AbstractSince democracy was developed in the ancient Greece it has come to be used within a small city state, within the national state and as today used within a bigger perspective. After the end of the second world war political leaders wanted to make sure that there would never be a war between European countries again. Now, about 60 years later this type of cooperation now involves 27 of the European countries and goes under the name of the Euroapean Union. This means that democracy is no longer used just within the nation state, but within a big organisation that is responsible for almost 500 million Europeans lives. This also means that the European Union need to make some institutional reforms to be able to handle all the future challenges.

The aim of this study is to illuminate and discuss a case of political steering, specifically Managment-By-Objectives (MBO) in Swedish municipalities, from a Democratic perspective. The essay examines a discrepancy between MBO in the Swedish municipalities and Democratic theory.To fulfil the aim of the study one leading politician and one leading civil servant from five municipalities have been interviewed on this matter. This material is discussed in the light of a Democratic theory constructed specifically for this essay. The Democratic theory consists of three main Democratic values in the Democratic process: debate, transparence and the ability to demand political accountability.The main conclusion is that there is a contradiction in the use of MBO and the Democratic values of debate, transparence and the ability to demand political accountability. MBO has resulted in a lack of debate and transparency and furthermore, it has made it increasingly more difficult to demand political accountability..

The aim of the following paper has been to test the Democratic peace theory through applying it on the conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008.  This to either falsify the theory or come to the conclusion that the states? democracy was not satisfactory in regards to the definition of liberal democracy. The questions asked are: Was Russia and Georgia Democratic states? Is democracy a protection from war? And which aspects of the liberal Democratic theory, if any, were not satisfactory in either of the countries? The results show that the Democratic peace theory is valid in this case and that neither one of the states were Democratic.

This essay focus on the European Union and its democracy both from a national perspec­tive and from an international perspective. Furthermore, the essay center on the con­cept of Democratic deficit, this in order to study the European Union´s status regarding the Democratic legitimacy. This study intends to nuance the problems that previous research and previous researchers have de­fined as Democratic deficits in the European Union and ends up in conducting a textual anal­ysis of the latest European Union treaty, the Lisbon Treaty.The aim is that by using previous research on the Democratic deficit in the European Union examine whether the Lisbon Treaty has enhanced the EU's position regarding Democratic legitimacy. In other words, my study aims to identify what the deficit is and if it exists.The results show that the Lisbon Treaty has been trying to improve the Democratic legitimacy and that some practical adjustments have been made, but it also show that there is much that still can be improved before citizens have full Democratic rights..

Abstract:The purpose of this study is to examine what actually makes Russia an incomplete democracy, despite of all the formal Democratic institutions and legal Democratic rights.The research method used for this essay has been qualitative case study, which strives to answer two research questions: Which Democratic principles are not respected in Russia? How does the executive power control the political arena? The theoretical framework used for this study consists of a model based on Dahls Polyarchy theory and the Rule of Law concept. The conclusions points out that very little have formally changed in Russia regarding Democratic rights and the constitution. The Democratic decline is due to political manoeuvres and undue political influence. There is no proper division of power and the executive powers are not controlled by a system of checks and balances.

How effective is consumer power? Can consumers regulate corporate behavior?And if so is the case, could the mechanisms where consumers regulate corporatebehavior have any Democratic value to contribute with? These are the questionsthat this master's thesis comprehends with. The purpose of this writing is toconstruct a theory of consumer power that is compatible with Democratic theory,this in order to contribute to the ongoing discussion within the discipline ofpolitical science about the third Democratic transformation. A discussion that hasbeen actualized due to the Democratic deficit created by the growing corporatepower and the shift of power from state to private enterprises. Besides showingfor a parallel between the Democratic mechanisms that exists in the relationbetween citizens and state on the one hand, and the consumers and corporationson the other hand, this paper argues that consumers do have a great potential inregulating corporate behavior towards a higher social responsibility andawareness.

