This thesis compares political participation by the public through the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) and the German Petitions Committee of the Bundestag (PC). Through studies of literature and statistics I examine how citizens can participate through the institutions, how frequently they do and the likelihood of sparking a debate while participating.Using media theories as well as theories of participatory and representative democracy I study how citizens can use these institutions for purposes of control and proposition.Both institutions deal with complaints but the PC also deals with propositions for legislation, making the institution more versatile. The PO deals with more cases than the PC and has more far-reaching competences and areas of inspection, although neither institution has binding decisions. Thus the direct advantage for citizens using the institutions is the chance of reaching out to media and the public through freedom of information laws and the German online petition forum.The PC to a larger extent fits the representative model while the PO in some respects is more a legal than a political institution, being managed by lawyers instead of MPs. Neither institution meets the ideals of participatory politics although the German official petition is closer to it..

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the project Knitting House using art and architectural theories to question the forms of the project as well as the town planning in the area of Husby, a suburb to Stockholm. In order to stress the architectural issues in the area of Husby, the thesis examines the aim and intention of the project Knitting House. The project explores the standardized architectural form that was used and built under the Miljonprogrammet, through the years of 1960-1970 in the neighborhoods of Järvafältet. The thesis will also investigate some of the problems that arise when attempting to discuss knitting as a method used to perform Knitting House. This paper explores the relationships between public and private spaces, the areas in between them and how they interact. The claim made throughout the thesis is that Knitting House can function as a political catalyst by presenting a combined perspective of art, architecture and politics to address the social and ethnic segregation in suburbs like Husby. .

Den här uppsatsen handlar om utbildningspolitik och syftar till att undersöka hur svenska politiska partier talar om skolan i ett antal debattartiklar och repliker, samt om de är överens i några aspekter och vilka dessa i sådant fall är. Utgångspunkten är att det sker en avpolitisering av politik, där kampen mellan ideologier inte längre existerar på samma sätt som tidigare. Genom diskursanalys har ett antal texter analyserats med ett resultat som visar att det mycket väl verkar stämma att partierna inte längre kämpar ideologier emellan, utan att man är övergripande överens och först och främst förvaltar ett redan existerande system. Den politiska kampen, eller spänningen, är inte särskilt stark då samtliga partier är eniga på flera punkter. Däremot existerar en diskursiv spänning kvar i aspekten av att man ständigt försöker underminera varandras kapacitet att vara i regeringsställning.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the concept of empowerment and its meaning in the political document "En Förnyad Folkhälsopolitik" from the present Swedish government, containing guidelines and politics in the area of public health. The underlying question was if it could be considered as representative for some kind of general "empowerment approach" since the concept is central to the very definition of social work by the International Federation of Social Workers IFSW and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW).By comparing its definition and consequences in the document with a historical review of different contexts of empowerment the conclusion was made that such a common approach doesn´t exist at all. The meaning of empowerment in the central document showed some similarities with the "northamerican" version of the concept represented by the social scientist Charles Murray, which is just one of the political meanings of empowerment. Alternative ways of understanding the concept was also presented such as being a tool of a constant conflict between central political principles or as a fashionable but not important word. Another alternative was to consider it a means of power through witch different political discourses tries to dominate the world..

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.

In Sweden, a new feminist political party (?Feministiskt initiativ?) was founded in 2005. The main objective of this thesis is to study the reasons and driving forces behind the establishment of the party, as well as to explain the timing of its foundation in 2005. The theories that are used in the study are focused on the individual founders, and the empirical material comprise in essence of interviews with founders.The study reveals that several individuals, as well as political movements were involved in the process of the party establishment. Various interacting factors influenced the founders to choose the strategy of setting up a political party.

Since Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) several constitutional reforms has been taking place. During this time, Sweden has also changed its view on democracy,from a collective to an individual perspective of democracy in the politics. A reasonable hypothesis and the purpose of this essay is to investigate if the Swedish government has beendeveloped towards an Europeanization.The Swedish state audit changed in a pioneering way after the EU- entry, with the formation of Riksrevisionen. Another constitutional change is that the Swedish EU- membership is being instituted in the Swedish constitution. The role of Swedish courts has also changed since the EU- entry.

Torstensson, Niklas (2012): Anledningar till olikheter mellan Svenska kommuners skolkvalitet (Causes behind the differences in Swedish municipality´s quality of school) Örebro University.This essay is an explorative case study that will compare four Swedish municipalities quality of local school system against the municipality ´s backgrounddata and a governing document: Skolplan. This study begins in a previous benchmarking study made by one of Sweden?s teachers unions Lärarförbundet. This is a statistical study that ranked the Swedish municipalities against each other?s according to their accomplishments in a number of areas related to their school systems.

