jag lutade mig bland annat mot teorier av Elmelund Kjeldsen och Johannesson. Studien visar att genren genus demonstrativum stärkte och enade medborgarna i ett krisdrabbat samhälle. Istället för att fokusera på dådet hyllade Göran Persson Anna Lindh och använde henne som symbol för det demokratiska samhället.

In June 2006 the Council of the European Union agreed on the review of the EU sustainable development strategy. This renewed strategy voices a commitment to sustainable development that includes a diverse list of safeguarded interests. Sustainability is to be attained in the spheres of democracy, solidarity, the rule of law, gender equality and at the same time it should promote a dynamic economy. Given this multifunctional application of sustainable development, curiosity may soon give rise to questions such as; What is the legal significance of the concept? Is it to be considered a general principle of Community law? And can it be used as an instrument in adjudication and legal reasoning? Anyone who looks deeper into the concept of sustainable development is soon to find a labyrinthine complex of ideas, expressions and opinions.

Denna studie behandlar delaktighet och inflytande mellan hem och förskola, vilket är ett av förskolans uppdrag enligt styrdokumenten. Vi har valt att genomföra denna studie för att få insyn i hur föräldrar på en förskola uppfattar sin delaktighet och sitt inflytande. Som verksamma i förskolan har vi funderat på om och hur vi möjliggör för föräldrar att förstå det demokratiska uppdraget och de både rättigheter och skyldigheter som det för med sig. Studiens syfte är att beskriva föräldrars uppfattning om delaktighet och inflytande i förskolans verksamhet och pedagogiska planering. I bakgrunden presenteras tidigare forskning om föräldrars delaktighet och inflytande.

SIDA?s relief work in Bosnia aims at making the country ready for a membership in the EU where the main focus lies in the creation of a sustainable state as well as liberalizing the market to create an increased economic cooperation between Bosnia and the rest of Europe. These ambitions are closely related to the neo-liberal theory of state building which aims at creating democratic societies in line with the western democracy model, with a liberal economy constituting its base. Despite generous financial aid, the democratic and economic development in Bosnia is moving very slowly and the ethnical tensions seem to grow despite international involvement in the country. The purpose of this study is to evaluate SIDA?s present relief work in Bosnia out of a peace perspective.

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.