Written declarations in the European Parliament have not been given muchattention in the field of political science. The scope of this Master's thesis is toexamine whether symbolic politics are present in written declarations and howthis may show. In this study, the aspects of symbolic politics of writtendeclarations of the sixth parliamentary term are examined using a taxonomy foridentifying symbolic politics developed by Peter Santesson-Wilson. Thetaxonomy is applied on 15 written declarations, all adopted by the EuropeanParliament, dealing with a variety of EU-related issues, ranging from July 2004 toJuly 2008.The main findings of the study show that symbolic politics is a presentphenomenon in nearly all written declarations (13 out of 15 cases) subject to thisstudy.In the final chapter of this study inter alia symbolic politics as a deliberateaction is discussed in the view of written declarations. Irrespective of this, onecould say that symbolic politics are institutionalised in the European Parliament,at least when it comes to written declarations..

On December 20, 2001, the Swedish citizen Mehdi Ghezali was captured on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ghezali spent the following 930 days in U.S. captivity, without being charged with any crime. My aim in this essay is to analyze how Ghezali was portrayed in three Swedish newspapers under and after his captivity, two nationwide and one local newspaper based in Ghezali's hometown. My purpose is to see whether Ghezali's identity is constructed differently in the three newspapers, as regards The Other, Stereotypization, etc.

Sweden is known to be one of the world?s most equal countries. Nevertheless, out  of  Sweden?s 262 listed companies, only seven  of  them  has  a  female  president, which  is  equal  to  3,4  percent. To  counteract  these  numbers  there  are  several  possibilities.  One  arrangement  that  is  highly  controversial     is  affirmative  actions.  But  there  are  other  options,  for  instance  more  and  more female  networks  are  starting  to  rise  and  many  of  them  also  offers  a  mentoring  program  where  the  mentee  gets  the  opportunity  to  learn  from  someone  with  more  experience.The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  examine  what  difference  the  female  network  Q80,  with  focus  on  its  mentoring  program,  is  doing  for  the  mentee.  As  an  underlying  purpose  the  study  is  also  examining  what  visions  and  attitudes  the  management  and  the  mentors  is  communicating  within  Q80.  The  focus  is  mainly  on  the  visions  of  Q80,  menas  mentors  and  business  exceeding mentorship.  A  survey  has  been  carried  out  among  mentees  from  three  different  seats of mentoring  programs  where  they  have  answered  19  different  questions  regarding  their  time  as  a  mentee.  Furthermore  interviews  have  taken  place  with the management  of Q80  and  two  mentors.  The  results  are  analyzed  based  on  theories  about  gender,  women  in   management,  leadership,  mentoring  program  and  organizational structure.  The  result  shows  that  Q80i  as  a  source  of  inspiration  and  a  support  for  the  category  of  "career  women"  with  its  core  mission  to  strengthen  the  participation of  individuals  on  a  personal  level  more than  to  work  to  even  out  the  gap  in  the  Swedish  labor market.

The chosen task in this thesis is to compare two projects of importance on the impact on the approach to graffiti in Norrköping and Göteborg. My main source for empirical findings was interviews. I have examined the Norrköping project Canslit including legal graffiti walls and a graffiti school and the political process around it. This was compared to the Göteborg project kulturprojekt Röda Sten, which is a cultural center that happens to be covered in illegal graffiti. The conclusion was that due to the very detailed plans and well-functioning communications between actors in the Norrköping project, this has resulted in a creative, tolerant approach to graffiti still with low rate of illegal graffiti.

In the light of some company scandals the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, the Code, was introduced in the year of 2004 to reinforce confidence in how Swedish listed companies are managed. As many of the other European codes of corporate governance, the Swedish Code is based on the principle of ?comply or explain?. The need for corporate governance regulation arises from the inherent conflict of interest between owners and managers. This conflict is limited in companies controlled by a family in contrast to companies that lack a strong owner.

Within the political science research it is common to examine the effects on the national parliaments caused by European integration. In this Bachelor Thesis the aim is instead to show what involvement of the national parliaments in the European Union implicates to the European integration process.The object of examination is the introduction of the parliaments as supervisors of draft legislative acts, this is also known as ?the Early Warning Mechanism?, through the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. An analysis of answers from the national parliaments in the tests of three pilot cases, conducted by the COSAC, is made with help of Institutional theory and an Europeanization perspective.The main findings show that the mechanism of early warning probably will not become an obstacle for continued European integration, but it could slow down the process in some areas. Most probably though is that the mechanism forces the national parliaments to adapt and to be better equipped to react at events taking place at the European level.

