The rise of the Swedish Democrats, as a political party in Sweden, has been surroundedby controversy both within and outside of the media. As such a polarizingtopic, the party has been the focus of negative and positive attention. On onehand it has been considered a racist and xenophobic party due to its policies onimmigrants. On the other, it has also been seen as a solution to what has been consideredby some to be a constant problem in Sweden, for those same policies.These policies are motivated by what the party perceives as a threat to Swedishsociety. That is to say, immigrants are a threat to Sweden because of thechanges they impose on the Swedish identity.

The regime theory is the dominant paradigm in the studies of urban politics in USA. It provides a set of concepts to analyse the change from government to governance in the American local politics. The regime theory postulates that governing power in local government tends to be highly fragmented. The private sector has with its control of economic resources a major influence in shaping governing decisions. In this essay I study the regime theory in a Swedish context to investigate if the theory is pertinent when studying of Swedish local governance.

AbstractIn the literature on multiculturalism and group rights there is a strong tradition that sees diversity as something directly paradoxal to unity. In this tradition, scholars put forward a view of multiculturalism as a divisive and exclusionary process which breaks down the cohesion and unity of society. Related to this notion is that of a neutral and universally valid frame of reference in which political dilemmas can be solved; for example a neutral civil sphere where the ?true essence? of society lies. In this essay I attempt to criticise these two notions.

In the social sciences, geopolitical theory is used in order to analyze states actions and commitments when it comes to foreign policy. This thesis develops a new understanding of geopolitical theory. Firstly, the development and application of geopolitical theory, from its foundations in the early twentieth century to contemporary geopolitical studies is discussed. Secondly a revised understanding of the variables integrated in the concept and how it can be operationalized as an analytical tool is presented and tested empirically.The critical assessment of the research field of geopolitical theory tells us that six different geopolitical perspectives have been considered the most influential (room, strategy, power projection, identity, affiliation and governance) when it comes to analyzing state action. This model is applied as an analytical tool and thus tested on a single case.

Background: A company?s choice of capital structure is influenced by the access to internal and external capital but also by the opportunities and threats that the management perceives in the environment and the management?s attitude towards risk. How an individual perceives and interpret the environment depends on the cognitive structures, which are shaped by personality, background and earlier experiences. Accordingly cognitive structures can be expected to influence the choice of capital structure. Purpose: Out of a cognitive perspective we intend to study the relationship between the way a company views it?s environment and what capital structure it chooses to have, in order to contribute to an increased understanding about what lies behind a company?s capital structure policy.

This essay presents a picture of swedish reggae listeners and how their love of music give meaning to their lives and unite them in a sub-culture. Based on interviews with six young men about their involvement in reggae, it also investigates the relationship between music and identity, or more clearly; how identity is expressed through music. Furthermore, I discuss the notion of taste according to Bourdieu, and argue against his statement that taste in music affirms the class and social background of an individual. Results from my empirical data have indicated that reggae music is difficult to associate to a distinct lifestyle, which inclines me to argue that it has managed to transcend phenomena such as ethnicity, class and cultural affiliation..

This thesis studies if public libraries in Sweden have taken part ofinformation regarding the Swedish government policy that publicareas are to be made accessible by 2010. Also studied is thesignificance of information and resources on the execution ofaccessibility adaptations at public libraries.The analysis uses Lennart Lundquist?s theory of implementation ofpublic policies, that the person executing the policy needs tounderstand, be able to and want to in order for the policy to besuccessfully executed. The study was carried out through a surveyand the thesis focuses on the factors of understanding and beingable to.The survey was sent by email to all 290 municipal libraries inSweden with an answering frequency of 65%. The results arepresented in table format with explanations.The thesis finds that a clear majority of respondents have hadaccess to information about accessibility adaptations, but thatmuch fewer consider the information clear enough.

Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka rättsläget avseende tillståndsgivning till vindkraftverks etablering på land. I uppsatsen behandlas miljöbalkens första fyra kapitel. I studien granskas det först tre tillståndsärenden från tre olika länsstyrelser och sedan genomförs en kortare rättsfallstudie över prejudicerande domar avseende lokaliseringen. En mycket tung vägledning för lokaliseringsbedömningen utgör, både för länsstyrelserna och för domstolen, översiktsplanering eller andra eventuella planeringar och policy. Länsstyrelserna behandlar planeringar eller policy med en annan utgångspunkt än domstolen gör.

The Swedish concept of bildning, related to the German Bildung, finding its correspondence in English in refinement, formation and culture, is an important, though traditional rather than modern concept in cultural policy and sphere. The concept connected to the activity of the public library is relevant, as the library uses the word as a description of parts of its work. The meaning of the concept can easily be seen to be complex as well as disputed, borders on and is related to other concepts. The paper discusses different meanings to the concept according to different Swedish authors, as well as the connection of the concept to related ones. The varieties and differences are expressed as differences in discourse.

This thesis attempts to clarify the impact of cultural differenceson customer expectations of service level. Furthermore, wewant to determine whether or not expectations of service differenough to be quantifiable between two countries, Sweden andthe US, mostly regarded as similar in business practices. The conclusion showed that higher ratings on four of Hofstede?s five cultural indexes were associated with higher customer service expectations overall, and in all four SERVQUAL dimensions. This research contributes to retail internationalization and customer expectations theory.

Denna uppsats dokumenterar en fallstudie som gjordes hösten 2006 vid Linde Material Handling i Örebro. Företaget var på väg att expandera och planerade att utöka användningen av IT i verksamheten. I samband med detta gavs undertecknade i uppdrag att utforma en informationssäkerhetspolicy för verksamheten. I en litteraturstudie kunde det konstateras att det inte fanns några enklare riktlinjer för att utforma sådana policies, varmed syftet blev att göra detta. Genom en fallstudie på företaget där vi utformade en IS-policy för deras verksamhet, och även gjorde intervjuer med ledning och dokumentationsanalyser, utrönas vilka problem som kan uppstå och vilka överväganden som bör göras för att utforma en lyckad policy.

EU is an organization that has expanded really fast during the last years. When you read about different EU membership processes you notice that some processes have been much faster than others. Spontaneously you think that this depends om that some countries have not been fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. However, during the last decennium some scientists have written articles about motives that have affected the membership processes. The basic problem in my essay is how we are supposed to understand a membership process? Since I was interested in if I could see the same inconsistent behavior pattern in other membership processes I chose to study Turkey and Croatia.

AbstractIn the heart of Paris, you will find Sweden?s only cultural center abroad. Since the early 70?s a wealth of cultural activities has been offered, and every year the center receives more than 100,000 visitors. The center is a branch of the Swedish Institute (Si), a public authority which promotes mutual relationships between Sweden and other countries through culture, education, science and business.

The landscape with its associated historical tracks and remains are an important part of our cultural heritage that we consider important to conserve. The stone walls are an example of historical remains that helps to build up this cultural heritage. It is a landscape element that today usually is being associated with the old cultivated landscape, where they mainly functioned as boundary markings and fences. Today, the stone wall is a valuable element in the landscape with ecological, culture-historical and aesthetic values. Since the stone walls arose as elements in the landscape a lot has been changed within the agriculture.

The first law in Sweden containing an act of legal deposit is from 1661. Since then the printing-houses are supposed to deliver all printed material to the Royal Library and other recipient libraries. Today, more and more information is solely published electronically. This material is not yet included in the law of legal deposit. In a similar way as our printed cultural heritage is saved for posterity our electronic cultural heritage has to be saved.