The purpose of this graduate work is to seek knowledge about how children?s right to participation and influence is interpreted and understood in a specific context and also to examine how this right can be conditioned and shaped by the pedagogical practice of early childhood education.The focus of this study has been to examine the arguments and attitudes towards the right to participation and influence as a pedagogical practice as it is understood in early childhood education. Additionally, I have been interested in studying the affordances and restrictions that early childhood educators experience when dealing with children´s right to participation and influence.The platform used for data collection is Facebook and the informants recruited were active participants in forums regarding democracy in preschool education. In the second phase of the study I conducted online focus groups with these participants.For the analysis of the material I have adopted a poststructuralist perspective, starting from Jaques Derridas philosophical texts and use of deconstruction.The results show the complexity in early childhood education´s democratic mission. What becomes clear is the importance for the teachers to adopting an open, ethical and democratic approach in order to make children´s right to participation and genuine influence possible in the everyday reality of early childhood education. .

Title: ?We become like a little ambassador in the country of Facebook? ? an essay on the pres-ence of Swedish National Radio on Facebook. (?Vi blir som en liten ambassador I Facebooklan-det? ? En uppsats om Sveriges Radios närvaro på Facebook)Number of pages: 34 (46 including enclosures)Author: Nina WillénTutor: Christian ChristensenCourse: Media and Communication Studies CPeriod: Fall 2010University: Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: My purpose is to examine what the presence of the Swedish National Radio on a commercial network like Facebook means and how the editors themselves argue about it. For the analysis I use critical political economy as a theoretical point of view.Material/Method: The material consists of interviews made from a qualitative method.

This paper examines if European integration has had an impact on national political parties by looking at the stances of the Swedish Green Party and the Left Party on the issue of the European Community and the European Union over time. With the development of the European Community and the European Union, national political parties face the challenge of an emerging political arena. European integration research has recently become more involved with what is called europeanization and political integration within the member states them self, this paper aims to provide further leverage to the thesis that national political actors undergo some degree of europeanization and are politically integrated in the EU, by examining manifestos of two historically eurosceptic Swedish political parties. The theoretical framework provided by neo-functional integration theory as well as europeanization is used to examine the empirical material in order to see if the political parties at the focal point of this study can be said to have undergone a change in political policy regarding the EC and EU, both in quantity and content. The analysis show that indeed both parties has undergone a change and what might be considered a europeanization, considering that the presence of the EU as a political issue seem to have risen in prominence and importance in the examined manifestos.

This study sets out to investigate the social significance and political use of three historical places, from the theoretical starting points of landscape, objects, society and rituals. The Teutoburger Forest in North Germany has had an international effect, being a german national icon during the reformation and through two world wars, Old Uppsala is a place of great importance for the creation and reproduction of Swedish national identity during several hundred years, and Eketorp ring fort on Öland in Sweden is of more regional importance. All these places have been used for social and political reasons through history. History can be used in a constructive or a destructive way. This study stresses the importance of a critical scientific tradition..

The purpose of this essay is to examine wage-earners' investment funds from the ideological point of view. Were they in any way an integrated part of social democratical democratic socialism and reformism? I emphasize Olof Palme´s ideological idea of democratic socialism and reformism, and how he handled the issue. How did the question of these funds correspondent with the basic ideological points of view, and what was the standpoint of Palme in this issue.My method is built upon a deep study and analyses of SAP board of party and the standing committees protocol in the light of Olof Palme´s and SAP's ideology. I even use information from literature, inquiries and dissertations.

AbstractEssay in political science, C-level, by Line Säll, spring semester 2007.Tutor: Susan Marton.?To do things by the rule of law -A study in the discretion of front-line bureaucrats?This essay has it´s starting-point in the theoretical problem of social science to unite democracy and bureaucracy. The purpose is to illustrate the problems with the discretion of front-line bureaucrats in a democratic state. The theoretical approach is front-line bureaucracy-theory. Certain characteristics of the work of street-level bureaucrats makes it impossible to severly reduce discretion.

Previous research shows that Swedish teenagers? reading of fiction have decreased during the last decade (Skolverket 2006). As future librarians we found ourselves asking why, and an interest to look into this was triggered. The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is therefore to examine why teenagers? reading of fiction is decreasing. Focus lies on students? perception of their own reading, both inside and outside the school environment.

AbstractThe European union experience sometimes difficulties in advancing its work due to the member states? different ambitions and interests. The budget is one common tool that the member states can use in order to implement different policies according to their preferences. A large share of the budget is presently tied up in the CAP, the common agricultural policy. This share could be spent in another area and by doing so the EU could take a slightly different direction.

