The Swedish integration policy acts upon that all citizen should have equal rights and possibilities no matter ethnic and cultural background. In today's Sweden it is more or less a self-evident that immigrants ought to prepare the possibility to preserve their original cultural distinctive character according to the Governments Proposition 1997/98:16. Simultaneously the term integration and its actual meaning and its political significance are not always clear.Immigrants as a categorization are often overloaded with negative overtone and risk to seem discriminated. The category reinforces also a ?we? and ?them? thinking.

The purpose of this thesis is to critically investigate how to understand the regional transformations that are occurring in Sweden and Denmark. At a higher level of abstraction the results can be generalised to a wider context and I have found that there is an ideological hegemony that explains the regional transformation. Nation states are reterritorialising due to a changing world where global capital is becoming increasingly flexible and competition between states, regions and municipalities is needed to adjust. By using Sandberg's model of structural reforms I have shown that the differences between Sweden's and Denmark's reterritorialisation are due to differences in national political culture and existing administrative systems. In fact these two structural reforms are based on the same regionalist ideology as a reaction to the changing global economy.To investigate the regional transformations I have carried out an idea and ideology analysis on the recent Swedish proposal from Ansvarskommittén, Strukturkommissionen in Denmark and the proposal by the Danish government which was carried out in 2007.

On three occasions, in 1973, 1993 and 2005, Swedish parliament and government has resolved to integrate the, previously independent, foreign offices beloning to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the Swedish embassies. The implemenation of the integrationreform has however been a lengthy process. This thesis adresses two main issues: how has the integrationreform been able to remain a viable recipe for organizational change over time and why has the integrationprocess taken so long? Lastly I assess the possibility for effective implementation following the decision 2005.Based on New Institutionalism I conducted an historical analysis of the integrationprocess to explore the conditions for reform. My results indicate that the integrationreform primarly suited the interests of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, making the Foreign Serivce more effective and clarifying the Ministry's responsibilty for Swedish development cooperation policy.

It seems like Swedish municipalities are dominated by beliefs that all citizen participation is good for the development of local democracy. A critic of this certainty is rising among Swedish scholars of political science. However, a critic with an ambition of such generalization is harsh. Different democratic projects contents different qualities and thereby diverse problems in the democratic process. If these democratic problems within the process can be recognized, a deeper understanding can be found and in the prolongation a strengthening of the democracy.This essay examines the democratic process of Lomma municipality's democratic project of citizen participation.

I studiens primära del försöker vi närma oss supermakten och klassificeringen av den samma i termer av resurser och ´role theory´. På en lägre abstraktionsgrad är vi intresserade av fallet Kina och att utreda i vilken mån supermaktsbegreppet kan appliceras på staten. I en andra del argumenterar vi för ett unilateralt agerande utifrån Kinas givna position i det internationella systemet.Detta gör vi genom att exemplifiera deras politiska strategi i biståndspolitiken gentemot Afrika.Genom främst ´role theory förmår vi attribuera Kina supermaktsstatus och i vår neorealistiska ansats kan vi sedan se hur de smyger fram i det internationella systemet utan direkta konfrontationer i sin strävan efter ett multipolärt system..

The purpose of this paper is to investigate possible reasons Sweden might have had to motivate the start and end of its nuclear program during the Cold war. This investigation will be conducted using a qualitative research method and making a comparison between the theories realism and liberalism?s ability to explain the decisions. The question this paper is based upon is as follows: Can Sweden?s creating and shutting down of a nuclear weapons program during the Cold war be explained by the international events and actions that were taking place during this time period? The result consists of liberalism pointing out several failures on the international level that might explain the cynical decision from Sweden to create the nuclear weapons. Realism considers the decision to make perfect sense at this point in time, to protect Sweden on the anarchy that was going on at that time according to this theory.The ending of the nuclear weapons program is being explained largely by the rise of the MAD-concept which renders the acute need of nuclear weapons in Sweden void.  Liberalism on the other hand considers this a logic step due to the better established UN that is playing a larger role now than in the 1940s. In conclusion, realism does a better job explaining the start of the nuclear weapons program, while liberalism explains the end of it more efficiently. The contribution this thesis has to the research of political science can be seen mainly in three areas.

Since the 1980's economic policies has become an important issue in municipalities and more resources are put into projects that are intended to have a positive influence on the local economic growth. From a theoretical perspective of regime theory and a model of local political economy, concerning the strategies chosen by the actors involved designed by Jon Pierre, the discussion points to the fact that it is possible to affect the local development. The municipalities discussed and compared in this thesis, Bromölla and Östra Göinge, have similar prerequisite for growth mainly due to their dependence to large industrial companies.In order to fulfill the aim of the thesis and examine the change in economic policies over time and between the two municipalities a comparative method is used. The creation of local governing coalitions is emphasized which makes efforts and intentions of individual actors crucial for the success of the local economic policies. Bromölla started their more active efforts in the area of economic policies earlier than Östra Göinge and has also come a bit further in the process.

