The purpose of my study is to study Social Democrats immigration policy over the period 1990 and 2013. My material consists of party programs and motions that social democracy has raised in Parliament. As a research method I used McGee´s ideograph theory. I use a cluster analysis inspired by Kenneth Burke to analyze the meaning of those found ideographs. I also present and use Bitzers rhetorical situation in my analyze With help of Burke´s rhetorical situation I could see how the Social Democrats' rhetorical approach to immigration policy in the different periods in society. My investigation of the Social Democratic Party program and motions / propositions revealed the following ideographs: Democracy, solidarity, equality and freedom. keywords that went to associate to the ideographs relating to immigration policy was school, adults, racism, equal rights, democratic freedom. Rhetorical could be interpreted as a way to show that in year 2013 the party stands behind a more solidarity, equality of human beings in society. Groups such as migrants and refugees should not stick out like a social group, but the group should be included in the collective Sweden.

This thesis examines the Swedish Democrats relationship to an islamophobic worldview. The party developed from the racist party Bevara Sverige Svenskt (Keep Sweden Swedish) and is today the third largest party in Sweden, which gives them a powerful position in the society. It is therefore important to investigate their view on minorities, and in this case Muslims. In this thesis I examine the Swedish Democrat’s material during the election campaign the years of 2006, 2010 and 2014 using Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory. This theory makes it possible to examine implicit and explicit relationships an islamophobic worldview and provides the tools to relate it to a greater context. The research questions of this thesis are how the Swedish Democrats fixate the meaning of the words Muslim, Swedish and culture, as well as how the election material differs between the years. The conclusions suggests that the Swedish Democrats produce a islamophobic worldview by picturing Muslims as a monolithic mass and articulate an antagonism between West and East, we and the Other. The islamophobic worldview produced by the Swedish Democrats is not only a Swedish phenomenon but also a part of a Western islamophobia industry, which is common to Radical Right-wing parties in Europe.

