The purpose of this essay is to find out if the political parties have embraced each other's ideologies. The comprehensive question of the essay is: Have the Social Democratic Party and the Moderate Party ideologies viewpoint on man and society changed? Have their economic ideals changed? This essay will use a qualitative ideal type study on the political parties program from 1990, 2001 and 2013. The result of this essay shows that while both parties have approached liberalism, only the Moderate Party have kept their ideological view through the years in the study. While the Social Democratic Party still hold democratic socialism viewpoint on society and the states relationship with the market. They have adopted a liberal viewpoint on man. Antagonism is still pertinent between the two political parties.

Den opinionsbildande debattsidan Newsmill har anklagats i etablerad media för att vara en samlingsplats för högerradikala reaktionärer så väl som ett konkret hot mot demokratin. I huvudsak vilar anklagelserna på Newsmills funktion som en plats för medborgarjournalistiskt initiativ. Med de anklagelserna i åtanke var syftet med denna undersökning således att ta reda på huruvida denna medborgarjournalistik med tillhörande debattflora representerade ett offentligt rum för debatt där en deliberativ diskussion mellan jämlikar kunde äga rum, eller om kritiken är befogad. Utifrån temat integration ville vi sedermera ta reda på om diskussionen har ändrat karaktär över tid, mellan 2009 och 2012. Vi har därför utfört en kvantitativ analys för att i grova drag avgöra hur debatten på kommentarsfälten ser ut. Med hjälp av den kvantitativa undersökningen har vi därefter bedrivit en kvalitativ analys av ett snävare urval artiklar med tillhörande kommentarer. Den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen utfördes med ett diskursanalytiskt perspektiv och stödde sig på två huvudsakliga riktningar för demokratisk teoribildning. Dels är det den deliberativa modellen, som definierad av Jürgen Habermas och John Rawls, och på andra sidan Chantal Mouffes teori om en pluralistisk agonism. Undersökningens resultat visar att den diskussion som förs mellan artiklarna och kommentarsfälten inte under någon av de två urvalsperioderna uppfyller alla de krav som den deliberativa diskussionsprocessen kräver av det offentliga rummet. Medan diskussionen under den första urvalsperioden tydde på ett starkt antagonistiskt förhållningssätt mellan olika politiska stånd och läger i sakfrågorna så tydde resultatet i den andra urvalsperioden på en viss utveckling mot en rättvisare diskussion som mer lutade åt en agonism mellan meningsmotståndarna. Gemensamt för båda perioder var ett visst hinder för hemsidan som en fungerande offentlighet i och med ett antal utbredda föreställningar om en hegemonisk makt besutten av sittande politik och etablerad media som förhindrar åsiktsvariationer.

This study aims to analyze the current discourse on citizen’s dialogue and its link to deliberative democracy, with hope to find that it is taken for granted in dialogues with citizens at local government level. The aim is to show, with a discourse analytical approach to the current democratic renewal in Swedish municipalities, how the discourse is designed and what is reproduced or restructured through printed texts published by the SKL. This by finding what is seen as truth or a form of objective reality in the deliberative democratic discourse and by analyzing the reproduction of the same. The purpose may also partly be considered creating an understanding of how this relates to or what effects this has in the discursive and social practice, as well as in seeing what consequences it can bring. Citizen´s dialogues are becoming more common. Powerful actors like SKL encourage Swedish municipalities to implement the dialogue in the organization. Information about the positive effects is spreading, while unintended consequences are not given any room at all. This can be seen as a social problem, a lack of awareness about the discourse and its social consequences or changes. Structural inequalities are reproduced by SKL publications, which give this study social relevance. The results also indicate that citizen´s dialogues have a connection to deliberative democracy yet still differ in several categories.

Congruent with the second wave of feminism and continuing into the 1990s, a group of feminist compositionists felt that argument should not have a major, if any, place in the feminist classroom and began to redefine, revision, and reposition argument. With a rhetorician’s bias, this report looks at one articulation of why they turned away from argument—Sally Miller Gearhart’s claim that “any intent to persuade is an act of violence”—, what they turned to, some critique surrounding their approaches and theories, and how a broader understanding of rhetoric and the role of agonism in rhetoric and education can add depth to the feminist approach. / text

This study aimed to examine whether mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) reconcile their conflicts. The data were collected from a captive group of nine mandrills (5 males and 4 females) at the Lowry Park Zoo that ranged in age from 3 to 16 years at the time of study. After a conflict was observed, the behavior of one of the two former opponents was documented for a period of ten minutes using continuous recording methods. On the next possible observation day, at the same time of the previous conflict, the behavior of the same individual was recorded for an additional ten minutes. Former opponents exchanged peaceful or affiliative signals sooner after a conflict than during control periods. These post-conflict signals were selectively directed towards former opponents, and were most likely to be exchanged in the first two minutes after a conflict's termination. The silent bared-teeth face comprised 62.5% of the first peaceful interactions between former opponents. The best predictor of the likelihood of reconciliation was the dyad's baseline rate of silent bared-teeth face exchange. Mandrill dyads with higher rates of silent bared-teeth face exchange at baseline had higher conflict rates and spent less time in non-aggressive proximity than those with lower rates of silent bared-teeth face exchange. These results are consistent with the Insecure Relationship Hypothesis, which posits that individuals with insecure relationships are more likely to reconcile because their relationships are more likely to be damaged by a conflict than those with secure relationships. The exchange of peaceful post-conflict signals did not appear to have an effect on the behavior of the former opponents.

