Croatia became an independent country 1991 and has since then strived to reach a democracy level, which can lead to membership of the European Union. The purpose of this essay is on the basis of consolidate democratic perspective to illustrate Croatia?s democratic development.In order to fulfil the aim, I have applied a qualitative text analysis technique. Through analysis of books and documents, data was collected to accommodate a valid result. I have used consolidated democracy, with its five areas (political, civil, economic, legal and bureaucratic), as my theoretical framework to the data, to provide answers and develop an analysis.The conclusions show that the consolidate democracy in Croatia has developed a lot since the independence, and Croatia is on its good way to turn into a democratic state like other West-European countries.

After the appointment of a new European Commission in 2004, ?communication? was made a top priority on the agenda. The Commission presented a new communication policy, which would establish a dialogue with the citizens, thereby bringing more democracy to the union and bridging the gap to the citizens. Three documents containing the policy were published, namely an internal action plan for the Commission, Plan D which establishes the framework for national debates and a whitepaper on EU communication policy. These documents were met by mistrust and criticism from many different actors such as journalists and experts.The aim of this master thesis is to examine this new communication policy from a deliberative democratic perspective.

The following essay aims at the interplay between regional och municipal growth work, and theway cultural heritage is used in growth work strategies. The main issue has been whether theregional strategies are followed up in the municipal strategies, which has been investigated bymeans of question which impact the region?s strategies has at the local level.The essay draws upon an instrumental perspective on cultural heritage and cultural environment,here defined as instruments in the national development and growth efforts. Three publicationsthat highlights potential roles of cultural heritage and cultural environment to act as instrumentsin the regional and municipal development and growth efforts has thereby been selected astheoretical models. These roles has further been summarized in a tabular form as a schematicdivision of main themes with sub-categories, used as a framework for deciphering the regionaland municipal strategies.A content analysis of available strategies at both regional and local levels have been used as amethod for investigating the issue, where the role of cultural heritage and cultural environment(as defined in the schematic table) has guided the reading.

The purpose of the study is to explore how social media can be used as a forum to discuss politics and also how young people use critical reflection to evaluate the information available on social media. To achieve the purpose, a qualitative research is used. The empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews with six high school students who voted in the Swedish parliamentary elections in/of 2014. The empirical data were then analyzed based on previous research on social media, and the school's mission to foster individuals who think critically. The analysis is also based on the theory of deliberative democracy model.

Municipalities are steered organizations with a democratic decision-making. They are responsible for an extensive activity. The local municipal audit is the municipal council?s tool to control that the activity operates. The local municipal audit will in the beginning of every audit period plan for what they will review.

The purpose of this study is to see how secondary schools in Skelleftea? County market themselves in order to attract students. How the schools portrait themselfs, what is in focus in the information material and how the schools communicate their message to the students who are about to choose schools are the questions asked. The study contains both municipal secondary schools and independent secondary schools. A text analysis has been implemented on texts from the schools websites and interviews were conducted with five respondents from the municipal secondary schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the needs of social assistance for people with substance abuse are assessed in accordance to The Swedish Social Services Act 4th chapter 1§. The purpose was also to examine how substance abuse is assessed as a social problem by social workers, how the municipal guidelines concerning social assistance for substance abuser were constructed in relation to the Social Service Act and finally how social workers made their assessments of the need of social assistance to people with substance abuse in relation to the legislation. The sample was made among the municipalities in the county of Stockholm. Municipal guidelines were studied in 18 municipalities by content analysis. A sample of 11 social workers was chosen from 5 municipalities.

Essay in political science, C-level by Lisa Kringsberg, spring semester 2007. Tutor: Susan Marton. ?Democracy by force ? A case study of Iraq?The purpose of this essay is to examine how the new Iraq strategy, formed by the United States, is going to effect Iraqs possibilities to become a democracy. To come to any conslusions about this I ask two questions: 1) Did the United States take in considiration what researchers think should improve the possibilities for a country to develop democracy? and 2) Did the United states take in consideration researchers presumptions in relation to Iraqs possibilities to become a democracy?My examination is a case study of the Iraq strategy from 2007.