The residents of Union City, NJ— a 1.2 square mile metropolis across the Hudson from Manhattan—are fond of taking to the task of adorning their city streets on their own. In the business sector of the city (that is to say, most of it) the business owners garnish their windows with red, white, and blue, and more often than not their decoration is accompanied by the uncomfortably warm smile of a middle-aged bespectacled Irish man. The man, so comically out of place in the majority Spanish-speaking, 82.3% Latino city, is referred to interchangeably as Mayor and State Senator Brian P. Stack. On the city’s border is official proof of his status on the “Welcome to Union City” sign, mirrored by its North Bergen, NJ counterpart and the name Nicholas Sacco: mayor, state senator, assistant superintendent of North Bergen schools, and principal of Horace Mann Elementary. For decades, New Jersey politicians have viewed multiple office holding as an integral part of the urban power structure. To rise up in the totem pole, one must collect public office jobs until rising to one high enough to stand on its own. While not particularly common in the less populated areas of the state, urban centers like the aforementioned Hudson County, Newark, and Camden have a tradition of sending their leaders off to Trenton without making them relinquish their jobs at home. And yet it was these very state legislators that passed a ban on the practice into law in February 2008. Supported by senator-turned-governor Jon Corzine, the ban passed with the support of political leaders like Stack and Sacco. On paper and in the pages of the New York Times it read like a rare and barely believable victory for political morality in what longtime NJ political journalists Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure call “The Soprano State”. If it sounded barely believable, it is probably because in practice it was not. A grandfather clause in the law keeps those currently in two positions of power safe from the wrath of the law. And since elections were held in between the passing of the law and the enacting of it, there are actually more dual office holders in the Legislature today than there were when the law was passed according to state newspaper the Star Ledger. This study intends answer several questions regarding the phenomenon of multiple office holding and its sudden “extinction” in New Jersey. I hypothesize that the introduction of such a law was merely cashing in on a long-standing bit of political credit that, due to the highly salient role of the practice in building machines, could not be touched. As the number of political bosses engaging in this practice diminished, and as the need to hold various offices lessened because of an increase in income and power from other sources, dual office holding became an obsolete relic of the 1990s political machine structures. Thus it became feasible to ban the practice with a grandfather clause for those that had established themselves through this old system, with much credit in the field of ethics to be gained by all involved—every dual office holder, legislator, and the governor himself. On a micro level, it aspires to investigate why early 2008 was an opportune time for such a law and where this grandfather clause arouse from and why. Although the tradition has existed previously in less populated areas of New Jersey, especially in the 1940s, at some point (peaking in the 1990s) dual office holding became an essential component in the structure of an urban political machine. On a macro level, this study seeks to explain the place of such a practice in the creation and maintenance of the traditional urban political machine, a structure with a lush history in New Jersey that is still alive and kicking today. It attempts to begin a dialogue with existing literature on urban politics centered around the practice of dual office holding. To do this, the study needs to paint as vivid a portrait as possible of the modern urban political machine, its bosses, and every gear that moves its structure. For this it will heavily rely on literature describing the initial development of political machines of Tammany Hall and similar structures around the country, paying especial attention to the impact of immigration, given that preliminary research is showing a pronounced impact on the system from the wave of Latino immigrants beginning with the rise of the Cuban Revolution in 1958. This new wave of immigrants appears to have jump-started the machines and replenished them with an entire new wave of fodder ready to be introduced to the patronage system post-naturalization (a matter of five years’ time). Of particular note in this body of urban political research is Steven Erie’s Rainbow’s End, which I have discovered to be the definitive work in the field of immigration and its impact on urban political machines. Working with this broad field of urban politics in mind, I also intend on illustrating in detail the specific political machine structures of the three largest urban communities in New Jersey: Newark, Camden, and the general Hudson County area (as the cities of Hudson County tend to be about 1-2 square miles in area excepting Jersey City, there is little that distinguishes one from another culturally and politically). In order to do this, I must work with data specific to the state, beginning with a database of multiple office holders over time. I have constructed this database over the course of several decades and am currently developing it in the 1930s using biographical sketches in the New Jersey Legislative Manuals published yearly in the New Jersey State Archives of Trenton. Unfortunately, this means that my research is limited to multiple office holders who have one job in the state legislature, but as all signs point to most dual office holders preferring to have a state and local job rather than two of either, I do not believe this will seriously hinder my research. Supplementary research will also come from personal stories, which I plan on gathering from interviews with those deeply involved in urban politics. The study will include interviews with multiple office holders from these regions themselves, as well as those close to them—journalists, chiefs of staff, and those receiving patronage and practicing loyalty to the leaders. The goal of this study is to shed some light on the dark, backroom world of urban politics through the lens of this one common practice among the machine leaders. This one practice, currently a topic of much controversy due to this recent law, could very well be the key to understanding the development of machines, their power over citizens and their ability to maintain themselves over such extended periods of time.

