This thesis treats the development of the European Union asylum- and migration politics and the EU member states transfer of authority to the European Union. The main purpose has been to look closer with the use of the application of theory of neofunctionalism and Liberal intergovernmentalism on the European Union case. The focus will be to answer the following questions: How has the political development within EU asylum and migration policy developed through the period of The Single European Act to the ratification of the Stockholm program? And how can the chosen theory explain European countries transfer of national decision regarding asylum policy in favor of a supranational European asylum policy? Based on the available material of European Union programs and harmonization measures for this area I have attempted to understand to what extent the European Union?s development in the area of the asylum and migration politics can be explained through the theories of neofunctionalism and Liberal intergovernmentalism. The result of my analysis is confirmation of the European Union development of the area of the asylum and migration policy and also a series of explanations according to the theories regarding the member states transfer of authority to the EU.

This thesis aims to explain the emergence of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, and its institutional shaping, by using elements of Neofunctionalism and Liberal intergovernmentalism.Using Neofunctionalism, the Common Foreign and Security Policy can be explained both as a side-effect of Europe's economic integration, and as a way to maintain the former and the European Union's position as an economic superpower. The institutional shaping is a result of lack of convergence between important national interests. Therefore it rests on a firm intergovernmental base, with rigorously limited use of supranational decision-making.For Liberal intergovernmentalism, geopolitics and ideology, and to a certain level log-rolling, have played important roles. The reunification of Germany convinced France to form an alliance between the two countries. France, determined to achieve an economic and monetary union, thus offered Germany a political union, including a Common Foreign and Security Policy on intergovernmental terms.

The starting point of this study is theories of European integration, which are used to formulate different scenarios about the future of the European Union. This is made in regards to the eurocrisis which has intensified the discussion about how to change the construction of the euro to overcome the economic difficulties that has arisen. In this study, four different scenarios are presented: "An updated Europe", "A new Europe", "The death of the euro" and "Goodbye Greece". The first two scenarios takes its starting point in the neofunctionalist theory of European integration and describes how the EU might increase its level of integration in different ways. We can either see a development where the EU tries to improve the implementation of the rules that are meant to coordinate the member states? economic policy, or we might encounter a more advanced integration where fiscal policy competences are transferred to the EU-level.The latter scenarios, however, takes another theory in to account, Liberal intergovernmentalism, and describes how the eurozone might be fragmented in different ways due to conflicts of interest between lenders and countries that has to receive loan-packages.

The aim of this paper is to explain how the European Union?s common strategy for theCommon Foreign- and Security Policy (CFSP) will change with the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon. A comparative case study and qualitative method is used. On the basis of Smith?s theory of institutionalization we will analyze two member states: France and Denmark.

För att öka energisäkerheten och garantera en rättvis och trygg energiförsörjning för alla medlemsländer har EU försökt skapa en gemensam energipolitik gentemot Ryssland. I empiridelen av vår kvalitativa fallstudie har vi dock kommit fram till att EU-ländernas olika relation till Ryssland försvårar för EU att hålla enad front gentemot Ryssland.Vi har valt att använda oss av teorierna neofunktionalism och intergovernmentalism för att analysera förutsättningarna för en gemensam europeisk energipolitik gentemot Ryssland. Vi har funnit att båda dessa teorier hjälper till att förklara samarbetets utfall hittills och hur samarbetets framtida förutsättningar ser ut.Vår slutsats är att EU kan lyckas med ambitionen om en gemensam energipolitik gentemot Ryssland om fler av medlemsstaterna, speciellt de större och mer inflytelserika, är villiga att engagera sig i frågan. Om hotet om energibrist skulle bli mer överhängande eller om Rysslands beteende i energifrågan skulle bli mer oberäkneligt ökar också chanserna för ett lyckat samarbete..

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the present importance of liberal education in the Swedish "folkhögskola" by studying its expressions in the teaching of literature and fiction. I have interviewed teachers at four different schools about their opinions of liberal education, literature and cultural heritage, means of instruction, and influence of their students. Liberal education in this thesis is considered as a process. Starting from our own experiences we meet something strange to us and while absorbing this in our experiences we change. But its purpose also is to convey the canon of Western literature.

This paper examines the ideological content of the compulsory school policy of the Swedish Liberal Party. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the Liberal Party does really represent a liberal policy for the compulsory school, or if it is more accurately described as conservative. The analysis is carried through by two separate critical examinations of the Liberal Party motion on school politics to the parliament and the Conservative Party motion on school politics to the parliament respectively. A comparison is then made between the ideological contents of the two documents. The specific party policies are linked to universal definitions of liberalism and conservatism with the help of an analytical tool consistent of a series of educational philosophies.

