This essay is a case study about the Swedish Armed Forces during the years 1988-2004; when it transformed from a force constructed to meet an invasion, to an international force with the primary mission to help subdue conflicts around the world. The essay uses texts and documents to examine what happened between these years and to find out what drove that change. By asking the questions A) ”What happened between the years 1988-2004?” and B) ”What is the difference between the Armed Forces in 1988 and in 2004?”, it is possible to also ask C) ”Why did the Swedish Armed Forces change?”. The essay is divided into three main parts; 1) a theory-part focused on three main theories of international relations: liberalism, realism, and constructivism, 2) a historical case study examining the evolvement of the Armed Forces during these years, and 3) a conclusions section that uses thethree theories of international relations to examine why this change happened. In examining the historical period and making conclusions about the differences between these years it was also necessary to construct a scale of military power, on which the historical case study is based.

The 1st of July 2006 Sweden made a change of authorities in the system concerning the reception of separated asylum seeking children. Prior to the change, the Swedish Board of Migration was held completely responsible for the reception of these children, who arrives in Sweden without their parents or any other relatives to care for them. Since the alteration of the law (1994:137) the responsibility for the housing of these children now lies within the Swedish municipalities, while the Board of Migration still handles their legal commissions. The change was intended to fundamentally improve the conditions under which these children were taken care of. However the implementation took a severe wrong turn when the municipalities weren't prepared for their new responsibilities and the immediate result was alarming.   This qualitative study is based upon interviews with the people responsible for the reception of the separated asylum seeking children in the municipalities of Kronobergs County, as well as one of the two people in charge of the new system at the Swedish Board of Migration. The study aims to illustrate the causes to the problems in the process of implementation and the different types of steering that was used to improve the situation. This, combined with a report on the actual status of the system, finally provides a brief analysis of the complete Swedish system regarding the reception of these children. A system that even though it has improved considerably, still struggles with problems caused from the damages of the bad implementation, two and a half years ago.

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In 2004, a provision was introduced into the Environmental Code, which states that the plans and programs that may lead to significant environmental impact should be tested through an environmental impact assessment. This study focuses on what happens after such a description has been made. Is there anyone monitoring the real impact? And if so, in what regard?By reviewing environmental impact assessments made of Detailed Development Plans, as well as interviews with the municipalities concerned, I wanted to answer the question of municipalities actually live up to the legislative requirements, and how is monitoring sections written in the EIA's. The results show varying quality regarding monitoring sections in the EIA´s and almost non-existent follow-up work after the plan has been prepared.The municipalities that were interviewed all thought that the follow up idea was good, but in practice difficult. The reasons for this are that the law is poorly precise; there is a lack of resources or that the responsibilities within the organization can be a problem according to the municipalitiesOne of the solutions to this problem may be a reporting requirement against the municipalities, as this usually leads to an expanded and more focused work.

As the 21st century has been approaching the concept of genocide is nothing new, rather the opposite. Since the beginning of the 1990s we have seen several major genocides taking place around the world, all in where hundreds of thousands of people have been brutally murdered, died or ended up forced to flee from their own country, home and sense of security. This thesis will examine the differences and similarities on how the world has acted in two major genocides: Rwanda 1994 and Darfur 2003-2007.

This thesis intends to analyse conditions for a successful implementation of consociational democracy, as a democratic model in Afghanistan. The lack of critical reviews regarding the democratisation-process in Afghanistan initiated the purpose of this study. Lijpharts democracy model was used as the basis in the comparative study. Along with empirical evidence regarding how the complex process of democracy in Afghanistan is progressing, the study investigated whether the identified conditions occurred or not. The choice of which democracy model to use can be crucial for the democratic possibilities to even survive and become established in conflict-affected communities. The principle of consociational democracy is that it is an empirically based normative model that aims to organise the state in a way that works against the risks of majority domination and oppression against the minority. The empirical case study revealed that a majority of the conditions were not met, which then can counteract the possibilities for consociational democracy in Afghanistan. The study has critically examined the prospects for the success of consociational democracy in Afghanistan, and it can be assessed that there is a limited probability for a successful applying of this model.