Įvairių priežasčių skatinama XX. a. viduryje išeivijoje jau buvo atsidūrusi nemaža dalis lietuvių tautos. Išeiviai kūrė organizacijas, leido savo leidinius. Šiame darbe siekiama atskleisti šiuo metu gerokai primiršto socialdemokratinio žurnalo „Darbas“, ėjusio JAV 1947–1960 m., istoriją. Tam kelti uždaviniai: atskleisti LDD ir DDT organizacijų idėjines nuostatas, jų narių įnašus į žurnalo leidybą bei bendrą šių organizacijų įtaką žurnalo pobūdžiui; išnagrinėti bandymus į žurnalo leidybą pritraukti organizacijoms nepriklausiusius asmenis, jų įnašus į žurnalo turinį; papildyti istoriografijoje jau žinomas derybų dėl bendro žurnalo leidybos su liberaliosios srovės atstovais nesėkmės priežastis; išnagrinėti žurnalo leidybos problemas, nustatyti jo užsidarymo priežastis, atskleisti bandymus tęsti leidybą ar kurti naujus žurnalus „Darbo“ idėjos pagrindu; atskleisti „Darbe“ skelbtas idėjas, pažiūras ir turinį. LDD, susikūrusi (1932) kaip opozicija JAV lietuvių komunistų tarpe kylančios autoritarinėms tendencijoms, ilgainiui tapo socialdemokratiška organizacija. 1947 m. ji ėmė leisti žurnalą „Darbas“. LDD nariai St. Strazdas, N. Jonuška, J. V. Stilsonas, K. Bielinis, St. Kairys, J. Sonda buvo žurnalo redaktoriais, administratoriais, autoriais. DDT (1954) vienijo kairiųjų pažiūrų jaunimą. Jos nariai J. Repečka, J. Kiznis tapo vyr. redaktoriais. DDT suorganizavo Darbo Fondą ir taip apjungusi intelektines ir finansines žurnalo pajėgas buvo arti to, kad perimtų „Darbą“ į savo rankas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Due to various reasons a great part of the Lithuanian people were living in emigration in the middle of the 20th century. Emigrants have always established organizations, published periodicals. The main aim of this thesis is to reveal the history of forgotten journal “Darbas”, published in the USA in 1947–1960. For this aim the following tasks were set: to reveal ideas of LDD and DDT, the influence on and contributions to the journal of these organizations and their members; to explore the attempts to attract other persons to become authors of “Darbas” and the contribution they made; to complement the already known in historiography reasons why negotiations with liberals inviting them to write for “Darbas” and to have a common journal were unsuccessful; to explore the problems of publishing, to find out the reasons why publishing had to be stopped, to reveal the attempts to continue publishing and to create new journals on the base of “Darbas” idea; to reveal the ideas proposed in and the content of “Darbas”. Established in 1932 to oppose authoritarian tendencies among Lithuanian communists in the USA, LDD gradually became a social democratic organization, which began to publish journal “Darbas” in 1947. Members of this organization (J. V. Stilsonas, K. Bielinis, St. Kairys, etc.) were the editors, the administrators and the authors of “Darbas”. Established in 1954, DDT was the organization that united the leftist youth. Members of DDT J. Repečka, J. Kiznis were chief... [to full text]

Without northern doughface Democrats, and northern states like Indiana, the South could not have held dominance in American politics during the sectional crisis. Anchoring the extreme end of the doughface North was Indiana’s slaveholding senator Jesse Bright (his holdings were in Kentucky). Yet, he was no flailing radical pushed to the margins of northern politics. Bright was the chief party boss who by the mid to late 1850s controlled the state of Indiana. He was one of the most influential leaders getting James Buchanan into the presidency. He did this, in part, because Indiana was a conservative state that disliked anti-slavery agitators. Still, most Hoosiers were not partisans in favor of slavery. Bright was able to lead Indiana politics during the 1850s because he had become a powerful political boss. American politics in the 1840s and 1850s was built around state level organizations. With elections going through constant and irregular cycles, hopeful candidates needed a strong organization capable of providing money, press literature and mobilization of voters. They needed someone with grit, savvy and energy to organize various groups, and no one was more successful at this in Indiana than Bright. Bright did this, in part, by understanding the baser motives of men, and more importantly, could satisfy these wants with graft, bribery, patronage and other inducements. If that was not enough to motivation, he used fear, bullying and good old fashioned steam rolling tactics to bludgeon his enemies into submission. Bright’s extreme doughface attitudes did not make him popular, but his organizing skills made him a powerful leader. He helped prop the slave-power in American politics through the 1850s, but his efforts also alienated a wide swath of northerners, especially in Indiana. By 1860, a northern Republican Party took control of American politics, as northerners came to reject the slave-masters and the slave-power. This dissertation argues that Bright played a pivotal role in propping the slave-power. But ultimately Bright’s political downfall was part of a larger rejection of southern politics.

