Diss. Göteborg : University, 2004.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006.

Politiska partier är i en kris till följd av bland annat medlemstapp och minskat förtroende från väljarna. Det kommunala partilivet har även omdanats där lokala partier idag är en utmanare till rikspartier om den politiska makten. Frågan är om rikspartier skapat en mer lokal organisation för att bemöta konkurrensen och om kommunala företrädare utökat sitt handlingsutrymme för att öka legitimiteten för den lokala politiken. Studien undersöker hur rikspartiers och lokala partiers spelregler skiljer sig åt samt påverkar kommunalpolitiska ledares handlingsutrymme. Studien har en komparativ ansats där partityperna jämförs. Teoribildningen institutional rational choice som bland annat fokuserar på hur spelregler (institutionella regelverk) sätter begränsningar i ett handlingsutrymme har använts för att förklara och förstå studiens syfte. För att uppnå studiens syfte har partimaterial hämtats och intervjuer med politiska företrädare genomförts. Studiens resultat visar att det finns stora skillnader mellan rikspartier och lokala partier, detta genom att rikspartier består av en vertikal dimension genom dess organisationsnivåer på riks- och distriktsnivå samt en lokal horisontell dimension. Lokala partier som är avgränsade till en kommun består istället enbart av en lokal horisontell dimension. Rikspartier präglas av en hierarkisk uppbyggnad där de styr sina kommunala ledande företrädare genom vertikala spelregler. Lokala partier har istället en plattare ickehierarkisk uppbyggnad, men även de begränsar sina företrädares handlingsutrymme genom spelregler. Kommunalpolitiska ledare i rikspartier handlar efter både vertikala och horisontella spelregler. Vid konflikt inom rikspartier uppstår dock en variation av hur kommunalpolitiska ledare handlar. Vissa handlar efter vertikala spelregler medan andra använder strategier i syfte att utöka sitt handlingsutrymme gentemot den egna riks- och distriktsnivån för att bedriva lokalt anpassad politik. Studiens resultat visar således att det finns kommunalpolitiska ledare i rikspartier som är autonoma gentemot den egna riks- och distriktsnivån i hur de handlar. Kommunalpolitiska ledare i lokala partier har färre spelregler som begränsar deras handlingsutrymme att utforma lokalt anpassad politik. Detta då de saknar vertikala spelregler som kan sätta yttre gränser i deras handlingsutrymme.

Studies have shown that politicians are significantly more likely to become victims of violent crime than other citizens in Sweden. In fact increasing political rank and engagement are directly proportionate to increased risk for violence. Threat towards politicians is not only dangerous to the individuals involved but also to the democratic system as a whole. Political scientists the world over have done a lot of research on democracy, but I have been unable to find a single method or theory that examines how violence, threat and harassment affect political leaders and democratic systems. The aim of this study is to expand the existing model made by Tommy Möller, professor in political science. In his model he presents 11 factors that affect political leaders ability to act. My aim is to develop his model by adding a 12 th factor “violence, threat and harassment”. To fulfill the aim of the study I have analyzed texts and interviews with political leaders to discover if and how violence, threat and harassment affect them in their role as political leaders. My analysis showed that all of the interviewed political leaders had been affected by this, but on different levels. Some of them were only affected personally, some of them were affected both personally and professionally and some were only affected professionally. On a personal level they becomes more emotionally cold, jaded and chastened. Some of the leaders questioned their motivation to continue their mission as politician. On a professional level it was common to “self censure” by avoiding contemporary blogs and debates on subjects they had marked as “sensitive”,. The interviews combined with the other information and reports (analysis of texts) support the conclusion that it useful to add a 12 th factor to Tommy Möllers model in the studied case. The name of the thesis is “Threat, violence & harassments – A study of limitations of political leadership and democracy”. This thesis is a final assignment for Bachelor degree in political science.

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The study chronologically maps the argumentations concerning migration and refugee policy made by Stefan Löfvén, chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party as of January 27, 2012, and Prime Minister of Sweden as of October 3, 2014. It examines how and why the reasoning coming from Löfvén in the subject has changed during his time as a political leader and that is done with the help of two guiding independent variables. To do so the study answers the following primary research question: - How has the mediated image and reasoning coming from Stefan Löfvén on migration – and refugee policy changed and why? The two independent variables consist of two big happenings for Stefan Löfvén as a political leader. The first variable “from party leader in opposition to prime minister” tells us how his reasoning is affected by becoming prime minster. The second variable “the increasing amount of asylum applications” tells us how his reasoning is affected by an increasing amount of filed asylum applications. These two independent variables create the following two précised research questions: - How has the mediated reasoning, its theses and arguments, coming from Stefan Löfvén been affected by going from being “only” a party leader in opposition to becoming the country’s prime minister? - How has the mediated reasoning, its theses and arguments, coming from Stefan Löfvén been affected by the increasing amount of asylum applications? The result of the study shows that both independent variables and the happenings characterizing them has affected the generally mediated image and reasoning coming from Stefan Löfvén in the subject of migration and refugee policy. The results also shows that the “subject” of migration – and refugee policy is a bit more complex and two sub-categories besides the more general subject were identified and the mediated reasoning in these were in some cases affected in a different way.

