Denna uppsats syftar till att kunna belysa de möjligheter och svårigheter som miljöinspektörer upplever i utövandet av sin yrkesroll. Dagens miljöproblem är uppmärksammade globalt såväl som på en lokal nivå. På den lokala nivån är det miljö- och hälsoskyddsinspektörer som genom sitt arbete säkerställer att miljöbalken efterföljs. Deras uppdrag är med andra ord av yttersta vikt för att vår miljö vårdas och ska bli bättre. De implementerar politiska beslut och lagstiftning och strävar efter att nå de svenska miljömålen. Genom att lyfta fram inspektörers möjligheter och framförallt belysa de svårigheter de ser i sin yrkesroll, kan vi se vad som krävs för att nå ett effektivare inspektörsarbete, som i sin tur kan generera bättre miljökvalitet. Vi har valt att karaktärisera inspektörerna genom Lipsky´s ”Street-level bureaucrats ” perspektiv, då det är inspektörerna som arbetar med implementeringen av lagstiftningar och andra politiska beslut.  Metodiken bygger på forskningsintervjuer med miljöinspektörer. Intervjuerna har utförts i en större och en mindre kommun i Östergötland, för att belysa just frågor som möjligheter och svårigheter, men också för att se om det finns skillnader i arbetet i kommuner med olika storlek. Resultatet av studien stämmer väl överens med tidigare forskning som visar på att inspektörer idag upplever fler svårigheter än möjligheter att utföra ett effektivt inspektörsarbete. Inspektörer upplever framförallt att resursbrist i form av personal, tid, teknik, kunskap och bemötandet av verksamhetsutövare är svårigheter som de dagligen får tampas med. Likaså upplever de en frustration över att den politiska nämnden många gånger kan vara av en annan åsikt och fatta ett annat beslut än vad inspektören tänkt sig. Resultatet visar också att inspektörer trivs med sitt arbete, att de upplever variation, att de anser att de får vara med och påverka arbetet och att de har bra samarbete och stöttning av andra inspektörer. Studien visar också i likhet med tidigare studier på skillnader i arbetet utifrån kommunstorlek, där skillnaden främst ligger i uppdelningen av arbetsområden, där inspektörer i den mindre kommunen måste kunna lite om mycket och blir då så kallade generalister, medan inspektörer i en större kommun istället kan mycket om lite, då de kan koncentrera sig på ett arbetsområde och blir då specialister.   Materialet visade även att tidigare studier avviker från resultatet vad gäller ärenden som är sällan förekommande. Vår studie visar att ”sällanärenden” är lika ofta förekommande i stor som i liten kommun, medan tidigare forskning skriver att det förekommer främst i små kommuner. / This paper aims to shed light on the enablers and challenges that environmental inspectors experience in the exercise of their professional role. Today's environmental problems are acclaimed globally as well as at a local level. At the local level, the environmental health inspectors whose work ensures that the Environmental Code are followed. Their mission is thus of utmost importance to improved environmental quality. They implement various policies and laws, and strive to achieve the Swedish environmental objectives. By highlighting inspector’s enablers and above all highlight the difficulties they see for fulfilling their professional role, we can see what is required to achieve a more effective inspector's work, which in turn can generate a better environmental quality. We have chosen to characterize the inspectors by using Lipsky's "Street-level bureaucrats' perspective, since it is the inspectors that are in charge of the implementation of legislation and other political decisions. The methodology is based on research interviews with inspectors. The interviews were conducted in a larger and a smaller municipality in Östergötland, to highlight enablers and challenges, but also to see if there are differences in municipalities with different size. The result of the study is consistent with previous research showing that inspectors today have more challenges than enablers to perform efficient inspector work. Inspectors claim above all that a lack of resources in terms of personnel, time, technology, knowledge and treatment of operators are challenges they daily must contend with. Likewise, they experience frustration since the political committee many times can be of a different opinion and make different decisions than the inspector suggested. The results also show that inspectors enjoy their work. They experience variety, they believe that they get to influence the work and that they have good cooperation and jacking by the other inspectors. The study also shows, as in previous studies, differences between municipality sizes, mainly in the division of work, where the difference is primarily in the division of work areas, where inspectors in the smaller municipality need to be able to handle little facts but about a large area, becoming generalists, while in a larger municipality, inspectors may instead handle a lot of facts in one work area and then become specialists. The material showed our results however also differ from previous studies regarding matters that are infrequent. Our study shows that "rare" cases are as frequent in large as in small municipalities, while previous research write that it occurs mainly in small municipalities.