In Sweden there is scepticism if there really is a difference between the two biggest political parties, the Moderate/Conservative party and the Swedish Social Democrats. The voters feels that the arguments used by both parties are more or less the same and that it does not matter on whom you vote. Hence I am going to compare the parties’ policy programs, developed by the members in each party, by an analysis of ideas to see if the two parties are so similar that they hardly are two different options, or if there is a divergence between the two.   My choosing of the parties’ policy programs comes from a decision to look at the members’ party, they are the authors of the programs, the core. I have to admit I am not unbiased in this work. Since December 2005 I have been active in the Swedish Social Democratic Youth, and later on the Swedish Social Democrats where I had a seat in the municipal council in Kalmar between 2010 and 2014. In February this year I changed party to the Left Party, and now am solely a member. This may affect my presentation of the parties, so read critically, but since my work is not about interpretation but presentation, my political background should have minimal effect on this work.   For over 100 years the Social Democrats more or less had power in Sweden, and the Moderate/Conservative party were in opposition. This changed in 2006, and the bourgeois government got a new mandate to govern in the general election 2010.  Looking at the political subjects of work, economy, welfare, education, the EU, immigration and environment; I found out that the parties often share the same goals, but differ in how to get there. Some core differences could be found, the moderate/conservative party both has lowered taxes as a goal as well as a meaning to get to the goal, and they argue warm heartily about more private corporations in the welfare sector.  The Social Democrats on the other hand argues for investments in the welfare sector (and hence higher taxation) and the rights of the labourers.   This results in a conclusion that when the parties are discussing goals, they are fairly similar. But if you look at the means to reach the goals, they do have their differences and it does matter on which party you vote.

The debate surrounding the opinion polls of the political party Sverigedemokraterna, and later their results in the Swedish election has been evident. The purpose of the study is to investigate how norms of equal treatment in social work practice might be influenced by Sverigedemokraterna's understanding of culture, ethnicity, nationality and religion. The thesis is outlined through the works of Teun van Dijk and Ruth Wodak (2000) regarding racist discourse in politics, Giorel Curran (2004) explaining lesser established parties influence on the broader discourses and Anders Hellström and Tom Nilsson (2010) attempting to ideologically position Sverigedemokraterna. With the method for analyzing policy documents designed by Carol Bacchi (2009) the latest motions from Sverigedemokraterna has been analyzed. Bacchi’s theoretical framework, together with theory concerning the expression of modern racism of John Hodge (1999), Paul Gilroy (1999) and Bennedict Anderson (1996) amongst others has been used to create an understanding of the material. The study shows the existence of understandings within the party of cultures as separate and absolute differentiated from each other, coinciding with research on the matter of racism. Hierarchies amongst cultures defined by place of birth are created through the motions. Ideas of a Swedish culture is portrayed as more developed and superior culture. People's different rights of wellfare are made sense of through arguments of birthplace and embodiment of what the party defines as Swedish culture. / Debatten om partiet Sverigedemokraternas opinionssiffror, och senare valresultat har varit påtaglig. Studiens syfte är att genom analys av Sverigedemokraternas resonemang kring kultur, nationalitet, religion och etnicitet förstå hur normer i det sociala arbetet om likabehandling kan komma att påverkas av dessa sverigedemokratiska resonemang. Med utgångspunkt i Teun van Dijk och Ruth Wodaks (2000) forskning om rasistiska diskurser i politiken, Giorel Currans (2004) studie om mindre partiers påverkan på de politiska diskurserna och Anders Hellström och Tom Nilssons (2010) ideologiska positionering av Sverigedemokraterna har uppsatsens syfte utformats. Med Carol Bacchis (2009) metod för analys av policydokument görs en diskursivt inriktad textanalys av de vid tiden för studien senast publicerade motionerna från partiet. Tillsammans med Bacchis teoretiska ramverk för metoden används forskning från John Hodge (1999), Paul Gilroy (1999) och Bennedict Anderson (1996) m.fl. kring hur nyare former av rasism tar sig uttryck genom föreställningar kring kulturer. Analysen visar på sverigedemokratiska föreställningar om kulturer som skilda från varandra och präglade av olikhet sinsemellan, i överensstämmelse med forskning kring nyrasismens utgångspunkter. Hierarkier av kulturer kopplade till födelseplats utformas i resonemangen förda i motionerna, där idéer om en svensk kultur framställs som utvecklad och överlägsen. Människors rätt till välfärd sorteras i de sverigedemokratiska resonemangen efter födelseplats, och förkroppsligande av en av partiet definierad svensk kultur.