Zakrisdal and the west coast region of Karlstad was at one time a protected area where the ammunition factory AmF Zakrisdal 1941-1994 was situated. This factory manufactured explosives for the Swedish armed forces and for export. In this context it is an interesting paradox that the production of ammunition, mines and armorpiercing grenades for more than 50 years has preserved the environment surrounding the factory.The factory is now gone and the production is moved to Karlskoga. Plans are being made to build housing for 3-4000 residents and other enterprises within the area. The area now stands before yet another change, most likely the most profound to date.The inspiration for this work comes from the economic historic Jan Jörnmark.

This research addresses the issues of identity and culture in Latvia in the context of the upcoming European Union enlargement in 2004. Political self- determination of Latvia was historically indebted to culture. The phenomenon of cultural identity, so important 12 years ago when Latvian independence was regained, is largely ignored by politicians in the upcoming enlargement process. This is especially worth attention since the 8-th parliamentary elections took place in October 2002. The obvious lack of interest in cultural issues on the part of politicians is compensated by the apprehensions in the society (reflected in mass media) to loose Latvian specific culture and identity when joining the big European family.

The product structure of the fuel tank installation is one of the most complex product areas at Scania. Caused by the number of parameters, which affect the fuel tank installation, a product structure is created which is very difficult to handle. Knowledge exist that the structure in a nearby future will be considerable more complex. The purpose of the study has been to understand in why this complexity exist and find ways to break the trend of a growing product structure. The goal was to achieve a more standardized fuel tank installation.A theoretical study was performed in order to bring knowledge in relevant areas both in general theory but also in documentation at Scania.

This essay intends to investigate the view on freedom of speech in Sweden. The expanding of the hate crime law rises the question if there is a current changing view on freedom of speech. By comparing motions concerning an expanding of the hate crime law from different periods, I am able to conclude if and how the view on the term freedom of speech has taken place. This is done in a descriptive analysis of terms, where the different values and arguments for a change is compared. The material is taken from the period 1991-1993 and 2000-2001.

We have studied how power is portrayed in Swedish journals by analyzing eight portraits of Swedish persons with economic or political power. We have studied how they and their power are described by the journalist in text and picture. We wanted to see which picture the journalist shows of people with power, what properties they are given by the journalist and how this picture is shown by the texts and the pictures. We have also looked if there are any differences between people with political power and people with economic power. We have under our studies noticed that the persons with power are described as very successful and special and this picture are shown in a very clear and unproblematic way..

In this thesis I discuss and analyse the use of violence of Basque radical nationalists after the 11th of September 2001 and the bombing of Madrid the 11th of March 2004. The field study is performed in the Basque country with interviews both on the French and Spanish side of the border with representatives from the Basque Nationalist Liberation Movement (BNLM).After the 11th of September the Spanish government continued its struggle against the countries own terror - ETA. But as the research will show the new political context after the 11/9 made it possible for the state to intensify the labelling of groups from the BNLM as terrorist organisations and thereby putting its members and leaders in prison for terrorism. My research shows that this social change may lead to a mobilisation of activists inside ETA, which in turn might create a continuity of the group's use of violence. The scenario is though challenged by an other setting in which the political situation after the 11/9 have made use of violence by militant groups like ETA illegitimate and irrational as a consequence of the mental trauma among the people of the western world.

International expansion has long been associated with a positive trend that many companies, regardless of industry, choosing to realize mainly to expand its market share and hence its profitability. Various theories describe differentiated strategies to promote corporate expansion. Either they shall be financed by internal funds, or balancing equity with debt, or only increase leverage in order to achieve the desired results. This study focuses on the Swedish fashion market and its degree of internationalization. The purpose is to attempt to discern whether there exists a correlation between the degree of internationalization and its financial performance.The study was based on a quantitative approach where secondary data was collected so that we then would be able to perform regression calculations.

In this thesis I discuss about economical and political transition in countries that is consecutively being induced by influential external actors. Looking closer on the role of the EU as a dynamic transitional force, with the intention of examining to what extent the EU can pursuit its interest and modify the economical as well as the political structures of transition countries. With relations to four transition states on the Western Balkans, more precise Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro and Macedonia (FYROM), I have examined the influential position of the EU. Another feature that is discussed is the approach of the EU and the cause of it in respect to the Western Balkans. Since the end of the crises in Kosovo the EU was given the leading roll in stabilizing and reconstructing the Western Balkans.

Folkhälsovetenskapligt program.