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.

According to modern theory, PR is seen as something that creates value for majority of products. The art market is a market that is characterized by several actors in different value chains, where transparency is low and art critics, or PR creators, have a certain amount of impact on the view of art, at least had so historically. But how does PR vs. art galleries´ own marketing (art brochure) affect the view and price consideration of art and artists for non-expert art spectators? After performing a large quantitative study, we can conclude that PR has negative to no affect on the view of art and the artist compared to the case when the spectator did not receive any information prior to viewing an art piece.

The consociational democracy model in Macedonia, which came out from a warcrisis and a peace agreement from 2001, in addition, putting an end to the violent conflict, actually admits the division of the society along the ethnic lines. Paradoxically, there is an attempt to bridge the ethnic gap with this model. As a result, the consociational democracy model holds solutions that can be abused if somebody misuses its power and desires to disintegrate the country. The future development depends therefore on the moderate attitude of the citizens, and first and foremost, on the political elites and their commitment to the values of democracy and human rights instead of their nationalistic goals. Furthermore, thepresent democratic consolidation in Macedonia is established on the execution of the peace agreement and the improved effectiveness of the institutions.

The way society categorize different people into groups is problematic in the sense that the categorization can seem stigmatizing and have social consequences for those being categorized. Immigrants are one of those problematic categories.The following essay studies this categorization of ?immigrants? based on a governmental investigation of structural discrimination that took place in 2002-2008. The aim is to study the use of the category ?immigrant? and the consequences that follows such a categorization.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to study librarians? views on children and young people as Internet users in Swedish libraries. It examines what types of problems and possibilities the librarians see with children?s and young people?s use of the Internet, how these problems might be solved, and what they think about regulations and filters. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine librarians, and their statements were analysed with David Buckingham?s After the death of childhood as a theoretical foundation.

AbstractThe aim of this thesis is to investigate how the Swedish political parties have been discussing gender politics since 1970 to nowadays, in order to see which problems and solutions that have been suggested by the parties to increase the representation of women and the equality between the sexes. The theoretical framework is constructed by theories of women´s representation, gender politics and women?s interest.To describe how the discussions about gender politics have been between the different parties, the methodological foundation consists of an ideology critical textual analysis of the political programs from the Swedish parties.The analysis confirms that the discussions about gender politics and the political representation of women increase over time. The most important issue of equality is the lack of women´s rights and possibilities in the labor market as a consequence of women´s responsibility of home and childcare. The analysis also shows that parties which discuss women as a category and the underrepresentation of women also point out the importance to increase equality between men and women..

This paper deals with a partly new development in the Swedish law system, somewhere in the boundary between political science and jurisprudence. A new instrument -artbrott- has successively become more popular among lawyers and politicians. The new instrument -here translated to classified crimes- signifies that the perpetrator is sentenced to prison even though the seriousness of the crime committed is not in itself serious enough for such a consequence. The reason for this policy stance is to create a prevention against crime of that specific character among the public. The use of this instrument has grown considerably both concerning types of crimes as well as in application.

Classification systems express an idea of the world as it was when the systems was made. If the classification system is not revised there is a possibility that the system will become antique and hard to apply to different subjects. The purpose of this study is to see if the SAB-system is a classification system which shows a reflection of the subject Religion that is equivalent with that of Swedish universities. The ideas which are behind the classification of the subject religion in the SAB-system have been analysed, as well as the structuring of the scientific discipline Religion at the universities. The result will show if the SAB-system can classify the subject religion in a satisfying way at university libraries.

In contemporary Sweden political participation among foreign-born Swedes is viewed as low and it is well known that foreign-born individuals do not use their voting rights to the same extent as the general population. At the same time there are numerous ethnic associations around the country who work with various activities involving political, democratic and integration issues. This study aims to study how four members of a Somali association regard, relate to and work with politics, democracy and integration. The study is based on these four people, but also on their relationship with authorities and other agencies in the community. The conclusion of this study shows in brief that the desire to participate politically is great, but that democracy and politics is accessible to all, depending on the level of language skills and what political knowledge the individual has.

Political realism is a general theory within political science focusing on the principle interest defined as power. The theory?s mutual standpoint is that states are inspired by power politics meaning that military and economic power or security stands in the centre while moral and ethics are placed in the periphery. This essay?s purpose is to analyze realism which helps to understand the development and change of the perspective.

The main purpose of the examination research project is to analyze and describe how democracy and globalization is understood when they are integrated in the developing country of Kenya. This has been reflected by interviewing Kenyan teachers in history and government, to receive their view on globalization and its affects on democracy. Another purpose is to discuss this in didactic terms as a way to see how it can be practically used for upper-secondary schoolteachers in the subjects of civics and social studies. The procedure of the project and the method of use are interviews that have been analyzed in all with theoretical perspectives. My queries to be answered for the research are:1.

This case study explores the question of implementation and steering in a society of governance. As an empirical example, a reform concerning the reception of separated refugee children in Sweden is used. As of the 1st of July 2006 the responsibility for providing housing for separated children lies with the local governments rather than with the Swedish Board of Migration, aiming to improve the children's situation. However, implementing this amendment has turned out to be a harder task than expected. Traditionally, the relationship between state and local actors is seen in terms of state steering or local self-government.

The aim of my work was, from the point of view from my respondents and literature, to create a picture of why so many highly educated people born abroad don't have an employment that coincides with their education.The question at issue was: How come highly educated people born abroad don't have an employment that coincides with their education from the native country?In my work, I carried out interviews with six highly educated people born abroad that moved to Sweden in the 1990's. In my results and my conclusion I started with the view of the respondents and the literature, linked together to some theories I have found fruitful for my understanding of the respondents' answers.The theoretical starting point for analysis of my work was the human capital theory, the theory of growth, the signal and filter theory and Habermas' theory.The result of my studies show that there are several factors that causes many highly educated people born abroad to have difficulties in getting an employment that coincides with their education. Such factors are weaknesses in the language, the lack of networks within one's profession and the fact that it takes a long time to complement the education..

This essay is about the history of the hearing aid in Sweden, from 1930s until today. The hearing aid as an apparatus is described, and views by the users are presented. Articles and interviews have been used as source material to answer the main questions. In the essay, people who have written the articles, and the ten users being interviewed, describe how hearing aids are used in everyday life, and how users interact with people in general and how the hearing care system treats users. Another question regards how users perceive their own hearing aids from an aesthetic perspective.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the parties (USA, Great Britain, UN and the European Union) legitimize their intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina as seen from without the conceptions of sovereignty and intervention. USA and the UN have legitimized their intervention on security reasons. The American president, George W. Bush, claimed that democracies never engage in war with each other and that democracies were prosperous just because they were democracies. According to the president, that is why it is important to democratise the whole Balkan region to protect the international community from terrorism which grows in unstable and undemocratic states.