What kind of international actor is the European Union and how shall we define it? These are questions that many have tried to answer often by addressing the apparent uniqueness of the EU itself. One of these theories is Normative power Europe. A theory whose main argument is that the EU is best perceived as a changer of norms. My aim with this thesis is to test this claim and to see if the Union should be regarded as a normative power.

The special relationship between Israel and the US has been subject to questioning, and good many theories have tried to explain why it is so strong. The most common explanation is rooted in the school of realism, where strategy and national interest decide who one's ally is. This essay aspires to examine another possible reason for allianceformation; identity. Several books, which make for the theoretical backbone of this study, have been written on the subject of sharing beliefs, identifying with others and the consequences of this. The question being asked is whether Israel and the US actually share beliefs and, if so, which ones.

Through a discourse theoretical apparatus, this study examines Sweden's national curriculum, which is constructed for primary schools, pre-school class and leisure time classes. The study also examines the syllabus in physical education and the supplied comment material to the syllabus, the above mentioned material all valid from 1 July 2011. Using cultural researcher Marianne Winther Jørgensen's and communication researcher Louise Phillips interpretation of the political theorists Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory, the study identifies several discourses in the new curriculums. The analysis shows that the curriculums writers construct their expectations through a rhetoric that is perceived as instructional and descriptive. The analysis identified eight discourses, woven into three "orders of discourse", the body, health and physical education.

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.

Doharundan inleddes på initiativ av EU i samband med ministerkonferensen i Doha 2001. Utvecklingen i rundan har varit begränsad, främst på grund av EU: s roll som försvare av egna intressen. Unionens roll har lett till framsteg på många områden. EU har i rollen som ledare varit pådrivande för en ny och ambitiös runda samt gång på gång förmått övriga parter att återkomma till förhandlingsbordet. Dock har ett försvar av unionens jordbrukspolitik orsakat en rollkonflikt i EU.

The purpose of this study was to examine the incentives behind Sweden?s decision to engagein the Afghanistan conflict.The method used to fulfil the purpose of the study is content analysis. The material that hasbeen used in the study is various books and articles concerning Sweden in Afghanistan,Swedish foreign policy and perspectives in political science.The study is multi-theoretical and thus the analysis explains the incentives from a liberal, arealist and a constructivist point of view.The conclusion of the study is that identity has a great part in explaining the incentives forSweden to engage in Afghanistan, especially because of the transformation in strategy andforeign policy that has taken place since the end of the cold war. Other factors, such as peacebuilding and national interests also are incentives supported by the material used in the study.Yet, perhaps they are first and foremost connected by the constructivist idea of identity..

This thesis, entitled The Headmaster and the Music, is based on interviews with four headmasters, who are all working in the Swedish compulsory school. The purpose is to investigate how they view music, both in general and as a school subject. Since the research on this topic is scarce, the study can be described as explorative.The result shows that the headmasters? personal experiences have an impact on the way they view music. Four different focus points on music in school have emerged from the material, and these represent the four very different views that each headmaster holds.

Denna komparativa studie behandlar regionaliseringen i Skåne och Västra Götaland.Med fokusering på befolkningen's egen uppfattning undersök's de förhållandensom definierar och formar dessa regioner. Uppsatsen grundar sig till stor del på deundersökningar som gjort's av SOM-institutet.Genom att tillämpa ett centrum - periferi försök's sedan delar av utvecklingen inom regionen förklara's. Även identitet då primärt i anknytning till regionenundersök's och kontrollera's jämte andra faktorer.En kort del som undersöker de två regionerna's demokrati arbeten konstaterar att arbetet går framåt men att mer arbete kräv's..

The thesis analyzes the making of Nordic identity after the cold war which brought an end to Nordic exclusiveness of emphasizing ?soft power?. A need for a revitalization combined with an effort to enter History as an active subject, created constructivist project of a narrative style.My study relies on contemporary literature, focusing mainly on the construction of Nordic identity and regional cooperation in the 1990: s.I argue that Nordic identity was, and still is, determined of its comparable weakness in regard to the superpowers of the cold war, and, nowadays, to the EU.The architects of establishing a new Nordic identity, able to challenge a new Europe, fails in their effort, and what is left of their endeavour are separate states, each following their own agenda..

This essay deals with the question of lines of development within the politics in the rural municipality of Nyed 1950-1962. The aim is to explore how local politics and policies were handled from two perspectives. Firstly the issue of conflict and consensus or majority rule and consensus. Here Arend Lijphard's theory of majority and consensus provides a theoretical base for the essay. Secondly the aim is to explore the actions of the local politicians with regards to leisure time policies to find out whether or not they ideologically belonged to the concept of ?folkhemmets kommun? by Ulla Ekström von Essen.The source material for this essay has been the minutes from the two major bodies of local politics in Nyed, kommunalfullmäktige and kommunalnämnden.

The base for the study is laid during an internship at a regional office in Brussels. The study initially concentrates on the function and activities of different regional offices located in Brussels, in order to answer the core question.The main focus is to reveal an eventual change of cooperation patterns between different regional offices, and in particular the eventual redirection away from a main cooperation between offices deriving from the same national state.Through an empirical material, based on a series of interviews, an analysis is made using three hypotheses concerning the patterns of cooperation among regional offices.The notion of a coming change stated by, in particular, two older studies is used as a theoretical steppingstone with the conclusion that a change, in the way offices collaborate, has taken place..

This theory consuming thesis is concerned with why Iran's uranium enrichment has become a security issue, and will focus on the five most important and involved actors: China, Russia, Iran, the US and the UN. I will do this by using instruments of analysis such as securitization and strategic analysis. With these instruments I will examine different factors, such as deterrence, the action-reaction model and armament. Since, according to my opinion, security matters include more sectors than military I will also examine the political, societal and economic sectors. China and Russia have acted differently compared to the US in this matter and this thesis will highlight the factors that can explain the different actions made by these countries.

Looking at the debate on nuclear power in Sweden, the issue of risk is central to understanding the difficulties in resolving differences between proponents and opponents. I sought to answer the research question: "how is the concept of risk constructed in the nuclear power debate in Sweden?" Four main aspects of risk construction were defined and investigated to identify differences between sides in the debate. Through a qualitative study of the debate and its actors I found clear differences in respect to all four aspects of risk construction. First, the perception of nuclear power as a "normal risk" is common among nuclear opponents in contrast to a largely probabilistic view among proponents.

The purpose of this essay is to explore how social media affect the political orientation and commitment of youths. Three scientific questions highlight the purpose from different angles. The didactic perspective is discussed in the initial and closing discussion, and is analyzed in the corresponding chapter. Two methods are involved in the study; one survey and one interview with a focus group. The survey had a total of 98 respondents from four different classes, all in the first grade of upper secondary school.

Den här uppsatsen diskuterar expertproblematik inom organisationer. Olika kunskapsnivåer hos de anställda kan leda till att vissa inte har någon insyn i arbetet och en dålig uppfattning om var ansvaret finns. Samtidigt kan de som besitter en specialkunskap få ett för stort inflytande och utöva makt över andra inom organisationen. Vi har i den här uppsatsen undersökt hur problematiken ser ut i Lunds kommun genom att intervjua ett antal anställda. Intervjuerna har sedan analyserats genom ett antal begrepp som vi framtagit med hjälp av tidigare forskning.