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.

We aim to develop knowledge of how new technology, in this case social media, can contribute to how sports fans interact with their idols. Therefore our framing of a question is to present how fans experience their contact with mixed martial arts (MMA) & ultimate fighting championship (UFC) through social media platforms. To specify our study, we also have a supplement question with in which way sports fans uses social media.We have chosen to conduct a qualitative study consisting of interviews and data observations of websites, related to the organization UFC, to approach our main question. We have interviewed nine randomly selected people with one common interest - MMA/UFC. With an implant of theories, consisting of social media, fandom and lurking, on the result of the interview and website data, we try to come closer to a conclusion for our intention with this thesis.Our conclusion is that the interviewed fans express that through the usage of social media, they feel like they have come closer to UFC.

The main purpose of this C-essay is to answer the question: What have been the consequences and effects of the merit point system on language studies and the parties concerned (teachers, students and principals) during the school year of 2010/11?The merit point system is the result of a political decision and was implicated for the first time in the Swedish upper secondary school during the school year 2010/2011. Being a completely new phenomenon it is of great interest and importance to study its effects.The study in this essay also aims to verify, falsify or nullify two hypotheses very often referred to in the political discussions regarding the merit point system:The merit point system will replace affection and interest as main reasons for language studies in upper secondary school and cause a rectification amongst the students choices of additional courses.The merit point system will have a segregating effect upon society and make it harder for people to rise in society through education in the future.A verification of these hypotheses would imply the appearance of an increased rectification amongst students as well as an orientation towards an in the future more segregated society.The empiric material has been collected and examined with qualitative as well as quantitative methods (questionnaires and interviews) and belongs epistemologically to the phenomenological and hermeneutical traditions..

Problem area and purposeNowadays, 2006, the downloading of music and movies is an increasingly more burning issue. But while the music industry has made great progress in using the Internet as a distribution channel the film industry has been at a standstill for several years. Recently however there has been progress in the form of a few film companies beginning to offer their customers legal ways to acquire films over the Internet. But with this progress one central question arises, which this report will try to answer; what are the important factors for selling films as the Internet moves from primarily being a information channel to also functioning as a distribution channel? The purpose is to examine what the consumers find important when purchasing film, and to establish to what degree there is a substitution effect between DVDs and downloadable films.MethodThe report is first and foremost based on an Internet survey with a total of 383 participants.

The retail banks are usually looked upon as conservative. Since the launch of internet banks in the 90's they have not developed much. Meanwhile the internet is developing in a fast pace and social websites are increasing in popularity. The purpose of this essay was to investigate how internet banking will develop in the near future based on interviews, literature and trend studies. With web 2.0 techniques the internet bank could develop to help the costumers take more informed decisions regarding their economic situation.

AbstractPurpose/Aim: This essay deals with The Swedish Red Cross Society and their work concerning strategical information and communication about HIV and AIDS in the Swedish context. In a broader sense the relation between the global and the local will be investigated and a discussion about what it means to work in an organization operating on a global arena will be held.Material/Method: This essay is based on relevant theories about culture and health communication which I have studied, selected and put together, with purpose to analyse The Swedish Red Cross Society and their informational work with HIV and AIDS- prevention. Furthermore I have interviewed four of the organizations co- workers to collect data about their experiences in working in the Red Cross organization with this specific mission. Moreover I and my colleague Hillevi Good attended at seminars and lectures to observe activities held by the organization and to get inside information about what people working with HIV and AIDS are discussing and considering as critical issues. The study holds a qualitative approach focusing on understanding this typical case rather then generalizing facts in a larger sense.Main results: The Swedish National Society of The Red Cross has a difficult mission in their work to inform the public about HIV and AIDS, although it is the perfect organization when it comes to communication due to their well-known profile and a huge geographical spread.

Syftet med denna undersökning var att studera eventuella skillnader i upplevd motivation och självförtroende mellan fotbollslandslagsspelande och icke fotbollslandslagsspelande ungdomar i åldern 14-19. Dessutom studerades eventuella skillnader mellan pojkarna och flickorna inom samma område. Total deltog 471 fotbollsspelande ungdomar varav 282 spelade i landslagen och 189 inte spelade i landslagen, 270 pojkar och 201 flickor. Spelarna fyllde vid ett tillfälle i enkäterna Grit scale, Sport Motivation Scale (SMS), The self-determination scale och Sport Confidence Inventory. Resultaten visade att det fanns skillnader mellan de landslagsspelande och icke landslagsspelande ungdomar inom variablerna upplevd motivation och upplevt självförtroende.

