In this thesis, the introduction of smoke-free restaurants and bars in several EU Member States in a policy convergence perspective is studied. The thesis sets out to explain whether policy convergence has occurred and the possible explanations connected with it. It is stated that 15 out of 25 EU Member States had introduced or decided to introduce smoke-free restaurants and bars up to April, 2006. Out of all the countries in the world, 35, including the EU Member States, had introduced or decided to introduce smoke-free restaurants and bars. The result is analysed by using policy convergence theory and by putting the case in a global environment where tobacco control has become an ever more central theme for public health policy.The EU Member States are different in several ways considered to be important factors for policy convergence, such as cultural, institutional and socio-economic similarities, and the conclusion is made that EU membership has been a most crucial factor for the rapidity of the policy diffusion.

According to many scholars America's soft power is in decline, a power resource whose importance has been increasing in world politics. This makes it interesting to examine if there is a difference between how Democratic and Republican administrations wield their soft power.This thesis is a hypothesis-testing study and the purpose is to test the hypothesis that Democratic administrations, to a greater extent than Republican, can create, utilize and defend soft power. My thesis is based on Joseph Nye's theory of soft power and the focus of this study is the aspects of the foreign policy resources. In order to measure this concept I have made my own operationalization where five different indicators serve as my guidance. I use the method of least likely-cases to select and motivate the administrations being tested, which gives me a comparative study of the Democratic administrations of Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton and the Republican administration of George H.

Denna rapport behandlar hur framställningen av ledarskap ser ur ett teoretiskt könsperspektiv. Genom att analysera tidningarna "Chef" och "Dagens Samhälle" med hjälp av kritisk diskursanalys som metodredskap synliggörs i denna rapport den manliga normen som en dominerande del i den sociala och kulturella konstruktionen av ledarskap, detta har även format framställning av manliga respektive kvinnliga ledare. Under analysen framkommer det tydliga mönster i framställningen av de båda könen, där manliga ledare och deras ledaregenskaper betonas som ner naturliga och ofta med en koppling till deras respektive sportsliga karriärer och bakgrund. För de kvinnliga ledarna sker en generell koppling mellan deras ledaregenskaper och deras privata sfär så som familjen, olika relationer och deras barndom. De kvinnliga ledarna och deras karriärväg fram till den ledande positionen framställ som mindre naturliga..

In this thesis the aim is to explore the connection between International presence and Reconstruction of Postconflict states. The focus in this Analyse is the concept of CIMIC which is the institutional concept of Civil-Military Co-operation in International relations and a concept in Peacebuilding Theory. The cases, which are the empirical Material, is Afghanistan and Kosovo, two most-different cases.The theoretical framework is primarily consider the mechanisms successful for the Reconstruction process in general and within CIMIC in particular. This framework including both theories of State failure and International administered Territories as well as Models for Civil- Military Co-operation.The International presence in Postconflict Societies plays a big role, even thou it is very important that initiatives for rebuilding comes from the state within. The essence of CIMIC is the civil component and the military, operating in Peacebuilding and Reconstruction missions.

Vi redogör för psykologiska förklaringar till hur identiteter påverkar gruppers benägenhet att sluta sig samman under yttre hot. Vad vi intresserar oss för är vad detta har fått för resultat i väpnade konflikter. Många bedömare menar att de väpnade konflikterna efter det kalla krigets slut uppvisar en aldrig tidigare grymhet människor emellan. Hur är denna möjlig?Med resonemangen om gruppidentiteter som utgångspunkt söker vi utreda vad forskningsvärlden säger om möjligheterna till försoning mellan tidigare fiendegrupperingar.

Den 8 augusti 1995 tog USA:s president Bill Clinton ett beslut att försöka skapa fred i Bosnien. Beslutet skulle komma att ha betydelse för USA:s fortsatta roll i europeisk politik efter kalla kriget. Vi argumenterar för hur beslutet kan ses som ett strategiskt val men också för hur självständiga organisationers möjligheter och begränsningar samt viljestarka individer gjorde beslutet möjligt.Vi använder oss av Graham Allisons tre modeller: rational actor, organizational behavior och governmental politics för att analysera Clintons beslut. Tillsammans med tillgänglig kritik av dessa modeller hittar vi både för- och nackdelar med Allisons ansatser i fallet Bosnien och kommer fram till att modellernas interrelation både underlättar och försvårar vårt fall. Vi hittar också svårigheter med att använda modell 1 i en unipolär värld.Slutsatsen är att alla tre modellerna krävs för att fullständigt förstå varför USA agerade som de gjorde i slutfasen av Bosnienkriget..

This thesis deals with the theories of ecological and environmental justice and applies them onto Swedish politics. Confronting the divide in the literature between anthropocentric and ecocentric perspectives, its aim is to seek points of agreement within this important field of environmental politics. In the theoretical discussion, definitions are made of the concepts sustainability, justice and responsibility. These definitions try to link ecological and environmental justice arguments with a focus on the global level.The object of analysis is the former Swedish governments? bill ?Common responsibility: Swedish politics for global development? which was accepted in 2003.

