Several previous studies have in different ways tried to explain how new social movements are affected by the different sets of political and social contexts within different states and societies. This essay asks the question how much the institutional aspects within the theory of Political Opportunity Structures (POS) have determined how the rather successful animal rights movements in the Netherlands and Great Britain have mobilized and acted to gain progress. Since the Netherlands and Great Britain contains different kinds of political and institutional contexts, these two states are found to be suitable for a comparative analysis of the theory's durability. A qualitative portrayal of both state's institutional political opportunity structures are presented. Then the mobilization, progress, and actions of the political party “Party for the Animals” in the Netherlands, and a wide group of animal rights organisations in Great Britain are determined. What is found is that the open political system in the Netherlands according to the theory shaped the national animal rights movement to mobilize as a political party and only use conventional means to gain progress. What is also found is that the closed political system of Great Britain according to the theory probably shaped the national animal rights movement into mobilizing itself into a wide range of animal rights organisations that use a lot of confrontational strategies to gain political progress. The conclusion being that institutional political opportunity structures that determine whether a state has an open or closed political system proved its durability in the cases of the animal rights movements in the Netherlands and Great Britain.

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This essay is a case study about the Swedish Armed Forces during the years 1988-2004; when it transformed from a force constructed to meet an invasion, to an international force with the primary mission to help subdue conflicts around the world. The essay uses texts and documents to examine what happened between these years and to find out what drove that change. By asking the questions A) ”What happened between the years 1988-2004?” and B) ”What is the difference between the Armed Forces in 1988 and in 2004?”, it is possible to also ask C) ”Why did the Swedish Armed Forces change?”. The essay is divided into three main parts; 1) a theory-part focused on three main theories of international relations: liberalism, realism, and constructivism, 2) a historical case study examining the evolvement of the Armed Forces during these years, and 3) a conclusions section that uses thethree theories of international relations to examine why this change happened. In examining the historical period and making conclusions about the differences between these years it was also necessary to construct a scale of military power, on which the historical case study is based.

The 1st of July 2006 Sweden made a change of authorities in the system concerning the reception of separated asylum seeking children. Prior to the change, the Swedish Board of Migration was held completely responsible for the reception of these children, who arrives in Sweden without their parents or any other relatives to care for them. Since the alteration of the law (1994:137) the responsibility for the housing of these children now lies within the Swedish municipalities, while the Board of Migration still handles their legal commissions. The change was intended to fundamentally improve the conditions under which these children were taken care of. However the implementation took a severe wrong turn when the municipalities weren't prepared for their new responsibilities and the immediate result was alarming.   This qualitative study is based upon interviews with the people responsible for the reception of the separated asylum seeking children in the municipalities of Kronobergs County, as well as one of the two people in charge of the new system at the Swedish Board of Migration. The study aims to illustrate the causes to the problems in the process of implementation and the different types of steering that was used to improve the situation. This, combined with a report on the actual status of the system, finally provides a brief analysis of the complete Swedish system regarding the reception of these children. A system that even though it has improved considerably, still struggles with problems caused from the damages of the bad implementation, two and a half years ago.

No description available.

No description available.

In 2004, a provision was introduced into the Environmental Code, which states that the plans and programs that may lead to significant environmental impact should be tested through an environmental impact assessment. This study focuses on what happens after such a description has been made. Is there anyone monitoring the real impact? And if so, in what regard?By reviewing environmental impact assessments made of Detailed Development Plans, as well as interviews with the municipalities concerned, I wanted to answer the question of municipalities actually live up to the legislative requirements, and how is monitoring sections written in the EIA's. The results show varying quality regarding monitoring sections in the EIA´s and almost non-existent follow-up work after the plan has been prepared.The municipalities that were interviewed all thought that the follow up idea was good, but in practice difficult. The reasons for this are that the law is poorly precise; there is a lack of resources or that the responsibilities within the organization can be a problem according to the municipalitiesOne of the solutions to this problem may be a reporting requirement against the municipalities, as this usually leads to an expanded and more focused work.

