Lately information- and communication technology (ICT) has been seen as an important tool to vitalize democracy. What kind of democracy it generates is however debateable. The objective with this thesis is therefore to examine what democratic ideal that dominates the use of ICT in Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen and what kind of citizenship it brings. The two case studies were chosen because the Swedish regional level is facing a reorganization with democratic ambitions which in relation to ICT is fairly unexplored. To fulfil the objective there are two perspectives; e-democracy and e-administration, which are defined and integrated with democratic theory including Premfors´ "Fast, Strong and Thin" democratic ideals and Marshall´s three citizenship rights.

Den här politisktfilosofiska texten syftar till att undersöka den normativa problematiken kring migration i den Europeiska Unionen. För att göra det på bästa sätt har två primära frågeställningar ställts. Den första (Vilka normativa värderingar finns det att ta hänsyn till i migrationsfrågan?) är en normativ argumentationsanalys som syftar till att gå på djupet och försöka ringa in alla de premisser som gäller för öppna visavi stängda gränser samt de konsekvenser som kan följa av respektive sakförhållande.Den andra delen av uppsatsen syftar till att reda ut vilka normativa premisser som ligger till grund för de EU-beslut som tas i migrationsfrågor, men huvudsakligt fokus på utomeuropeisk immigration.Slutsatsen i arbetet är dels att migration är en synnerligen komplex fråga där man måste ta hänsyn till en mängd vitt skilda etiska och praktiskpolitiska premisser som ofta står i direkt motsatsförhållande, dels att EU: s migrationspolicys i hög grad styrs av partikulära moraliska värderingar..

The aim of this thesis is to discover facts about the Sweden democrats by looking at statistics of five different municipalities. The main question at issue is: What can you say about the Sweden democrat's voters by researching the voter statistics of the voter districts in the municipalities. The five municipalities who are the object of the study are, Helsingborg, Hässleholm, Landskrona, Svedala and Trelleborg.The Method for this thesis is a case study of five municipalities in Skåne. I have been researching the voterstatistics in the local voterdistricts of 2002 and 2006. I have compared The Sweden democrats with the Social democrats, the conservative party (Moderaterna), and the liberal party (Folkpartiet Liberalerna).The theories that this thesis is based on are voterbehaviour and rightwing-party theories.The Results are that one can not see any signs of the Sweden democrat's success being a result of a far-reaching right wave.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how homosexuals and homosexuality were represented in the press during the trials against the Pentecostal pastor Åke Green, and to what kind of social representations and narratives these representations can be related.Using critical discourse analysis and theories about the differentiation between in- and outgroups I try to unveil implicit meanings and attitudes towards gay people mainly at the local text level. The material consists of articles in Ölandsbladet and Dagens Nyheter that were produced before, during and after the trials.The analysis suggests that homosexuals are construed as a deviant outgroup and that the majority, the ingroup, is presented as an essentially heterosexual, tolerant community. Homosexuality is wrong and heterosexuality is the right way of living. Homosexuals, in terms of group lobbyism, are construed as an enemy, a threat, against Western ideals such as family values and freedom of speech. They indirectly become a threat to Swedish democracy.

The point of departure for this essay is the observation that themunicipality of Lund is giving priority to handicap associations overother forms of associations. This act can be regarded as trespassinginto the realm of civil society. In respect of this, two aspects appearto be particularly interesting to explore. The first is to determinewhich perspective of freedom the municipality of Lund holds. Ireconstruct how the liberal and the communitarian state relate to thenegative and the positive freedom.

Using Varshney's theory about intra- and interethnic networks, this thesis examines how civil society in southern Thailand is built up.During 2004 the violence between Muslims and Buddhists rose in southern Thailand. The government tried to fight the insurgency using violent police and military forces, resulting in hundreds of deaths and part of reason why Thailand is loosing rank in Freedom House's democracy index. Varshney means that a civil society built up on intraethnic networks works favourable to violence between different ethnic groups. Sorting out and defining what is meant by ?ethnic? and ?civil society?, this thesis shows why to look at the insurgency in southern Thailand as an ethnic conflict surviving partly because of an intraethnic civil society.

When Sweden acceded to the European Union in 1995 the term social economy was introduced to the Swedish context, gradually replacing the term civil society. This replacement can be seen as an indicator of a changing meaning of what the concept of civil society used to stand for.The aim of this essay is to study if it is possible to identify changing perceptions of the role of civil society for democracy in Sweden in government bills between 2002 and 2008, and, if so, what effect does this have on the delineation between the civil society and the government.An analytical model is proposed consisting of two dimensions which both capture the roles of civil society for democracy and the model examines how those roles relate to the government.The conclusion is that the government still sees the main function of civil society as a democratic school and a change agent for democracy. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that the civil society is increasingly regarded as more of a welfare producer than a fosterer of democracy..

I denna fallstudie av Region Skåne undersöks uppkomsten av nya forum för samarbete i samband med regionbildning. För att undersöka detta använder vi oss av tre politiskgeografiska begrepp. I Skåne har kommunerna delats upp i fyra samverkansorgan i vart och ett av regionens fyra hörn, detta för att kunna hävda de egna intressena gentemot regionen. Kommunerna i varje hörn har olika grad av beroende till regionen och undersökningen visar att ju större beroendet är desto mer integrerat blir samarbetet inom det egna samverkansorganet.För att skapa en förståelse för ämnet ges en kort presentation av hur regionaliseringsprocessen har sett ut i Europa, Sverige och Skåne. Materialet till analysen utgörs främst av intervjuer och rapporter där vi fokuserar på tillväxt- och utvecklingsfrågor.

