<p>Abstract:</p><p>The aim of this study has been to investigate (theoretically as well as empirically) the problematic notions of state neutrality and political perfectionism and, in particular, the potentially vast continuum existing between these concepts both in theory and in actual political practice. In order to accomplish this, a conceptual analysis has examined (some of) the arguments for and against state neutrality and political perfectionism, different aspects of neutralism and perfectionism as well as the exact definition of the concepts of “neutrality of justification” and “conceptions of the good”. Using a specific (though not entirely uncontested) definition of these concepts, an empirical analysis was made of Swedish parliamentary parties and their cultural policies. The empirical part of the study seemed to confirm one of the basic premises of this study; that state neutrality and perfectionism are often (as has indeed been recognized by critics of state neutrality) intertwined in the business of everyday politics.</p>

Abstract: The aim of this study has been to investigate (theoretically as well as empirically) the problematic notions of state neutrality and political perfectionism and, in particular, the potentially vast continuum existing between these concepts both in theory and in actual political practice. In order to accomplish this, a conceptual analysis has examined (some of) the arguments for and against state neutrality and political perfectionism, different aspects of neutralism and perfectionism as well as the exact definition of the concepts of “neutrality of justification” and “conceptions of the good”. Using a specific (though not entirely uncontested) definition of these concepts, an empirical analysis was made of Swedish parliamentary parties and their cultural policies. The empirical part of the study seemed to confirm one of the basic premises of this study; that state neutrality and perfectionism are often (as has indeed been recognized by critics of state neutrality) intertwined in the business of everyday politics.

This paper examines if European integration has had an impact on national political parties by looking at the stances of the Swedish Green Party and the Left Party on the issue of the European Community and the European Union over time. With the development of the European Community and the European Union, national political parties face the challenge of an emerging political arena. European integration research has recently become more involved with what is called europeanization and political integration within the member states them self, this paper aims to provide further leverage to the thesis that national political actors undergo some degree of europeanization and are politically integrated in the EU, by examining manifestos of two historically eurosceptic Swedish political parties. The theoretical framework provided by neo-functional integration theory as well as europeanization is used to examine the empirical material in order to see if the political parties at the focal point of this study can be said to have undergone a change in political policy regarding the EC and EU, both in quantity and content. The analysis show that indeed both parties has undergone a change and what might be considered a europeanization, considering that the presence of the EU as a political issue seem to have risen in prominence and importance in the examined manifestos. The parties also show tendencies towards viewing the EU as an arena in which political goals can be achieved for specific issues.

The politicians have entered a new platform with the potential to democratization and to exchange ideas. Therefore, we want to look into what new conditions social media creates for politicians. Through strategic political communication the goal-oriented two-way communication is depicted as it is crucial for relations to establish, build up, maintain and to be affected.   One aspect of this is about the creation of messages and the visual communication affecting the meaning of the content. In our study, these theories have become the foundation in the research, and of the tools used when developing messages for social networks. We have looked deeper into Facebook as a social media and political parties on this platform. We focused on and observed their different ways of developing messages in their Facebook feed and the reactions they generated. We found tendencies saying that pictures and videos have a great effect on a engagement generated in the posts. This proves that visual communication is a crucial tool for political strategic communications within the networks of social media.

The aim of this following study is to clarify the differences between the swedish parties, the social democrats and the moderates strategies for how to prevent men’s violence against women at the national party level. This study is a textanalysis which aims to examine which strategies the parties think is a need for a better gender mainstreaming, the ideological perspective is taken to account when studying the parties strategies. To do the analysis, i have used the ideologies liberalism, conservatism and socialism, to study how different values are weighed against each other which is a general recommendation how something should be conducted. This can also be called a normative statement for how the parties apply ideological points of departure in their strategies. The analysis shows that the parties have differences in their proposals for action. The main difference between the parties is that the Moderates were mostly on improving the judical system, focing more in the individual, which can refer to liberalconservatism. The Social democrats had lower penalty and more measures in terms of knowledge, method development, follow up where the state had the main role. This can further refer to socialism.

