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This BA-thesis examines whether realism can be empirically tested on the Iraq war in 2003. I am inspired by Mearsheimer's offensive realism, which holds that all states are aggressive because of the structure of international politics. Realism has a lot of theories about power, which I examine extensively and then apply empirically. Realism states that there are two strategies for a states? su
This thesis is a study of social movements and their possibilities to effect politics by infuencing values in society through framing. I've looked upon social movements from a functionalistic-structuralistic perspective, as if they were carriers of values from people that otherwise won't be represented in the political life. The values that the social movements are struggling for can affec
In this thesis I discuss and analyse the relationship between USA and Europe since the end of the Cold War. Many authors claimed that the Soviet threat was the glue that kept the continents together. Now that threat is gone and new challenges have risen. In what way has this relationship been influenced by the new challenges this new era stands for? By doing a case study and by using two quite dif
In light of recent EU expansion and the eventual proposed accession of western Balkans countries to the EU, the case of Albania has come to the forefront of dialogue in respect to eventual integration of the country. Throughout numerous reports, the EU has noted that the beginning of Albania's accession dialogue is contingent upon the upcoming national elections in July 2006 being "free a
This thesis focuses on democracy, which here is seen as both certain institutional arrangements (notably competitive elections and multipartyism) and more abstract ideals that these arrangements are intended to secure (such as accountability and responsiveness). The intention is to explore how citizens of a polity characterized by competitive elections and high levels of political participation -
This thesis treats the question of how a political vision is given a concrete form. The Swedish government has defined a view of gender inequality. To change the subordination of women national goals have been established. These give guidelines to the different parts of the administration. The primary scope of this thesis is to analyse the conditions for the implementation of these goals in two pa
In this thesis I discuss and analyze different factors, and different circumstances, that influence identity negotiation among the north american indians. I do this mainly by using two models. The first one is Druckmans three dimensions of identity; negotiating identity, durability of identity and spread of identity. Depending on how the identity fits in these dimensions one can se if, or how, th
This thesis analyses the connection between Swedish peacekeeping and prostitution. Initially an explanatory model is developed based on the concept of hegemonic masculinity. The model indicates that it is likely that Swedish peacekeepers? demand for prostitution can be explained as a result of a need to confirm manhood and homo-social bounding. However, it is also pointed out that more research h
This is an examination of how interdependence affects the behaviour of politicians and their ability to govern the way they want to. I analyze the memoirs of two Swedish prime ministers, Tage Erlander and Ingvar Carlsson to explore their experiences. I focus on how the increasing interdependence affects the politicians with regards to security, welfare, and financial policies. Sweden had a special
Uppsatsen behandlar Bosnien som ett fall av statsbyggande under utländsk intervention. Det är nu 10 år sedan Dayton-avtalet undertecknades, ett avtal som inte bara syftade till att få ett slut på den blodiga konflikten utan även till att bygga upp den nya staten Bosnien-Hercegovina samt dess institutioner. Under det gångna decenniet har vi dock fått bevittna ytterligare två fall inom samma kategor
Abstract This essay analyse, from a normative perspective, what can be exspected of an etical asylum policy. The theorical base is derived from Gerard Delanty´s notion of civil cosmopolitism. The ethical outlook is based on utilitarianism. The questions this essay answers are: 1) Which are the basic premises for an ethical asylum policy? 2) Does the Swedish asylum policy forfill these premises
The aim of this thesis is to seek understanding of which images there are about the ?others? in the society. For this study, four women in the ages of 21-23 years old were interviewed during April 2005. The empirical material was analysed with Laclaus and Mouffes discourse analysis. One conclusion is that the images of the ?immigrant? and the ?immigrant women? are created opposite to the ?Swedes?
This study aims to investigate whether the Internet can be a useful tool in organisations in developing countries that are working for empowerment, democratisation and an increased global justice. I have elucidated the opportunities involved and the prerequisites for it to happen. The ability for groups to interact at great distances and at a rapid speed raises interesting questions about collecti
In this thesis I examine the development and expansion of judicial power in Sweden. The concept of judicial review is defined and related to democratic theory, and the various forms of judicial review in use in Sweden are explained. The main focus is on the political and scientific discussion concerning judicial review since the mid 1970s. It is shown that judicial review so far has been used only
This thesis is seeking to explain why policy change come about. This is done by applying a part of Karin Lindgrens dissertation Vad styr ledaren?. The research evolves around the term pressure and the hypothesis are that policy change come about when there is middle range pressure on the decision-maker. Low and high pressure results in no or small policy change. The thesis is done as a case study
A question that is asked far to seldom is what it means to be a good leader. The answer is not all that simple. It is a comlex and multi-faceted question that varies between the values and what ethical perspective you choose to have. As the title indicates, this essay has one particular ethical-theoretical perspective in focus, virtue ethics. According to the virtue ethics perspective a good polit
The paper concerns the study of the relationship between international relations and the use of economic sanctions in the immediate post-cold war period. Interdependence, Neo-Realism and Democratic Theory are investigated from the perspective of answering the change in policy in western democracies. I second theoretical cut is given on the post-9/11 world order as a glimpse to what may come in th
When it comes to political representation, all over the world women almost always make up a minority of representatives in the legislative bodies. The Scandinavian countries in general and Sweden in particular have though been exceptions to this rule with, when compared to other countries, a rather high percentage of women in elected positions. This development took off in the seventies: during th
In this essay the question of why the European civilisation was the first to rise and expand will be analysed. As there is more than one answer to this question two of the explanations: the Eurocentric and the anti-Eurocentric have been chosen for a comparison and analysis. The Eurocentric explanations see the expansion of Europe as caused by its inner qualities such as: environment, state-system,
In the present case, the conception of policy hitchhiking gets evaluated in terms of its implications for democracy. This task is executed through the accomplishment of a case study of the use of social- and environmental clauses in the Swedish competitive tendering. A useful definition of policy hitchhiking, including different types of actors, is created. Through the defining of democracy and
