The association between social parameters (i.e. socio-economy and level of education) and voting behaviour has been reviewed and analysed based on data from Municipal council elections in Stockholm and Gothenburg in 2002. Some social scientists argue that the class voting is in decline and that new social cleavages have emerged. However, by using regression analysis techniques, this study implies a strong dependence of voting behaviour on social parameters, such as socio-economic status (SES) and level of education. Socio-economy appears to be a dominant predictor in the analysis.

This study examines whether the policy breadth and the alternatives in European politics affect variations in voter turnout between member states in elections to the European Union Parliament.The theoretical approach assumes that; a larger political polarization, an increase in EU-skeptical parties and a greater voting mobilization among groups with less means results in higher voter turnout figures. The study also consider four other variables; whether the election is held on weekends or weekdays, whether elections coincide with other national elections, whether a country has held the presidential of the EU during or the immediate term prior to the election and finally the turnout figures from national elections.The research design is based upon a quantitative analysis using data from EP elections, national elections and databases from the European Elections Studies (EES). Study unit is twelve member-state countries and their four latest EP elections (1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009). The selected member-states origin from the EU-15 excluding Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg due to their compulsory voting laws.The study found relationships between higher turnout figures in EP-elections and increase in EU-skeptical parties, greater mobilization among groups with less means, elections held on weekends, elections coinciding with other, national elections and an increase in voter figures in national elections..

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to describe and analyse the origin and development of the municipal library of Västervik. There have been four previous libraries and our examination starts in 1859 with the foundation of a parish library. The other forerunners were a working-class movement library and two libraries in the International Orders of Good Templars. Before the merger of the libraries there were discussions in the municipal council, among the working-class movement and in the IOGT.

The purpose of this study is to determine if and how municipal consultative entities through influence may affect the legitimacy of the Swedish democratic model. The study aims to do this through analysing the opportunities for influence present with the Youth Council and the Council of the Retired in Karlstads municipality, to determine how the councils may affect political participation and the role of elected representatives. To do so, the study asks the following primary research question:"What requisites for influence are present for participants of municipal consultative entities, as found for the representatives of the youth and the retired within the framework of their participation in the Youth Council and the Council of the Retired in Karlstads municipality?"The study answers this research question by dividing it into one question of policy and one question of democratic perspective, and investigating these matters through nine snowballing interviews with the decision makers, organisational actors and participants of the councils. The information from the interviews is then analysed per council through a framework of democracy theory, policy process theory and organisation theory.

Municipalities are steered organizations with a democratic decision-making. They are responsible for an extensive activity. The local municipal audit is the municipal council?s tool to control that the activity operates. The local municipal audit will in the beginning of every audit period plan for what they will review.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how cooperation functions between the health services and social services within Sollentuna County Municipal area regarding clients and simultaneous or double diagnoses. Focusing more specifically; the paper also aims to provide additionally, an inquiry as to how the implementation of the Gemensam Individuell Vårdplan (GIVP) (The Integrated Individual Service Care Programme or (GIVP) functions within the Sollentuna Municipal County Area. The questions asked in the paper are: How do the Municipal and County Council personnel experience how the (GIVP) system functions in Sollentuna? How do the Municipal Council and County Council personnel respectively describe their own and their cooperative sister services rolls in terms of the implementation of the GIVP system in practice? The projection activates a hypothesis and tries to explain how the cooperation functions and provides an assessment as to how it functions or not as may be the case in practise. The authors attempt to achieve this using a combination of methodologies.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to describe the development of the most important libraries in Skövde, starting from 1830. We conclude our examination about 1940, when the municipal library has been active for almost ten years, and the libraries started by the temperance and working-class movements have been deposited at the municipal library. In order to explain this process we describe the development of the Swedish public library and its predecessors, such as reading societies and the popular national movements? libraries, as a background and comparison to the early libraries in Skövde.

