Since the nineteen-fifties, the American political scientist Robert Dahl (born in 1915) has been one of the most prominent democracy theorists in the world. In the book Politics, Economics, and Welfare, he and his colleague Charles E. Lindblom in 1953 introduced the notion of polyarchy as a denomination for the incomplete democracies of the Western world. Linguistically speaking, this notion was formed in connection with the ones already existing in the philosopher Aristotle's (384-322 B.C.) comparative teachings on government. Later, it has become apparent that the notion of polyarchy has already been in use by other authors, such as Johannes Althusius (1614) and Sir Ernest Barker (1947).Robert Dahl has been active at Yale University (in New Haven, Connecticut, USA), and is regarded as one of the foremost representatives of the political-science discipline known as pluralism.

This thesis studied which factors affect political participation among people with physical disabilities in Sweden.? The aim of the study was to test how Civic Voluntarism Model should explain the low political participation among people with physical disabilities in Sweden, through deep interviews.? Following research questions has been studied in the thesis:? How can the Civic Voluntarism Model, based on the time, communicative skills and economic resources, explain the low political participation of people with physical disabilities in Sweden??Which other factors, linked to accessibility, discrimination and legislation, are needed to further explain and understand the barriers to political engagement and participation for people with physical disabilities?? Results about treatment, clearer legislation, economic possibilities and inclusion was central. It became important to considered that where is differences in which capabilities where are to political participation. The CVM could partly explain the low political participation among people with physical disabilities. It needs to be complete with external factors; accessibility, discrimination and legalization, to make more inclusive explanations.? .

In December 2004 an earthquake coursed waves that hit Thailand. Over 5000 people died, and Sweden was the tourist country that has been effected the worst. The catastrophe precipitated Sweden in crises and the demand became high for Swedish government to act. Swedes followed the development via media, why media became the crucial element for how the public perceived politicians? acting.

This study aims to investigate the origin and the development of a certain type of decision phenomena, namely political decision chains. A political decision chain is defined as a seemingly rational decision being made, that is reverted through a new decision and this for other reasons than the original decision being regarded as having fulfilled its intended purpose. The essay attempts to explain the occurrence of these decision chains through a case study in order to thoroughly examine the complexities that surround political decisions overall. The essay concludes that uncontrollable factors and chance to a large extent affect the origin of these chains, allowing actors to change the political agenda according to their preferences. The relative weighting of these factors that is made by the actors, which exist within the decision chain, makes them underestimate the relative power of other actors that may have different preferences.

The aim of this study is to describe how the cooperation between franchisee and franchisor evolves over time. The parties? work responsibilities are explored as an ingredient of the cooperation. Creation of relational aspects is also studied, as well as how adaptation of the concept is handled throughout the partnership. This study takes on an abductive approach and is based on interviews with franchisees of one franchise system, performed at different stages of the respective cooperations.

This thesis aims to study the indirect effects of the Europeanization on national parties and the presence of an established national opposition towards the European Union (EU) and its effects in Sweden, as a result of the so-called conflict of Vaxholm. The questions asked were whether or not it existed an established national opposition towards the EU, and if so, what the opposition consists of substantially. The research method, which was used, is a quantified text analysis on the chamber debates of the Swedish Riksdag and the party congresses of Socialdemokraterna. The study shows that there is an ambivalent opposition towards the EU and its effects in the aftermath of the conflict of Vaxholm.  Socialdemokraterna presented resistance, but did not manage to present apparent alternatives, which left the party with a rather indistinctive opposition. In contrast to the right-wing party, the left-wing party had some profound difficulties in positioning itself in the new and globalized economy. I therefore suggest, that it might be more providing and exhaustive to introduce Azmanova?s ideal-type analysis, which instead of positing parties on a left-right continuum, posit parties after respective party?s opinions concerning the risks or opportunities which the EU and the internal market?s effects. .

Groups that are often referred to as being dismissed in society in general is by some aspects also considered being so in political arenas. A recent compilation of existing research over structurally based objections of gaining power and positions within Swedish parliamentary politics highlight a lack of research considering whether sexual orientation could be such a discriminatory basis. Using a queer theoretical approach, and drawing on concepts such as heteronormativity and homophobia, the principal aim of this essay is to illuminate aspects of local parliamentary political areas where discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation become relevant. In order to do so six in-depth interviews with homosexual politicians have been conducted. Finding a queer potential in certain ideological parliamentary political environments that enable homosexual politicians to be open about their sexual orientation, it still relies upon the individual to be confident enough not to interpret the political context as homophobic and heteronormative..