Globalization is one of the most popular catchphrases in the international relations debate today. Globalization is a complex concept with as many definitions as authors. National borders or jurisdictions do not control the phenomenon, instead, it is moving without restraints from region to region. Is this a threat to the sovereignty of nation-state and an end of the system of Westphalia? Does the globalization undermine the nation-state by increased factor-mobility, less tax revenue and participations multilateral co-operations, as the globalists think? Or is it strengthens its importance by offering better allocation of resources through free and healthy competition, as the skeptics believe.The aim of this thesis is to analyze theories of globalization by applying them on Sweden and the Netherlands.

Since 1983 the people of Sri Lanka has endured an ongoing Civil war, however the intencity has varied over the years. The aim of this theses is to examine what influence the asymmetric relationship between the Sri Lankan goverment and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has on the process of negotiating a solution to the civil war. I am also examining whether the asymmetical relationship has changed over time and if these changes have had any effect on the process.To analyze the asymmetries I divide them into material and non-material. I measure the material asymmetries in economic and military resourses, and to measure the non-material I use indicators such as commitment, alternative, controll and legitimacy.The results show that the asymmetrical relations between the parties in Sri Lanka have changed since the 1990s. Factors like 9/11 and the recurrent suicide bombings by the LTTE has had a great influence on the singalese-tamil relationsship.

This essay contains a comparative analysis of Erik Olin Wrights Marxist class analysis and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negris post-Marxist class analysis as presented in their books ?Empire? and ?Multitude: War and democracy in the age of Empire?. I discuss the shift in analytical focus from state level to global level that Hardt and Negri's analysis represent and the ensuing relevance of this for contemporary class analysis. The essay also address the challenge and implications posed to class analysis by the ever increasing economic globalization, from a material production to an ever growing immaterial service economy and the decrease in state power in controlling capital and labor movement. I propose that analytical understanding of class conflict help us to a better understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics that generate social and economical inequalities and that an updated Marxist class analysis still have much to contribute to our understanding to how these issues not only shape our society but also our capacity to counteract them..

Rwanda är ett land som har kommit att förknippas med det folkmord som inträffade 1994, men vad har egentligen hänt i landet sen dess? I denna uppsats är intentionen att undersöka den avstannade transitionsprocessen efter folkmordet, där den sittande regimen har blivit alltmer auktoritär. Studien görs utifrån fyra relevanta perspektiv; den politiska kulturens betydelse för en demokratisk utveckling, aktörsperspektivet med ledande aktörers agerande som påverkansfaktor, internationella aspekter i form av externa aktörer och regionala konflikter och civilsamhället som en grund för uppbyggnad och skydd av endemokratisk stat. Uppsatsen är av teorikonsumerande karaktär där vi har valt att ta hjälp av ett flertal teoretiska skolbildningar för att förklara den politiska utvecklingen i Rwanda. De fyra perspektiven är beroende av varandra och vi menar att utan en samverkan dem emellan är en transition mot demokrati en oerhört svår uppgift för ett land med Rwandas förflutna..

AbstractThis thesis discusses ideological and rhetorical change of the Moderate Party of Sweden. The aim of the thesis has been to study the party during a time-span of almost 20 years, trying to identify changes related to each of the three party leaders.A hypothesis was developed, suggesting that the three party leaders each represented a different kind of ideology namely neo-conservatism, neo-liberalism and social liberalism. By studying newspaper articles and protocols from the Swedish Parliament, riksdagen, I was able to verify the hypothesis in all but the first party leader, Carl Bildt. It was showed that his ideology had more in common with New Right than with neo-liberalism.After identifying these changes I looked for explanations within Party Strategy Theory and Social Change Theory. My conclusions were that the changes could be understood by the great loss of voters in the election of 2002 and that agents within the Moderate Party acted upon the ambition to win new and old voters to the party, thereby recognizing the need for change.Keywords: Ideological Change, Rhetorical Change, The Moderate Party,Neo-Liberalism, Neo-Conservatism, Social Liberalism..

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the construction of consensus in commune-collaborations. By a review of written material combined with elite interviews we have been able to follow the decision-making and the forming of consensus, in a commune-collaboration called NOSAM, in which they have decided to use consensus as a decision method. The thesis is based on a case study and we have decided to follow a specific issue that has been discussed for some time.We have created an instrument based on the ideal of deliberative democracy, through which we have been able to examine whether the decision-making in NOSAM can be described as a deliberative process or if consensus is formed by other incentives.The study shows that the decision-making in NOSAM cannot be described as a deliberative process, although there are some elements of deliberation. Consensus is formed in a proposition drawn up by the officials for the commune-representatives to agree on. Afterwards, the decision has to be brought up in each commune before reaching a final decision in NOSAM.Our opinion is that having consensus as the decision method leads to difficulties when deciding on bigger issues..

Denna uppsats behandlar terrorism i ett demokratiskt Europa och speciellt de båda terroristgrupperna ETA i Spanien och IRA i Nordirland. De båda organisationerna har inom ett relativt kort tidsintervall valt att lägga ner sina vapen och har dessutom uttryckt en vilja att i fortsättningen vilja arbeta demokratiskt. Med vår studie har vi velat förklara varför denna förändring har skett. Vi har använt oss av en komparativ fallstudie för att på sätt finna förklaringar till de båda händelserna. Denna studie har utförts med hjälp av relevant statsvetenskaplig forskning och teorier.