Decentralization and support to local democracy are keystones in Sweden's development cooperation. This cooperation is channelled through local partnerships in order to create fora for exchange of experiences of local self-governance and to strengthen democratic institutions on a sub-national level. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of, and to future research on, decentralizat

According to latest research the world politics is experiencing an expansion of judicial power. International institutions are becoming more legalized and courts are getting more influence over political issues. In this thesis I investigate the relationship between politics and law in the European Union (EU) and how this international trend is present in the current constitutional changes that are

In this essay I study the democracy enhancing projects on the municipal level in four different cities. The purpose is to determine how the local governments respond to the outer pressure to supplement the traditional democratic forms with new ones that will allow the citizens to participate more extensively in the democratic process. The ideas of increased public participatory have become trendy

This paper investigates the labour force participation among Jordanian women. Although most indicators, such as the country’s political economy and relatively high HDI scores, the high percentage of female students at universities and encouragement from the Royal family, signal that the situation ought to be different, Jordanian women’s labour force participation is below the Middle Eastern averag

Utopian studies, and the word Utopia it self, have always been controversial. In common language utopia often connects to something negative, something impossible. Diverse academic disciplines have their own definition of the word and concept. These heterogeneous views of utopia complicate the discussion in the scientific community. The starting point of this study is to reach at better and more e

This thesis is investigating the conflict between the state and pirates in an actor perspective. It shows that the conflict contains both an indirect- and a direct conflict. The first is a military and juridical struggle where the state tries to defeat pirates. The latter is a competition on controlling the large values transported via sea. I conclude that the state has not defeated pirates becaus

This study examines if there is a hidden normative Swedish nationalism in the Swedish language school for immigrants (Sfi) and if so, how it has been portrayed historically and how it is depicted now. With the help of Umut Özkirimlis theory; dimensions of nationalism and the social constructivist theory, I have analyzed the literature used in Sfi. The methodology used in this study has been a qual

File sharing is causing an enormous debate over the issue of copyright law and freedom of information on the internet. Just recently, the Swedish file sharing network The Pirate Bay was sentenced to pay 30 million kronor to the media entertainment industry, who prosecuted the owners for illegal piracy of copyrighted material. This essay examines weather or not free file sharing, unbound by legal c

This thesis departs from a neorealist theoretical perspective but adds a rational actor perspective based on game theory. It shares Waltz' assumption of deep anarchy and the need for states to ensure their security but also maintains that actor prospects may be able to cope with the structural incentives in a flexible manner. Two cases of international politics are studied; 1890-1911 and 2001-

The thesis that this essay rests upon implies that economic values are much higher prioritized then democratic values in the Swedish administration. This assumption applies throughout the entire public administration. A lot of research points on the danger with the decreasing focus on democratic values and increasing focus on economic values. The two different kinds of values are often seen as inc

This thesis attempts to answer the question why there was a breakdown in talks between India and the USA over the issue Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM), at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva in July 2008. This is done through Robert Putnams’ two-level game framework, which is applied to the interplay between India’s diplomacy and domestic politics. The thesis concludes that the underd

The purpose of humanitarian aid is to save lives, relieve suffering and maintain human dignity for people affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters or other crisis situations. Since crises and conflicts today are diverse and complex to manage, humanitarian aid, as well as international politics in general, are faced with new challenges. On a global level humanitarian aid has increased in volu

The thesis is a study of female guerrilla soldiers, guerrilleras, in two Colombian guerrilla groups: the rural FARC-EP and the urban M-19. Firstly, the roles female guerrilleras play and the treatment of guerrilleras are described. Secondly, poststructural gender theory is used to understand the gender structures that underlie the division of labor within the groups. The study focuses on certain m

The aim of this thesis is to explore the complex role of the Rapporteur in the Committee of the Regions. The Rapporteur is a member of the Committee who is appointed by its Commission to prepare opinions. Hence, the Rapporteur can be an extremely influential actor. In an environment of multiple interests, which characterise the Committee, the question arises: how does it affect the role of the Rap

This thesis is a discourse analysis of the policy report, “Sweden in the world” produced by the Swedish globalization committee. With a social constructionist foundation, the aim of the study was to uncover any potentially existing tensions or ambiguities in their statements and representations. By examining how the committee characterize and constitute the globalization and the social reality I c

This study attempts to answer the question as to what extent a political party that sustains a minority government in office, without forming a coalition government, can fulfil its electoral pledges. The study focuses on two minor Swedish parties, namely Vänsterpartiet (the Left party) and Miljöpartiet (Green Party) during the term of 1998-2002 when these parties supported and sustained the Social

This thesis sets out to answer (1) why the Swedish municipalities of Malmö and Lund choose to become certified as Fairtrade Cities, that is; to adopt and promote Fair Trade regulations as stipulated by the Fairtrade Labelling Organization International, and (2) whether or not municipalities are morally entitled to strive to promote such regulations. In two case studies, interviews with representat

Who influences our notion of the European Union? This paper examines the Swedish discourse of the European Union. The study shows how the Swedish parties in the Riksdag (Parliament) build up the picture of the European Union, including and excluding aspects and issues after their interests. The discursive theory of Laclau and Mouffe is used in order to conceptualize and analyze the discursive con

The state of the Russian Armed Forces during the 1990’s was so critical that experts warned for a collapse. This thesis examines the relationship between rhetoric and measures taken concerning the capacity of the Armed Forces during Putin’s presidency. Studying the Russian Armed Forces is of interest since they influence and affect both the regional and global order. The theoretical foundation of

There is a war raging in our world, our country, our streets and our homes, fought in arenas sizing from courthouses down to the currently smallest electronic devices capable of upholding an internet connection. It is a battle of ideas fought by representatives of the notions that said ideas, respectively, are or are not priceless, a battle in the midst of which the state is held hostage by commer