This bachelor thesis is conducted as a Minor Field Study (MFS) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between journalism and politics from three questions at issue: 1) What is the role of media according to the journalists? 2) How do journalists work with political reporting in the Sri Lankan print media? 3) How does print media and politics correspond to each other in Sri Lanka?. The theoretical framework consists of theories onmedia systems, democracy models, the notion of the public sphere, media during elections and types of regulations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 informants, both editors and journalists, at eight different editorial offices. The newspapers at which the informants were employed were either state-owned or privately owned. The qualitative material was transcribed and analysed using thematisation and meaning concentration to reveal patterns, attitudes and opinions. The analysis is divided into two major sections; 'Media's Role in the Society' and 'Media and Politics'. The first section investigates the first question at issue. Informing and educating people are valued as important responsibilities amongst the informants. Media is considered to be powerful in terms of affecting both people and politicians, although, some reservations are made. The second section examines the second and third questions at issue. The ideal execution of political reportage includes notions of neutrality, fairness, balance and unbiased reporting. In reality this is not necessarily accomplished. The state newspapers seem to report on behalf of the government in a positive and uncritical way. Private newspapers consider themselves to be more independent, but political ties and restrictions can disable their independence. Tendencies towards clientelism, political parallelism and instrumentalization are noted in the media environment. Sensitive, political news is often self-censored by journalists due to fear of consequences. In 'Conclusions and Discussion' the questions at issue are connected to each other in an attempt to discuss the complex relationship between journalism and politics in Sri Lanka.

Esta tese analisa o impacto de interferências políticas sobre o valor das empresas do Setor Elétrico Brasileiro (SEB) e propõe estratégias e métricas para interromper a destruição de valor econômico e bloquear o uso político. A observação de manifestações de interferência política ao longo de oito anos e o acúmulo de farta documentação possibilitaram o estudo empírico de duas empresas estatais submetidas ao uso político nas formas de populismo tarifário e loteamento político-partidário. A aplicação de uma metodologia concebida para avaliar hipóteses de manifestação de interferência política permitiu concluir que os dois tipos de uso político são explicados pela Teoria de Grupos de Pressão de Gary Becker. Além disso, a destruição de valor econômico devido aos usos políticos foi bilionária em ambas as empresas e os grupos de pressão beneficiados e prejudicados foram identificados. As estratégias propostas para bloquear tais usos políticos nas empresas do SEB envolvem a implementação de quatro etapas: imposição de critérios meritocráticos no recrutamento de gestores de empresas estatais; divulgação transparente de resultados econômico-financeiros; definição de indicadores e metas gerenciais objetivos; e implantação de mecanismos de incentivos e penalidades baseados em desempenho. O percurso metodológico adotado pode ser extrapolado para outros setores e países e oferece contribuições a gestores públicos, administradores privados e demais stakeholders. A primeira contribuição consiste na metodologia de teste de hipóteses de uso político de empresas e/ou setores econômicos com base em referenciais conceituais sólidos. A segunda contribuição é a oferta de alternativas de quantificação dos efeitos de usos políticos sobre o valor de empresas. E a terceira contribuição se concentra na exploração de indicadores e estratégias que minimizem ou bloqueiem usos políticos e maximizem a geração de valor em empresas vitimizadas por interferências políticas. / This thesis analyzes the impact of political interference on the value of companies in the Brazilian Electricity Sector (BES) and proposes strategies and indicators to interrupt economic value destruction and block political use. The observation of political interference manifestations over an eight-year period and the accumulation of vast documentation were the basis for the empirical study of two state-owned companies that were submitted to political use in the forms of tariff populism and distribution of managerial positions to allied political parties. One can conclude, via the application of a methodology conceived to evaluate hypotheses of political interference, that both types of political use can be explained by the Pressure Groups Theory developed by Gary Becker. Furthermore, the economic value destruction due to political use can be measured in billions of dollars in both companies and the pressure groups that were benefited and jeopardized were identified. The strategies aimed at blocking political use in the companies of the BES involve the implementation of four stages: the imposition of meritocratic criteria in the recruiting process of state-owned companies executives; the transparent divulging of economic-financial results; the definition of objective indicators and their respective goals; and the institution of incentives and penalties based on performance. The methodological approach of this thesis can be extended to other sectors and countries and offers several contributions to public and private officers and other stakeholders. The first contribution consists of a methodology for testing hypotheses of political use of companies and/or sectors based on solid conceptual references. The second contribution is the offer of alternatives to quantify the effects of political use on the value of companies. The third contribution is related to the exploration of metrics and strategies to block political use and maximize value generation in companies victimized by political interference.

