Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2007.

Undersökningen handlar om hur Uppsala förvaltar sociala kapital i form av föreningsliv. Den handlar om hur Uppsala kommun arbetar med och ser på föreningslivet, hur några föreningar i Gottsunda ser på sin egen verksamhet, kommunen och föreningsliv i allmänhet. För att ge en teoretisk grund till min studie kommer jag att använda mig av Bourdieu’s begrepp socialt kapital, vilket i korthet innebär det värde som kommer ur sociala nätverk. Det är en kvalitativ studie, där resultatet främst kommer från semistrukturella intervjuer och intervjupersonerna är tjänstemän från Uppsala kommun och företrädare för ett antal föreningar i Gottsunda. Uppsatsen visar att Uppsala kommun stödjer föreningslivet både finansiellt och främjar det genom arbeta fram en lokal överenskommelse som ska stärka dialogen mellan kommunen och föreningslivet. Relationen mellan kommunen och föreningslivet skulle behöva stärkas med ökad dialog och förståelse för den andra partens verksamhet och perspektiv. ”Den lokala överenskommelsen” utgör ett viktigt verktyg för en ökad dialog mellan parterna, men kommunen skulle också behöva sträcka ut en hand mot de föreningar som känner sig diskriminerade eller förbisedda.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att bidra med ökad empirisk kunskap om psykologiska mekanismers betydelse för att förklara variansen i människors politiskt deltagande och politiska orientering. Detta genom att undersöka sambandet mellan 9566 deltagares upplevda kontroll och deras politiska orientering samt grad av politiska deltagande. Det psykologiska konceptet upplevd kontroll myntades av Rotter (1966) och undersöker i vilken grad människor uppfattar sig ha kontroll över händelser i livet. En persons kontroll över händelser kan vara intern, stor kontroll över situationer omkring sig, eller extern, liten makt över händelser i livet. Resultaten visade på att det fanns ett signifikant samband mellan deltagarnas upplevda kontroll och politiska deltagande samt politiska orientering. Personer med upplevd intern kontroll deltog mer politiskt, placerade sig mer högerut på en vänster-höger skala samt var mer högerorienterade i sin uppfattning om ekonomisk politik. Personer med upplevd intern kontroll var också mer positivt inställda till en öppnare invandringspolitik och en mer aktiv miljöpolitik.

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) was introduced as a way to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the EU by involving ordinary citizens in the political process. The aim of this study has been to examine whether this plan has been successful, and it has done so by looking at the responsiveness of the Commission and at how equal the participation is. The ECI can be launched by at least seven EU citizens wishing to propose new EU laws. The seven citizens will form a Citizens’ Committee. The study has been conducted by asking these Committees about their experiences using a survey.  The results show that the participation is generally equal with some exceptions, notably in the inclusion of non-active citizens when gathering signatures. However, the Committees show a lot of dissatisfaction with the ECI’s potential to invite to equal participation and with the responsivity of the Commission. The conclusion is therefore that the ECI has helped move the democratic legitimacy of the EU in the right direction, but that a lot of work still must be done both within the area of equal participation and responsivity in order for it to properly help the democracy of the EU.

The forms of political participation is changing and the number of members of political parties and organizations decreases and even faster in youth assossiations. Though studies show that the political interest among youths are high and that they participate politically in other ways. The school as a whole must therefore adapt the teaching as society changes, which places new demands on participation. This survey focuses on three upper secondary school teachers who teach the subject of civic studies and are conducted with kvalitative semi-structured interviews. The purpose of the study is to find out which teaching in democracy that the teachers pursue against society's demands for new forms of participation. The analysis of the interviews are performed with theories of ideal participation democratic models. The theory models are, electoral ideal model, demoratic participation ideal model and deliberative democratic ideal. The teachers' perception of students' political participation is also of interest and is analyzed based on Ekman and Linde's definition table on political activity. The semi-structured interviews has generated useful data that is presented in the Result-chapter. The main conclusion that the study has landed in is that the teachers whom has participated, mainly are making the democratic electoral ideal model visible in their class room for participation. Teachers’ perception of students’ political participation varies. / Formerna för politiskt deltagande står i förändring och antalet medlemmar i politiska partier och organisationer sjunker och desto snabbare i ungdomsförbund. Studier visar dock att det politiska intresset bland unga är stort och att de deltar i det politiska på andra sätt. Skolan som helhet måste därför anpassa undervisningen i takt med att samhället förändras som ställer nya krav på deltagande. Den här undersökningen fokuserar på tre gymnasielärare som undervisar i ämnet samhällskunskap och genomförs med kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studiens syfte är att ta reda på vilken undervisning i demokrati som lärarna bedriver mot samhällets krav på nya deltagandeformer. Analysen av intervjuerna görs med teoridemokratiska idealmodeller för deltagande vilka synliggörs i undervisningen enligt lärarna själva. Valdemokratisk idealmodell, deltagardemokratisk idealmodell samt deliberativt demokratiideal. Lärarnas uppfattning om elevers politiska deltagande är också av intresse och analyseras baserat på Ekman och Lindes definitionstabell om politisk aktivitet. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna har genererat användbart material som presenteras i resultatkapitlet och slutsatserna har landat i att de medverkande lärarna synliggör till största del en valdemokratisk idealmodell för deltagande. Lärares uppfattning om elevers politiska deltagande varierar.

<p>Why engage if it risks your life?</p><p>Motives to participation in labour unions among women in Colombia</p><p>Essay in Political Science D-level</p><p>Author: Susanna Svensson</p><p>Tutor: Hans Lödén</p><p>Why do people choose to participate in politics when it is such a small chance that you actually make a change? Also political participation favours the collective and therefore you do not get any personal advantages for your contribution. Even more interesting is the question of why you participate when it puts yourself in a position of danger? Colombia is considered to be the most dangerous country to be a member of labour unions in and it would therefore be a context where it is unlikely to find participation. This study is based on thirteen qualitative interviews with Colombian female union members with the aim to understand why people engage in labour unions despite threats of violence and other obstacles, when the most likely would be to abstain from action. The overall research question is: Why do women in Colombia participate in labour unions in spite of violence or threats of violence and other obstacles?</p><p>The study is framed by the attribution theory. The attribution theory is used to explain why people act as they do and states that there are both external and internal attributions as well as stable and unstable. The theory has been used to set up research question, an interview template, and to analyse the material.</p><p>The most of the interviewed persons had been violated because of there activism in labour unions. Many of them had been threatened to their lives. The study finds that their beliefs in rights and equality are crucial to explain why they participate in union activism. So is their environment in which they grew up. Moreover, the social life and the international support that the unions provides is also important for their engagement.</p>

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2007.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2006.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2007.

With this paper I intend to contribute to the ongoing research on political participation through the participation of foreign-born demonstration participants in Sweden. Research on political participation of immigrants show that they generally participate less than natives. One theory is that recruitment networks and organization membership have more importance for immigrants than for natives due to higher thresholds for political participation. Research has also indicated differences in participation of immigrants depending on country of origin, such that participants from non-western repressive regimes tend to participate less than participants from western non-repressive regimes. The results of the study are based on survey data from 1748 participants in two types of demonstrations, May day marches and climate change demonstrations. Analysis led to three main findings. First, participants not born in Sweden participate less in both demonstration types than the those born in the country. Second, there are few, if any, differences between the groups in the same type of demonstration and also often between the two demonstration types when it comes to factors that favor political participation. Finally, the group not born in Sweden is not representative of the group in the population, based on country of birth.