The way in which media discusses religion has changed over time. Due to the separation of state and church in 2000, the Swedish state to a lesser extent legitimizes its political ruling with references to religious concepts. As a result, a higher tolerance towards religious minorities can be said to have taken place. This is an ambiguous change however, where critique raised towards religious practices and expressions of minorities also occurs to a higher extent. The public debate is in large part conducted through the media, but is also seen to be produced and reproduced through the media?s discourse.

The practice of residential treatment of youth has been up for debate for quite some time. The debate regarding institutional care has voiced concerns regarding the lack of follow-up and evaluation of treatment and its efficacy. It is especially important with additional research on residential treatment conducted from the perspective of those being treated, as well as the treatment providers. This study aims to add to this field of research. The study is based on two empirical studies conducted through qualitative interviews.

ABSTRACTThis thesis focuses on the OPEC oil crisis of 1973 and its impact on the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Denmark. Starting from Walter Carlsnaes theory of energy vulnerability, the concepts of vulnerability and national security are tested on the selected cases and an array of policy alternatives are assessed. Posited available options like oil stockpiling, conservation, renewable energy and international coordination are evaluated as means for ameliorating the vulnerability of the nations. The theory chosen is further expounded with a consensus element to reinforce its explanatory power. The thesis utilizes a wide range of material from parliamentary records to daily newspapers in an attempt to shed some light on the interplay between economics and politics.Sweden and Denmark evince diverging developments despite their common starting point with exceptionally high oil dependencies and can be located on different ends of the energy policy gamut.

Adopting a socio-cultural approach to the study of cold war historiography, this master?s degree essay is a comparative study of the two main disciplinary fields of cold war scholarship, diplomatic history and international relations theory (IR). The study applies the theory of scientific development formulated by Thomas Kuhn and the concept of paradigm on the field of cold war research.Diplomatic history and IR shows many similarities in their development, and in the importance different schools has had in scholarly debate. These different schools are analysed as paradigms, a concept that has been more willingly adopted within IR than in diplomatic history. The transition from what historian John Lewis Gaddis has termed Old Cold War History to New Cold War History is discussed in terms of paradigms and paradigm shift.

This paper seeks to discern the political factors that determine the results of negotiations in international cooperation. On the one hand, it makes a contribution to the broader theoretical debate on international regimes by combining regime theory and theories on globalisation into an integrated framework for the analysis of international policy results, or in this case treaties (theoretical objective). More generally, globalisation theory will help us understand why it has become important to initiate international cooperation, and regime theory to elucidate how these international cooperations emerge. To many observers, it is the large transnational corporations of the rich North, which have done best out of free trade. Through the huge influence they wield over governments at the WTO (World Trade Organisation), these corporations have won the freedom to move around the globe without restriction, making use of cheap labour, and locating wherever they can best tap into the largest and most lucrative markets.

In June 2006 the Council of the European Union agreed on the review of the EU sustainable development strategy. This renewed strategy voices a commitment to sustainable development that includes a diverse list of safeguarded interests. Sustainability is to be attained in the spheres of democracy, solidarity, the rule of law, gender equality and at the same time it should promote a dynamic economy. Given this multifunctional application of sustainable development, curiosity may soon give rise to questions such as; What is the legal significance of the concept? Is it to be considered a general principle of Community law? And can it be used as an instrument in adjudication and legal reasoning? Anyone who looks deeper into the concept of sustainable development is soon to find a labyrinthine complex of ideas, expressions and opinions.

The study focus on the development of the bilateral relationship between India and the United States and the Next Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) from 2004 and the change in U.S. approach to India's neuclear program. With the rise of China to potential great power status I argue that the cooporation between the two is an act to balance the Chinese influence and to prevent future rivalry and a Chinese dominance of the East Asia. For the study I have used concepts and theorys from the realist tradition, in particular theorys of Balance of power and alliance forming..

The ambition of this study is to examine the discussion surrounding the Swedish participation in the European security- and defence policy. By forming feasible areas of arguments the goal is to gain further comprehension in the case of Sweden. These arguments are formed in close relation to the empirical sources; With less public funding there are economic aspects of cooperation, this could also be related to Swedish the industry of defence systems; A high level of participation in the UN is a tradition in Swedish foreign policy, the European battle groups are the perfect tool to further strengthen the UN ability in conflict management and peace keeping missions; Outside the EMU Sweden could face the political margin, to retain influence a high level of activity ought to occur in the integration process; Finally, the future position of United States and NATO is not clear, Europe needs an capacity apart the US to contribute to lasting peace and stability. The arguments are close related to each other, but the main argument is to through ESDP create a tool that will strengthen UN, there is also a wide range of economic arguments related to the industry..