Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a tool well suited for municipal governments, and in 2001 Hanna Forslund wrote a thesis at KTH where she studied the implementation and diffusion of GIS in the municipalities of Stockholm County. This study uses her thesis as a starting-point and can be viewed as a continuation of her work. This study is based on a literature study and a questionnaire that has been answered by specialists in the field from all municipalities in Stockholm County. The purpose of this study is to examine how GIS-related work in the municipalities has developed over the last 15 years, which factors are responsible for the development, and how the municipalities have worked with these factors.   According to the respondents the biggest development has been centered around internal spread of the technology and development of the hardware and software. The study shows that the majority of GIS-related work is done in the technical departments, although roughly 90% of the municipalities has used the technology in the environmental sector, and in 65% of the municipalities it has also been used in the social sector.   Based on studied literature it is evident that the most important developing factor is connected to knowledge, a factor that all municipalities has identified and are actively working on improving.   Even though GIS as a tool has spread all throughout the local governments, GIS as a term has seen little development. This leads to relatively low knowledge about the technology outside of the more technical departments and a development that is based upon the initiative of specialists. This in turn results in that the development is unevenly distributed across the county and the rate of development can vary depending on the interests of the leadership.   The future progress of GIS will, according to the respondents, largely depend on the available resources, both in the form of money, but also in the form of time and educated staff, and this is something that will not happen unless the management realize the potential of GIS. / Geografiska InformationsSystem (GIS) är ett verktyg som lämpar sig väldigt väl till det kommunala arbetet och 2001 skrevs ett examensarbete av Hanna Forslund på KTH där införandet och spridningen av GIS bland Stockholms läns kommuner studerades. Den här studien utgår från Hanna Forslunds arbete och kan ses som en fortsättning på hennes arbete. Arbetet baseras på studerad literatur och ett frågeformulär som besvarats av sakkunniga från samtliga kommuner i Stockholms län. Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur kommunernas arbete kring GIS har utvecklats de senaste 15 åren, vilka viktiga utvecklingsfaktorer som finns och hur kommunerna arbetat med dessa, samt hur kommunerna ser på den framtida utvecklingen.   Den största utvecklingen har enligt de svarande varit kopplad till intern spridning av tekniken och utveckling av hård- och mjukvaran. Studien har visat att tyngdpunkten fortfarande ligger kvar i de mer tekniska förvaltningarna, dock har 90% av kommunerna nyttjat GIS inom miljösektorn, och i 65% av fallen har tekniken även spridit sig till de sociala förvaltningarna.  Utifrån studerad literatur har det visat sig att den viktigaste utvecklingsfaktorn är kopplad till kunskap, något som samtliga kommuner identifierat och aktivt arbetar med i form av exempelvis utbildningar och omvärldsbevakning.   Trots att GIS som verktyg spridit sig över förvaltningsgränserna, har GIS som begrepp inte sett stor utveckling, vilket resulterat i att relativt få utanför de tekniska förvaltningarna känner till tekniken. Detta innebär att utveckling huvudsakligen sker baserat på initiativ av sakkunniga individer, vilket resulterar i att utvecklingen är ojämnt fördelad över kommunerna och utvecklingshastigheten kan variera beroende på ledningens intressen.   För att fortsätta utveckla och sprida tekniken har de svarande hävdat att det behövs mer resurser i form av pengar, tid och personal, något som inte kan förväntas ske såvida ledningarna inte inser potentialen av GIS.

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This thesis examines the historical connecting threads between legacy and contemporary forms of television animation. I argue that Bob’s Burgers has been neglected by animation studies due to its incomparability to the established fulcrum of television animation: The Simpsons (1989-). However, by analyzing Bob's Burgers through a historical lens that reaches beyond The Simpsons, we can begin to see what the field of animation studies has overlooked when it has dismissed animated texts that were not comparable to The Simpsons. This thesis will utilize Bob's Burgers as a primary case study and draws connecting threads between the series and Hanna-Barbera cartoons to make this argument.

