After the tsunami disaster in December 2004 many arguments were heared that one oft the major reasons behind the poor Swedish effort connected to the evacuation and health care of the Swedish citizens in Thailand right after the incident is the Swedish model with independent government authorities. By comparing the constitution, the political decision making tradition by the ministers and the handling of the catastrophe in the tree Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway and Finland, plus analysing the behaviour of the Swedish foreign and prime minister from a rational choose inspired individual decision making theory the research shows that there is no proof that a constitutional change in Sweden into the traditional model with government authorities controlled by the ministers alone would led to a more effective crisis handling by the government due to crises concerning Swedish citizens out states. Although the research shows that the constitution and the tradition of decision making in the government provides the basic condition of the ministers individual rational decision making.

This thesis compares political participation by the public through the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) and the German Petitions Committee of the Bundestag (PC). Through studies of literature and statistics I examine how citizens can participate through the institutions, how frequently they do and the likelihood of sparking a debate while participating.Using media theories as well as theories of participatory and representative democracy I study how citizens can use these institutions for purposes of control and proposition.Both institutions deal with complaints but the PC also deals with propositions for legislation, making the institution more versatile. The PO deals with more cases than the PC and has more far-reaching competences and areas of inspection, although neither institution has binding decisions. Thus the direct advantage for citizens using the institutions is the chance of reaching out to media and the public through freedom of information laws and the German online petition forum.The PC to a larger extent fits the representative model while the PO in some respects is more a legal than a political institution, being managed by lawyers instead of MPs. Neither institution meets the ideals of participatory politics although the German official petition is closer to it..

I stadsranden sker det fysiska mötet mellan vägar och gator samt mellan stad och land. Här sker även mötet mellan urbana och rurala ideal. Syftet i detta arbete är att identifiera och belysa de urbana och rurala ideal som ligger bakom vår uppfattning om stad och land. Dessa ideal står i fokus för den litteraturstudie som belyser det bipolära förhållandet mellan den pastorala naturliga landsbygden och den vitala kulturella staden. Bakgrunden till dessa ideal studeras samt hur gestaltningen och utvecklingen av stad och land påverkats av dessa ideal.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the project Knitting House using art and architectural theories to question the forms of the project as well as the town planning in the area of Husby, a suburb to Stockholm. In order to stress the architectural issues in the area of Husby, the thesis examines the aim and intention of the project Knitting House. The project explores the standardized architectural form that was used and built under the Miljonprogrammet, through the years of 1960-1970 in the neighborhoods of Järvafältet. The thesis will also investigate some of the problems that arise when attempting to discuss knitting as a method used to perform Knitting House. This paper explores the relationships between public and private spaces, the areas in between them and how they interact. The claim made throughout the thesis is that Knitting House can function as a political catalyst by presenting a combined perspective of art, architecture and politics to address the social and ethnic segregation in suburbs like Husby. .

Kan polisnärvaro skapa trygghetskänslor hos människor? Studien har undersökt förhållandet mellan människors upplevda trygghet och tre olika typer av polispatrullering i en relativt trygg och relativt otrygg stadsmiljö. För att besvara frågeställningarna genomfördes en enkätundersökning där respondenterna, 112 män och 131 kvinnor (M=30 år, SD=12.98), fick skatta sin upplevda trygghet utifrån bilder med de tre olika typerna av polispatrullering. Resultatet indikerade att alla typer av polisnärvaro ingett trygghet i den relativt otrygga stadsmiljön. Polispatrullering till fots frambringade mer trygghetskänslor än polisbilspatrullering.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om utbildningspolitik och syftar till att undersöka hur svenska politiska partier talar om skolan i ett antal debattartiklar och repliker, samt om de är överens i några aspekter och vilka dessa i sådant fall är. Utgångspunkten är att det sker en avpolitisering av politik, där kampen mellan ideologier inte längre existerar på samma sätt som tidigare. Genom diskursanalys har ett antal texter analyserats med ett resultat som visar att det mycket väl verkar stämma att partierna inte längre kämpar ideologier emellan, utan att man är övergripande överens och först och främst förvaltar ett redan existerande system. Den politiska kampen, eller spänningen, är inte särskilt stark då samtliga partier är eniga på flera punkter. Däremot existerar en diskursiv spänning kvar i aspekten av att man ständigt försöker underminera varandras kapacitet att vara i regeringsställning.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the concept of empowerment and its meaning in the political document "En Förnyad Folkhälsopolitik" from the present Swedish government, containing guidelines and politics in the area of public health. The underlying question was if it could be considered as representative for some kind of general "empowerment approach" since the concept is central to the very definition of social work by the International Federation of Social Workers IFSW and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW).By comparing its definition and consequences in the document with a historical review of different contexts of empowerment the conclusion was made that such a common approach doesn´t exist at all. The meaning of empowerment in the central document showed some similarities with the "northamerican" version of the concept represented by the social scientist Charles Murray, which is just one of the political meanings of empowerment. Alternative ways of understanding the concept was also presented such as being a tool of a constant conflict between central political principles or as a fashionable but not important word. Another alternative was to consider it a means of power through witch different political discourses tries to dominate the world..