This qualitative study is done with the purpose of creating understanding for the theoretical Democratic content in educational materials for Civic Education courses 1a1 and 1b during GY-11, so teachers create an intentional approach when using educational materials in their Democratic education. This was motivated as important considering the reduction in obligatory Civic Education for the vocational programs. The study was conducted using a hermeneutic qualitative reading method where the educational materials, more specifically two series with one book for each course, was read with purpose of creating understanding for the Democratic content according to ideal Democratic models: deliberative democracy, participatory democracy and electoral democracy. A text voice analysis was also conducted using Bakhtins theory of dialogic and monologue text that contributed to the general result concerning the Democratic content. The results show that the electoral democracy ideal is dominant in all educational materials, there is hence no striking difference between the Democratic content in 1a1 and 1b educational materials.

This thesis deals with non-wanted political parties e.g. right wing populism. How should a democracy handle these opinions? So far these parties have been neglected and not even considered as real parties. By excluding them from the debate and the political arena, media and more established parties have seen them merely as a threat than as Democratic parties.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the Democratic views in the two latest party platforms, belonging to the two Swedish political parties Vänsterpartiet and Sverigedemokraterna. This by applying Robert A. Dahl's democracy model, Polyarchy, and Carol Pateman's Democratic Participatory model, on to the party platforms. By doing so, my hopes were to determine if the two political parties can classify themselves as Democratic parties. The result shows that both Vänsterpartiet and Sverigedemokraterna meet the majority of the Democratic demands created by Robert A.

AbstractThe purpose of my study was to examine how four social studies teachers in upper secondary school interprets the Democratic educational mission and core values, and if they believe that the same values are tools to influence the students' Democratic approach and if they think it is possible. It is also the study's minor purpose to make an analysis of my findings and previous research in the area to explain any similarities or differences in the social studies teacher's interpretation and practice of the Democratic educational mission and core values. I used qualitative semi-structured interviews as a method in which the interview questions were based on my research questions. The two criteria I had for my sample of respondents was that there would be social studies teacher at a upper secondary school and that I wanted to have two of each sex. Their interpretation and how they think they practice the Democratic educational mission and core values are similar.

Bortom historien slut ? Beyond the end of historyAccording to Robert Dahl there are seven criteria that have to be fulfilled in order for a state to be Democratic. Dahl also states that there are several factors that effect the development of democracy. In today?s world it is mostly developing countries that have failed to bring about Democratic changes.

AbstractPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to examine the Democratic potential of Forum Games.The main focus of the essay is if working with forum games can help the participators to better communicate their thoughts and ideas and through this take better part in a Democratic society.Material/Method: The material to the study has been gathered through three interviews with persons using forum games in their work and one enquiry with 21 students in Teacher education at Uppsala University, who had recently tried the method for the first time.Main results: The conclusion of the study is that forum game has a Democratic potential. Ability to communicate is important for a Democratic society and participating in forum games can improve the participators communication abilities. Furthermore forum games seem to have other positive effects on a Democratic society, apart from helping the participators to improve their communication skills.Keywords: Forum Games, Forum Theatre, Communication, Democracy, Drama.

It seems like Swedish municipalities are dominated by beliefs that all citizen participation is good for the development of local democracy. A critic of this certainty is rising among Swedish scholars of political science. However, a critic with an ambition of such generalization is harsh. Different Democratic projects contents different qualities and thereby diverse problems in the Democratic process. If these Democratic problems within the process can be recognized, a deeper understanding can be found and in the prolongation a strengthening of the democracy.This essay examines the Democratic process of Lomma municipality's Democratic project of citizen participation.

AbstractThe purpose with the study is to see if it is possible to create well functioning and Democratic government and parliament in Kosovo, within a near future thru social capital. I have some research questions that will help me reach my purpose: 1. Are Kosovo?s institutions effective and Democratic today?2. Does social capital exist in Kosovo today?3.

The aim of this paper is to examine how teachers experience their possibilities to develop Democratic teaching in high school and how they reflect upon their position of power within the teaching situation. Four professional high school teachers have been interviewed for the study. The theoretical perspective of the study is an intersectional view on power and a view on Democratic teaching which is partly built on the high school curriculum, but mainly defined by deliberative conversations, anti-oppressive education and norm-critical education. The result of the study is focused on three themes, which were shown in the analysis of the interviews. These themes are: choices of teaching content,  authority of the teacher and Democratic teaching.