Background: Officers in the Swedish Armed Forces educates their soldiers in various skills and arenas. The Officers get their educational training in officer training courses conducted by the Swedish Armed Forces or the Swedish national defence college. The aim of this study was to find out how the cadets, belive that they are formed into educators, their views on the literature being used in the Swedish armed Forsces, and their views on leadership and educational science.Methods: The data for analysis were collected in spring 2010, by use of a questionnaire among cadets studying the tactical/operational program Ta/Op 07/10 at the Swedish national defence college. The respons rate was 69, 6 %.Results: The majority of the cadets thought that experience was the most important factor in becoming a good educator. Most of the cadets also thought that the literature being used by the Swedish armed forces was good, however, few cadets stated that they will use the material for reflection on their own teaching when working as officers.Conclusions: The Cadets had a positive attitude towards the educational philosphy and literature being used, but few will use the literature in reflecting on themselves as teachers.

The purpose of this examination paper has been to examine the situation for Swedish as a Second Language Programs in relationship to their interaction with the parents of the stu-dents. This case study was performed at two schools in the county of Stockholm. A com-parative analysis of both national and local documents for school governance was used to analyse the contents for incidents of parental involvement in schooling. Furthermore, qualitative semi-structured interviews were carried out with five staff-members holding key positions. The findings of the study are that schools tend to practice parental involve-ment only to the level that it is recommended in the national documents.

The retailing industry has an extremely high density of brands. In order to differentiate its offer, both retailers and suppliers, are constantly forced to come up with new ways to launch their products. A collaborative strategy between two brands is called co-branding, which means that both the private label and the supplier's brand are displayed on the new product packaging. Several studies have shown that a co-branding strategy is successful, but many operators are still reluctant to use co-branding in fear of long-term losses due to potentially damaged business relations. The objective of this study is to explain how the product- and brand related value for customers, retailers and suppliers is affected by co-branding between private labels and national brands.

The question of direct citizen participation in politics and administration is a contestable one. Its proponents claim that it has positive consequences even for the more "traditional", representative democracy, since participation leads to an increased political knowledge and increased political interest, and thus creates a revitalised democracy. Critical voices have however been raised to the validity of this claim. Critics have also pointed out direct participation as problematic, because it leads to problems of political inequality: a difference of political influence between ? on the one hand, the citizens participating directly and those that restrict their political participation to voting, and ? on the one the other hand ? between the institutions, for example schools, that employ, and don?t employ this method of direct citizen influence.In this essay, these two points of criticisms are tested in the context of user-boards in elementary and secondary schools.

Malmö has often been described as a segregated city, with relatively low democratic participation and high poverty and alienation. Behind this kind of statements we often find a material reality, with unequal distribution of assets and potentials that needs to be taken into consideration for political action. At the same time this categorisation of people into different groups can take stigmatising effects and result in increased inequality.I find the theoretical basis for my thesis in Lefebvre?s writings on ?the right to the city?, that shortly means that all inhabitants of a city have the right to take active part in the constantly ongoing process of producing and reproducing the city ? on all levels, from a hands-on everyday life level to a more abstract political level.With an interdisciplinary approach, where the right to the city is discussed in relation to citizenship, presence, representation and public space, I try to understand the connections between democracy, participation, justice and equality. These discussions are then applied to examples from Malmö; both publically initiated projects and individual physical markings in the city.

Cypernfrågan handlar om en etnisk konflikt mellan grek- och turkcyprioterna som uppstod direkt efter öns självständighet. Parterna hade väldigt svårt att samarbeta med varandra vilket ledde till att Cypern delades i två delar. Sedan dess har grupperna levt åtskilda med egna administrationer och strävan efter självbestämmande, den grekcypriotiska befolkningen strävade efter enosis, att hela ön införlivas med Grekland medan den turkcypriotiska befolkningen strävade efter taksim, att den norra delen av ön förenas med moderlandet Turkiet. FN har agerat som tredjepart för att försöka nå en fredslösning och lyckades lindra konflikten men många problem förblev olösta. I min uppsats har jag försökt komma fram till varför fredsförslaget Annanplanen, som upprättades av FN:s dåvarande generalsekreterare, blev avvisad av den grekcypriotiska befolkningen samt vad kan vara den största orsaken bakom den långvarige konflikten.

The purpose of this study is twofold: First, to inquire how the George W. Bush administration plans to keep America safe from external threats and second ? based on the assumption that neoconservatives have influenced the Bush administration ? examine how neoconservative ideas have influenced this strategy to protect America. The research questions are as follows:What is the content of the Bush administration?s security strategy?How are neoconservative ideas reflected in this security strategy?To answer the first question, the main points of two studied documents were summarized.