Abstract The aim of the study was to assess the application and suitability of managerialism, in reforming the organisation of public specialised care management and operations in Finland. Managerialism refers to the reforming of the public-sector administration, using business management models and practices originating from the private sector. The study combined a qualitative and quantitative research approach. The material consisted of annual reports from four university hospital districts (n = 59), regulations and administrative rules (n = 42) from 1991–2005 as well as a questionnaire (n = 157). Content analysis and statistical analysis were used as the methods of analysis. Managerialism is defined as an ideology, reform and change of management paradigm. As an ideology, managerialism emphasises good, professional management, which is achieved through training and education as well as the manager's right to manage. In terms of reform, managerialism includes decentralisation, results orientation and market orientation in the structural reform of public organisations. As a change of management paradigm, managerialism involves the breakdown of bureaucracy and professional management. According to the qualitative assessment, features complying with managerialism had been applied in varying degrees, between 1991 and 2005, in reforming the organisation of the management and operation of hospital districts. Reform, in accordance with managerialism, was manifested best in one hospital district; this was evident when looking at both sets of data. According to the quantitative assessment, hospital district management was a combination of bureaucratic, professional and managerialist management. Bureaucratic management was manifested in the hospital districts, as classic features of bureaucracy. There was continued support for professional management, evidenced by the requirement that leading positions at medical units be reserved for doctors. Among the features of managerialist management, human-centred and results-centred management and the preconditions of management were manifested in the hospital districts. According to the results of the study, the ideological features of managerialism, as management principles, were accepted in guiding the reform of public specialised care, whereas attitudes towards the reformist features, as service structure reformers, were more negative. The opinions of the topmost management of the hospital districts, and those of unit management, differed in terms of the assessment of the suitability for the specialised care reform of the features, emphasising the efficiency of manageralism and a market-oriented approach. Conflicting views of the suitability of managerialism for reforming specialised care in the public sector were associated with the position of the respondent within the organisation and the management's educational background. The findings of the study can be utilised in political decision-making and internal development work within the hospital districts, in reforming specialised care management and service structures and in the multi-professional management training of health care management personnel. The findings provide a new public management model for public-sector specialised care in Finland. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli arvioida managerialismin soveltamista ja soveltuvuutta suomalaisen julkisen erikoissairaanhoidon johtamisen ja toiminnan organisoinnin uudistamisessa. Managerialismilla tarkoitettiin julkisen hallinnon uudistamista yksityissektorilta peräisin olevin liikkeenjohdon opein ja -käytännöin. Tutkimuksessa yhdistettiin samanaikaisesti kvalitatiivinen ja kvantitatiivinen tutkimusmetodi. Tutkimusaineistoina käytettiin neljän yliopistollisen sairaanhoitopiirin toimintakertomuksia (n = 59), johto- ja hallintosääntöjä (n = 42) vuosilta 1991–2005 sekä kirjallista kyselyä (n = 157). Analyysimenetelminä käytettiin sisällön analyysia ja tilastollista analyysiä. Managerialismi määriteltiin ideologiana, reformina ja johtamisparadigman muutoksena. Ideologiana managerialismi korosti hyvää, ammattimaista johtamista, johon kouluttaudutaan, sekä johtajan oikeutta johtaa. Reformina managerialismi sisälsi hajauttamisen, tulosorientaation sekä markkinaohjautuvuuden julkisten organisaatioiden rakenneuudistuksissa. Johtamisparadigman muutoksena managerialismi merkitsi byrokratian ja professionaalisen johtamisen murtamista. Kvalitatiivisen arvioinnin mukaan managerialismin mukaisia piirteitä oli sovellettu vaihtelevasti vuosina 1991–2005 sairaanhoitopiirien johtamisen ja toiminnan organisoinnin uudistamisessa. Yhdessä sairaanhoitopiirissä managerialismin mukainen uudistaminen ilmeni parhaimmin, ja molempien aineistojen perusteella. Kvantitatiivisen arvioinnin mukaan sairaanhoitopiirien johtaminen oli yhdistelmä byrokraattista, professionaalista ja managerialistista johtamista. Byrokraattinen johtaminen ilmeni sairaanhoitopiireissä byrokratian klassisina piirteinä. Professionaalista johtamista tuettiin edelleen sairaanhoidollisten yksiköiden johtotehtävien lääkärikelpoisuusehdoilla. Managerialistisen johtamisen piirteistä ilmenivät sairaanhoitopiireissä ihmiskeskeinen ja tuloskeskeinen johtaminen sekä johtamisen edellytykset. Tutkimustulosten mukaan managerialismin ideologiset piirteet johtamisen periaatteina hyväksyttiin ohjaamaan julkisen erikoissairaanhoidon uudistamista, kun taas reformistisiin piirteisiin palvelurakenteiden uudistajina suhtauduttiin kielteisemmin. Sairaanhoitopiirien ylimmän johdon ja vastuualueiden johdon arviot