What kind of international actor is the European Union and how shall we define it? These are questions that many have tried to answer often by addressing the apparent uniqueness of the EU itself. One of these theories is Normative power Europe. A theory whose main argument is that the EU is best perceived as a changer of norms. My aim with this thesis is to test this claim and to see if the Union should be regarded as a normative power.

During the time I've attended the programme to become a Transportation manager, I've been presented with quite a large number of different words. My purpose with this paper is to take a closer look at them, and see if they're sustainable concepts. This paper will be a literary study, and be on a wholly theoretical level. After a thorough examination of the various words, I've come to the conclusion that these words that I've chosen aren't just fad-words. They're going to be around for quite a while, this due to the fact that they're based on good ideas from the get-go.

In 1989 the United States choose, after years of conflict, to carry out a military intervention in Panama, to remove Manuel Noriega, convicted for drug dealing and for threatening the lives of the Americans living in Panama. The aim of this study is to examine whether George H. W Bush?s arguments for the military intervention comply with the principles of the just war.The method chosen for this study is a qualitative literature study, based primarily on secondary data. It is a case study with two complementing theories, the theory of the just war and the world system theory.The result showed that the American intervention both can be justified and unjustified following the principles of the Just War Theory.

This essay examines the speaking subject in Katarina Frostenson?s poetry through a phenomenological perspective. The study is focused on how the subject appears, the relation between the subject?s inner world and the outside world, and the relation between the speaking subject and language. The purpose of the study is to expand the understanding of questions regarding the subject in Frostenson?s poetry by using a phenomenological approach ? a perspective that is missing in previous studies.

This Master?s thesis concerns the information behaviour of pastors in nonconformist churches (especially new evangelical and Baptist church communions) in Sweden in their spiritual service to the local parish. The thesis also looks into how the information flow functions in the pastors? context and why the information need appears as it does. The theory used in this study is contextual analysis based on Buckland?s, Weber?s and Patrick Wilson?s theories on authority and power structures.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the development of profitability and capital structure in Swedish quoted companies during the period of 1990 to 2004. Further, the aim is to determine the relationship between profitability and leverage in order to conclude whether the choice of capital structure supports the pecking order theory or the trade-off theory of capital structure. The findings show that return on assets fluctuates between 3 and 11 percent and that return on equity fluctuates between 3 and 22 percent during the period. Further, the leverage and the cost of debt have decreased. This indicates lowered financial risk in Swedish quoted companies in the period between 1990 and 2004.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a difference between the respondent groups preparers and non-preparers position in IASBs question if a reversal of previously impaired goodwill should be prohibited. The background is an exposure draft sent out by the IASB and we examine the answers, in form of comment letters, sent in by the respondents to reach our purpose. Our method is positivistic in the sense that we study already existing theories when we create our hypothesis which gives our assumption about how the result of the respondent?s answers will be. Our data, which we have collected from the comment letters, is qualitative secondary data.

The three dystopian novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Kallocain by Karin Boye and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell have been highly discussed amongst literary critics and scholars. Although these works are well-known, some themes have had very little or no recognition. Biological reproduction is a recurring subject in dystopian literature. Although it is not the main theme in the novels, it is a very important part in dystopian culture and dystopian society. By focusing on reproduction and the structure of gender roles in these three dystopias, I hope to bring to light something that's been in the shadows for a long time i.e.

The purpose of this study was to do a narrative survey of the discussion about violence in partner relationships that is held in research literature. The question at issue was: How do research literature discuss violence in partner relationships, with focus on heterosexual relationships? The eight primary documents that have been chosen are written by researchers, professional therapists, National Counsil for Women's protection (Nationellt Råd för Kvinnofrid, NRK) and Swedish Government Official Report (Statens Offentliga Utredningar, SOU). To investigate the theories, discover the similarities and differences between them and how they can complement each other, the documents statements has been analyzed with a dialectic-hermeneutic approach and social constructionism and discourse theory.The research findings showed that the gender perspective theory, the psychodynamic theory and the social psychology theory have a few things in common, but that they on the whole are different and contradict each other. The gender perspective theory dominates the discussion but needs to be combined with the other theories to give a more all-embracing understanding.

Changes in the society engender changes in the practice of the auditor profession. Stricter laws, more detailed recommendations, and demands from the auditor?s clients have increased. The auditor constitutes a profession and therefore it is important that there is a trust since the auditor is the one that certifies the quality of the company?s economical information.

Under tidigt 80-tal växte olika sorter av kommunikationsmodeller fram, bland annat Daft och Lengels, Media Richness Theory. Denna teori var baserad på den tidens kommunikationsmönster. Idag nästan 20 år senare har vi sett explosionsartad IT-utveckling vilket har medfört förändringar i det dagliga kommunikationsmönstret. I denna uppsats undersöker vi om Media Richness Theory fungerar på ny teknik med hänsyn till dagens utökade kommunikationsmetoder. Vi studerar bland annat användnings- och påverkningsmönster ur ett abduktivt perspektiv, det vill säga både kvalitativt och kvantitativt.

In today?s changing environment, creation of projects by organizations has become more common. The problem is, though, that the knowledge of the subject is still limited which causes many projects to fail. This has made it extra important to have a good project manager whocanlead the project in the right direction. While doing this both the project method and the project manager?s motivation are contributing sources.

Denna uppsats är tänkt som en introduktion till ämnet humor i landskapsarkitektur - ett ämne som ännu inte diskuterats i nämnvärd utsträckning. Den riktar ett särskilt fokus mot humorteorin Benign violation theory och undersöker om teorin kan användas i landskapsarkitektur. Först introduceras de tre tidigaste humorteorierna för att ge en bild av tre huvudsakliga modeller som finns för att förklara humor. Därefter presenteras Benign violation theory och enkätundersökningen som prövar dess applicerbarhet på landskapsarkitektur. Undersökningens resultat verkar tyda på att bilder som stämmer överens med teorins villkor verkligen uppfattas som roliga, men det finns stora felmarginaler och det råder behov av fler undersökningar i ämnet..

This study considers Härskarringen (1959?61), a Swedish translation of J. R. R. Tolkien?s The Lord of the Rings (1954?55), within the framework of translation studies and the description of norms within different fields of translation.

This paper analyses what effect an application of a specific poststructural feminist theory has on the Swedish classification system SAB. The purpose is to study if it is possible to open up the current representation of gender towards a more multiple one. The study is both theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part include a short presentation of both classification theory and feminist theory. The study also presents the critic that poststructual feminists submit.