When gender-related refugee claims was ratified in the Swedish asylum law the 31 of March this year (2006) it opened the door for women with this specific refugee status to receive asylum in Sweden. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate how these specific female refugees are represented and described in the asylum process. The focus has been the construction of identity concerning these women in the Officials discourse at the Immigration department. The theoretical framework has been a critical discourse analysis regarding the exercise of power and dominance connected to the construction of identity.An understanding of the women with gender-related refugee claims as the Others has been perceived through the Officials discourse. Female refugees which have been exposed to persecution that occur in our part of the world (rape, wife abuse, etc.) are treated differently and much more restrictive, compared to women exposed to so called culture specific oppression (e.g.

This essay is a discourse and a feminist theoretical analysis that focuses on the alternative discourse that we consider Feminist Initiative to be constitutive of. Our theoretical stance, with base in Laclau and Mouffes discourse theory, builds on the notion that reality is characterised by conflicts between different competing discursive formations and that the social is an endless struggle over the preferential right of interpretation of meaning. More specifically, the essay focuses on the discursive struggle over the meaning of the term politics. It is our understanding that the dominant perception of politics necessarily excludes other understandings, which can according to Eduards, be explained as a consequence of a patriarchal distribution of power that renders the subordination of certain understandings of politics accordingly. Feminist Initiative, as an alternative discourse, can therefore be perceived as a threat to the dominating discourse of politics, which in order to maintain its preferential right of interpretation seek to illegitimatise and depoliticise the politics that the alternative discourse represents.

Nerikes Allehanda publicerade år 2007 konstnären Lars Vilks teckning av profeten Muhammed som rondellhund. Publiceringen följdes av en debatt i media angående yttrandefrihet.Vårt syfte är att presentera klarhet i debatten och den metod vi har valt att använda är en beskrivande idéanalys. Vårt analysverktyg är fyra dimensioner där vi har kategoriserat tidningsartiklar efter åsiktsinriktning för att urskilja idéer som från början inte varit självklara.Då ständig diskussion om demokratiska värden är viktigt har vi även valt att fråga oss huruvida denna debatt har tillfört den svenska demokratin något värdefullt. För att besvara detta har vi utgått från Ulf Petäjäs forskning om yttrandefrihet.Vår undersökning visar att yttrandefrihet är ett värde som många verkar ta för givet, samt att det saknas kunskap om detta värde, vilket i sig inte är bra för demokratin. Avslutningsvis efterlyser vi mer forskning i ämnet, då denna okunskap kan bero på avsaknaden av detta..

This thesis examines the interaction between European football and the European Union and if it can generate Europeanization. By using theories of Johan P Olsen and Claudo M Radaelli a theoretical framework was constructed in which Europeanization is seen as an interaction between the European level and the domestic level. The Europeanization is regarded as a two way process with elements of top-down and bottom-up pressures. The study focus on the changes and the actors in the Europeanization process and how the European Union as a top-level and European football as a bottom-level influence each other to European changes. The theoretical framework is used to analyze the Bosman case and the Cotonou agreement's implementation in a Swedish football context.

The relationship between the government and organised interest in Sweden has changed. Formally considered as a good example of a corporatist state the country during the last 15 years or so experienced a more pluralistic system. This thesis is a qualitative study which discusses how interest groups seek to influence decision makers and policy thru lobbying and public opinion. It also examines how interest groups work with advertising and public relations in a changed climate of mass media. The main method of gathering material has been done thru interviews of representatives of different interest groups.The results of the study paint a picture where the interviewed organizations experience a vast competition in communication and information.

The Swedish Armed Forces have gone through a remarkable change. From beingan organisation built on the notion of countering a Soviet invasion it has evolvedto focusing on small, multilateral rapid reaction capabilities to be used within theframework of the European security and defence policy, ESDP.This thesis regards the change as a process of Europeanisation. Drawing fromsociological and historical institutionalism, it is shown that the Swedish ArmedForces in the post-cold war context was path dependent and unwilling to redefineits historical raison d?être. The origin of the ESDP Europeanised the nationaldefence policy, whereas the bureaucracy was still unwilling to translate the newstructural norms.

This thesis rests on the theory and methodology of discourse theory. By viewing social reality as constituted by discourses, meanings that are taken for granted can be challenged.The events of September 11th 2001 resulted in the American war on terror. This thesis explores the impact of 9/11 and the war on terror on the Russian image of the conflict in Chechnya.Discourse theory is applied to shed light on how the conflict over Chechnya is discursively constructed by the Russian state and media. The discourse is organized in three thematic sections: Identity, Enemy Images and Islam. Russia establishes itself as a member of the Western civilisation.

Varumärken kan i dag vara allt från Findus, Pampers och ICA till Lunds kommun.På Lunds kommuns hemsida finns en länk som heter "Varumärket Lund" där man kan läsa om kommunens kännetecken.Vårt syfte har varit att identifiera vad som utgör Lunds varumärke, dels utifrån offentliga dokument, dels utifrån intervjuer med chefer i nyckelpositioner. Vi har även fokuserat på hur kommunens förvaltningar sprider varumärket internt.Med termen "varumärket Lund" menar vi genomgående alla de kännetecken, värden och profileringar som Lunds kommun framhåller. Varumärket rymmer en mängd olika begrepp vilket gör det relativt abstrakt och öppet för tolkning. Chefer som vi har intervjuat känner alla till varumärket men använder inte alltid denna term. De arbetar i olika stor utsträckning med varumärket samt anammar dess innehåll på olika sätt beroende på förvaltningens egen verksamhet..