What role should science play in democracy? Political scientists often assume that it is possible to demarcate between ?instrumental? and ?moral? knowledge, and argue that citizens and/or politicians should use their moral knowledge to agree upon political goals and then apply the instrumental knowledge of scientists to achieve them. This straightforward view is challenged by writers in science studies, who identify three major problems in the use of science in democracy: uncertainty, risk and hidden values. They suggest that these problems could be solved through citizen participation.In this essay I perform an analysis of the internal logic of their suggestion. Is it likely that citizen participation enhances the democratic decision making process so as to reduce the problems? The internal analysis shows that it is rational to advocate citizen participation by reasons of legitimacy.

Local politicians are key actors in the democratic system and their ideas concerning democracy plays a central role in local democratic politics. The study's point of departure is the notion that local politicians are dependent of coherence between practice and theory concerning democracy and in the study of their ideas we acquire knowledge about the democratic practice.This study examines the local politicians? view of Swedish democracy and explores the logic of the discourse that makes statements concerning democracy possible. Twenty local politicians have been interviewed and from the material a discourse have been established through the use of formulation of problems and cause, nodal points and chains of analogy which is compared with democratic ideals.The study comes to the conclusion that a hegemonic discourse exists, in which central nodal points are representative and listening. The idea of the representative system is hegemonic and is based in the liberal democratic ideal although the view of the citizens rather can be traced to the radical, communitarian and deliberative ideal.

During the time of membership in The European Union Swedish domestic policy has gone through many changes. A lot more political areas are being influenced by the EU policy. Today every ministry has got some sort of EU office. Swedish politicians are functioning on two arenas, domestic and European. At the same time Swedish membership has gone from being highly discussed to being a state of normality.

The appointing of Swedish governmental officials has gone through a dramatic change the last nine years. The tradition of officials appointed due to their political experience has been traded against the appointing of experts. In this study I ask questions about this new way of appointing representatives effects how these officials interpret their role. An official that who has never been in the party before appointed, obviously cannot consider the principal of party. With the theoretical approach of normative representation theory (representational style) I perform case studies that shows some change.

Syftet med studien har varit att kartlägga varför de nordiska staterna Sverige, Norge och Danmark har valt olika ställningstaganden i Irakkonflikten. Studien är en komparativ undersökning som besvarar frågorna om vilka bakomliggande faktorer som påverkat ställningstagandena. I undersökningen av dessa har fem variabler med förankring i de teoretiska utgångspunkterna; system- och statsnivå studerats. Följande variabler har studerats: FN, EU, NATO, Inrikespolitiska förhållanden och Beslut till krig.Sverige och Norge hävdade att invasionen inte hade en folkrättslig förankring. Synen på FN som garant för små staters suveränitet och strävan efter multilaterala överenskommelser var vägledande för beslutet.

The purpose in this thesis is to explore the underlying conceptions concerningeuropeanization and public administration that Statskontoret is expressing in itspublications. Statskontoret is an agency in the service of the Swedish State whichprovides the Government and the Ministries with investigations and surveys. Themethodological choice in this thesis is to perform an idea analysis containing twoideal types which correspond with two polar theories, transnationalism andnation-state logic, concerning how a state will react on increasing european-ization. Initially, the theoretical framework is presented, and is followed by apresentation of the content in the relevant publications of Statskontoret. The idealtypes and the publications are examined from six different dimensions with theambition to explore the underlying conception in the publications.

Med denna studie avser vi att identifiera vilka hinder som finns i demokratise-ringsprocessen. För att göra detta använder vi oss utav en historisk-sociologisk te-ori, presenterad utav Rueschemeyer, Stephens, Stephens (1992). Teorin bygger på antagandet att det är maktrelationen mellan samhällets klasser som styr förutsätt-ningarna för en demokratisk utveckling, där en stark markägande elit samt en svag underklass utgör negativa faktorer. För att pröva teorin gör vi en fallstudie över Guatemala. Denna grundar sig på en jämförelse av demokratiseringsprocessen över tid, från tidigt 90-tal fram till idag.

