Studie om en medelstor kommun med omvänd urbanisering och vissa effekter av det fenomenet. / A study of reverse urbanization in a smal rural municipality in Sweden and some of its effects.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the pension protests in France to explain the politicalparticipation and culture of the country characterized by manifestations, demonstrations andstrikes. The analysis of the pension protests is based on the perspective of the national tradeunions and student unions. With the explanation of the political participation and culture ageneral opinion behind the pensions protest could be interpreted. The material for the essay is thetrade- and student unions posts on their websites that either urges the people to protest or arguesagainst the pension reform. The theoretical framework for the essay is based on Russel J Dalton’s(2020) theory for political participation and Thomas Denk’s (2009) theoretical compilation aboutpolitical culture. This essay is a case study of the pension protest in France 2023. With aninterpreter oriented strategy the analysis is based on an explanatory idea analysis of the tradeandstudent unions posts. Previous research has shown that political participation and politicalculture affect each other. It has also been proven that low participation in conventional forms forexample electoral participation is affected by political dissatisfaction, distrust of voting andpolitical interest. In this study the analysis shows that the pension protest in France is a politicalparticipation that expresses a political dissatisfaction and a political alienation. The analysis alsoreaches the conclusion that political participation in the pension protests follows the modernpatterns of protests and that the trade unions pension movement has a big support from thefrench population. In the analysis of the political culture the conclusion is that from the tradeunions perspective the French political system is illegitimate and that their political roles are nottaken seriously by the French government. The results of the essay are important because it cangive a new perspective on political participation in France and it can serve as a contribution toresearch about the connection between political participation and political culture.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka skillnader i förtroende för samhällsinstitutioner mellan olika grupper i samhället, det vill säga personer som har växt upp i Sverige, i ett annat nordiskt land, i ett annat land i Europa och i ett annat land utanför Europa. Vidare är syftet att utforska följande faktorer: Härkomst eller var man växte upp, socioekonomisk status och medborgarnas politiska deltagande och aktiviteter i föreningar. Hur kan dessa faktorer förklara skillnader i förtroende för samhällsinstitutioner mellan inrikes och utrikes uppväxta i Sverige? Studien har gjorts med multipel regressionsanalys med material som hämtades från SOM-undersökning kumulativ dataset, 1986-2020. Studien ställer även upp fyra hypoteser som är till för hypotesprövning. Resultaten visar att de som är utrikes uppväxta har högre förtroende för samhällsinstitutioner än de som är uppväxta i Sverige. Ytterligare resultat visar att socioekonomiskt, politiskt deltagande och frivilliga aktiviteter i föreningar inte kan förklara skillnaderna i förtroende för samhällsinstitutioner mellan de som är inrikes uppväxta och de som är utrikes uppväxta. Samtliga hypoteser är motbevisade.

<p><strong><p>Abstract</p><p>The political parties in Sweden are losing members. This is seen as a problem because the political parties are the base and the recruiting ground for members to decision-making bodies. Social movements are seen as a place where people with a modest background could express their opinions and also learn the political process. These movements have also lost members during the last decades and this could seriously affect the representation of lower social groups among the decision-makers. This essay emanates from Robert D. Putnam’s theory of the importance of a strong civil society and social capital for democracy and a fair social representation in governing bodies. The goal with this essay was to examine if people with background in social-movements was over-represented in decision-making bodies and if their experiences from those organization had been important for them in their role in decision-making bodies. The conclusion was that there was no over-representation of people with background in social movements compared to Sweden in general. Experiences from earlier engagement in social movements seem to have been more important for the group with low socioeconomic status but this connection cannot be said to be general.</p><p>Keywords: social capital, civil society, social movements, socioeconomic status</p></strong></p>

<p>This study is case study of political participation among the Kani tribe from Kuttichal grama panchayat in the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, India. The study is based on the collected data of 117 people of the Kani tribe living in four different settlements: Pankavu, Mangode-Valippara, Chonampara and Kaithode. The aim of the study is to examine the impact on political participation by different factors, which is done by the use of the quantitative method of cross tables. The study confirms previous studies in its conclusion that high status individuals, defined in terms of education and economic standard, are the group of the highest political participation, when this is defined as being involved in political work and holding a party membership. On the local political scene however, where political participation consists of participation in local assemblies and voluntary work, the impact of the examined variables are very limited. The main theory, which is used for the analysis, is a cost and benefit analysis.</p>

