Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats var att belysa eventuell partiskhet i svenska mediers valbevakning inför riksdagsvalet 2010. Då det är fullt legitimt för tidningarna att vara partiska i sitt eget opinionsmaterial valde vi att lägga fokus på dess nyhetssidor. Vi ville undersöka om misstanken om en påstådd "Mosa-Mona-kampanjen" stämde; om partiska nyheter, med tillhörande bilder, seglade under falsk flagg. De teorier vi jobbat utifrån har varit Maxwell McCombs dagordningsteori, medielogiken, samt Jesper Strömbäcks tolkning av gestaltningsteorin. För att göra undersökningen genomförbar begränsades undersökningsperioden till den 10-19 september 2010, och materialet till tre tidningar: Aftonbladet, Expressen och Svenska Dagbladet. För att skapa en empiriskt förankrad bild av hur statsministerkandidater porträtteras i media, gjorde vi även en mindre jämförande studie med fokus på moderatledaren Bo Lundgren från riksdagsvalet 2002. Metoden var genomgående kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Den totala mängden analyserade texter uppgick till 429 (378 för 2010 och 51 för 2002). Vår slutsats är att partisk bevakning på nyhetsplats förekommer, både i bild och i text, i samtliga undersöka medier. Utöver det är den partiska bevakningen ofta, men inte alltid, i linje med tidningens egna politiska färg. Vi har även varit medvetna om att partisk bevakning inte nödvändigtvis reflekterar skribentens egna åsikter, utan att man också måste ta hänsyn till hur verkligheten ser ut. Detta inkluderas dock ej i vår undersökning.

This dissertation argues that Isaiah Berlin and John Rawls can be seen as seminal contributors to two quite distinct revivals of political theory in the latter half of the twentieth century. It suggests that coming to grips with the different underlying character of these revivals and writers is important to understanding political theory and liberalism today. However, while the importance Berlin's of Berlin's work is increasingly recognized, there remain puzzling controversies concerning its overall character and import and in particular concerning its relationship to the dominant forms of American political thought, and Rawls' work in particular. This dissertation offers a novel interpretation of Berlin's political thought and liberalism, and a preliminary exploration of its relationship with Rawls' political thought. / The reading of Berlin develops the following principal themes: (1) Berlin was a moderate but consistent historicist primarily concerned with the interpretive self-understanding of his own form of life; (2) Berlin was a strong but distinctive pluralist who argued for a limited but open-ended range of recognizable and rivalrous ultimate values and for an agitated equilibrium of these values in public life; (3) Berlin focused the bulk of his critical energy on defending an internally pluralistic range of traditionally liberal values within this agitated equilibrium, with an emphasis on liberty and pluralism. He nonetheless recognized that there were other equally ultimate values, not distinctively liberal, which were legitimate and deserving of consideration and even defense. Berlin's essential insight is into the contemporary rivalry of equally ultimate values revealed by the historicist exercise of the sympathetic imagination. / This interpretation of Berlin's thought suggests some deep points of dispute with Rawls' Political Liberalism, in particular over the regulative role of Rawls' political conception of justice in public reason. This dissertation argues that, when explored, these points of disagreement reveal two very different approaches to contemporary political thought, Berlin's grounded in an embrace of strong moral and political pluralism as the basis of political theory, and Rawls' grounded in an effort to tame such "simple" pluralism through the elaboration of a consensual normative framework of public life.

Abstract not available.

In Africa, the new electoral freedoms of the 1990s often ushered in not less but more violence and corruption. Somewhat paradoxically, democratization appeared to lead to greater despotism. Current theories of democratic transitions fail to adequately explain this negative "fall out". On the one hand, by focusing on formal institutional change, most transitions theory marginalizes the "informal" politics of patronage and violence. On the other hand, theorists of "informal" politics tend to assume that formal institutional change does not impinge on patrimonial dynamics. This thesis explains how the advent of electoral freedom challenges patrimonialism and, in the process, deepens local despotism. By a careful look at the Kenyan case, this thesis argues that the re-introduction of multiple political parties posed a genuine challenge to highest level patronage networks. This challenge consisted of "patronage inflation": competitive elections escalated demands for and promises of patronage just as international conditionalities and economic difficulties led to a decline in traditional supplies of patronage. Further, with multiple political parties, voters gained bargaining power to demand both resources and accountability. A critique of patrimonialism emerged into the public realm, particularly from those who had lost out in the spoils system, the growing numbers of poor and landless. These challenges were met by counter-strategies on the part of those most set to lose by a turnover in elections. With the introduction of alternative political parties, President Moi and key patronage bosses instigated localized but electorally beneficial violence in the form of "ethnic clashes". In their struggle to maintain patrimonial dominance, they also increasingly turned to less internationally scrutinized public lands as a patronage resource, leading to increasing and increasingly violent "land grabbing". This triggered counter mobilizations which aimed at reasserting local co

The aim of the thesis is to analyze the Peronist labor movement's role in the Argentine democratic consolidation process. Some scholars, as Valenzuela, have underlined the important role of labor movements in the consolidation of the new democratic regimes emerging from the end of authoritarian rule. This role consists in the moderation of labor's mobilizational activities and militant demands. However, these scholars have not sufficiently emphasized the weakness and the reduced weight of some labor movements after military repression and economic structural transformations. The thesis examines the Argentine case and demonstrates how the several general strikes organized by the CGT during Alfonsin's government did not hinder Argentine democratic consolidation in the short term. The thesis underlines the weakening of the Peronist labor movement and explains its minor role in the consolidation process.