<p>In modern, Swedish political science there are different ways of looking at ‘democracy’. A very common distinction is that between three groups of democratic theories: electoral democracy, participation democracy and deliberative democracy.</p><p>The nowadays frequently used concept of electoral democracy is often used as synonymous with the older concept of repre­­­­sen­tative or indirect democracy – frequently regarded as a contrast to the direct democracy of ancient Athens. However, there are also important differences. As for elections, people have no other significant role than voting for different political parties. It is a common view among defenders of electoral democracy that ‘ordinary people’ ought not to try to influence politicians between the elections.</p><p>There are mainly two different ways of looking at representative democracy; one stresses the future and focuses on mandates; the other focuses on retrospective accountability.</p><p>The modern concept of electoral democracy has many similarities with Joseph Schumpeter’s elite perspective. The main difference is that modern electoral democrats accept the concept of a ‘popular will’ – a concept that Schumpeter regarded as metaphysical.</p><p>The many meanings of the concept of ‘representation’ are analysed with reference to political scientist Hanna Pitkin, who defines its core character as ‘acting in the interest of the represented, in a manner responsive to them’. Others, like Bernard Manin, regard representative democracy as substantially different from direct democracy. The main difference is the election in contrast to the lot. For Manin, the election is indeed equal and democratic because every person has one and only one vote but at the same time unequal and aristocratic – sometimes even oligarchic – because we usually choose a person who is ‘better’ than the average.</p><p>In the electoral democracy model as well as in Schumpeter’s view, ordinary people need not participate much in the political parties or in the nomination process. The ballot is coming to the voter from the outside – like a stock on the market. For Manin, on the other hand, the nomination process is the central point.</p><p>One conclusion of this analysis is that the so-called electoral model may be regarded as an ideal type, in a Weberian sense. However, there is a risk that the model is interpreted as an ideal in a normative sense, since the concept of electoral democracy not only is narrower and ‘thinner’ than the concept of representative democracy. It is also narrower than the democratic views of Pitkin and Manin. More specifically, using ‘electoral democracy’ synonymously with ‘representative democracy’ may exclude these authors’ understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of the latter’s nomination processes.</p>

In modern, Swedish political science there are different ways of looking at ‘democracy’. A very common distinction is that between three groups of democratic theories: electoral democracy, participation democracy and deliberative democracy. The nowadays frequently used concept of electoral democracy is often used as synonymous with the older concept of repre­­­­sen­tative or indirect democracy – frequently regarded as a contrast to the direct democracy of ancient Athens. However, there are also important differences. As for elections, people have no other significant role than voting for different political parties. It is a common view among defenders of electoral democracy that ‘ordinary people’ ought not to try to influence politicians between the elections. There are mainly two different ways of looking at representative democracy; one stresses the future and focuses on mandates; the other focuses on retrospective accountability. The modern concept of electoral democracy has many similarities with Joseph Schumpeter’s elite perspective. The main difference is that modern electoral democrats accept the concept of a ‘popular will’ – a concept that Schumpeter regarded as metaphysical. The many meanings of the concept of ‘representation’ are analysed with reference to political scientist Hanna Pitkin, who defines its core character as ‘acting in the interest of the represented, in a manner responsive to them’. Others, like Bernard Manin, regard representative democracy as substantially different from direct democracy. The main difference is the election in contrast to the lot. For Manin, the election is indeed equal and democratic because every person has one and only one vote but at the same time unequal and aristocratic – sometimes even oligarchic – because we usually choose a person who is ‘better’ than the average. In the electoral democracy model as well as in Schumpeter’s view, ordinary people need not participate much in the political parties or in the nomination process. The ballot is coming to the voter from the outside – like a stock on the market. For Manin, on the other hand, the nomination process is the central point. One conclusion of this analysis is that the so-called electoral model may be regarded as an ideal type, in a Weberian sense. However, there is a risk that the model is interpreted as an ideal in a normative sense, since the concept of electoral democracy not only is narrower and ‘thinner’ than the concept of representative democracy. It is also narrower than the democratic views of Pitkin and Manin. More specifically, using ‘electoral democracy’ synonymously with ‘representative democracy’ may exclude these authors’ understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of the latter’s nomination processes.

