Symbols in the hands of politicians can be a powerful tool of manipulation. The usage of symbols in speeches or texts can change a person?s will, without him or her ever knowing it.We have compared the usage of symbols in the articles surrounding the ratification of the constitution in 18th century America with that of today?s European Union, to see if any similarities between these two cases exists, and what implications this could have for the future of the EU. We have divided the symbols in both cases into different categories so as to enable us to compare the cases to each other. With the help of Masters Theory and the writings of Benedict Anderson and Murray Edelman we have concluded that there indeed exist some similarities between 18th century America and the EU.

The main aim of this study is to examine the development policies of Sweden and the European Union from a postcolonial perspective. Sweden and the European Union are increasingly coming to be viewed as normative powers rather than military powers. So how does the colonial past of the western societies affect the policies of today? Are there any signs of the power structures of the past, and if so, how are these power structures manifested in the development policies of today? Since both Sweden and the European Union have come to be viewed as normative powers they are compared with each other to highlight their similarities and differences. The results of the study shows that both Sweden and the European Union can be seen as carriers of western values and interests.

AbstractA European identityA study of Manuel Castells criteria?s to create a European identityC-Essay in Political Science, by Helena Saagpakk, August 2007Supervisor: Björn ÅkerbergPhilosophers and visionaries dreamt early on the idea about a united Europe. This dream was destroyed by the two world wars during the first half of the 20th century. The first community was established in 1950 after the Second World War. This was the beginning of a peaceful cooperation between the member states, and the community later developed into the European Union.

The European Union has faced lots of criticisms over the last couple of years when it comes to how refugees are treated in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty states in Article 2 that the European Union is founded on respect for human freedom, dignity and equality. Values such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and that the rights of persons belonging to minorities should be respected are also something that the Union should be based on. How is it then that the Roma people, which are Europe's largest minority, are being persecuted all over Europe, that they get deported and have their camps destroyed? Why are refugees from North Africa being sent back before they even have a chance to seek asylum?  In this essay I have examined how the EU are treating refugees and tried to distinguish if there are any differences in how they treat internal and external refugees.

This essay explores the economical and social paradigms surrounding one of the most influentialNordic border dynastic noble families in the second half of the fifteenth century - the AxelssonTotts. How mercantile possibilities and opportunities offered to them, reflected on their politicalactions and social bands. The Axelsson brothers of the Tott Dynasty would become of one of themost powerful noble families within the Nordic Union between 1444 och 1487.Axel Pedersen (Tott) would through well chosen marriage alliances into the noble families of bothDenmark and Sweden, and with political prowess lay the foundation for one of the most dynamicfamily empires of the fifteenth century. In the year 1442, the Axelsson brothers swore loyalty toeach other; to protect and defend their mercantile and economical interests in Denmark andSweden. They would eventually control the trading routes in the border areas of the Union, and byexploiting the political chaos within the Union they would gain access and influence to the landtrading routes for export and import within the Union and the shipping export routes in the BalticSea allowing them access to the Russian market through Finland and Estonia.The island of Gotland, with its tactical and important geographical position in the Baltic Seabecame the key to the Nordic Union.

After Sweden became a member of the European Union, EU, the debate regarding the Swedish participation in the EU?s currency co-operation, the European Monetary Union, EMU, has been intense. One of the biggest issues has been how our national economic politics will work within such a monetary union. What instrument will remain for the national economic politics within the EMU are highly uncertain. The question whether we will be able to affect our own economy or not has long been the essence in the Swedish debate.

In this paper I attempt to analyze the ways the European Union defines its external borders in cross-border co-operation with its neighbours. The analysis is based on case study examining the founding components of a updated version of the Northern Dimension policy of the European Union.The analytical framework of the study is composed of three different perceptions on the cross-border co-operation; regionalisation, integration and flexible integration. I conclude that the model of cross-border co-operation laid by the Northern Dimension policy would have an impact on the EU's external border with Russia, making it more flexible and vague.As far as the geographical terms of the co-operation are concerned, they seem to shift from regional co-operation to greater emphasis the role of networks as basis for co-operation instead of traditional regions..