The overall aim with this study is to understand how and why the political environment in Sweden changed so drastically during the first years of the 1990s. The political mayfly New Democracy took office in the Swedish parliament in 1991 to 1994. At the time they were branded as a rightwing, xenophobic populist party. While our Nordic neighbors have had political parties resembling New Democracy since the beginning of the 1970’s, the established parties in Sweden managed to cover most of these controversial questions for some time. In a world that was dominated by western capitalism and libertinism following the collapse of the Soviet union, with increasing immigration also from outside of Europe, the Swedish people wanted to see change and the 1991 election turned out to be historical in that about 30% of the voters changed party allegiance. Enter New Democracy, a party that had been formally created in February 1991. They had been formed by 2 strong characters who met in November 1990 for the very first time: Ian Wachtmeister and Bert Karlsson. Karlsson was the person with impeccable instincts for publicity. Wachtmeister was the man behind most of the ideas that came to make up the party program. Their leading idea was that politics should be governed by common sense. In this spirit (and the lack of time) they postponed a lot of principal and basic discussions on key matters, with the idea that they would sort them out once elected. This did not work out too well and they soon started to disintegrate from within and by the next election in 1994 they had basically stopped working as a party. The aim of the study is achieved through evaluating the following areas: how did New Democracy communicate with their voters as well as how they worked in parliament seen in the light of their party program; the second evaluates New Democracy from an ideology standpoint and finally; how did the voters look at the political situation in Sweden at this time? What relatively little has been written and researched about New Democracy has seemingly always taken the starting view of looking at them as a populist party. In this thesis I look atthis unconditionally, and start with an analysis of ideologies and populism. The characteristics identified from this are then applied on New Democracy based on what they said they wanted to achieve as well as how they applied their ideas in real life. In order to firmly establish the current theories on ideologies in general and populist theory in particular I have drawn upon some of the most well renown researchers in these areas. As fo rthe study of New Democracy I have been using whatever little material they published themselves, in addition I’ve been using the archives of the Swedish government and a series of books and research on New Democracy. Furthermore I’ve conducted an interview with a former New Democracy parliament member to add and confirm much of the written material. The analysis shows that New Democracy was a party that in some ways were ahead of their time as it took another couple of years and then many of their ideas had been implemented. Their messages and ways to go about it were seen as extraordinary at the time. This provides an interesting parallel to the political debate of today considering what is seen as politically correct. Although they were seen as rebels at the time, by today’s standards they appear as rather harmless. They were seen as a populist party of their day. By comparing to current definitions of a populist parti they would rather be seen as a discontent party. Today they would not stand out even nearly in the same way as they did then. And finally, I would argue that the development of a party like New Democracy was inevitable at the time given all political changes in Sweden and in our vicinity.

Bakgrund: Med en ökad medellivslängd och en minskning av förtida dödlighet betraktas hälsan som god bland befolkningen i Sverige. Det finns dock ett behov av att adressera insatser mot exempelvis psykisk ohälsa, ojämlikhet i hälsa, kostvanor och stillasittande. Regeringen har publicerat en omfattande nationell folkhälsoproposition, men det finns en kunskapslucka beträffande partiernas egna konkreta visioner och arbete inom folkhälsan. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka riksdagspartiernas visioner och arbete inom olika folkhälsoområden. Metod: Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ studiedesign och hade ett induktivt synsätt. Data samlades in med ett frågeformulär och sju av åtta partier svarade på frågorna. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med inspiration av Giorgis kvalitativa analys. Resultat: Resultatet visade en bredd av visioner och arbetsinsatser. Partiernas idéer och verksamhet berörde främst hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn. De vill se tydligare uppdrag, ökad tillgänglighet och fokus på förebyggande interventioner. När det gäller skolan vill de arbeta med insatser för elevhälsan, mer idrottstimmar samt sex- och samlevnadsundervisning. Därutöver vill de genomföra olika samhälliga insatser. Slutsats: Utöver partiernas visioner vill de arbeta med folkhälsa genom att bedriva folkhälsopolitik, stödja insatser, utreda och utveckla handlingsplaner samt utöka kunskapsinsatser. / Background: With an increasing life expectancy and a reduction of premature mortality, health is considered good among the Swedish population. Nevertheless, there is a need of addressed interventions against mental illness, inequality in health, eating habits and sedentary, for example. The Swedish government has published a wide-ranging national public health policy, but there is a gap in knowledge regarding the political parties concrete visions and work in the fields of public health. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate visions and work among Swedish political parties in various fields of public health. Method: The study was conducted with a qualitative study design and had an inductive approach. Data was collected by a questionnaire and seven out of eight parties answered. Collected material was analyzed with inspiration from Giorgis qualitative analysis. Results: The result displayed a wide spectrum of visions and efforts. The parties ideas and efforts were mostly containing the healthcare sector. They want to see clearer commitments, accessibility and focus on preventive interventions. Regarding school they intend to focus their efforts on student health and increase the rate of sports and sex education. In addition, they want a variety of community interventions to be performed. Conclusion: Besides their visions, the political parties want to tackle public health issues by practicing politics, support interventions, research and develop policies and amplify knowledge efforts.

In this qualitative text analysis paper the author examined how the Swedish Green party, the Moderate party, the Christian Democrats and the Swedish Social Democratic party described female representation during the years 2001-2013 at their party congresses. With party strategic categories constructed by Lena Wägnerud and one self-constructed category with the help of works by Ann Phillips a total of 5 categories was used to separate the different statements regarding female representation. The categories were attack, win voters, comparisons, bragging and other. The results of the study show that the focus of female representation has shifted from a focus on female political representation to female representation in the business world, mostly representation in the board rooms. The results also show that all parties express themselves about female representation but in different ways. The Swedish Social Democratic party is the only party that focuses mainly on female representation as a question of justice and democracy, statements that fall under the category other. The other parties in this paper all had their focus on strategic statements that fall under Lena Wägneruds categories.