The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on a present trend of professionalization in Swedish local environmental politics, which have recently seen a decline in active participation of the citizens in favor of an increased governmental regulation. With the aim to closer investigate this relatively new phenomenon, the paper is a qualitative single case-study of environmental policies in the Swedish municipality of Karlskrona. In this case, the municipality is obviously balancing between regarding the interests of the national level and the interests of its own citizens at the same time. This motivates the use of system-theory, and relates to the classical political paradox between participation and efficiency which is also a present theme in the paper.This text-analysis based on interviews with personnel and documents from the municipality shows a visible trend of professionalization in the local politics of the municipality of Karlskrona, from a large grade of participation and a strong bottom-up approach in the days of Agenda 21 to now being more strongly top-down defined by national environmental objectives and principally operated on a professional level..

The aim of this paper is to examine how mid-level executive officers within Swedish Police respond to subordinates autonomous behaviour, mainly according to Lipsky´s theory on street-level bureaucracy. Questions focused on are:1. Which personnel related obstacles, are preventing the executive officers?2. How do executive officers counter obstacles?3.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the implementation process and the implementation steering of the social development aspects, gender equality and integration, in the program for regional development of the region Kronoberg in the period of 2004-2007.The study asks three questions: 1) How have the social development aspects, gender equality and integration, been implemented in the program for regional development of the region Kronoberg? 2) What has facilitated or hindered the implementation of the two social development aspects? 3) What possibilities to steer the implementation process of the two social development aspects exist at the governmental and at the regional level?In order to answer these questions a qualitative method has been used. To be able to analyse the empirical material, which consists of documents and interviews, the theoretical framework comprehends the policy process and implementation steering. The conclusion is that the incorporation of the social development aspects in the regional development program does not fully correspond with the central intentions, and that is due to circumstances at the regional level..

The aim of this study was to examine how individuals with disability pension reason about a return to work. Action theory, as presented by Berglind, was used as theoretical approach. Qualitative interviews were conducted with five individuals who have disability pension due to mental illness. The respondents describe how they weigh benefits and disadvantages against each other. The main reason for a return to work is economical.

During the last few years, there has been a lot of debate regarding the price ofelectricity on the Swedish market. According to a recent survey from Sifo, anon-bias governmental institute for consumer research and testing, the priceof electricity is what worries Swedish households the most. An investigationof the eciency of the Nordic power grids inuence on the Swedish spotprice is therefore both relevant and valuable. Three quarters of all electricityproduced in the Nordic region is traded at the Nord Pool Spot power market.This survey examines how much of the variation of the swedish spot pricecan be descried by the variation of the nordic system price and how much iscaused because of ineciencies in the power grid. Primarily, linear regressionwith adjustments for endogeneity and heteroskedasticity has been used in orderto analyze data obtained mainly from Nord Pool Spot and Vattenfall AB.The results show that the variation of the system price can account for all butabout 40% of the variation in the Swedish spot price.

Background: Because of the high unhealthy rates among women in the com-mune a project to reduce it have begun. For this reason we have been given the mission from the commune of Sotenäs to study the character of these women's health. Objective: To study the health among permanent employed women in the commune of Sotenäs. Method: Quantitative method. The data have been collected through question-naire survey.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the non-governmental shelters for battered women identify themselves in context of their dependence and cooperation with the municipality. Their legitimacy is also investigated which is based on, along with identity, key concepts of the neoinstitutional organization theory. The mutual dependency between these two actors is problematized along with the question of who is responsible for assisting the battered women, and who takes on the responsibilities for them. The empirical result that is analyzed was gathered through three qualitative semi structured interviews with employed personnel at three different battered women?s shelters in three different municipalities in Sweden.

The Swedish government decided in 1996 that the governmental authorities are to implemementenvironmental management systems. Each year, the Swedish Environmental ProtectionAgency compiles the authorities? reports on their environmental management systems. Thecompilation shows that not more than 20 % of the authorities perform environmental audits.This study aims to investigate the authorities? view of internal environmental audits, the incentivesof performing them.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the use of social media by the Swedish Police for democratic purposes. The idea of citizen empowerment is closely related to the development of new communication technologies such as social media. Yet many studies indicate that governmental institutions rarely make use of the assumed potentials of social media.In this study, the democratic potential of social media is derived from Habermas normative concept of deliberative participation. Operational definitions emphasize discursive equality, interactive reciprocity and external impact. The analytical framework is combined with qualitative text analysis to highlight the conditions of interaction between representatives of the Police and citizens.In conclusion: the democratic potential of social media, from a Habermasian point of view, is to a significant extent neglected at the expense of its strategic advantages.

Sustainability reporting in Sweden is a voluntary disclosure action for non-governmental companies. Since 2009 all state-owned companies must however publish a sustainability report according to GRI guidelines and with independent assurance statement. Three different sustainability reporting methods are primarily used: (1) Separate Sustainability Report, (2) Sustainability Report included in the Directors? Report, and (3) Sustainability Report forming part of the Printed Annual Report. The aim of this paper is to explore why some companies choose to publish a sustainability report and identify the motivational factors behind this decision, as well as attain an understanding for companies? choice of reporting method.

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.

Writing is a critical element for many of the second language learners that I?ve encountered in my work as a Swedish teacher. Therefore, on the basis of Jerome Bruners theories of reflec-tion and learning, was the purpose with this study to examine the scaffolded structured reflec-tion conversation as a method for writing development. Bruner says that the knowledge be-comes deeper when we consciously reflect over it (Arfwedson 1992:110 f).I have used a qualitative method where I let five students write a text in Swedish on the subject "application for internship". After that I held a conversation with each of the pupils.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the use of social media by the Swedish Police for democratic purposes. The idea of citizen empowerment is closely related to the development of new communication technologies such as social media. Yet many studies indicate that governmental institutions rarely make use of the assumed potentials of social media.In this study, the democratic potential of social media is derived from Habermas normative concept of deliberative participation. Operational definitions emphasize discursive equality, interactive reciprocity and external impact. The analytical framework is combined with qualitative text analysis to highlight the conditions of interaction between representatives of the Police and citizens.In conclusion: the democratic potential of social media, from a Habermasian point of view, is to a significant extent neglected at the expense of its strategic advantages.

The present state of politics in contemporary Venezuela portrays a country of polarization, a chase for power and accusations of authoritarian and even undemocratic rule. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine the democracy in Venezuela, in order to clarify the sometimes vauge perception of the political situation. By applying the theories of polyarchical democracy put forth by Robert Dahl, one of the most highly regarded theorists on the subject, accordingly the discussion will therefore follow a theoretical framework. Dahl requires seven nstitutions to be guaranteed in a democracy, amongst them the possibility to vote, run for public office and the practise of freedom of speech. Measuring Dahl's levels of institutions in Venezuela, it is made clear that the level of democracy vary in different areas.

Which general outlines are preferable in the relation between organizations and government? From normative theory and method I throw light upon this question by defining and comparing two different democratic standpoints. The substantial democratic standpoint focuses on political effectiveness and the procedural democratic standpoint focuses on equal representation. The normative discussion aims at comparing how well the different standpoints function in political praxis. Since the ambition is to discuss concrete praxis I have also chosen to analyse an extensive case of interest influence in Swedish politics empirically.