AbstractThe thesis investigates how the European Union promotes stability and security in the Mediterranean region. The aim is to analyse the European Union?s security ambitions with Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Barcelona Process. An analytical framework with five sectors (military, political, economic, environmental and societal), based on the Copenhagen School?s theories about security sectors and securitization, is used for the analysis.

Arms trade is a multi-faced issue, it can increase the state's economic revenue; however also endanger the human security. The European Union's member state United Kingdom is one of the five largest arms traders in the world. The EU promotes human security in its work, especially in the union's development policies. These circumstances address the main question of the study: is there a contradiction between the UK's arms trade and the EU development policies. The objective of this study is to research the stately weapon use in three of the UK's trading partners, and how it could affect the EU development policies.

Unaccompanied minors who are fleeing and being sent way from their countries of origin are nothing new. In 2011, 12 225 unaccompanied minors where registered in The European Union, none undocumented minors included. Most of the minors are coming from Afghanistan and Somalia. The aim of this essay is to investigate how The European Union?s migration policies are applied in reality and how United Nation?s Convention on the Right of Children are put in practice by the member states of The European Union and Norway.

This work is an attempt to study how the ambivalent demands of normativity in the Swedish curriculum is implemented in schoolbooks used for education in the course Samhällskunskap A. For this purpose, different normative theories are applied in conjunction with a qualitative text analysis method comprising the sections which describe the European Union in three different schoolbooks. The results indicate that not one of the selected books uphold all of the demands of normativitity as described by the Swedish curriculum..

This study is mostly based on previous research, which includes Sub-national actor?s attitudes and regional action towards the European Union. The purpose of the study is to investigate if four Swedish municipalities in Värmland operate internationally towards the European Union and deepen an understanding of their actions. The main research question is: - How can we increase our understanding of municipal action against the European Union? The research questions of this study are answered through qualitative method and semi-structured interviews were conducted.

AbstractThe aim of this thesis is to examine Interreg as an instrument for regional policy in the European Union. Interreg is an initiative designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union by fostering balanced development through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. But how does it work in practise? Three main questions are asked to answer this:How well does the implementation in the programmes work?How does the programme management look and how well does it work?What degree of efficiency does Interreg show in financial and physical effectiveness?With evaluation and implementation as theories the questions are answered together with a qualitative method. The conclusions that can be drawn is that Interreg strengthen European unions economic and social cohesion in form of integration and regional development that in many ways make it easier to travel and trade over the borders.

There's no doubt today that mankind has contributed to the changing climate byher use of fossil fuels. This must change in the nearby future. The Europeanleaders are expressing concern that renewable energy sources are not beingused to their full potential. The 2001/77/EC Directive on Electricity Productionfrom Renewable Energy Sources was accepted in 2001 to encourage thedevelopment of energy production from renewable sources, which isconsidered a step towards the fulfillment of the goal of the Union, that 12% ofthe gross energy consumption should come from renewable energy sources bythe year 2010.The objective of this thesis is to illuminate the common legislation of the EUregarding renewable energy with regard to goal fulfillment, judicial quality,conflicts with other goals of the EU and other faults. The objective is reachedby a hermeneutic study in which interpretation of written text is the mainmethod.

AbstractTitle: How does Europeanization effect Swedish alcohol policy? .Titel: Hur påverkar Europeiseringen svensk alkoholpolitik?Minor Thesis in Political Science, January 2008Author : Markus GustafssonTutor : Lennart BergfeldtVäxjö UniversityThis essay will deal with the influence which Europeanization has on domestic politics. The case I have chosen is Swedish alcohol policy. Thus, the purpose is to explore whether observed changes in Swedish alcohol policy in the years 1993-2005 can be explained by Swedens´s membership in the European Union. To reach this purpose the following questions need to be answered:? What is europeanization?? How has Swedish alcohol policy changed from 1993 to 2005?? Is it possible to connect the changes in Swedish alcohol policy to a process of Europeanizationprocess?The method in this essay has been a qulitative study of litterature.