In 2009 the Swedish parliament decided to enforce a professional army with serving soldiers and seamen as many other Western European states had done in the aftermaths of the Cold War. However, only seven years later the Government decided to reactivate the laws enabling the possibility to enlist young men and women to the Armed  Forces,  once again constituting National Service. The purpose of this essay is to shed light on this rather rapid decision to amend the terms and conditions stated for the Armed Forces on how to recruit and man the battle units. This is conducted by analysing the arguments made by the leading political parties in Government and Opposition in relation to two possible explanation models. Firstly, is this a consequence of the rapid changes in the security situation in Europé? Or is this simply a policy failure based on domestic challenges i defence reform.  This survey have categorised the arguments made by Sweden´s leading parties describing the relations in both theese major decisions.

The concept of sustainable development is a challenge that demands cooperation from all levels of society for it to be successful. The focus for this thesis is how politicians within the local councils understand the concept of sustainable development and how they implement it in political decision-making. The basis for the study is a questionnaire that was distributed to 303 local politicians in three municipalities of varying size in Southern Sweden. The study concentrates on departments within the local councils that are directly connected to the Swedish environmental law and the Swedish planning and construction law. One of the primary goals with the aforementioned laws is the achievement of sustainable development within one generation. The outcome of the study was that over half of the local politicians could correctly define sustainable development according to the World Commission on Environment and Development’s (WCED) definition. Two thirds of them prioritised the concept and were motivated to take it into serious consideration when making political decisions. With regard to the local councils documentation for decision-making, the respondents were not in agreement as to whether clear associations to sustainable development and the Swedish environmental objectives were present. The study also revealed both statistical differences and correlations in relation to several statements regarding aspects of sustainable development. Further education within sustainable development and clearly defined connections to documentation from the local councils can conceivably increase its acceptance and integration amongst local politicians. / Begreppet hållbar utveckling är en utmaning som kräver samarbete från alla nivåer i samhället för att det ska lyckas. Det innebär tre olika dimensioner som ska samstämmigt och ömsesidigt stödja varandra. Hänsyn måste tas till ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala dimensioner för att främja en hållbar utveckling. Många av de slutgiltigt offentliga besluten gällande verksamheter som påverkar medborgarnas vardag ligger hos kommunerna. Dessa kommuner styrs av politiker vars påverkan, genom sina beslut, på samhället är mycket omfattande. Fokus på denna uppsats ligger på hur de kommunala politikerna uppfattar begreppet hållbar utveckling och hur de integrerar begreppet hållbar utveckling i sitt politiska beslutsfattande. Utgångspunkten för studien är en enkät som delades ut till 303 lokala politiker i tre kommuner av varierande storlek i södra Sverige. Studien koncentrerar sig på avdelningar inom kommuner som är direkt kopplade till Miljöbalken (SFS 1998:808) och Plan- och bygglagen (SFS 2010:900). Ett av de primära målen med de ovan nämnda lagar är att uppnå en hållbar utveckling inom en generation. Resultatet av studien visade att över hälften av de undersökta förtroendevalda kunde definiera hållbar utveckling på ett korrekt sätt och enligt världskommissionen för miljö och utvecklings (WCED) definition. Två tredjedels av respondenterna prioriterade begreppet högt och integrerade det i sitt beslutsfattande. När det gäller beslutsunderlagen, framtagna av kommunala tjänstemän, ansåg större delen av respondenterna att tydliga kopplingar till hållbar utveckling eller de nationella miljömålen inte fanns. Vidare visade det sig även att en signifikant statistisk skillnad förekom i hur de olika åldersgrupperna upplevde kopplingar till de ovannämnda aspekterna. Ytterligare statistiskt säkerställda skillnader och samband uppkom i förhållande till påståenden gällande olika dimensioner av hållbar utveckling. Vidareutbildning inom hållbar utveckling och tydligt definierade kopplingar till hållbar utveckling, de nationella miljömålen och kommunala handlingsplaner kan möjligtvis öka begreppens integration och uppfattning bland de förtroendevalda.