This paper suggests that a critical mass of elements is forming in China which, if not better controlled, will lead to some form of political regime change. The paper will (a) elaborate on China's major problems, grouped into "backbone changes" and "catalysts," (b) provide a balance sheet of remedies the government has attempted or proposed to date, and (c) examine the remedies' relative success or failure. Among the "backbone changes": decentralization, corruption, the emergence of interest groups, the government's possible loss of legitimacy, people's increased exposure to procedural democracy, the increase in the number of students receiving a foreign education, the privatization of education and divisions within the Chinese Communist Party. The "catalysts" include: massive urban and rural unemployment, corruption, forced displacement and the gentrification of China's cities.

Sustainable development is determined by a combination of top-down policy objectives, bottom-up interests as well as theoretical and scientific input. To date there has not yet emerged a system of reference to integrate these aspects. This lack of a framework poses severe problems for the implementation and the evaluation of sustainable development. This paper, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund, illustrates the importance of a system of reference for the implementation and evaluation of initiatives for sustainable development and describes the framework developed by the "Research Focus Managing Sustainability" of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The development of the framework is founded on the definition and delimitation of sustainable development from various perspectives and disciplines, on workshops with experts, on case studies of Local Agenda 21 (LA21) projects and on literature-analysis. The framework accounts for the wide range of notions of sustainable development in a systematic way and provides orientation through the aspects of sustainable development (scope) and the requirements associated therewith (depth). With regard to the implementation of sustainable development, the framework helps to match the demands and expectations on sustainable development that exist on different policy levels. As a means to focus consensus-based processes of local sustainable development policies, the framework makes the concept of sustainable development more operational. Concerning evaluations of Local Agenda 21 initiatives, a meta-analysis in Austria shows that project managers, evaluators and clients apply different systems of reference according to their view of sustainable development. The framework provides a tool to explicitly point out different approaches of sustainable development and thus facilitates discussion and harmonization towards a common system of reference. Furthermore, the framework makes it easier to identify strengths and weaknesses of sustainable development initiatives, clarify missing aspects and possible directions of further improvement. (author's abstract) / Series: WU-Jahrestagung 2002

Seit einigen Jahren spielt in der industriepolitischen Diskussion Industriedynamik eine wichtige Rolle. Unternehmensneugründungen werden als wirtschaftspolitisches Instrument betrachtet, welches der "neuen unternehmerischen Ökonomie" angemessen sei. Dieser Beitrag untersucht diese Fragen mit Hilfe einer ökonometrischen Studie von Eintritten und Austritten in der Österreichischen Industrie. Die Daten zeigen, dass die Industrieturbulenz in Österreich im internationalen Vergleich eher gering ist, sowie dass sie über die Zeit relativ konstant ist. Die im internationalen Vergleich geringe Industrieturbulenz in Österreich deutet darauf hin, dass in Österreich viele "sichere" und wenige "riskante" Projekte in neuen Unternehmen in Angriff genommen wurden. Der Befund spiegelt wieder, dass Österreich von einem Übergewicht traditioneller Industriebranchen geprägt ist, die weder besonders wertschöpfungsintensiv noch besonders wachstumsorientiert sind. In der ökonometrischen Studie zeigt sich, dass zeitlich quasifixe industriespezifische Faktoren wie versunkene Kosten, Skalenvorteile und Industriewachstum die wichtigsten Determinanten der Industrieturbulenz sind, und dass Eintritte und Austritte symmetrisch sind. Symmetrie bedeutet, dass Eintrittsbarrieren und Austrittsbarrieren sich wechselseitig bedingen und impliziert, dass eine Gründungsoffensive in Form einer horizontalen Subventionspolitik nicht die gewünschten Effekte bringen kann. Markteintrittsraten können nicht nachhaltig erhöht werden, ohne dass gleichzeitig höhere Marktaustrittsraten in Kauf genommen werden müssen. Letzteres kann u.U. auch Wohlfahrtsverluste mit sich ziehen, wie im Beitrag gezeigt wird. Abschliessend werden wirtschaftspolitische Implikationen diskutiert. (Autorenref., bearb. M.Putz) / Series: WU-Jahrestagung 2002

According to the current focus of the regional policy of the European Union on sustainable regional development the question arises - what are the key-elements to achieve a sustainable regional pathway? The identification of these key-factors is a challenge for the regional policy in each member state. One elementary key-factor is the promotion of new technologies as part of a regional innovation strategy. Regional institutions which support environmental improvements within regions can be identified as key-actors for achieving a sustainable regional pathway. The main research question focuses on the relevance of existing regional institutions and their ability of fulfilling the challenges of sustainable regional development goals. Their role within the regional innovation system and their flexibility to change their target group profiles seems relevant for successful applications of sustainable regional development strategies. This contribution focuses exclusively on regional management institutions which were established after Austria's EU accession. (author's abstract) / Series: WU-Jahrestagung 2002

Der vorliegende Bericht ist gemäß den Bestimmungen für kleine Jahres- und Lehrberichte der Sächsischen Lehrberichtsverordnung vom 2. April 1997 für das Studienjahr 2001/2002 erstellt worden.