The glycine receptor (GlyR) is a ligand-gated ion channel and member of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor superfamily. Glycine and the partial agonist taurine are both believed to be the endogenous ligands of the receptor. Partial agonists have lower efficacies than full agonists, eliciting submaximal responses even at saturating concentrations. Recent evidence suggests that efficacy at these receptors is determined by conformational changes that occur early in the process of receptor activation. We previously identified a mutation of the aspartate-97 residue to arginine (D97R), which produces a spontaneously active mutant with behavior that mimics the effects of saturating glycine concentrations on wildtype (WT) GlyR. This D97 residue is hypothesized to form an electrostatic interaction with arginine-119 on an adjacent subunit to stabilize a closed channel closed state. We found that the disruption of this bond converts taurine into a full agonist and greatly increases the efficacies of other [beta]-amino acid partial agonists. Our findings suggest that the determination of efficacy in the GlyR involves the disruption of an inter-subunit electrostatic interaction soon after binding. We next investigated whether the taurine efficacy could be enhanced by ethanol, a well-studied positive allosteric modulator of receptor function. Whole-cell recordings of WT GlyRs demonstrated that alcohol could potentiate the effect of low concentrations of taurine, but did not increase the efficacy of a saturating concentration. Therefore we sought to understand the mechanism by which alcohol enhances the GlyR, because ethanol's actions at inhibitory receptors in the brain are thought to produce many of the physiological effects associated with its use. We examined the effects of 3 [mu]M glycine ± 50 or 200 mM ethanol on outside-out patches expressing WT [alpha]1 GlyR, to determine the effects of alcohol at the single-channel level. Alcohol enhanced GlyR function in a very specific manner. It had minimal effects on open and closed dwell times. Instead, ethanol potentiated GlyR function almost exclusively by increasing burst durations and increasing the number of channel openings per burst, without affecting the percentage of open time within bursts. Kinetic modeling suggests that ethanol increases burst durations by decreasing the rate of glycine unbinding. / text

This thesis considers the limitations of redress measures for injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada and seeks to provide an alternative account of reconciliation that aims towards addressing these limitations. Current reconciliation and treaty processes designed to address Indigenous claims have resulted in a disconnect between material and symbolic or affective harms and are insufficiently reciprocal and receptive to the multiplicity of conflicting accounts of history to meaningfully effect a transformation of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations. Furthermore, current processes aim towards closure with respect to past injustices instead of establishing lasting political relationships through grappling with diverse perspectives on those injustices. This thesis engages with these challenges by exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in Canada through the lens of Hannah Arendt’s relational, non-instrumental account of politics and recent literature on agonistic reconciliation in order to propose an alternative account of living in reconciliation through treaty relations. / Graduate