ABSTRACT “Crisis Management– New York Citys management of the terroristattack against World Trade Center” Essey in political science, C-level, at Karlstad University, by Sara Kringsberg. Spring 2006. Tutor: Susan Marton The purpose of this essay is to study New York Citys management of a larger crisis and to see how states are coping with stress. It is important to study how states manage stress so that states can learn to cope with larger crisis. That is important for the survival of the state and the protection of its citizens. David Easton is a political science author that write about this. There are four authorities under study in this essey and the following question will be poised for all of them : did the FDNY, the NYPD, the EMS and the PAPD manage the terroristattack against World Trade Center according to relevant crisis management? This essay will be in the form of a case study and to be able to answer the specific questions I have studied three kinds of crisis management theories. I have taken some of the most central points from these theorys and used them to study the response of the different departements of New York City. The result of my study is that the different authorities did not act according to relevant crisis management. The biggest flaws where the lack of cooperation, the break down in almost all communications systems and the lack of preperation for large terroristattacks.

Abstract “Political participation” - A qualitative study of citizens in Hong Kong Thesis in Political Science, D-level Author: Liza Bergström Tutor: Michele Micheletti On July 1, 1997 China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong. Ever since long before the handover until today scholars ask whether and how the changes in Hong Kong’s political status are affecting politics in Hong Kong. This paper is situated in this on-going academic debate. Its purpose is to investigate whether system changes are affecting the participation of citizens in politics in Hong Kong.” It asks: What, if anything, has the new political situation meant for the political participation in Hong Kong? Two perspectives have been used to answer the purpose, a structural approach and an actor-oriented approach. Five research questions have served as the starting point for my analysis and I have answered the general question on the basis of them. 1. Do the citizens in Hong Kong believe they have the ability to participate in politics, that the political system facilitates their participation in politics? 2. Do the citizens in Hong Kong believe that China tries to repress Hong Hong’s political rights? 3. How do the citizens of Hong Kong participate in politics? 4. How do the citizens of Hong Kong view their own political participation? 5. Do the citizens of Hong Kong object to the political situation in Hong Kong? Empirical materials for this study have been collected in qualitative interviews with six citizens of Hong Kong, that is people who are Hong Kong Chinese. The conclusion is that the new political situation has not meant a lot for the political participation in Hong Kong. The answer of the general question from a structural approach is that the political system to a certain extent prevents the respondents from participating politically. On the basis of the actor-oriented approach the answer to the general question is that the new political situation has not meant anything for the political participation in Hong Kong.

Active environmental activity?– a comparative study of the municipalities environmental activity Thesis in Political Science D-Level at Karlstad University by Jenny Ljung Spring 2008 Tutor: Michelle Michelleti The threat against our climate is one of our biggest challenges today. The awareness of the problem has grown rapidly for the last years in governments on international, national and regional level. The Swedish government is recognized as one of the leading countries in the climate and environmental work internationally. The Swedish municipalities play a big role in this successful work. The Swedish non-governmental organisation Naturskyddsföreningen has done a project called Klimatindex 2007, where they examine the work for the environment in all of Sweden’s municipalities. In their survey the municipalities has been asked to answer questions about transports, purchases, climate goals, information to the citizens etc. This has than been compiled and given scores on how well they been doing. Out of all Sweden’s municipalities I have chosen six that is of the size categorised as “bigger cities” that I will examine in this thesis. These are Trollhättan, Karlstad, Södertälje, Norrköping, Luleå and Halmstad. Trollhättan was classified as the best one and Halmstad was the worst one in Naturskyddsföreningens klimatindex 2007. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the importance of factors as political composition, administration, public media, non governmental organisations and geographic situation in regard to the the municipalities activity in the policy area. The activity is based on the results from Naturskyddsföreningens klimatindex 2007. The main research question that I intend to answer is: • Have the factors been important for how active the municipalities have been in the environmental policy? To be able to answer the main question I also have six precise research questions that I intend to answer. The material that I have chosen to study is documents about the political composition, interviews with civil servants about the administration regarding the climate and environment, local newspapers, NGO:s local work and membership statistics and SOU:s report about the affects of the climate change in Sweden. After analyzing the material I present an answer to my main research question: I have found that all the factors except the factor geographic situation are important for the activity.