The objective of this essay is to map the possible future scenarios of energy relations between the European Union (EU), the world’s biggest energy market, and Russia, the world’s largest producer. The security of energy supply is essential to the functioning of the EU. Energy security, therefore, is a highly politicized subject that has divided European capitals for decades and will, ceteris pari

The purpose of this study is to give clarity on the use of Swedish identity and the definition of Swedish identity in the Swedish national political debate between 1976 – 2006. The study analyzes the electoral programs of the three biggest political parties of the period, namely Socialdemokraterna (The social democrats), Moderaterna (The conservative party) and Centerpartiet (The centre party). A

China is the country in the world with the strongest economic development for the last three decades with an average economic growth of 9 percent annually. The country is very controlled and the government is in power of the media as well as the Internet. But according to the modernization theory China should be a democracy. The theory is presenting a correlation between economic development and d

This thesis proves that the political culture of Iraq has possessed a major obstacle for the country to consolidate the new democratic regime, established after the overthrowing of the authoritarian Baath-regime in 2003. More specifically, it tries the theories of recognized scholar Larry Diamond, strengthening his interpretation that the presence of liberal norms and values among the people is ce

Nine Stockholm-based joint-stock data analysis and web hosting companies are hereby united in an external financial analysis, ranging from 1998 to 2007. The main contributions to the body of knowledge comprise observations regarding the companies’ management efficiency and their survival of “the dot-com crisis”. Given the fact that the firms’ resource bases are their differentiating factors, resou

This paper aims to discuss two research questions. The first question is what role race plays in American local politics. With the second question I intend to analyze what effect racial group conflicts have had in the city of Dallas. In the case of what role race has played in American local politics the results indicate that the complexity of the term race in itself makes the study of race in Ame

Algeria, alongside many other countries, was not swept up in the so called third wave of democratization. Instead, the wake of some political opening, it experienced a return to authoritarian rule. With the holding of regular elections in a multi-party system that allowed for relatively free press, traditional democratization theory would predict political reform. Arguing that this liberalized for

The purpose of this essay is to discuss whether the occidental approach to human rights, namely the importance of civil and political rights, in Africa is disappearing with the Chinese influence and its oriental viewpoint with focus on economic, cultural and social rights. China has lately chosen to ”Go Global” and now they officially promote their perspective on human rights. The intensified coop

Ett av de mål som idag karaktäriserar de Förenta nationernas (FN) millenniemål är att grundskola skall finns tillgänglig för alla världens barn. Detta är ett av delmålen för att halvera fattigdomen till 2015. Vi anser dock i denna uppsats att utbildningen också fyller ett annat mycket viktigt syfte, nämligen att en rättmätig grundskoleutbildning är en av de mest grundläggande faktorerna för huruvi

The aim of this thesis is to study how cities in general and Malmö in particular are working with lobbying to influence the European Union and at the same time depict what role they are playing in a multi-level system. The study also intends to look at the consequences of the cities increasing international participation. How does it affect the national state? In order to answer my questions I am

This comparative analysis examines the implementationprocess of the directive SEA, strategical environmental assessment on certain plans and programmes, 2001/42/EG, in the case studies Italy and Sweden. From the theoretical approach of implementation three point of views are being thoroughly examined to seek to answer the differentation concerning the implementation of the directive: “political wi

Cross-border regionalism has changed the preconditions for power. The traditional nation-state term of power has changed, and as new cross-border regions are created, so are new interests and actors. This essay is a comparative analysis of the organization and the actors in Haparanda-Tornio and Öresund, with the aim to answer the question: Who “owns” a cross-border region? To understand the how th

The principle aim of the Law on Support and Service for people with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS) is to guarantee full participation in society and freedom to choose one’s own path in life. These are ambitious goals; however, they lack both precision and reference to daily care work. Through 17 qualitative interviews with caregivers working in group homes for disabled, this thesis examines

The following essay studies how the migration politic, as a national area of politic, constructs and re-constructs the European and Swedish identity to legitimate the supranational politic within the EU. My study is accomplished through a discourse analysis combined by a social constructivism theory, specialized in identity construction and examines the identity construction in articles written by

In this thesis, a theory testing research of two comparative cases has been conducted. By applying the Rational Choice inspired theory by Adam Przeworski, upon the two cases of the negotiations revolving around the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the war between Serbia and Kosovo, it has been examined whether the theory can be used to explain the difference in outcome. The essence of the theor

The European Security Strategy (ESS) developed in 2003 and the National Security Strategy of the United States of America (NSS) was issued in 2002. In this thesis these two documents are compared and analyzed with reference to the securitization theory. The comparison focus on identified threats and how they aim to refute them. The choice of documents is partly based on, them being the first secu

The following thesis studies the underlying assumptions and interpretations of policy objectives – assumptions and approaches that characterize the policy process. The aim is to determine which expressions and concepts that are being used in order to make the political work understandable. By specifically studying how politicians from the city council and officials from the city office describe th

The Swedish armed forces have undergone a fundamental change during the last 10-15 years. During the late 80´s and early 90´s the Swedish territorial defense was the major priority for the armed forces. A new focus of the armed forces was needed after the Cold War when the threat changed. The reorganization of the Swedish armed forces from an invasion-defense to a focus of peacekeeping is describe

Studien tar sin början i hur e-demokratin – en demokrati byggd på informationstekniska verktyg – sägs vara död och försvunnen i Sveriges kommuner. Ända sedan denna digitala demokrati i mitten av nittiotalet anammades som den kommande räddningen för en förmodat krisande demokrati, har dess förespråkare kommit att eftersöka den med ljus och lykta. Studien frågar sig om e-demokratin verkligen försva

This is an investigation of the FIFA World Cup 2010 and effects on housing rights in Cape Town. South Africa has a harsh history of displacement of people and the government has, because of that, promised that no one will be displaced because of the sport event. The government is also promising a lot of opportunities for the population in the entire Africa. To investigate how mega-events affect ho