Birka Folk High School, Jämtland County Folk High School, opened its doors in 1901 and welcomed its first students. As part of their studies, the students participated in discussions covering a wide range of issues. The purpose of this thesis has been to examine the views on citizenship expressed in discussions among students at Birka Folk High School in Sweden from 1901 to 1920. What characteristics did the students believe a good citizen should possess, and did these expectations differ based on gender? Can any contradictions between the region of Jämtland and the nation of Sweden be discerned in the students' discussions?  To answer these questions, five record books from Birka Folk High School's student discussions for the years 1901-1920 have been studied using a qualitative method.  The study found that the students expressed the belief that a good citizen should be self-controlled, honest, helpful, and sober. There were also differences in expectations depending on whether the citizen was a woman or a man. The woman was expected to be a healthy and good mother with primary responsibility for the home and child rearing, while the man was expected to be hardworking and dutiful.  In the students' discussions, there were no contradictions between the region of Jämtland and the nation of Sweden. The students expressed warm feelings for Jämtland, but these do not seem to create any aversion to the nation. It is rather that the students' feelings for the region put it in a larger context and create a sense of belonging with the nation. / Birka folkhögskola, då Jämtlands läns folkhögskola, slog upp portarna 1901 och tog emot sina första elever. Inom ramen för sina studier deltog eleverna i diskussioner där ett brett spektrum av frågor diskuterades.  Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka vilken syn på medborgarskap som framkommer i de diskussioner som folkhögskoleelever vid Birka folkhögskola hade under perioden 1901 till 1920. Vilka egenskaper ansågs en god medborgare behöva och skiljde elevernas förväntningar på hur en god medborgare skulle vara beroende på om medborgaren var en kvinna eller man? Kan någon motsättning mellan regionen Jämtland och nationen Sverige skönjas i elevernas diskussioner?  För att besvara frågorna har fem protokollsböcker från Birka folkhögskolas elevdiskussioner för åren 1901 - 1920 studerats. De diskussioner som bedömts relevanta utifrån uppsatsens syfte har studerats utifrån en kvalitativ metod.  Undersökningen visade att eleverna gav uttryck för att en god medborgare skulle visa självbehärskning, vara ärlig, hjälpsam och nykter. Det fanns även skillnader i förväntningar om medborgaren var kvinna eller man. Kvinnan skulle vara en sund och god mor vars huvudansvar var hemmet och barnuppfostran, medan mannen skulle vara arbetsam och plikttrogen.  I elevernas diskussioner framkom det inga motsättningar mellan regionen Jämtland och nationen Sverige. Eleverna uttrycker varma känslor för Jämtland men dessa verkar på inte skapa någon aversion mot nationen. Det är snarare så att elevernas känslor för regionen sätter in den i ett större sammanhang och skapar en känsla av tillhörighet med nationen.

The purpose of this study was to compare the difference in democracy in two Subsaharan African countries. Namibia and Zimbabwe were compared in order to discover factors as to why there is a significant difference in democratic status in otherwise quite similar countries. To be able to do this, Linz and Stepan’s theory of consolidated democracy was used. The study used three of their five arenas, civil society, political society and the rule of law society, which were the basis of the analysis. To answer the purpose of the study, two questions were used; “What does civil society, political society and the rule of law society look like in Namibia and Zimbabwe 2023?” and “What factors make Namibia more democratic compared to Zimbabwe 2023?”. The study was qualitative and used a comparative method with a most-similar design to answer the purpose and questions. The conclusion was that Namibia’s civil society, political society and rule of law society functions broadly in accordance with democratic values and fulfills Linz and Stepans arenas to a large extent, while Zimbabwe has not progressed as far in its democratization process according to the arenas or in comparison with Namibia. Zimbabwe’s government is using autocratic tactics to consolidate their power which hinder the arenas to operate democratically.

