This paper has had the ambition to answer the question does people’s perception of group difference affect their sense of societal cohesiveness? Using survey data from a Swedish 2015 study conductedby the SOM-institute this study looks at people living in Sweden’s perceptions of differentgroup identities to see which elements come at play in forming an over-all sense of societal cohesion.This study combines theories on social capital in relation to group identities to create anadvanced model to test the data in. The analysis confirmed that people’s discernment of other groups indeed affects the level of societal cohesiveness, and that respondents who felt a stronger emotional connection towards groups with another economy, education and culture were more likely to feel like a part of the Swedish society and to be more trusting of others.

Stödet för en restriktiv alkoholpolitik har i den samlade väljarkåren ökat kraftigt sedan EU-inträdet enligt SOM (Samhälle, opinion och medier)-institutets årliga enkätundersökningar. Trots det finns en tillbakagång av den restriktiva alkoholpolitiken där det framkommit nya försäljningskanaler, ökad marknadsföring och lägre alkoholskatt. Denna utveckling ger upphov till frågeställningen om stödet för alkoholpolitiken även återfinns bland partiföreträdarna. Uppsatsen resultat visar att åsiktsrepresentativiteten mellan partiföreträdare och väljarkår kring den restriktiva hållningen till stor del är väl överensstämmande. Synen på att det behövs samhälleliga åtgärder för att minska konsekvenserna av alkoholkonsumtionen tycks även ha en god åsiktsrepresentativitet mellan partiföreträdare och väljarkår. Resultatet kan ses som en indikation för att partipolitiska åsikter inte har varit en bidragande orsak till minskad restriktiv politik utan av andra anledningar.

Public service broadcasting is a longstanding broadcasting institution in Sweden. Being the most consumed and highly trusted media broadcasting institution on the market, it suffers both challenges and acclaim. It has become a highly politized matter. For the first time since its founding, trust and attitudes towards the public service broadcasting companies are starting to slowly dwindle and are being questioned. Representatives from parliament parties are calling for abolishment and restructuring, and the consumers are abandoning the public service broadcasting channels for commercial competitors. This is especially noticeable amongst youth. The aim of the study is to identify and analyse what factors can be relevant for understanding attitudes towards public service broadcasting. With a theoretical background in Markus Prior’s post-broadcast democracy, James G. Webster and Thomas B. Ksiazek’s audience fragmentation theory, and Strömbäck’s definition of media trust, a theoretical framework regarding consumption and factors concerning attitudes was constructed. Through this, the value of a public service broadcasting system could be charted, and consumer attitudes be understood.   The study consists of data from a nationwide survey. The data was analysed with binary logistic regression analysis, performed on two samples, one representing the Swedish population at large, and one representing youth. This to observe whether or not there were any differences between what factors constitute trust and positive attitudes towards public service broadcasting. Main findings include that youth is much less politically polarised than the population at large. Factors such as education, gender, and regularly consuming public service broadcasting content were also shown to be significant for attitude formation. From this, I could derive that the Swedish population, despite increased polarisation, still has very high levels of trust in, and positive sentiments towards the public service broadcasting company SVT.