Målsättningen med uppsatsen har varit att åskådliggöra beslutsprocesserna på främst strategisk ochmilitärstrategisk nivå inför det svenska beslutet att delta i de militära FN-missionerna i Suez 1956,Kongo 1960 och på Cypern 1964. Men också att studera deployeringen vid den inledande insatsen.Uppsatsen har därmed syftat till att finna svar på varför det gick relativt fort att fatta beslut om insatssamt deployera förbanden – svar som kanske kan lära oss något inför framtida liknande beslut – tillexempel med EU Battle Group. Graham Allison’s teorier om Organizational Process ochGovernmental Politics har utgjort den vetenskapliga ramen för att hjälpa till att förklarabeslutsprocesserna. Metoden för att uppnå detta har varit att genomföra tre fallstudier över nämndainsatser med en kvalitativ granskning av olika av källor.Uppsatsen pekar på att det har funnits en stark politisk vilja att genomföra insatserna. I ett fall harregeringen förvisso varit mycket tveksam. Rent generellt har besluten fattats snabbt och effektivtinnan riksdagen gav sitt medgivande. Man kan därmed se regeringens ageranden som en syntes avbeslutsamma ledande politiker med ett tillhörande väl utvecklat regeringskansli med mycket godförmåga att koordinera sin vilja gentemot riksdagen och oppositionen i utrikesnämnden samt mot demilitära myndigheterna. I samtliga fall har delar av den militära ledningen var tveksam till insatsmed hänvisning till befälsbrist och att beredskapen skulle bli lidande. Krigsmakten har dock alltidvarit lojal och snabbt verkställt besluten.När det gäller deployeringen så pekar uppsatsen på att Sverige och FN varit beroende av främst USAnär det gäller strategiska flygtransporter. Allisons teorier har bidragit till ökad förståelse förbeslutsprocesserna / The aim of this study is to reveal the decision-making process at strategic andmilitary strategic level that led to the Swedish military UN engagement inSuez 1956, Congo 1960 and Cyprus 1964. Moreover, the aim is to study thedeployment phase. The purpose is therefore to find answers, which canexplain why these decisions and deployments were made quite rapidly andwhy there were differences between and within the two levels. The historymay help us to make fasts decisions in the near future – for example, when theSwedish / Nordic EU Battle Group will be used. Graham Allison’s theoriesabout Organizational Process and Governmental Politics constitute thescientific frame. These theories help us to understand the processes and thedifferences. The method to achieve this has been to make three case studieswhere the primary and secondary sources from archives, diaries and booksetcetera have been examined.The thesis shows that there has been a strong political will in two of the cases.In the last case however, the government has been doubtful whether to takepart in the mission or not. But generally, the decisions have been maderapidly and effectively before the consent of Parliament. One could thereforesee the government’s actions as a synthesis of resolute leading politicians witha well developed cabinet, which had good ability in coordinating their willagainst Parliament and the opposition in the advisory council on foreignaffairs, as well as against the military authorities. In every case there hashowever been some reluctance from leading military generals. The lack ofenthusiasm was due to their objective during the Cold War: to keep as manyofficers and non-commissioned officers as possible in Sweden at high militarypreparedness on purpose. However, the military authorities have shown greatloyalty to the political level – they have therefore quickly executed thepolitical decisions.Furthermore, the thesis shows that both UN and Sweden have been dependenton the United States’ Air Force when it comes to strategic airlifts. Thisdependence has also been shown earlier. The Swedish Supreme Commanderasked for better airlift capacity for the benefit of the UN as late as in thesixties. Graham Allison’s theories have helped to understand both the processand the differences that have been identified. However, the theories cannotexplain all the perspectives and varieties of the decision-making process. Forexample, the role and impact of Dag Hammarskjöld 1956 and 1960 and thepressure of ”the super powers” in 1964. / Avdelning: ALB - Slutet Mag 3 C-upps.Hylla: Upps. ChP 03-05

What defines a Swedish university college? This is the overarching question in this archival study of the development of the Swedish university colleges during the past 35 years. The objective of the study is to explore the binary elements in the overall unitary Swedish university system. Departing from existing macro level research on the university colleges (UCs), this study focuses on one single UC. Development of the UC was conceptualized as a question of decision-making in the UC in interplay with political decisions. The UC was explored by taking an extensive inductive approach starting from the original Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice, a perspective on organizations that focuses on the temporal order emerging from decisions, rather than enduring orders. Nine decisions situations in the UC were identified as well as four political reforms. The study shows that the concept “streams” from the model are the phenomena occupying organization members mind over time, thus constituting a recurring element although not an enduring order, tying together the temporal orders. The streams are shared between the UC and political decision-making; the two decision-making entities both take part in forming the streams over time. The streams are: (1) the academic discipline; (2) the vocational education; (3) research as a means to enhance the quality of education; and (4) regional relevance. The study proposes the emergence of a fifth stream, the research profile, which is taken to be a unique stream for the UCs in general, that differentiates them from the universities. The analysis shows that the UC continuously adjusts the law to the organizational conditions rather than implements legislation when new, hence offering a perspective on organizational change as a persistent condition inherent in the organizational body rather than definable events. By using the concept stream the study suggests a conceptualization of the political influence on the UC organizational body as well as a conceptualization of how the UC influence political decisions. This conceptualization provides a novel perspective on the relationship between state and the universities. A perspective that can be explored in future research, focusing on mutual adjustments of the streams.