AbstractParticiapation from the citizens in a democratic society is one of the ground pilars for the function of the democratic society. The goal for the Swedish contemporary democracy is to complement the representative democracy with different kinds of participatory activities for the citizens. But is it working? The purpose of this essay is to exame the problems that might occur when the citizens participate in a wider extent than just voting. The focus is problems connected to the democratic value political equality.

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

Before 1944 homosexuality was an act of crime and you could be sentenced to prison for up to 2 years. This law only included men, women where not thought having homosexual activities. Although homosexuality was not a criminal act after 1944 it was still on the list over Swedish diseases, a list maid by the Swedish board of social affairs.The years between 1978 and 1984 a study of the homosexual life in society was maid. The most important thing that this study showed was that homosexuality means that you love someone of your own sex, and that you aren?t different from the rest of the society, except that you choose to love someone of the same sex.The work for equality between these two groups started after 1979 when the Swedish board of social affairs took homosexuality of their list over Swedish diseases.

This discursive policy study has its starting point in the criticism of the Swedish gender-equality policy is depoliticised. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Swedish gender-equality policy was problematised and designed during the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is also to investigate whether the Swedish gender-equality policy can be defined as a depoliticised policy or not. The research questions of this study are: What´s the problem of gender-equality represented to be in the specifics policies and what effects are produced of this representation? Can gender policy, as it is designed in the various policy documents, be understood as a depoliticised policy, in the sense that sex is not articulated on the basis of a conflict dimension?To find the answer of theese questions I use the method ?Whats´s the problem represented to be", which is an inductive approach where the researcher sets selected questions to its material.

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

This study is an assignment from the council of Södra Småland county to investigate how equality between boys and girls progresses at compulsory schools in Kronoberg county. The study was undertaken to find suggestions on how work with equality could best be stimulated.The key question was to elaborate how a decentralized rule and structural context of an organisation can affect an implementation of political decisions. The methodological approach adopted can be defined as inductive, it was analysed how the respondents from some selected schools in Kronoberg county themselves relate to the concept of equality between men and women and their experience and understanding of how the concept of equality between sex is understood in their work at school.School-legislation today demands that active measures are undertaken to promote equality between boys and girls and in general almost all the respondents of my study describe equality as an utterly important question. My findings although, at the same time, indicate a gap between rhetoric and practice. The findings of my study suggest that structural relations and a decentralised organisation can constitute a hindrance for implementing equality between men and women in schools.

My purpose in this work was to find out how staff in a middle sized school uses its local Equal treatment plan in its work against bullying. But also to see how the use of a standardized anti-bullying program works to prevent bullying. I have interviewed the principal, teachers, and what we in Sweden call a ?fritidspedagog? and the members of the anti-bullying team to get answers to my questions.  The conclusion of this study is that the school follow and work according to what the Equal treatment plan states, both in terms of prevention, as in working with actual bullying cases. The school has also followed the National School Agency's recommendations on what should be the local Equality plan, but also to follow up and revise it each year. The interview shows that the staff at the school placed great emphasis on talking and discussing with students about how to behave towards each other, they also brought up things that happened at one time and talked about this. The staffs were very committed to work towards the prevention of bullying and the same was true with the school's headmaster.

This masters thesis investigates how the Swedish county libraries relate to equality between men and women. The thesis treats the county library both as a place of work and as a part of the national library network. One of the reasons why this study focuses on county libraries is because of their special position in the Swedish library organisation as a link between the national policy and the public libraries. The analysis in the study is based on theories that argue masculinity and femininity as social constructions, and therefore can be affected by a different type of conduct. Data was gathered using qualitative questionnaires combined with some quantitative elements that were used to gain fundamental facts regarding the distribution of employees between the sexes and the existence of equality policies.

This work presents the way exiled Tibetans I?ve met view gender and equality. The world is becoming increasingly global and in order to educate future world citizens it is important to make sure that they learn about gender and equality. Males and Females have different cultures and where manly is the norm female is the exception, but it is important to try and level out these differences while children are still in school. This work originates from studies of literature and several interviews with exiled Tibetans in the Indian city of Dharamsala. They are Tibetans with different roles in the exile-Tibetan society and also of different generations and gender.

The aim and purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the effects of affirmative action as a tool to improve the equality of the sexes in a male dominated organisation such as the Swedish armed forces. The study takes a qualitative approach, using feminist theory as a point of departure. Primarily socially based differences between men and women are identified and the resistance towards change is taken into account.To understand the impact of affirmative action I have observed the political debate on the subject and contrasted it to the ongoing debate from within the armed forces. Extensive interviews have been held with both men and women from varying ranks and ages to understand what the overall opinion of the method is.My results show that there is a widespread animosity towards affirmative action as a method of improving equality. Both in the political debate and within the organisation in question.

Thirty years of gender equality politicsFrom women?s work to gender mainstreamingThis Bachelor thesis examines how the Swedish state has practiced gender equality as a political project during 1972 until 1999 through the budget bills, using a ?What?s the problem represented to be?? approach aiming to uncover which discourses policies are based on. The method also studies what assumptions underlie policy problems, what is left as unproblematic within the policies and what effects are produced by specific problem representations. A central question for the thesis is what has remained and changed within Swedish gender equality politics. The history of the Swedish welfare state is presented as a background on how gender equality policy has affected the everyday life of women and men.

Abstract"The Care of Work" is a study whose background comes from the problems surrounding work-life balance and equality that permeates social debates today. The problematic work-life-balance and gender equality are just as relevant today as they were 35 years ago. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not men and women have a satisfactory work-life balance and if the organization they work for is doing something to make their life puzzles function. Last, but not least, the purpose is to see if gender equality is in the interest of the individual or the state.The study is based on work-life balance, gender equality and gender as the theoretical frames of reference. Eight respondents, four men and four women, from established IT companies were interviewed.

One purpose of our study was to investigate if equality in work time and parental leave in a relationship affect the time that parents spend with their children. Our first hypothesis was that increased equality in work time and parental leave leads to a reduction of the parents? total time with their children, ie the children spend more hours in pre-school and begin pre-school earlier. In order to test our hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between the woman?s and the man?s work time and parental leave and the time that the children spend in pre-school as well as at what age they began pre-school by using two surveys.Our study showed a significant coherence between both working women?s work time and the children?s time in pre-school as well as women?s parental leave and the children?s age at start in pre-school.

Abstract"The Care of Work" is a study whose background comes from the problems surrounding work-life balance and equality that permeates social debates today. The problematic work-life-balance and gender equality are just as relevant today as they were 35 years ago. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not men and women have a satisfactory work-life balance and if the organization they work for is doing something to make their life puzzles function. Last, but not least, the purpose is to see if gender equality is in the interest of the individual or the state.The study is based on work-life balance, gender equality and gender as the theoretical frames of reference. Eight respondents, four men and four women, from established IT companies were interviewed.

The forest owner cooperative has observed difficulties with keeping women as forest advisers/ buyers. This is a problem because the organisation wish to have both men?s and women?s qualifications. The organisation?s purpose in their equality and multiplicity plan is to increase the knowledge and awareness of equality and multiplicity, increase the credibility to the members and customers, and to be well prepared for the future need of qualifications. The purpose of this paper is to identify if there are any conditions that may limit female employees at this particular service.