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Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, has captured readers' imaginations for almost three hundred years, spawning countless adaptations over several different mediums. As different means of communicating and transforming art have been invented, these adaptations have grown to fill the new mediums and make use of the various possibilities each form has created. Film in particular has created an enormous opportunity to re-imagine Gulliver's Travels, since it can directly show the audience the fictional foreign locations in which Gulliver finds himself. In this study, I examine seven screen adaptations of Swift's novel to determine what our current culture views as the core of the work, or what we see as the important pieces to pass on to current and future audiences. The seven chosen adaptations were selected based on how well they have survived over the last century; adaptations which are no longer available for commercial purchase and/or viewing were excluded from the study. I have also only included works which maintain a resemblance to the original story in structure, even if merely loosely, and have excluded works which bear only a thematic tie; I based my choices on the works which make an overt claim to be interpretations of the original text. This study examines only the works which seek to directly represent the original novel. By looking at Swift's work through the lens of adaptation, this study will show how Swift's work is currently perceived, and examines what that may mean for the future of Swift's legacy. As cultural views and connotations of language have changed, the directors of the adaptations have used different means to achieve sometimes similar, sometimes different messages. Gulliver's Travels was originally a satiric work that addressed social problems of eighteenth-century England. Popular views on society have changed, however, as have the politicians holding office. Certain events in Gulliver's Travels, such as the reading of Gulliver's offences in Lilliput, no longer have nearly the same relevance. Therefore, it is important to examine how the directors address these changes to determine what will retain relevance over time.

In this paper we examine the Swedish Social Democratic Party within the context of representation. Party membership, voter engagement and citizen influence over politics are all trending downwards in Sweden. At the same time, the interest in politics among citizens is peaking and voter turnout remains strong. This sparks a question regarding how the Social Democratic Party may have changed itself because of this development. The one specific question that we’ve decided to focus on in this paper is if the party manages to sustain sufficient inter-party democracy towards its own members. By applying opinion-based representation as understood in Hanna Pitkin’s book “The Concept of Representation” we will examine this by the usage of three critical case studies that have brought this idea into question. The first case deals with the financing of the party and focuses on the role of lotteries as a means of party finance. The second case deals with the party's process and subsequent decision to join NATO. The third case deals with a party election in a Stockholm suburb (Botkyrka) and the exclusion of party members. The cases were chosen because of their differences and their ability to encase different aspects of opinion-based representation. The analysis was done from a question-based instrument taken from the ideas of Pitkin and then applied to the actions of the party and its representatives. What we found was that the party systematically fails to fulfill Pitkin’s idea of representation in all three cases. We find this to be significant due to its implications for the development of democracy. A representational democracy without representation is not a fully functioning democracy.

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This doctoral thesis explores the literarity of reportage, with a focus on the 20th century and modern reportage. The aim is to describe the literary strategies used in modern text-based reportage and how these strategies relate to journalistic standards of credibility and ethics. A primary focus is the question of what the reportage is looking for in the literary, what happens to this literarity when it is used for journalistic purposes, and, in turn, how the literary establishes ethics in the text.        By suggesting that a piece of reportage is a journalistic text that simultaneously tells the story about the reporter’s encounter with the event, this dissertation sheds light on possible approaches to the concept of literarity: Subjectivity, narrativity, meta-narrative aspects, the poetic function of language and the performative movements in the text. The ethics of reportage is also to be derived from the encounter, and this thesis implements a concept of ethics in conversations with Emmanuel Levinas and dialogical philosophy. It provides an opportunity to separate ethics from moral, ideological and political dimensions of responsibility in the encounter. This aspect of ethics, where literarity and counter-movement operate beyond the direct intention, is what is needed to understand the reportage genre.      The dissertation also includes six longer reportage analyses embodying its results: Djuna Barnes’s, Vagaries Malicieux, Ryszard Kapuściński’s Another Day of Life, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Hanna Krall’s A Tale for Hollywood, Sven Lindqvist’s Kina nu: Vad skulle Mao ha sagt? and Joan Didion’s, Slouching towards Bethlehem.