The overall purpose of this essay is to study in which degree the democratic model that is called participant democracy works in the Swedish municipalities. To achieve what I set out to do I will focus on a central political area in which the Swedish municipalities has sovereignty versus the state, in other words in an area where they rule themselves. That political area will then represent how well the participant democracy works in the Swedish municipalities. The research questions then becomes:Does the participant democracy at Swedish Municipality level work in a satisfying way?Does the participant democracy in a large Swedish Municipality in a central political area work?Does the participant democracy in a small Swedish Municipality in a central political area work?Are there similarities and differences between the municipalities?If so, how can that be explained?To answer these questions I will study documents regarding the planning and building area.

Vi gör en jämförelse av två teorier som båda behandlar hanteringen av etniska konflikter i plurala samhällen. Dessa två teorier - Consociational Democracy och Transversal Politics, är varandras motsatser och har båda implementerats i etniskt splittrade samhällen. Consociational Democracy som förespråkar mellanetnisk interaktion, har tillämpats i bland annat Bosnien- Hercegovina. Transversal Politics, som har tillämpats i Rwanda, förordar istället icke-etniska politiska plattformer. Båda dessa länder upplevde etniska rensningar under 90-talet, och har sedan dess präglats av försonings- och demokratiseringsprocesser med stor internationell närvaro.

The aim of this study is to investigate differences that exist in Estonia and Russia with regard to civil society, democracy and corruption and try to find out what can be possible causes to the vast differences in these two countries. Many political scientists claim that civil society plays a key role in democratic transitions. This paper takes its point of departure in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Estonia and Russia became independent. Since then Estonia has had a flourishing economy which attract many foreign investments, with Sweden as the greatest investor. The country has also managed well to adjust quickly from totalitarianism to democracy.

This investigation aimed to shed light on the terms of the dispensing and the retaining of municipal social benefits granted by Swedish social services, this in regard of a less visible societal subgroup; citizens who cannot attain or retain housing of their own.Through qualitative interviews with six municipal social workers in Skåne, the plight of these citizens is revealed from a policy-making perspective in respect of views on discretion and individual appreciation. How may the applicant impact the application process and how does social subletting operate as a service effort?Further analysis of the accounts of informants? views on change and the reasons for change, sketched an image of a society where public acceptance and tolerance are crucial factors for citizens hoping to achieve a homestead through means of municipal intervention.In conclusion, flexible attitudes towards job description are of major import to the possibility of offering client support in under-staffed municipal environs. Furthermore, reflexive social workers allying with the applicant throughout the process, from application to intervention are decisive for efficacious, long-term social work..

ABSTRACTEssay in Political Science, Advanced Continuation Course, 61-80 credits, by Jonas Nilsson?The democratic islamist? - a study of three islamist movements and their potential role in ademocratization process?Supervisor: Jonas LindeThe purpose of this work has been to explain to what extent islamist movements can be said to bebearers of democratic values and if they have a role to play in future democratization processes. Thepurpose of this work is also to examine the democratic views of the different islamist movements andto compare them with each other in an effort to find a specific islamist definition of democracy.The essay is a qualitative analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Front Islamique du Salut inAlgeria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The analytical framework is based on the political institutionsincluded in Robert A. Dahl polyarchial democracy.

In 2002 the local council of Lund, Sweden, decides to implement the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. A number of actors, such as the state, the civil society, the political society and the bureaucracy, participate in the political process with different authority and points of departure. This thesis studies the actors´ interactions from an inside perspective by applying concepts such as political power, democracy and implementation. The methodological departure is action research from within, a local NGO, the local board of Save the Children Sweden. The results of the study indicate that governance and steering of the implementation process at the communal level is weak.

The main purpose of the examination research project is to analyze and describe how democracy and globalization is understood when they are integrated in the developing country of Kenya. This has been reflected by interviewing Kenyan teachers in history and government, to receive their view on globalization and its affects on democracy. Another purpose is to discuss this in didactic terms as a way to see how it can be practically used for upper-secondary schoolteachers in the subjects of civics and social studies. The procedure of the project and the method of use are interviews that have been analyzed in all with theoretical perspectives. My queries to be answered for the research are:1.