This study investigates the relationship between quality of government and incomeinequality. The purpose of this study is to understand how differences in quality ofgovernment across states affect their income inequalities. By utilizing a theoreticalframework that incorporates Kuznets inverted U-hypothesis, quality of governmentand state capacity, this study argues that a high level of quality of government andstate capacity are essential for states to handle income inequality. The method usedwas a regression analysis using panel data that covers the time period from 1946to 2020. Furthermore, pooled OLS and fixed effects model were used to study therelationship. The results from the pooled OLS showcases that there’s a negativerelationship between quality of government and income inequality. However, whencontrolling for entities by using the fixed effects model the results show a positiverelationship. In addition, an F-test was conducted to find the regression model withthe best fit where the fixed effects model showcased a superior fit to the given dataused in the study. The study suggest that further research should be done on howincome inequality and governance differs depending on the historical onset of thecountries. Moreover, further research on how decentralization or centralization ofpower in a country affects income inequality is suggested.

No description available.

In my hometown Skellefteå in the north of Sweden, Northvolt is building a mega factory for the production of lithium batteries. Labour supply for this massive new industry will demanda large influx of people from all around the world. The rather homogeneous population of Skellefteå, characterized by high levels of social trust and cohesion, is expected to grow with up to 20% the coming decade, largely due to immigration. Research suggests that ethnic diversity might have negative effects on social trust and cohesion, but the evidence is mixed and seemingly context specific. The purpose of this work is to better understand how the increased diversity in the wake of the mega factory establishment might affect the social trustin Skellefteå. The purpose is pursued through a hermeneutical phenomenological study exploring how immigrant women experience social trust in Skellefteå. The findings suggest that factors connected to diversity may slow down interpersonal trust processes, nevertheless, immigrant women do experience and develop social and community trust in Skellefteå, through processes of recognition and accommodation. Also, a new word, Skelleftener, meaning someone living in Skellefteå regardless of origin, is suggested.

No description available.

No description available.

In 2018 the trust delegation assigned by the Swedish government presented an inquiry called “Discretion grows by trust – Trust-based steering and leadership of the welfare sector” (Medtillit växer handlingsutrymmet – Tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning av välfärdssektorn), which also is called the trust reform. The recommendations presented in the document were to counterthe negative consequences of New Public Management (NPM) on the work of professionals in the Swedish public sector by incorporating seven principles into the organizations: Citizenfocus, holistic approach, discretion, support, knowledge, openness and trust. One of the firstareas of the public sector to be re-organised according to NPM-principles was that of education,which had profound effects both on the organization of the education system and the role of theteachers, especially secondary school teachers. By interviewing secondary school teachers from public schools in two municipalities and by using the categories understand, will and can of implementation theory, the prerequisites for implementing the trust reform among this group of professionals are examined. The main opportunities are that many of the principles werep revalent in the work of the teachers already, meaning that it is not foreign for them to work with them. None of the principles were either deemed unimportant by the teachers, as they expressed a will to develop them if they were not prevalent, but also had a will to develop other aspects of the principles even if they were prevalent. The main challenges were posed by their perception of can, and that many of the principles could not be developed with the tools they had at the present.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och jämföra hur attentaten på Drottninggatan 2017 och i Trollhättan 2015 inramades och hur respektive gärningsman framställdes vid nyhetsrapportering. Närmare bestämt, med hjälp av en diskursanalys som metod analyserades Aftonbladets och Expressens nyhetsrapporteringar av respektive attentat. Vidare tillämpades framing som ett ytterligare metodologiskt tillvägagångssätt, eller mer specifikt, en episodisk och tematisk inramning för att kunna identifiera fokuset på artikeln och på vilket sätt Aftonbladet och Expressen inramar respektive attentat.  Trots att båda eventuellt kan klassas som terrorism visar studiens resultat på en inramning av dådet på Drottninggatan som en tydlig terrorattack med gärningsmannens etnicitet och tro som grundfaktor, och en inramning av dådet i Trollhättan som ett hatbrott, med gärningsmannens rasistiska motiv som grundfaktor. Med hjälp av studiens teoretiska ramverk identifierades även en del diskurser som framställer den ena gärningsmannen som utomstående med negativt laddade stereotypiserade och orientaliska egenskaper och den andra som en del av majoritetssamhället.

This study is a qualitative analysis of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna/SD)which is a party that has grown greatly in just a couple of years. What inspired this study wasthe fact that this party is known for being conservative and nationalistic and that is where theidea to analyse if the party’s policies of equality is characterized by right-wing populism,originated.For this study, a qualitative text analysis method has been used. The aim of this study is toanalyze and study if the Sweden Democrats’ perspective of equality and their policies inequality is characterized by right-wing populism. As the theoretical framework, gendertheory and right-wing ideology was used. Previous research of equality, gender, the SwedenDemocrats and right-wing populism have also been helpful contributions. To study theSweden Democrats, their propositions to the Parliament (Riksdag) have been used and mostof these are about equality and gender. Previous research and their party program have beenused as well. This analysis has reached results that are very similar to the previous researchabout the Sweden Democrats. The analysis showed that the Swedish Democrats have aperspective of equality and a policy in equality that are both characterized by right-wingpopulism and its traits.

The 2016 unveiling of Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs being a false tale in order to vilify the antiwar-left and black Americans defined the matter as a constructed narrative. This essay aims to understand the political drug war as a political tool and examine the construction and ideas behind this narrative. By using the lenses of social constructivism, the theory of soft power and an Afro-American perspective, this study affirms the notion that idea constructions and narratives can be as used a political tool.

Using several reputable datasets this thesis measures variables of democracy and freedom, human rights practice, and conflict for Israel, South Africa and Iran during the period 2015-2019. The thesis argues that the 2006 reform replacing the UN Commission on Human Rights with the Human Rights Council can be understood as an attempt to restructure a body marked by selectivity and reshape it based on the liberal ideal of a sincere institution. Drawing on liberal IR theory, hypotheses are formulated about the expected relationship between the aforementioned variables and UNHRC country-specific targeting. In comparing Israel to Iran and South Africa in two separate comparative designs the analysis reveals that variables emphasized by liberal IR do not appear to have a significant effect on UNHRC targeting concerning Israel. Conversely, the analysis finds that even though Iran is not considered a free democracy and assessed as violating human rights to a greater extent, it is targeted significantly less than Israel. The thesis concludes that Israel constitutes a “blind spot” of liberal IR theory as it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for why the UNHRC is targeting the state to a far greater extent than others.