Christendom has under a long period of time in Swedish history been the central component in legitimating the monarchs' power, a continuous process than can be clearly observed through the customs of royal coronation and baptism rites. However, during the 20th century those close ties between the state and the church of Sweden have been dissolving at a steady rate, alongside a growing societal democratization and modernization process. Officially the monarch still had a clear constitutional power legitimated through the transcendent, but unofficially his power was in reality heavily reduced. How do the Swedish monarchy relate to a rapidly changing society and secularization process? This pilot study investigates this relation by analyzing the news reports of the royal coronation and baptism rites between 1858 and 2012 from two leading newspapers, Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter.

Environmental subsidies are used as incitements to farmers for development of sustainable land use. In 2014, applications for funding constructed wetlands were not available. This paper examines the environmental consequences of this lack of funding in one intensively cultivated region Skåne län, southern Sweden.A review of wetland applications between year 2007-2013 show that the average rate of applications has been 31 projects per year with a wetland size of 4,48 ± 1,61ha per project (mean±95% CI). Based on interviews, the result suggests that the lack of funding in one year leads to between 102 and 140 ha of constructed wetlands that is not built. This correspond to a total loss of increased nitrogen retention capacity between 6,0 and 91,7 tons/year and a loss of increased phosphorus retention capacity between 0,17and 2,1 tons/year in the drainage basins of Skåne.Further the interviews show that continuity of environmental regulations and funding is important for the farmers? interest in environmental measures.It is concluded that the total loss of increased retention capacity is small compared to the annual transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the drainage basins.

The aim of this study was to, using previously collected data from self-declared antisocial behaviour questionnaires, examine if the crime frequency has been different between adolescents that have either been referred to two different forms of open care in social service, child and youth psychiatric inpatient care or have been sent to Homes for Specialised Supervision. The criminality frequency and the most common crimes committed were compared between the study groups and further between genders in each particular study group. Statistical significance testing was used and the results of the survey revealed that juvenile delinquents that had committed severe criminal acts were represented in all four groups. The study group with adolescents in national care was the most different from other groups. These youths seemed to have had a lower crime frequency than the other groups with the exception assault and robbery.

The purpose is to explore and describe norms and values concerning emotions and emotional expression inSweden and Greece from an emotionsociological perspective. Do emotional regimes on a national level existand if they do, how do they differ? To answer this question qualitative interviews have been conducted withnine Greek/Swedes, men and women of different ages, who have lived in both countries and who speak bothlanguages. A quantitative survey study, employing a survey previously used in a Swedish study about emotions,has also been undertaken. Previous studies have shown that emotional regimes do differ historically and acrosscultures, but no study so far has focused on the differences between examples of North European and SouthEuropean cultures.The theoretical framework consists mainly of Hochschild´s theories about feeling/display rules and emotionwork, but the analysis also draws on Collin´s theory of interaction ritual chains and on Sociology of Emotionsmore broadly.The results suggest that different national regimes can be distinguished primarily in terms of display rules andin the skills of emotional alternations.

Nowadays the world of football has become more commercial than before. As a result of this the clubs' financial status is getting more and more important. Therefore the UEFA has given the national federations a specific task to make sure that the clubs from each country follow certain standards of maintaining the football credibility. The Swedish federation has decided that the Swedish clubs must follow the so-called ?elitlicensen?.

The purpose of this study is to examine what motivates people to help others at risk to themselves. The focus is on international aid workers, which in their work put themselves in situations of risk. Earlier research shows that international aid work involves risks such as infectious diseases, violence, death threats, assaults, constant insecurity and risk to be traumatized etc. There is not much research done on what motivates to help others in spite of risks, hence we find this an interesting area. We have interviewed six respondents about the content and character of their motivation and factors that are important for the maintenance and development of this motivation.

According to the arm?s length principle, transactions between associated multinational en-terprises (MNE) shall be based on the same conditions as transactions between unrelated parties. This means that intra-group prices on cross-boarding transactions must be at arm?s length range and consistent with conditions in the open market. The arm?s length principle is expressed in article 9.1 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and Chapter 14 section 19 of the Swedish Income Tax Act.When transfer pricing between associated MNEs is not reflecting the arm?s length princi-ple, states face the possibility of losing tax revenue.

This work derives from the question ?What is a beautiful road??. The question is being discussed in interviews with two employees at the Swedish National Road Administration and two former members of the ?Council of environment and beauty? at the Swedish National Road Administration. The interviews are summarized in my own discussion about the concept of ?Beautiful roads?.