Over the past thirty years the political parties in Sweden have lost five out of six members. In order to retain existing members leadership in these organizations has become increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to identify what group leaders for party groups within the municipal council believe are the driving forces that underlie the councillors' voluntary commitment, identify the group leaders' leadership style and identify whether there exist a relationship between these driving forces and the leadership style. The approach applied is qualitative consisting of twelve interviews with twelve group leaders from six different municipalities in Stockholm county. The theoretical framework of this paper includes the Volunteer Functions Inventory and the Full Range Leadership Theory.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the importance of personal election for candidates of foreign background. I made this, first, by map and comparing the candidates of foreign background in the recent Swedish and Finnish parliamentary election. Second, I analyze what conceptions candidates of foreign background, who was nominated in the 2006 municipal election in Örebro, have about the personal election. The result from the first study shows that personal election had a negative impact on candidates of foreign background in both the Swedish and Finnish parliamentary elections. The result from the second study shows that candidates of foreign background have both positive and negative conceptions about the personal election.

Neighbourhood offices were established in the municipal of Lund by a decision in the municipal council 1999. During following years four offices opened in the surrounding villages; Veberöd, Genarp, Södra Sandby and Dalby. By using a goal oriented model and making interviews I study whether the offices reaches the goals of more effective service, developed IT-support, a stronger local democracy and a better feeling for service. The offices has improved the information to the citizens and efforts have been made to strengthen the local democracy but more complex matters can not be handled at the offices today, which is a disappointment for many involved.To explain the result of the evaluation I use Vedungs ?A general theory of public efforts result?.

Young councillors are currently under-represented in Sweden's municipalities. Young councillors are also stepping down in greater numbers than older members. This paper explores the reasons why young councillors choose to resign from their mission, so to identify possible remedies to the problematic trend of underrepresentation of younger people in local authorities in Sweden.This qualitative essay intends, through interviewing politically-active young people who has left their assignment, to study the reasons for resignations from elected posts. To see what could be the reason I have looked at previous studies and theories about opting out but also tried to remain open to identifying new and emerging trends previously undetected in existing surveys.The results showed that the political assignment proved to be too time-consuming, with young people choosing to spend their time on career and leisure. Those who resign from political life often express criticism towards the Municipal Council; they consider it tedious and many complain of having little influence.

The aim of this study is to try to explain the process using both an actor driven perspective as well as a structural perspective examining the reasons why the County Council of Värmland wants to merge with Region Västra Götaland. The answers to the following research questions are sought to shed light on the problem: What constrained the discretion of  the political actors in the choice of region to merge with? Which role did  different political actors play? Does the study provide Game Theory, from Rational Choice theory,  and Path Dependency, from Historic Institutionalism, a new perspective and strength especially  when bringing them together? The study is limited to two policy areas, health care and regional development policy. The structural background is drawn upon the Annual Report 2008 of the County Council Värmland, the Regional Development Program and Regional Transport Infrastructure Plan 2010-2021 by Region Värmland. The chronological order of decisions and events is drawn upon protocols from various regional political organs all linked to the municipal of Värmland and the correspondence between the officials of Värmland?s municipal and the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency of the State.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the student councils at two schools really have the power to influence, or if it is a matter of mock democracy. I wanted to determine how the student councils work in reality. I conducted my investigation through personal and qualitative interviews with the board of the student council, a social studies teacher and the principle/school management at both schools. After the interviews I compared an analysed my findings. The results show that the two schools work very differently when it comes to studentdemocracy, and even have very different levels of ambition when it comes to the degree of influence that the student council should have at their respective schools.

2014 is a special year in Sweden: for the first time elections to the European parliament and the national elections coincides, creating a"Super election year". This year has also seen the rebirth of an old way of campaigning: door-to-door canvassing. For the first time in 50 years the two biggest political parties, the Social Democrats and the Moderate Party, have decided to create a campaign based on personal meetings with the voters in their own home. To investigate this old-new way of campaigning, this study presents an overview of the history of door-to-door canvassing in Sweden and the research in political marketing associated with the phenomena. Based on that, a new model is constructed to help analyze and map the Swedish canvassing-campaigns.

In the end of the last century the interest for youth politics increased in Sweden. The causes for the increased interest were the more obvious youth politics questions and problems, for example the increased youth unemployment. In 1998 the government wrote down national goals and instructions for the youth politic work in a government bill (1998/99:115). This government bill describes how the youth politic work should be carried at a local level in the municipality.The purpose with this study is to investigate young people, in Värnamo kommun, view of their own situation. The study´s focus lies om three main concept; democracy, justice and faith in the future.