<p><p>Abstract</p><em><p>"Citizen Influence, Forms and Effects - A study of the Resistance Concerning the Establishment of a Juvenile Detention Center in Kristinehamn 2005-2007"</p><p>Political Science, Johan Utter</p></em><p> </p><p>This essay circles around the concepts of citizenship and the questions if and how citizens in the modern democracy can influence and effect the political decisions made by the governing body on the local level. This is done by the means of a case-study concerning the establishment of an institutional facility for convicted youths in Kristinehamn. The planning of this facility and especially its planned location in Sunneberg aroused a significant negative response from the citizens, demanding a better alternative for the location.</p><p>The proposition resulted in heavy protests from the citizens as the planned location was viewed as an important recreation area, where the citizens could experience nature first hand, close to the centre of town. As a result, some citizens living close to the planned location, formed a network called "Bevara Sunneberg", whose purpose was to influence the decision-makers and make the citizen’s voices heard. Also of interest are the classification of the resistance, by using already established theoretical models concerning interest groups, social movements and the concept of NIMBY-groups.</p><p>The results show that the citizen led by the group "Bevara Sunneberg" in fact managed to influence the decision-makers by adopting a wide variety of strategies, both by conventional and unconventional means. As the case haven’t yet been decided, the full extent of the resistance’s efforts are yet to be seen. Whether or not the planned establishment will be build, the fact remains that the resistance managed to effect the outcome of the case.</p><p>The network "Bevara Sunneberg" showed similarities to the concept of NIMBY-groups, but evolved into a form of hybrid, positioning itself somewhere between the theoretical positions of social movements and interest groups. As a conclusion I would like to state that citizen influence is possible in the local political context, though the extent of the influence can not be proved by this essay.</p><p> </p><strong><p>Key Words</p>: Citizen Influence, NIMBY-group, Political Participation, Kristinehamn, Juvenile Detention Center, Interest Group</strong></p>

The purpose of this study is to determine if and how municipal consultative entities through influence may affect the legitimacy of the Swedish democratic model. The study aims to do this through analysing the opportunities for influence present with the Youth Council and the Council of the Retired in Karlstads municipality, to determine how the councils may affect political participation and the role of elected representatives. To do so, the study asks the following primary research question: "What requisites for influence are present for participants of municipal consultative entities, as found for the representatives of the youth and the retired within the framework of their participation in the Youth Council and the Council of the Retired in Karlstads municipality?" The study answers this research question by dividing it into one question of policy and one question of democratic perspective, and investigating these matters through nine snowballing interviews with the decision makers, organisational actors and participants of the councils. The information from the interviews is then analysed per council through a framework of democracy theory, policy process theory and organisation theory. In a final step, the results from these analyses are compared to each other to determine common and disparate traits within the policies and dominant democratic perspectives of the councils. The primary findings of the study suggest that the success of a policy in this context, and the requisites for influence, are largely determined by how standardised and traceable the paths of communication between the decision makers and the participants are. It further finds that the democratic perspective among the primary decision makers appears largely congruent with the ideal of representative democracy. This, in turn, means that municipal consultative entities have the potential to either encourage or discourage participation (and thereby strengthening or weakening the legitimacy) within the Swedish democratic model depending on whether or not they are perceived to gain real influence. At the same time, the municipal consultative entities do not appear to undermine the role of elected representatives.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om betydelsen av socialt kapital skiljer sig åt mellan olika former av politiskt deltagande. Med olika former av deltagande avses dels att rösta, vilket här benämns passivt deltagande, och andra mer aktiva former såsom att demonstrera eller kontakta en politiker. Socialt kapital definieras i termer av nätverk och tillit. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten är att tillgång till nätverk bland annat ökar sannolikheten att bli tillfrågad om att delta i aktiviteter, medan tillgång till tillit tycks öka en individs benägenhet att offra av sin egen tid för det gemensammas bästa. Datamaterialet som används är den svenska delen av European Social Survey från 2002. Logistisk regressionsanalys visar att tillgång till formellt nätverk är förknippad med en högre sannolikhet för både aktivt och passivt politiskt deltagande, medan tillgång till informellt nätverk inte är relaterat till politiskt deltagande. Vidare är hög tillit till rättsväsendet förenat med en mindre benägenhet till aktivt deltagande, medan hög tillit till politiker är positivt relaterat till aktivt deltagande. För passivt deltagande är hög tillit till riksdagen förknippad med en större sannolikhet till deltagande. Som uppslag till fortsatt forskning diskuteras bland annat varför nätverk tycks påverka deltagande, och hur tillit kan verka i relation till nätverk. Även vikten av att separera olika delar av det sociala kapitalet och studera vilken effekt var och en av dessa har förs fram.

This thesis compares political participation by the public through the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) and the German Petitions Committee of the Bundestag (PC). Through studies of literature and statistics I examine how citizens can participate through the institutions, how frequently they do and the likelihood of sparking a debate while participating. Using media theories as well as theories of participatory and representative democracy I study how citizens can use these institutions for purposes of control and proposition. Both institutions deal with complaints but the PC also deals with propositions for legislation, making the institution more versatile. The PO deals with more cases than the PC and has more far-reaching competences and areas of inspection, although neither institution has binding decisions. Thus the direct advantage for citizens using the institutions is the chance of reaching out to media and the public through freedom of information laws and the German online petition forum. The PC to a larger extent fits the representative model while the PO in some respects is more a legal than a political institution, being managed by lawyers instead of MPs. Neither institution meets the ideals of participatory politics although the German official petition is closer to it.

Diss. Uppsala : Univ., 2004.