erosivat toisistaan managerialismin tehokkuutta korostavien piirteiden ja markkinaperusteisen toimintatavan soveltuvuuden arvioinnissa erikoissairaanhoidon uudistamiseen. Ristiriitaiset näkemykset managerialismin soveltuvuudesta julkisen erikoissairaanhoidon uudistamiseen olivat yhteydessä asemaan organisaatiossa ja johdon koulutustaustoihin. Tutkimustietoa voidaan hyödyntää sairaanhoitopiirien poliittisessa päätöksenteossa ja sisäisessä kehittämisessä erikoissairaanhoidon johtamisen ja palvelurakenteiden uudistamisessa sekä terveydenhuollon johdon moniammatillisessa johtamiskoulutuksessa. Tutkimustieto antaa suomalaiselle julkiselle erikoissairaanhoidolle uuden julkisen johtamisen mallin. / Sammandrag Studiens syfte var att utvärdera tillämpning och lämplighet av managerialism i reformering av organisering av ledning och verksamhet inom offentlig specialsjukvård i Finland. Med managerialism menades reformering av offentlig förvaltning med hjälp av modeller och tillvägagångssätt som härstammar från den privata sektorn. I studien användes både kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskning. Forskningsmaterialet omfattade verksamhetsberättelser (n = 59) från fyra universitetssjukhusdistrikt, ledningsinstruktioner och förvaltningsregler (n = 42) från 1991–2005 samt en skriftlig enkät (n = 157). Innehållsanalys och statistisk analys användes som analysmetoder. Managerialism definierades som ideologi, reform samt ändring av ledningsparadigm. Som ideologi betonade managerialismen god, professionell ledning, som man når genom att studera, samt ledarens rätt att leda. Som reform omfattade managerialism decentralisering, resultatorientering samt marknadsorientering när det gäller strukturella reformer av offentliga organisationer. Som ändring av ledningsparadigm betydde managerialism brytning av byråkrati och professionell ledning. Enligt kvalitativ utvärdering hade drag som påminner om managerialism tillämpats i varierande utsträckning mellan 1991 och 2005 i reformering av organisering av ledning och verksamhet inom sjukvårdsdistrikten. Reformering enligt managerialism manifesterades bäst inom ett sjukvårdsdistrikt; samma resultat nåddes med båda materialgrupper. Enligt kvantitativ utvärdering var ledning inom sjukvårdsdistrikt en blandning av byråkratisk, professionell och managerialistisk ledning. Byråkratisk ledning kom till uttryck i sjukvårdsdistrikten som klassiska byråkratiska drag. Professionell ledning stöddes fortfarande med kravet att personer i ledande ställning inom sjukvårdsenheter måste ha läkarutbildning. Av olika managerialistiska ledningsdrag manifesterades människocentrerad och resultatorienterad ledning samt ledningens förutsättningar i sjukvårdsdistrikten. Enligt forskningsresultateten godkändes managerialismens ideologiska drag som ledningsprinciper att styra reformering av offentlig specialsjukvård, medan attityderna var mer negativa gentemot reformistiska drag som förnyare av servicestrukturer. Den högsta sjukvårdsdistriktledningens och resultatenhetsledningens uppfattningar skiljde sig från varandra när det gäller utvärdering av hur väl managerialismens drag som betonar effektivitet samt en marknadsorienterad operationssätt lämpar sig för reformering av specialsjukvård. Motstridiga uppfattningar om managerialismens lämplighet för reformering av offentlig specialsjukvård var förknippade med position inom organisationen samt ledningens utbildningsbakgrund. Forskningens resultat kan tillämpas i politisk beslutsfattning inom sjukvårdsdistrikt, intern utveckling och reformering av ledning och servicestrukturer inom specialsjukvården samt inom multiprofessionell ledningsutbildning avsedd för personer i ledande ställning inom hälsovården. Studien erbjuder en ny offentlig ledningsmodell för offentlig specialsjukvård i Finland.

As the 21st century has been approaching the concept of genocide is nothing new, rather the opposite. Since the beginning of the 1990s we have seen several major genocides taking place around the world, all in where hundreds of thousands of people have been brutally murdered, died or ended up forced to flee from their own country, home and sense of security. This thesis will examine the differences and similarities on how the world has acted in two major genocides: Rwanda 1994 and Darfur 2003-2007.

This thesis intends to analyse conditions for a successful implementation of consociational democracy, as a democratic model in Afghanistan. The lack of critical reviews regarding the democratisation-process in Afghanistan initiated the purpose of this study. Lijpharts democracy model was used as the basis in the comparative study. Along with empirical evidence regarding how the complex process of democracy in Afghanistan is progressing, the study investigated whether the identified conditions occurred or not. The choice of which democracy model to use can be crucial for the democratic possibilities to even survive and become established in conflict-affected communities. The principle of consociational democracy is that it is an empirically based normative model that aims to organise the state in a way that works against the risks of majority domination and oppression against the minority. The empirical case study revealed that a majority of the conditions were not met, which then can counteract the possibilities for consociational democracy in Afghanistan. The study has critically examined the prospects for the success of consociational democracy in Afghanistan, and it can be assessed that there is a limited probability for a successful applying of this model.