Och nu blir det reklamfilm - En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av de sju svenska politiska reklamfilmerna inför EU-valet 2009Seminar date: 2010-01-14Department: Media- and Communication scienceReport category: Degree project undergraduate levelAuthors: Johan Heikensten and Elin LarssonAdvisor: Kristoffer HoltPurpose: When TV4 for the first time offered advertising time to the Swedish Political parties for the upcoming election of the European Parliament in 2009, a huge debate broke loose in the media. Regardless of opinions on the matter, we find it safe to say that political television commercials will have a great influence on future election campaigns in Sweden. Hence, we find it of great interest and importance to examine these seven commercials in order to look for tendencies, strategies and trends within the material. Theories: The theory chapter includes Communication, Political communication, Videostyle, Commercial strategies, Rhetoric and Semiotics. Methodology: The survey is based upon two qualitative analyses, a rhetorical analysis and a semiotic analysis.

In this paper I propose a definition on what right-wing populism is, by comparing three right-wing populist parties; the Swedish Democrats in Sweden, the Danish Folks Party in Denmark and the Progress Party in Norway. This is also my question formulation. I have used the idea analysis to straighten out the concept of right-wing populism. The purpose of this paper is to make a definition of the concept of right-wing populism, since one seldom speaks of what right-wing populism is but rather only uses it with parties who want to decrease immigration. However is it much more to a right-wing populist party than just the immigration question.      I begin by discussing the previous research about populism and right-wing populism to see what conclusions previous researchers have made.

The empirical material of this study consisted of tweets by four leading politicians in Sweden: Carl Bildt of Nya Moderaterna, Annie Lo?o?f of Centerpartiet, A?sa Romson of Miljo?partiet and Jonas Sjo?stedt of Va?nsterpartiet. The aim of the study was to examine how they use Twitter as a political tool and what that says of the mediatization of politics. What content did they publish, how did the content differentiate between them and what political messages and other subjects occurred in their tweets? Does the political debate become fragmented because they?re only allowed to use 140 characters on Twitter? The theoretical framework and method applied for the research was based upon critical discourse analysis (CDA), with special interest in ideology and mediatized discourse.The result of the study showed that the content they published consisted mostly of criticism towards political opponents, rather than of independent political opinions.

This paper has its aim to investigate in which way the theory about the dynamic of the triadic nexus, presented by Brubaker, needs to be revised. In the first place this theory is presented and after then applied on the triad formed by: the Hungarian national minority in Transylvania, Romania and Hungary. Through the empirical evidences, that are presented here by following up the political relations and its dynamics over time between the three fields, is shown that the theory is usable for the case in question. Further as we approach the more actual development of the political life in the triad appears a need to deal with one more field which would be for example the NATO or/and EU.This means that Brubakers theory has to be revised so it would take in account a forth field and that of an international organization/institution. The arguments for this needed change is put forth through empirical evidences on the political relations that the two states has with NATO or/and EU and the huge influence these have on the states..

The aim of this essay is to examine whether democracy in St Petersburg isconsolidated or not. Since studies of democratic transition have been rarelyconducted on post-communist cities, this study seems fruitful. Using the Linz andStepan theory, where democracy is considered consolidated when it has become?the only game in town? and Orttung's three criteria legitimacy, politicalpolarisation and policy effectiveness; this essay analyzes people's attitudes,political behaviour, the rule of law and civil society in St Petersburg. Theory isused to interpret the material mainly consisting of two interviews and newspaperarticles.

The main purpose of this C-essay is to answer the question: What have been the consequences and effects of the merit point system on language studies and the parties concerned (teachers, students and principals) during the school year of 2010/11?The merit point system is the result of a political decision and was implicated for the first time in the Swedish upper secondary school during the school year 2010/2011. Being a completely new phenomenon it is of great interest and importance to study its effects.The study in this essay also aims to verify, falsify or nullify two hypotheses very often referred to in the political discussions regarding the merit point system:The merit point system will replace affection and interest as main reasons for language studies in upper secondary school and cause a rectification amongst the students choices of additional courses.The merit point system will have a segregating effect upon society and make it harder for people to rise in society through education in the future.A verification of these hypotheses would imply the appearance of an increased rectification amongst students as well as an orientation towards an in the future more segregated society.The empiric material has been collected and examined with qualitative as well as quantitative methods (questionnaires and interviews) and belongs epistemologically to the phenomenological and hermeneutical traditions..

The aim of this study is to explain and analyse political steering of public libraries in Swedish municipalities and the roles of politicians and administrators in this process. To fulfil this purpose five municipalities have been studied. It is argued that both politicians and administration have to be included in a study of steering and that the relation between politicians and administrators should be seen as an interplay. Planning and evaluation are discerned as the two main activities in the steering process. The material in this study consists mainly of information collected through interviews with library responsible politicians and library managers in all five municipalities.The results show that libraries are considered politically uncontroversial and that politicians see little need for political interference and steering.

This paper attempts to survey the debate in the Swedish parliament on state surveillance on the Internet, from 1994 to March, 2007. With a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, we follow how the idea of state surveillance is viewed by politicians during the period. By focusing on the Internet, we expect to find how politicians in the parliament regard the idea of an unregulated forum for citizen communication and interaction, and how the need for state surveillance on the new arena that is Internet, is expressed and argued for. Theoretical framework is given by Foucault?s theory of the Panoptic state, as well as his thoughts on discourse, power and governmentality.