The escalating conflict in Syria that started in 2011 would cause millions of Syri- ans to flee the country. It is estimated that as much as 7,6 million Syrians were displaced internally and 3,7 million externally. This initially caused an enormous pressure on neighboring countries were refugees were displacing to (Ostrand 2011: 1-2). Though as the years passed the large majority of externally displaced refugees stayed in the neighboring states, though this would change in 2015 (UNHCR 2013: 1-3). In the spring of 2015 several ships either sank or were abandoned in the Mediterranean resulting in fatalities. Though as an increasing amount of refugees reached the southern member states of the EU it created an immense pressure on the immigration handling processes of the affected countries such as Italy and Greece (Livingstone, Cerelus 2016). A large amount of refugees would then start moving up throughout eastern Europe towards northern countries such as Germany and Swe- den. Though it won’t be long until Hungary decides to fence in its southern border to prevent refugees from passing through the country. As criticism flourished from the EU, member states of the EU, and other organizations, Hungary did not alter its policy, but instead came to further deteriorate the relations by defending its political position (Than, Krisztina 2017). This was done even though Hungary is heavily dependent on monetary support from the European Union as well as access to its Schengen zone (European Union 2017). Little research has been done on this matter where countries such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia amongst others have decided to challenge the basic principles of free movement and the Dublin treaty after the refugee crisis. This senior thesis aim to look at how Hungary could have been able to do a immigration policy change that stands in contrast to that of the EU while they are in many ways dependent on the Schengen zone and financial support from the EU.

This paper analyzes Swedish steel company’s SSAB commitment to the green transition focusing on how and why aspects. The how part of this problem relates to topical conjunctures, which emerge independently of a company. The why part of this problem relates to institutional commitments carried on within a company and how a company potentially can differ vis-à-vis other companies. Formally the research question for this dissertation is: "To what extent did policy windows, policy entrepreneurs, proactive development pair and networks, and resources contribute to SSAB’s commitment to green transition for steel production in the 2020s?". Due to the explorative nature of my research question, the case study method is used where secondary data is gathered from Swedish newspapers (Dagens Nyheter, Dagens Industri and Svenska Dagbladet), SSAB press releases, annual reports, and other relevant publications. The study uses a deductive approach, where the theory provides a framework through which gathered findings are analyzed. The main theories and concepts used in this study are Kingdon’s “Policy Windows” or Agenda-Setting Theory and Policy Entrepreneurs, Fridlund’s concept of Development Pair and Networks, and Penrose’s Resource Theory.

The objective of the present article is to analyze the process of introducing the regulation of therapeutic abortion into the peruvian governmental agenda, identifying the factors that came together to generate such event, the period of study being between the years 2005 to 2014. The investigation corroborates that said event was possible due to the confluence of certain political and institutional factors on the national stages, the strategy of groups in favor (pro-choice) and against (pro-life) the regulation, and international influence. / El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el proceso de ingreso de la reglamentación del aborto terapéutico en la agenda política gubernamental peruana, así como identificar los factores que confluyeron para generar dicho ingreso, siendo el periodo de estudio entre los años 2005 y 2014. La investigación corrobora que dicho ingreso fue posible gracias a la confluencia de ciertos factores políticos e institucionales del ámbito nacional, de las estrategias de los grupos a favor (pro-elección) y en contra (pro-vida) de la reglamentación, y de la influencia internacional.

The aim of the thesis was to find the process of agenda-setting the politics of fight against extremism in the year 2009. The whole problems are researched on the basis of the Multiple Stream Theory by American scientist J. W. Kingdon and its particular modification by Nikolaos Zahariadis. This theory is based on the existence of three streams with independent development. That is problem stream, politics stream and policy stream. Under specific circumstances the three streams clash and in this case a policy window is going to be opened. Opening of the policy window is a sign for policy entrepreneurs who can influence the agenda-setting of new politics. Agenda setting takes place in the Windows called Coupling. In the context of agenda setting of the politics of fight against extremism the Problem Window is the most important. This window is created by various right wing extremist groups and its activity. The Politics Stream is created by the ideology of political parties and National Mood. The ideology of relevant political parties doesn't play any significant roles. The right wing political parties are included in the Problem Window and others relevant political parties have collective concern about rejection the manifestation of right extremism and they also have a unified interest on its...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic showed that disastrous events can develop in ways both new and surprising. It demonstrated that an infectious disease can easily spread over the globe in a matter of weeks. While there has been a surge of policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic there is uncertainty regarding which of these changes will remain permanent and which will be terminated. The pandemic highlighted the complex structures of governance in modern societies and raised new interest in how institutions of governance work. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for politicians and leaders to transform institutional settings.    Aim: This thesis will bring further insight into potential policy change, during a protracted crisis. The aim is to examine the role of COVID-19 pandemic in enabling changes on the agenda regarding risk governance, the Swedish crisis management system, and the overall organisation of governmental responsibility through a qualitative content analysis of governmental reports. The study investigates the policy process and agenda setting during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Swedish national government. The focus is on the beginning of the crisis before the issue became better known.    Method: This study has been conducted through a qualitative case study design. The information has been retrieved from documents, that were analysed through a qualitative document analysis. Based on the case (Sweden and its national Government and Parliament), the information has been documents provided by these government bodies. In total 72 documents were chosen based on specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. These documents were then coded in NVivo 12.    Results: The analysis resulted in different themes, labelled here as: risk constructs, risk governance, crisis management, power, responsibility policy stream, political stream, and problem stream. The overall picture is that issues related to COVID-19 were at a low level during the beginning of 2020, with an increase beginning I March and apart from a drop in May, continued to rise in prevalence reaching its hight in June 2020. The data show that the COVID-19 pandemic is described in tones of great uncertainty, that it was something that could be used for learning or improvement. The data further showed discussions regarding jurisdiction and co-operation and that it started discussions on how to manage a crisis. The different risk governance strategies that came through were discursive strategy, precaution strategy, prevention strategy and risk-based strategy. Where the risk-based strategy was the most prevalent. The data show a general positive stand towards giving the Government a clearer and wider mandate to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also focus on voluntary actions, safeguarding democracy and human rights.   Conclusion: This study reveals that the discussions on the coded themes coincide with the reported infection rates of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic is argued to have caused an increase on the agenda regarding power, responsibility, and risk governance. It opened a policy window for an increase in centralisation for the national government.

Advisory Bodies and Expertise in the Czech Politics - Epistemic Communities and the Influence on the Reforms of Higher Education and Pension System Master thesis Bc. Kateřina Merklová The Master thesis Advisory Bodies and Expertise in the Czech Politics - Epistemic Communities and the Influence on the Reforms of Higher Education and Pension System concerns with the relation between politics and expertise. So-called epistemic community represents the knowledge interpreter that we consider an independent actor in the political process. In the theoretical part of the text, we have explained the original definition of the concept as well as its critics and case studies that cover various contexts. Following most of the authors, we have applied a looser definition of the concept and deconstructed its rigid criteria. The empirical part of the thesis presents a case study (N=4) based on comparative methods that analyzes variable influence of four particular epistemic communities (the authors of the White Paper on Tertiary Education, Bezdek's Committee, Bezdek's Committee II, and the National Economic Council) on policy-making process and its sources. Regarding our intention and research questions, we have chosen two qualitative methods - in-depth interviews and content analysis of relevant texts. We have...