Esta tese analisa o impacto de interferências políticas sobre o valor das empresas do Setor Elétrico Brasileiro (SEB) e propõe estratégias e métricas para interromper a destruição de valor econômico e bloquear o uso político. A observação de manifestações de interferência política ao longo de oito anos e o acúmulo de farta documentação possibilitaram o estudo empírico de duas empresas estatais submetidas ao uso político nas formas de populismo tarifário e loteamento político-partidário. A aplicação de uma metodologia concebida para avaliar hipóteses de manifestação de interferência política permitiu concluir que os dois tipos de uso político são explicados pela Teoria de Grupos de Pressão de Gary Becker. Além disso, a destruição de valor econômico devido aos usos políticos foi bilionária em ambas as empresas e os grupos de pressão beneficiados e prejudicados foram identificados. As estratégias propostas para bloquear tais usos políticos nas empresas do SEB envolvem a implementação de quatro etapas: imposição de critérios meritocráticos no recrutamento de gestores de empresas estatais; divulgação transparente de resultados econômico-financeiros; definição de indicadores e metas gerenciais objetivos; e implantação de mecanismos de incentivos e penalidades baseados em desempenho. O percurso metodológico adotado pode ser extrapolado para outros setores e países e oferece contribuições a gestores públicos, administradores privados e demais stakeholders. A primeira contribuição consiste na metodologia de teste de hipóteses de uso político de empresas e/ou setores econômicos com base em referenciais conceituais sólidos. A segunda contribuição é a oferta de alternativas de quantificação dos efeitos de usos políticos sobre o valor de empresas. E a terceira contribuição se concentra na exploração de indicadores e estratégias que minimizem ou bloqueiem usos políticos e maximizem a geração de valor em empresas vitimizadas por interferências políticas. / This thesis analyzes the impact of political interference on the value of companies in the Brazilian Electricity Sector (BES) and proposes strategies and indicators to interrupt economic value destruction and block political use. The observation of political interference manifestations over an eight-year period and the accumulation of vast documentation were the basis for the empirical study of two state-owned companies that were submitted to political use in the forms of tariff populism and distribution of managerial positions to allied political parties. One can conclude, via the application of a methodology conceived to evaluate hypotheses of political interference, that both types of political use can be explained by the Pressure Groups Theory developed by Gary Becker. Furthermore, the economic value destruction due to political use can be measured in billions of dollars in both companies and the pressure groups that were benefited and jeopardized were identified. The strategies aimed at blocking political use in the companies of the BES involve the implementation of four stages: the imposition of meritocratic criteria in the recruiting process of state-owned companies executives; the transparent divulging of economic-financial results; the definition of objective indicators and their respective goals; and the institution of incentives and penalties based on performance. The methodological approach of this thesis can be extended to other sectors and countries and offers several contributions to public and private officers and other stakeholders. The first contribution consists of a methodology for testing hypotheses of political use of companies and/or sectors based on solid conceptual references. The second contribution is the offer of alternatives to quantify the effects of political use on the value of companies. The third contribution is related to the exploration of metrics and strategies to block political use and maximize value generation in companies victimized by political interference.

International crimes prosecutions have become more common since 1993, both domestically and at international courts and tribunals. The advance of this norm confronts realist state interests causing debate about the norm's status. Kathryn Sikkink views a norm as cascading when enough states adopt it to cause international influence, without domestic pressure, to procure levels of conformity. This thesis considers the degree of conformity by observing the level of case selection independence to determine whether this norm is cascading. By identifying the jurisdictional and functional elements of case selection independence, I develop a framework for observing the interface between politics and law. While Sikkink errs towards the quantity of international crimes prosecutions, I focus on the quality. This project examines case selection independence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court, in Uganda. The project considers whether case selection has become more or less independent at these courts - whether the norm of international crimes prosecution has cascaded or contracted. In observing the various case selection independence elements I attempt to explain the observed cascades and contractions at each court. I then consider whether a cascade or contraction occurred during the period of the courts' collective design and function. The research qualitatively observes a cumulative justice contraction. The research observes a combination of factors affecting case selection independence, including shifts in power dynamics between and among weak and powerful states, increasing state sophistication in international court engagement, a shift in jurisdiction triggering actors and forums, and realist state co-option of norm entrepreneurs via endearing explanation of independence-diminishing policies.