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.

What role does The State play in economic development? This thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between a strong state and economic development. To define the concept of a strong state I focus on the relationship between the scope of state functions and the efficiency of which these functions are implemented. The concept of a strong state is in this thesis defined as the efficiency of The State functions. By using a database constructed by three economists; David Kaufman, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi as a measurement of a strong state I test the relationship with economic development empirically.

When Vladimir Putin in the year 2000 came to power in Russia many believed that the Russian civil society were weak and had very little influence and with Putin people say that the situation have deteriorated. The purpose of this paper is to establish what kind of relationship exists between the Russian state and the civil society and to analyze this from a top-down perspective. We are looking at Russia during Putins first term in office from the year 2000 until 2004. In order to establish the relationship we have used John S. Dryzeks theory of inclusive and exclusive state and whether it?s active or passive in this process.

The three post-communist states - Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine ? have gone different ways in terms of freedom and democracy since the breakdown of the Soviet Union 1991. During these years, The State and the civil society have been fundamental actors in the struggle against, and even for, authoritarianism.A strong state with great capacity in Belarus has undermined the chances for the civil society to fulfil its task as a watchdog of The State and link between the citizens and the government.Failed authoritarianism in Moldova has led to a situation where both The State and the civil society are weak. The major problem is lack of organization and cohesion; both The State and the civil society have often been divided by ethnical differences and are therefore not strong enough to promote democracy.In Ukraine, the dominance of a strong state ended in 2004 when the Orange Revolution took place, sometimes called a ?peak of democracy? where popular mobilization and protests succeeded in it's opposition against The State.

This paper attempts to survey the debate in the Swedish parliament on state surveillance on the Internet, from 1994 to March, 2007. With a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, we follow how the idea of state surveillance is viewed by politicians during the period. By focusing on the Internet, we expect to find how politicians in the parliament regard the idea of an unregulated forum for citizen communication and interaction, and how the need for state surveillance on the new arena that is Internet, is expressed and argued for. Theoretical framework is given by Foucault?s theory of the Panoptic state, as well as his thoughts on discourse, power and governmentality.

The liberal state, it has been argued, must be neutral between different conceptions of the good. Embodying ideals such as fairness and impartiality, state neutrality is intuitively appealing, but working as a restraint for state actions it is somewhat unsatisfactory. People make mistakes about their lives and people live less valuable lives than they could do. To then restrain The State from doing as much good as it can seems just as unappealing as neutrality at first seemed appealing. In this paper, a possible solution to this dilemma is presented.

This thesis aimed to, with the help of a case study, investigate and discuss state responsibility towards climate refugees. The State of Tuvalu was selected because of their vulnerability as a low-lying island state. This was fulfilled by on-site study how The State Tuvalu acted to climate threats, determine if the future migrants from Tuvalu can be counted as climate refugees and find out if they are by that definition included by the UN Refugee Convention. The result indicated that The State of Tuvalu is adapting to climate threats, that in the future the population can be seen as climate refugees, if they are forced from their homes due to climate change, and that they, despite that definition, can not be included by the UN Refugee Convention. The study also indicates a need for greater international protection of climate refugees by, for example, an expansion of the UN Refugee Convention so that these vulnerable people do not fall into oblivion due to a question of definition..

This study is about state officials who handle applications for sickness benefits and about municipal officials who handle applications for financial assistance. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between the two professional roles regarding their conception about their exercise of authority, in terms of flexibility, individual adjustment, empathy and legal security.The study has a qualitative approach and is based on structured interviews with two state officials and two municipal officials. The questions that this study aims to answer are:- Is there a difference between state officials and municipal officials regarding their experience and use of flexibility? - Is there a difference between state officials and municipal officials regarding their perceptions of legal security, individual adjustment and empathy in their exercise of authority? - What kind of bureaucracy can you find in the two organizations?The results show that The State officials in this study have very limited flexibility due to legislation which makes their exercise of authority neither empathic nor individual. The municipal officials in this study state in their turn that the law entails broad flexibility and the opportunity for them to be empathic and to make individual decisions.