Politiskt ledarskap kan ta uttryck på många olika sätt, men det är i krissituationer det behövs som mest. När landet sätts i en kris måste en ledare kliva fram och ta ansvar för hur landet ska ta sig ur krisen helskinnade. Politiska ledare och ledarskap i kris är två fenomen som är under ständig förändring. Allt är kontextburet. Vilken sorts ledarskap som krävs beror på kris.   I början av 2020 fick världen ett utbrott av ett nytt coronavirus som satte ledare, länder och befolkningar på prov. Med ett okänt virus finns inga färdiga lösningar utan allt måste göras från början, från probleminramning till krishantering.   Denna uppsats kommer att analysera det politiska ledarskapet vi sett i USA och Sydkorea under utbrottet av corona våren 2020.

Erfarenheter från tidigare forskning kring kvinnor som utövar politiskt ledarskap visar att det är förenat bland annat med stereotypa föreställningar kring vad som är kvinnliga och manliga beteenden. Kvinnor är samtidigt underrepresenterade i flera politiska beslutande församlingar, bland annat på kommunal nivå. Underrepresentationen blir värre ju högre upp i den politiska hierarkin man kommer i kommunerna. Detta får konsekvenser för demokratin. Syftet med den här studien är att genom en kvalitativ studie med fem kommunalpolitiker göra ett nedslag i partierna för att få en djupare förståelse för förutsättningarna för kvinnor som utövar politiskt ledarskap på lokal nivå. Fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomfört med politiker som alla har politisk erfarenhet från höga positioner inom kommuner. Studien resulterade i tre huvudteman som var nomineringsprocessen, bemötande och det privata livet. Dessa teman har alla påverkan på kvinnors förutsättningar som politiska ledare. Deltagarna upplever att det finns officiella kriterier för nomineringar, men att det ändå resulterar i manlig dominans. Det behövs både förändringar i arbetsformer och öppenhet och diskussioner kring hur nomineringsprocesser går till för att förändra hur det ser ut idag. Sammantaget gör även de stereotypiska föreställningar som kvinnor möter, de föråldrade strukturer som inte har förändrats samt svårigheten att förena familjeliv och politiskt arbete, att det är svårt att rekrytera och behålla kvinnor som kandidater till förtroendeuppdrag. Det digitala arbetssättet under pandemin har nu ändå förändrat förutsättningarna för många kvinnor, vilket kan leda till en ny utveckling. / The experience from earlier research when it comes to women who are political leaders, shows that it is connected to stereotypical ideas. Women are at the same time underrepresented at a municipal level in the decision-making assemblies. And it gets worse higher up in the hierarchy. This has consequences for democracy. The purpose of this study is to touch down in the political parties, through a qualitative study with five local politicians, to get a deeper understanding of the conditions for women who are practicing political leadership on a local level. Five semi-structured interviews have been made with politicians who all have political experience from leading positions in municipalities. The study resulted in three main themes, who were the nomination process, treatment and private life. These themes all have an effect on the conditions for women as political leaders. The participants’ experiences are that there are official criteria for nominations, but that the process nonetheless results in male dominance. There is need for changes in working methods as well as openness and discussions about how the nomination process works, to change the way it looks today. The stereotypical ideas that women meet together with the outdated unaltered structures and the difficulties to combine a family life with political work, makes it difficult to recruit and keep women as candidates to elected positions. The digital work methods during the pandemic, though, have changed the conditions for many women, which may lead to a new development.

This essay examines two different female political leaders' ways to top positions. Even though it is over a century since women received voting rights in both the United Kingdom and Sweden, quite few women leaders have reached top positions. The purpose of this essay is to find explanation factors to why Margaret Thatcher succeeded to reach the top and why Anna Kinberg Batra did not. The method in this essay is a comparing case study between Great Britain's Margaret Thatcher and Sweden's Anna Kinberg Batra and it is analysed through Jane S Jensens theory that tries to give explanations behind the low representation of female political leadership. Yvonne Hirdmans gender theory is also a part of the analytical framework. The result of this study offers several factors as helpful for succeeding in reaching top positions such as growing up in a supportive family, having an attitude that gender would not be an obstacle and to be able to step outside one’s gender role seems essential to reach the political leadership as a female.

Statistics from Freedom House show that 2018 is the thirteenth consecutive year with democratic decline. This paper examines underlying causes to this democratic decline. This is done through literature review of current research in the field of democracy development. By using descriptive idea analysis of selected research literature, the paper aims to clarify the current debate on the challenges of democracy. The study somewhat supports that long-term liberal democracy creates conditions that potentially cause its own retreat. This is because long-term liberal democracy provides peace and growth, which is unequally distributed in society and leads to increased social divisions. As a result, large groups of people no longer feel included in society, which in turn will pave the way for populist movements and potential autocratic leaders. The study also somewhat supports that there has been a weakening in the functioning of the democratic institutions to act as gatekeepers, keeping potential autocrats out of power. Increased democracy and transparency in the democratic processes has made it easier for potential autocrats to come to power. All in all, there is some support for the hypothesis of the essay: The more democracy the greater the risk that the democratic system will weaken.