The objective of this essay is to present both the reason behind the Egyptian democratization failure, as well as the cause of the success of the Tunisian democracy. The methodology of this essay is composed of a comparative democratization study, which includes a most similar systems-design method. The studies will try to pinpoint the key components of the result of the democratization, by using four of Larry Diamond’s nine internal and external democratization factors, which are presented in his book: ‘The Spirit of Democracy’. The results of this study indicate that Egypt had a far larger and more influential military force and also a critical economy, despite less international support for their democratization. Tunisia has a more democratic-oriented civil society and through democratic assistance from the European Union, a peaceful transition into a democratic system was possible. In this essay, a far deeper analysis of the democratization process will be highlighted, including how to prove how these essential factors caused the different outcomes of the Arabic spring protests.

<p>The purpose with this essay was to examine how the European Union is working totransfer norms to states they signed an agreement with and provide support for inframe of the Barcelona process and the Tacis programme. The theory which weused was Ian Manners (PhD in Political Science) theory of "the EU as a uniquenormative power". The aim was to examine whether the EU - which Manners mean- has had a normative power to influence states to change. We used a qualitativeapproach through the use of a multiple case study and qualitative text and contentanalysis. The States which formed the basis of our study were within the BarcelonaProcess; Morocco and Tunisia as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia funded by theTacis programme. To this end, we were to answer the following questions: Can weidentify transfer of norms in the written bilateral agreements with these states, andare there any normative demands? Can we on the basis of our study answerwhether the EU holds a normative power to influence these countries to change, inaccordance with the normative theory? The agreements that we studied was thebilateral agreements that the EU signed with these States. In order to makeManners five norms (peace, freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights),which he argues that EU is based on measurable; we used the Freedom Housefreedom index, and also by a historical study the development of the country. Theresults we found were the following; in all the studied bilateral agreements wefound clear - but to varying degrees - the transfer of norms. Although it differs indegree of regulatory requirements and also in the formulation of how the country iscommitted to abide by and comply with the normative requirements differaccording to the agreements, we can find the so-called "carrot and stickrelationship" that Manners believes that the EU use in the transfer of norms. Threeof the states that we investigated under the Freedom House freedom index did notdeveloped in a democratic way did, and the positive steps taken cannot be directlytraced back to the EU's efforts. It may also be due to other States or other forcesinfluence. We can’t, through our study confirm that Manners is right in these statesbut we can’t either rule out the possibility that the EU through the writtenagreements has changed the norms of the state in question, although progressseems to go very slowly.</p> / <p>Vi ämnade med denna uppsats undersöka hur den Europeiska Unionen arbetar för att överföranormer till stater man slutit avtal med och ger stöd till inom ramen för Barcelonaprocessenoch Tacis-programmet. Den teori som vi använde var Ian Manners teori om "EU som en uniknormativ makt". Syftet var att undersöka om EU - som Manner menar - har haft en normativmakt att påverka stater till normativ förändring. Vi använde ett kvalitativt angreppssätt medhjälp av en multipel fallstudie och kvalitativ text- och innehållsanalys. De stater som utgjordegrunden för vår studie var inom Barcelonaprocessen; Marocko och Tunisien samtAzerbajdzjan och Armenien inom Tacis-programmet. Följande frågeställningar skullebesvaras; Kan vi se överföring av normer i de skrivna avtalen med dessa stater, ställs detnormativa krav på länderna? Kan vi utifrån vår undersökning ge svar på huruvida EU inneharen normativ makt att påverka dessa länder till förändring? De avtal som vi studerat var debilaterala avtal som EU tecknat med dessa stater mellan 1995 och 1996. För att göra Mannersfem normer, (fred, frihet, demokrati, rättsstat och mänskliga rättigheter) som han menar attEU grundar sig på, mätbara, så använde vi å ena sidan Freedom House frihetsindex, menockså en historisk studie av landets utveckling. De resultat vi kom fram till var att vi i alla destuderade bilaterala avtalen fann tydliga - men i varierande grad - överföringar av normer frånEU till länderna. Vi kan i avtalen se att man ställer krav på att länderna ska utvecklasdemokratiskt och verka för mänskliga rättigheter, fred och rättssamhället. Vi kan även finnaspår av det s.k. "piska och morot förhållande" som Manners menar att EU använder sig av irelationen med andra stater.Tunisien, Armenien och Azerbajdzjan har enligt Freedom House frihetsindex inte utvecklasmot en demokratisk riktning till 2006. I Marocko fann vi att en viss positiv förändring skett ienlighet med EU:s normer och att vi även kan se en marginell utveckling mot demokratiskaprinciper. Resultatet visar även att vi inte kan härleda de få positiva steg som tagits, till EU:sBarcelonaprocess och Tacis-program. Den positiva utveckling vi kan se kan också bero på attandra aktörer eller krafter haft påverkan på landet i fråga. Det vi kan säga är att EU inomramen för Barcelonaprocessen och Tacis-programmet är benägna att verka normativt mot defyra staterna, då de ställer krav på normativ förändring genom de undersökta avtalen. Vad vidäremot inte kunnat bekräfta genom vår studie, är att EU - i enlighet med Manners normativateori - verkligen kunnat förändra normer i de stater vi studerat.</p>