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A tese aqui apresentada almeja contribuir para a secular polêmica que recobre o ideal democrático. Com este propósito, buscar-se-á delinear, a partir das contribuições de Chantal Mouffe e Ernesto Laclau, o que poderia ser entendido como um modelo agonístico de democracia, operando, primeiramente, um breve resgate do espectro conceitual que o circunda, cujos extremos podem ser encontrados nas obras de Jürgen Habermas e Carl Schmitt, em relação às quais, segundo a hipótese perseguida ao longo do prólogo e do primeiro capítulo, tal modelo assumiria feições sintéticas. Em seguida, o agonismo será utilizado como ferramenta heurística mobilizada para responder à seguinte pergunta: o governo de Hugo Chávez representa uma ruptura ou uma continuidade, conquanto ao regime jurídico-político que o precedera? De acordo com este objetivo, no curso do segundo e do terceiro capítulos será construída uma narrativa que visa a atender ao desdobramento da hipótese central deste trabalho acerca da pertinência do modelo agonístico de democracia, entendido como ferramenta analítica particularmente adequada ao estudo do fenômeno chavista. Tal suposição, por sua vez, desdobrar-se-á em dois eixos intrinsecamente relacionados: um descritivo e outro normativo. No tocante ao primeiro, os esforços concentrar-se-ão na demonstração da adequação do conceito laclauniano de populismo para o entendimento do tipo de vínculo representativo estabelecido entre Hugo Chávez e seus eleitores. Quanto ao segundo eixo, espera-se ressaltar, através das considerações de Laclau mas, principalmente, Mouffe, os riscos inerentes a este tipo de representação, assim como possíveis formas de contorná-los. / The thesis presented here aims to contribute to the secular controversy covering the democratic ideal. To this end, I will seek to outline, based on contributions of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, what might be understood as an agonistic model of democracy. This will be done, first, by rescuing the conceptual spectrum that surrounds this model, whose boundaries can be found in the works of Jürgen Habermas and Carl Schmitt, in respect of whom it acquires synthetic features, according to the hypothesis to be pursued in the prologue and the first chapter. Then agonism will be used as a heuristic tool mobilized to answer the following question: Concerning the legal-political order that precedes it, is Hugo Chavezs government a rupture or a continuation ? In accordance to this goal, through the second and third chapters, a narrative will be constructed aiming at the development of the central hypothesis of this study about the relevance of the agonistic model of democracy, perceived as an analytical tool particularly appropriate for the study of the chavist phenomenon. This assumption, in turn, shall be developed in two closely related axes: one descriptive, one normative. Regarding the first one, the focus will be on demonstrating the appropriateness of the Laclaunian concept of populism to the understanding of the type of representative bond established between Hugo Chavez and his voters. Finally, on the second axis, through considerations of Laclau, but mainly Mouffe, some risks inherent in this kind of representation will be pointed out, as well as possible ways to counteract them.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A tese aqui apresentada almeja contribuir para a secular polêmica que recobre o ideal democrático. Com este propósito, buscar-se-á delinear, a partir das contribuições de Chantal Mouffe e Ernesto Laclau, o que poderia ser entendido como um modelo agonístico de democracia, operando, primeiramente, um breve resgate do espectro conceitual que o circunda, cujos extremos podem ser encontrados nas obras de Jürgen Habermas e Carl Schmitt, em relação às quais, segundo a hipótese perseguida ao longo do prólogo e do primeiro capítulo, tal modelo assumiria feições sintéticas. Em seguida, o agonismo será utilizado como ferramenta heurística mobilizada para responder à seguinte pergunta: o governo de Hugo Chávez representa uma ruptura ou uma continuidade, conquanto ao regime jurídico-político que o precedera? De acordo com este objetivo, no curso do segundo e do terceiro capítulos será construída uma narrativa que visa a atender ao desdobramento da hipótese central deste trabalho acerca da pertinência do modelo agonístico de democracia, entendido como ferramenta analítica particularmente adequada ao estudo do fenômeno chavista. Tal suposição, por sua vez, desdobrar-se-á em dois eixos intrinsecamente relacionados: um descritivo e outro normativo. No tocante ao primeiro, os esforços concentrar-se-ão na demonstração da adequação do conceito laclauniano de populismo para o entendimento do tipo de vínculo representativo estabelecido entre Hugo Chávez e seus eleitores. Quanto ao segundo eixo, espera-se ressaltar, através das considerações de Laclau mas, principalmente, Mouffe, os riscos inerentes a este tipo de representação, assim como possíveis formas de contorná-los. / The thesis presented here aims to contribute to the secular controversy covering the democratic ideal. To this end, I will seek to outline, based on contributions of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, what might be understood as an agonistic model of democracy. This will be done, first, by rescuing the conceptual spectrum that surrounds this model, whose boundaries can be found in the works of Jürgen Habermas and Carl Schmitt, in respect of whom it acquires synthetic features, according to the hypothesis to be pursued in the prologue and the first chapter. Then agonism will be used as a heuristic tool mobilized to answer the following question: Concerning the legal-political order that precedes it, is Hugo Chavezs government a rupture or a continuation ? In accordance to this goal, through the second and third chapters, a narrative will be constructed aiming at the development of the central hypothesis of this study about the relevance of the agonistic model of democracy, perceived as an analytical tool particularly appropriate for the study of the chavist phenomenon. This assumption, in turn, shall be developed in two closely related axes: one descriptive, one normative. Regarding the first one, the focus will be on demonstrating the appropriateness of the Laclaunian concept of populism to the understanding of the type of representative bond established between Hugo Chavez and his voters. Finally, on the second axis, through considerations of Laclau, but mainly Mouffe, some risks inherent in this kind of representation will be pointed out, as well as possible ways to counteract them.

In this study, I will explore upper secondary school pupils' experiences of education in controversial issues within civics and social sciences. In the study, I employ a qualitative interview method to produce a material relating to the study's central theories, which is founded in Stradling's research on controversial issues where both understandings of the concept as well as teaching strategies are collected. Stradling's theory on controversial issues is given context and is supplemented with contributions from Hand and Levinson as well as Hess. In this study, I also utilize Aspelins interpretation and addition to Biestas typology of purposes with education. Lastly, Tryggvason's understanding of agonism and didactics has an important role in the theoretic frame of the study. The study is structured with four different didactic themes illustrating the relations between research questions, theory, and method.