The function of traditional leaders in the modern states of Africa has been under debate for decades. The dominant research discourse suggests that these institutions should be integrated into The State in order to minimize the amount of parallel political spheres, since the latters are considered to affect state legitimacy negatively. But are The States in a situation where they need to compete with the traditional institutions in order to gain more legitimacy? If so, is the struggle for legitimacy a zero-sum game where there can only be one winner? Or is it possible for these institutions to co-exist or even benefit from each other? The aim of this bachelor?s thesis is to research if, and to what extent, African citizens? confidence in traditional institutions has an effect on state legitimacy. This has been done by statistically analyzing the data from the latest completed round of the Afrobarometer survey, a study that has been conducted in 20 different countries across West- and Northeast Africa.

During the last years a discussion has emerged around problems with Swedish state boards trying to influence the public opinion and even political bodies through different kind of information efforts. Several observers inside and outside the academy have studied how state boards increasingly use information as an instrument and also how political bodies increasingly have given such instructions to state boards. This essay put those studies into the context of both information political history and previous theoretical interpretations in that field of research.The analytical tool consists of four ideal typical ways ('state opinions') to arrange relations between The State and the citizen. Some critics focus on problems with too much political steering and how political majorities uses state boards to spread ideological propaganda. Others highlight problems with autonomy and bureaucratic organizations taking initiatives by themselves to spread normative information.

Abstract:The aim of this study has been to investigate (theoretically as well as empirically) the problematic notions of state neutrality and political perfectionism and, in particular, the potentially vast continuum existing between these concepts both in theory and in actual political practice. In order to accomplish this, a conceptual analysis has examined (some of) the arguments for and against state neutrality and political perfectionism, different aspects of neutralism and perfectionism as well as the exact definition of the concepts of ?neutrality of justification? and ?conceptions of the good?. Using a specific (though not entirely uncontested) definition of these concepts, an empirical analysis was made of Swedish parliamentary parties and their cultural policies. The empirical part of the study seemed to confirm one of the basic premises of this study; that state neutrality and perfectionism are often (as has indeed been recognized by critics of state neutrality) intertwined in the business of everyday politics..

This essay is about North Korea, Kim Jong Il and how the future looks for The States political system. The purpose is to explain how Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regim rules The State and with help of Machiavellis theory about the Prince, tell about The States future. The essayinvestigates how well Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime are keeping their power overThe State and if their possibilities to continue in the same way are good or bad. The essayinvestigates North Koreas possibilities for further reign through Niccolo Machiavellis theory.The argument is that the North Korean state and Kim Jong Il have few or noneconditions to continue with the same political system that The State in this time have.The result shows that, through a Machiavellian perspective, Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime have bad conditions to continue ruling The State in same way as now. The investigation, unfortunately, do not show when and how North Korea will be exposed to a government switch , but the result points to a change..

This essay is about North Korea, Kim Jong Il and how the future looks for The States political system. The purpose is to explain how Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regim rules The State and with help of Machiavellis theory about the Prince, tell about The States future. The essayinvestigates how well Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime are keeping their power overThe State and if their possibilities to continue in the same way are good or bad. The essayinvestigates North Koreas possibilities for further reign through Niccolo Machiavellis theory.The argument is that the North Korean state and Kim Jong Il have few or noneconditions to continue with the same political system that The State in this time have.The result shows that, through a Machiavellian perspective, Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime have bad conditions to continue ruling The State in same way as now. The investigation, unfortunately, do not show when and how North Korea will be exposed to a government switch , but the result points to a change..

Homelessness has always been and will always be a problem in every society. How should we organize the work and care for these people? There are three different types of welfare states, the liberal, the conservative and the social democratic. In the liberal welfare state the market is the supplier of the public good. In the conservative state the family and church and in the social democratic The State is the supplier of the public welfare.The Swedish welfare state has been the archetype of social democratic welfare with de principal of ?Folkhemmet? in focus.

This essay is about North Korea, Kim Jong Il and how the future looks for The States political system. The purpose is to explain how Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regim rules The State and with help of Machiavellis theory about the Prince, tell about The States future. The essayinvestigates how well Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime are keeping their power overThe State and if their possibilities to continue in the same way are good or bad. The essayinvestigates North Koreas possibilities for further reign through Niccolo Machiavellis theory.The argument is that the North Korean state and Kim Jong Il have few or noneconditions to continue with the same political system that The State in this time have.The result shows that, through a Machiavellian perspective, Kim Jong Il and the North Korean regime have bad conditions to continue ruling The State in same way as now. The investigation, unfortunately, do not show when and how North Korea will be exposed to a government switch , but the result points to a change..