Vi har i denna heuristiska fallstudie utgått från hypotesen att företag under vissa omständigheter har stora möjligheter att påverka stater genom en central beslutsfattare. Vi har utifrån denna hypotes valt att analysera beslutsprocessen i USA som föranledde Irakkriget. Vår ställda frågeställning är: På vilket sätt påverkade företag USA: s beslut att attackera Irak. När vi svarar på denna frågeställning visar vi genom att använda oss av Graham Allisons teori Governmental Politics hur företaget Halliburton genom Vicepresident Dick Cheney påverkat USA: s beslut att invadera Irak. Genom detta försvarar vi tankarna att företag är viktiga aktörer inom utrikespolitisk analys och att man för att tillfredsställande kunna analysera ämnet måste komma ner på individnivå.

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 thesis concerns the policy process of a proposed bill. The specific bill constitute a new penal law which is supposed to replace the old penal law from 1974.The questions asked considers what in the foregoing policy process that has proceeded, affected and also characterizes the proposed bill. In order to be able to produce a deep and reliable analysis to this question I use two different theories.The first theory being used consists of John W. Kingdons theory of ?multiple streams? which I use to answer the specific question ?what can be recognized to have proceeded and characterize the policy process that the penal law bill involve??.The second theory consists of Peter Santesson-Wilsons development of symbolic policy theories which is given a concrete form in the ?taxonomy of symbolic policy? which he presents.

This master's thesis analyses the concept of equality between men and women in parts ofRegion Västra Götaland's area of operation. With critical policy analysis I analyse how theproblem of inequality is represented in the European charter for equality of women and men inlocal life (CEMR) and the Region Västra Götaland's plan of action for the charter. Throughinterviews with people responsible for gender equality in different areas I analyse, withdiscourse theory, the ways in which the concept of gender equality is articulated in differentareas of Region Västra Götaland, and what kind of politics these articulations enables.In the analysis I show that a discursive struggle of how equality is to be defined canbetter be understood as a discursive negotiation. Equality between men and women isunderstood in several ways at the same time, as antidiscrimination and basic human rights, asbalance between the sexes, and as an approach critical of norms and stereotypes. Within thesenegotiations certain understandings of gender are made possible or impossible.

Stark tro på en rättvis värld (BJW) har setts ha samband med en benägenhet att nedvärdera olycksdrabbade men även med positiva aspekter såsom stresshantering. Politiskt har BJW setts relaterad till högerorientering. Denna studie kombinerar relationen mellan BJW och politik med fokusering på attribuering av orsaker till arbetslöshet vilket tidigare förbisetts. Elever (n = 63) från gymnasium och högskola tog ställning till föreslagna orsaker till arbetslöshet och besvarade bakgrundsfrågor inklusive politisk hemvist och två olika BJW-skalor: dels en cynisk inställning till andras misslyckanden (deserved misfortune, DM), dels en förmåga att glädjas över andras framgång (deserved good fortune, DGF). DM och DM för deltagare med lågt DGF uppvisade samband med högerpolitisk orientering, vilket även korrelerade positivt med intern attribution.

The aim of this paper is to examine how teachers experience their possibilities to develop democratic teaching in high school and how they reflect upon their position of power within the teaching situation. Four professional high school teachers have been interviewed for the study. The theoretical perspective of the study is an intersectional view on power and a view on democratic teaching which is partly built on the high school curriculum, but mainly defined by deliberative conversations, anti-oppressive education and norm-critical education. The result of the study is focused on three themes, which were shown in the analysis of the interviews. These themes are: choices of teaching content,  authority of the teacher and democratic teaching.

During the last two decades, the elementary, - secondary-, and upper secondary schools of especially Europe and USA have gone through a change. From being formed in the post war time and, in Europe, very influenced by the ideas of social democracy, the school today has more and more come under the influences of neo liberalism, entrepreneurship and the political and economical situations during the late 1980´s.This undergraduate work brings up the changed discourses of education and knowledge in relation to the traditional free school system for adults in Sweden, the popular education, and especially in relation to folk high schools (folkhögskolor). By using, first and foremost, the idea of Norman Faircloughs critical discourse analysis (CDA) the rules and documents concerning the folk high schools are analyzed. The purpose of the paper is to identify and recognize the movement in the discourse to reach an understanding about the political situation for folk high schools in Sweden. In the end you can see that it is possible to define a similar development in discourse surrounding the popular education, as has been in the case with the elementary, - secondary-, and upper secondary schools..