The public interest in central living in today?s cities has led to an increasing effect of traffic noise pollution, and today 20% of the inhabitants in Sweden suffer from noise a level that exceeds the limits. At the same time the traffic keeps increasing, and recent researches shows that traffic noise pollution and several of today?s most common health issues are connected, for example, reduction of performance, sleeping issues and cardiovascular diseases. For this cause rules, guidelines and environmental goals has been developed, as well as software?s which calculates the levels of pollution, all this to investigate and improve the environment.

Vallentuna municipality in Stockholm County, is planning to develop a management plan for a forest area owned by the municipality. The property is an urban forest and the hiking trail Roslagsleden runs through it. Hence the municipality intends to take extra care of the outdoor recreation interests, as well as forest biodiversity, but at the same time use the area for forestry. This study discusses how these three interests, recreation, biodiversity and forestry, differ in their views of how a forest should be managed, where they disagree and how they can coexist in the management of this area. In this study, a vegetation mapping of the area and an assessment of the forest?s conservation values was carried out.

The main aim of this study is to examine the development policies of Sweden and the European Union from a postcolonial perspective. Sweden and the European Union are increasingly coming to be viewed as normative powers rather than military powers. So how does the colonial past of the western societies affect the policies of today? Are there any signs of the power structures of the past, and if so, how are these power structures manifested in the development policies of today? Since both Sweden and the European Union have come to be viewed as normative powers they are compared with each other to highlight their similarities and differences. The results of the study shows that both Sweden and the European Union can be seen as carriers of western values and interests.

In Sweden, a new feminist political party (?Feministiskt initiativ?) was founded in 2005. The main objective of this thesis is to study the reasons and driving forces behind the establishment of the party, as well as to explain the timing of its foundation in 2005. The theories that are used in the study are focused on the individual founders, and the empirical material comprise in essence of interviews with founders.The study reveals that several individuals, as well as political movements were involved in the process of the party establishment. Various interacting factors influenced the founders to choose the strategy of setting up a political party.

Since Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) several constitutional reforms has been taking place. During this time, Sweden has also changed its view on democracy,from a collective to an individual perspective of democracy in the politics. A reasonable hypothesis and the purpose of this essay is to investigate if the Swedish government has beendeveloped towards an Europeanization.The Swedish state audit changed in a pioneering way after the EU- entry, with the formation of Riksrevisionen. Another constitutional change is that the Swedish EU- membership is being instituted in the Swedish constitution. The role of Swedish courts has also changed since the EU- entry.

We are surrounded by sounds. There is always something that makes a sound: a breeze through the leaves, traffic on a distance or your own blood rushing through your veins. Human will always be surrounded by sounds which makes it an important part of our lives. Therefore the sound should have a big influence on how we perceive our surroundings and interpret our world. This essay inquires into what sounds can mean to an open space and urban spaces.

Torstensson, Niklas (2012): Anledningar till olikheter mellan Svenska kommuners skolkvalitet (Causes behind the differences in Swedish municipality´s quality of school) Örebro University.This essay is an explorative case study that will compare four Swedish municipalities quality of local school system against the municipality ´s backgrounddata and a governing document: Skolplan. This study begins in a previous benchmarking study made by one of Sweden?s teachers unions Lärarförbundet. This is a statistical study that ranked the Swedish municipalities against each other?s according to their accomplishments in a number of areas related to their school systems.

Vi har i denna heuristiska fallstudie utgått från hypotesen att företag under vissa omständigheter har stora möjligheter att påverka stater genom en central beslutsfattare. Vi har utifrån denna hypotes valt att analysera beslutsprocessen i USA som föranledde Irakkriget. Vår ställda frågeställning är: På vilket sätt påverkade företag USA: s beslut att attackera Irak. När vi svarar på denna frågeställning visar vi genom att använda oss av Graham Allisons teori Governmental Politics hur företaget Halliburton genom Vicepresident Dick Cheney påverkat USA: s beslut att invadera Irak. Genom detta försvarar vi tankarna att företag är viktiga aktörer inom utrikespolitisk analys och att man för att tillfredsställande kunna analysera ämnet måste komma ner på individnivå.