The aim of this study was to determine to what degree the framing of the political party the Sweden Democrats had changed in swedish media, from 2010 in contrast to 2012. Particular interest was directed towards the framing of the party as a problem.This was done by studying the news articles during 12 weeks in 2010, and 12 weeks in 2012, in the newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen. These particular newspapers were especially interesting to study since they have been outspokenly critical of the party. Both of the newspapers can be said to be among the most clearly critical towards the Sweden Democrats.I studied 256 published articles retrieved through the news database Newsline. Quantitative content analysis was used to determine patterns and tendencies. The theories used to determine variables and the analysis of the articles were the framing theory of Robert Entman (1993) and Jesper Strömbäck (2009). Theories regarding the function of news media in democracy were also used in the analysis from the context of Nord & Strömbäck (2012).The study showed that a slightly more negative framing of the party occurs in 2012. Framing of the party as a problem for the democratic principles occurred less, and moral evaluations were similar between the years. The term xenophobic was mostly used to describe the party in the the overall few instances it was used during both years, with a slight shift towards more neutral and less evocative descriptions like immigration critical in 2012.

This essay has examined the social-democratic parties in both Sweden and Denmark and their political development regarding immigration policy during the period 2014-2018. This period saw a large number of refugees who came to Europe, which led to stricter immigration policy across Europe. The Danish migration policy has been stricter than the Swedish migration policy. Denmark is therefore interesting to compare with Sweden because they are a country similar to Sweden in many ways. The questions in this essay is following: - How has the Social Democrats migration policy evolved in Sweden compared to Denmark from 2014 to 2018? - How can these parties' migration policy be explained? The questions are answered by comparing the Social Democrats in Sweden and the Social Democrats in Denmark, which has been done according to the model Most Similar System Design (MSSD) with the control variables historical background, ideological, financial situation and political system. The explanatory variable is political culture and the dependent variable is a migration policy. The empirical material has then been compared in accordance with MSSD and opposed the theory othering. The conclusions of this essay are based on the fact that migration policy is different due to political culture.

Political parties use different strategies to convince voters to vote for them, and with the technological evolution of our time short movie clips are used, now more than ever before, to accomplish these kinds of tasks. However, a political movie clip that separates itself from other political movie clips is Jimmie Åkesson – Snart är det val. This clip is not trying to persuade the voter to vote for the Sweden democrats because of their political plans, instead it tries to convince the voter of a threat that can destroy Sweden in the nearby future if the voter doesn’t vote for the Sweden democrats in the coming election. This essay seeks to investigate how Jimmie Åkesson – Snart är det val constructs this threat, how the threat becomes realistic and in what ways the threat is used in the movie clip to convince the Swedish voter to vote for the Sweden democrats. To investigate this the essay uses a semiotic analysis to dissemble the movie clip in order to understand how the threat is constructed. Furthermore, rhetorical perspectives such as identification, visualizing rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos and figures of style are used to discuss how the threat becomes realistic and how it is used to win votes. The conclusion of the essay is that the movie clip constructs two different threats in two different realities by using semiotic resources such as fast shifting scenes, documenting images, music, sounds, environments, characters and a narrating voice in a projecting narrative. More specifically these resources create a true dark reality and a happy delusional reality. In these two realities, the two different threats are found. The first threat is the immigrants that are illustrated as an enemy that destroys Sweden and thus creates the true dark reality where the voters and the Sweden democrats also are illustrated. The other threat is other political parties in Sweden and the Swedish media because they are illustrated in the happy delusional reality and therefore can’t help the voter that is portrayed in the true dark reality. In that sense, the two threats are used to convince the voter to vote for the Sweden democrats because they are the only political party that is located in the true dark reality and therefore are the only ones that understand and can solve the problem that causes the true dark reality. Furthermore, these threats become more realistic by enforcing an emotion of fear for the true dark reality with semiotic resources and also by concretizing this reality with documenting images, characters and sounds. These threats also become more realistic because the semiotic resources create imagistic arguments that allows the mind to take shortcuts when conclusions are made.