The central question for this study is the popular perception of the state in four Eastern European countries. The democratic transition in this part of Europe has often been marked by deep mistrust towards politicians and sometimes towards the new political system as such. Among other things, the low election turnout in these countries has sometimes been quoted as a symptom of the aforementioned problems. Does lack of explicit trust towards politicians and the political system mean that the ability of the state to act as a regulator and a welfare producer is affected adversely? Is the capacity of the state to fulfill its roll as an intervening actor directly connected to this expressed trust? This study is concerned with these questions and by posing them it reaches beyond the common studies on democratization, whose main concern is the status of ’democracy’ as such. Data from the three Baltic States and Poland reveals that possible connections between citizens’ expressed trust towards the political branches of the state and their opinion on the legitimate role of the state as a regulator is probably more complex than one could expect. The given role of the state as an intervening actor in two policy areas – environmental protection and alcohol consumption – appears very much unaffected by the popular trust towards the political sphere of the state, or its lack. This constitutes a significant finding which opens new avenues into studying state legitimacy in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. / Den centrala frågan för avhandlingen är synen på staten i fyra östeuropeiska länder. Övergången till demokrati i den delen av Europa har ofta kännetecknats av djup misstro mot politiker och ibland misstro mot det politiska systemet som sådant. Bland annat har lågt valdeltagande tolkats som symptom på de ovan nämnda problemen. Innebär misstron mot det politiska etablissemanget och det politiska systemet att statens handlingsfrihet som reglerande (intervenerande) aktör begränsas? Är statens förmåga att uppfylla sina funktioner som reglerare och tjänsteproducent direkt kopplat till den uttryckliga tilltron till statens politiska, demokratiska maktfördelning? Avhandlingen tar upp dessa frågor och går därmed utöver de vanliga studierna av demokratisering, där medborgarnas tilltro till demokratin brukar främst stå i fokus. Data från de tre baltiska länderna samt Polen tycks visa att ett eventuellt samband mellan medborgarnas uttryckliga tilltro till statens politiska sfär och deras uppfattning om dess rättmätiga roll som reglerare är mycket mer komplicerat än man skulle kunna förvänta sig. Statens legitima roll som den intervenerande aktören inom två policyområden – miljöskydd och som bekämpare av alkoholmissbruk – tycks ohotad i alla de undersökta länderna, oavsett medborgarnas tilltro till den politiska sfären, eller bristen därav. Detta öppnar ett nytt perspektiv på statens folkliga förankring i dessa länder och ger upphov till nya frågor när det gäller studier av statens legitimitet.