Uppsatsen utgår från en egen modell för att analysera det etiskt logiska sambandet mellan den normativa studien Copenhagen Consensus värdeideal, beslutsetik och etiska tradition. Modellen visar god överensstämmelse i metod och genomföran-dedelen av projektet, men visar inkonsekvens med avseende på den etiska tradi-tionen. Utifrån denna empiriska slutsats tar uppsatsen ett normativt grepp och kri-tiserar Copenhagen Consensus utifrån den etiskt logiska inkonsekvens som finns. Tillsammans med värdeteoretisk och vetenskapsteoretisk analys av projektet for-muleras kritik som rör främst dess resultat och faktiska frågeställning. Slutsatsen är att på grund av de etiskt logiska inkonsekvenserna samt nationalekonomins ve-tenskaps- och värdeteoretiska egenskaper lyckas inte Copenhagen Consensus be-svara en relevant frågeställning och ge ett användbart resultat.

In 1998 the Swedish Socialist Government initiated a project in order to promote economic growth and to end the discriminating social and ethnic segregation in the greater city regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo. One of the goals of the project was and still is to promote political participation in 24 of the poorest areas of the three cities. In a quantitative analysis I evaluate whether or not the project so far has been successful in promoting a specific part of political participation, i.e. electoral participation in communal elections. The results of the 24 poor city areas are compared with a group of 14 likewise poor city areas of major swedish cities.According to my hypothesis, general improvements of the socio-economic status of poor city areas ought to generate positive effects on electoral participation in communal elections.

The focus of this study is the ways in which the discourses of the three largest right-wing populist parties in Scandinavia ? Danish Dansk Folkeparti, Norwegian Fremskrittspartiet and Swedish Sverigedemokraterna ? are articulated and on defining which individuals they include and exclude. The discourses of the three parties are compared and analyzed to determine whether they constitute specific nationalist and culturally racist discourses. The problem is addressed by applying a social constructivist theory of nationalism and cultural racism, and specifically the binary opposition ?we? and ?them?, on a material consisting of the respective parties? member magazines from 2007.

The development that the Swedish society has experienced during the last four decades and the higher part of the population coming from foreign countries calls for a more intensive research on the situation of these groups. The purpose of this study is to find explanations of the differences in the share of immigrant politicians in Linköping and Norrköping. The starting point of the study is a model of factors assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality assemblies. The immigrant composition, the municipality organization and the view of democracy of the politicians, are all assumed to affect the civic participation. The civic participation is then assumed to affect the representation of immigrants in the municipality.

This thesis is concerned with political mobilization and the construction of a collective andsocial identity. The main purpose of the study is theoretical which emphasize their interaction.In order to do this I study the two phenomenons by seeing them as cases of each other. Wecannot understand one of the two phenomenons without taking into account the other as well.In addition, the secondary aim of my thesis is empirical. I use the political transformationduring the 70th and 80th on the eastern seaboard of Nicaragua to relate my theoretical analysisof political mobilization and the construction of identities. Nicaragua will provide mytheoretical analysis with new insights.

I denna studie analyseras den ryska officiella diskursen om Tjetjenienkonflikten under perioden efter Beslandådet 2004. Det ena syftet med studien är att undersöka hur de tjetjenska separatisterna framställs i diskursen. Det andra syftet är att analysera vilken roll framställningen av separatisterna samt begreppet "kriget mot terrorismen" spelar i den ryska politiken och i agerandet i Tjetjenienfrågan efter Beslandådet. I analysen används Laclaus och Mouffes diskursteori samt teorin om den Andra. Resultaten visar att de tjetjenska separatisterna framställs som "internationella terrorister" i diskursen och konstrueras som de Andra i förhållande till det ryska folket.

In 1974 the three municipalities of Åsele, Dorotea and Fredrika were amalgamated despite of hunger strikes, mass protests and a serious threat of violence. But after six years the marriage shattered as Dorotea left the other two after years of continued struggle. In 2005 the idea of an amalgamation of Åsele, Dorotea and Vilhelmina municipalities was brought to life by an older and ever declining population.By creating a democratic ideal type consisting of the three variables ? legitimacy, participation and identity ? this study assesses what impact an amalgamation of the three municipalities might have on local democracy.Combining a qualitative and a quantitative approach this study concludes that amalgamating the municipalities today could create a democratic unit lacking legitimacy, having a weak identity and impeding participation. But the study also brings forth that the impact of an amalgamation upon the variables of the ideal type as defined is not written in stone.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union was a vast experience, not solely for the former members and inhabitants of the Soviet Union, but also for the rest of the world. This thesis examines Estonia and Uzbekistan's different experience with transition. By examining three different aspects of transition I seek to explain Estonia and Uzbekistan's different outcome of transition. Estonia has since their independence been fully aware of the process that started with their independence. They have reformed both the political and economic system, the industry is privatized, institutions democratic and Estonia is today a member of the European Union.