?The new labour party? A study of the labor-market policy ideas of the Moderata samlingspartiet and their ideological change?Thesis in Political Science (C-level) at Karlstad University byJenny Ljung, Fall 2006Tutor: Susan MartonThe labour-market policy of the Swedish Moderaterna may have undergone changes in the liberal ideology. During the election the year 1991 Moderaterna focused upon questions that concerned the economic growth and the free market. In the election at year 2006 Moderaterna appointed themselves as ?the new labour party? and were called social liberals by several critiques.

Liberal theorists typically argue that state action should not favor any particular conception of the good or meaningful life. On this view the defining characteristic of the liberal state is neutrality among rivaling ideas of the good. This thesis argues that state neutrality is impossible to maintain in practice. Two different versions of state neutrality; neutral justification and neutral aims, are used to analyze a wide range of political issues. It is concluded that far from being neutral, the liberal state favors individualistic and market oriented conceptions of the good life.

The European Union has faced lots of criticisms over the last couple of years when it comes to how refugees are treated in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty states in Article 2 that the European Union is founded on respect for human freedom, dignity and equality. Values such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and that the rights of persons belonging to minorities should be respected are also something that the Union should be based on. How is it then that the Roma people, which are Europe's largest minority, are being persecuted all over Europe, that they get deported and have their camps destroyed? Why are refugees from North Africa being sent back before they even have a chance to seek asylum?  In this essay I have examined how the EU are treating refugees and tried to distinguish if there are any differences in how they treat internal and external refugees.

Every now and then new political ideas appear which creates debate. A current example of political debate is the one which concerns the creation of a feminist political party in Sweden -Feministiskt initiativ. Apparent in the current debate is that there are two existing conflicts of ideas present. The liberal thought of politics of ideas stands against feminism's demand for presence in the political life. And the other, the conflict which concerns the question of where a line between the public and the private spheres should be drawn.

The purpose with this essay is to examine the Liberal Party and the Left Party´s views on homework, if the parties considers that homework affects the schools plan for equivalence and if the parties disagreement can be related to their different ideologies. To answer the purpose I have used following questions: How do the Liberal Party and the Left Party define the concept of homework?, What is the purpose of homework in primary schools according to the Liberal Party and the Left Party?, What are the arguments for and against homework and do homework affects the schools plan for equivalence according to the parties? and Can the parties' views on homework be related to their respective ideologies? The method used is a qualitative textual analysis with focus on the idea analysis. The material consist of relevant newspaper articles, news and debate clips and the parties various party programs, during the time frame of 2006-05-31 - 2013-10-14. To answer the purpose I also used different types of discourse theories, equivalence theory and the ideologies liberalism and reformist socialism as theories.The results shows that the Liberal Party and the Left Party have different views about what a homework should be considered as and that both parties thinks that homework can affect the schools plan for equivalence, but they have different perceptions about how.

The goal of this essay is to analyse how women belonging to a right wing political discourse talk about feminism and equality. This analysis will be used to determine if right wing feminism exists. The analysis is based on Laclau and Mouffe´s  discourse theory as the primary base. The focus is articulation, antagonism and hegmony; the central terms of Laclau and Moffe´s theroy. The material consists of five interviews with representatives of women wings of liberal political in Sweaden; Liberala kvinnor, Centerkvinnor and Moderatkvinnor.The study shows that there are different opinions regarding feminism in the liberal political discouse, and that those opinions have an antagonistic relationship.

This paper focuses on the role freedom plays in Michel Foucault?s analyze of liberal and particularely neoliberal governmentalities. From his perspective, neoliberalism operates through the strategic production of entrepreneural subjectivity and distribution of self-governing. Here autonomy is central for governing, which raises questions about what freedom can mean at all in Foucault, and how resistance can be possible. Through Foucault?s thinking on liberal freedom, we can gain a better understanding of his philosophy on subjectivation and resistance..

The paper is a discourse analysis of the liberal environmental discourse in Sweden today. It is based on articles in two of the main liberal Swedish newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenska Dagbladet, and a liberal periodical, Neo.The purpose of this study is to analyze how the environmental problems that have been produced by the industrialised society, especially global warming, are seen upon in the liberal discourse in Sweden today. The theoretical point of departure is a discourse analysis that as a method seeks to analyze the material to reveal what assumptions the discussion departs from, and what assumptions the discussions reject.The thesis concludes that the main trends in the discussions are to position the environment against the financial system and state that the capitalist system is the only system that can solve the environmental issues. The existing environmental problems are not denied, but constantly belittled and only considered to be a problem if it poses a direct threat to humans. The solution for these environmental problems is believed to be the strengthening of the financial system and the development of new technologies..