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SIDA’s relief work in Bosnia aims at making the country ready for a membership in the EU where the main focus lies in the creation of a sustainable state as well as liberalizing the market to create an increased economic cooperation between Bosnia and the rest of Europe. These ambitions are closely related to the neo-liberal theory of state building which aims at creating democratic societies in line with the western democracy model, with a liberal economy constituting its base. Despite generous financial aid, the democratic and economic development in Bosnia is moving very slowly and the ethnical tensions seem to grow despite international involvement in the country. The purpose of this study is to evaluate SIDA’s present relief work in Bosnia out of a peace perspective. Possibilities and problems with SIDA’s work will be brought up and the study intends to answer whether SIDA’s work in Bosnia serves the perspective of peace. The methodological procedure consists of an analysis of the documents on SIDA’s current relief work in Bosnia and a literature study of theories concerning state building. The results of the study show that the parts of SIDA’s work in Bosnia that ground in the neo-liberal theory betweentimes undermine economic and democratic development as well as peace. Investments are made to gear Bosnia to European requirements which makes it difficult to accommodate specific Bosnian needs. In the conclusion, a more bottom-up inspired development work from SIDA is therefore suggested where the focus will be on working more from the local and civil society together with actively creating jobs in order to increase the economic development.

This paper addresses the issue of why Turkey has failed to develop and consolidate democracy in the regime. The aim of this paper was to analyze Turkey’s movement towards an authoritarian regime by examining institutions, the military, civil society and other contextual factors from 2004 to 2016. The method that was applied to this study was a case study were theories about democracy and transition were used to analyze Turkey’s declining development of democracy. The results show that several cases of corruption and the lack of political neutrality within important institutions have had a negative impact on the regime. The military’s influence on the political power has decreased although the military still has a significant role within the regime. The right to express your word of opinion by taking part in demonstrations is strictly constrained due to reforms by the government. Conflicts between the PKK movement and the Turkish government has contributed to the unstable political situation in the country. One can draw the conclusion that all of these factors have had an impact on Turkey’s development towards an authoritarian regime, but unprecedented behavior within the institutions, an authoritarian leadership by the president and increasing religious influence have had the greatest impact on Turkey’s way towards an undemocratic governance.

The purpose of this study is to explain if the existence of ethnic groups in Rwanda has complicated its democratization and explain what opportunities Rwanda has to be democratized. To fulfill the purpose of the study, I intend to answer two questions: 1) Does the existence of ethnic groups obstructed democratization in Rwanda? and 2) What opportunities has Rwanda to be democratized? To answer the first research question Dahl's theory of subcultures and democratization is used and to answer the second research question van de Walle's theory of democratization is used in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. Literature used in the study are Dahl's Polyarchy and van de Walle Africa’s range of regimes and Freedom House annual reports. Scientific articles also complements the previously mentioned materials. The study's main limitations regarding democracy, measured at the national level and temporal boundaries from 1994 through 2014, although historical experience before 1994 also analyzed. The study is a theory consuming trial when the case Rwanda stands in the center and shapes itself through a qualitative methodology. The study's conclusions is that the existence of ethnic groups have complicated democratization in Rwanda since all ethnic groups may not participate in political processes and there are no major agreements between the ethnic groups who strive to provide certainty for each ethnic group. Rwanda has however managed to fix many national problems since the genocide in 1994, which is mainly combat corruption. The study's second conclusion is that the Rwandan possibilities for a future democratization seen as small mainly because today's political oppression is great although Rwanda has the capacity to solve national problems overshadowed the country of these problems.

In a world where authoritarian states are taking a bigger place in the global arena, it’s important to learn from democracies and how a strong democracy can be upheld. The objective of this essay is to explain how Mongolia, a country with two giant authoritarian geographical neighbors in China and Russia still upholds a strong consolidated democracy. How did Mongolia develop from a history of communism to a free open country? This essay aims to explain Mongolia’s democratization after the collapse of the USSR in 1990 through the national internal factors of Larry Diamonds democratization theory; the development of authoritarian fragmentation and the development of civil society. The result illustrates that the development of authoritarian fragmentation led to competition between the elites, hard-liners vs soft-liners which in turn turned out in liberalization improvements. While the outcome of the development of civil society led to mobilization, protests and manifestations towards change and NGO’s got established which in turn lead to liberal reforms and economic improvement. The conclusion of the essay argues that the development of authoritarian fragmentation and civil society played a big role in Mongolia’s democratization in the 1990s.