The purpose of this essay was to examine municipal guidelines regarding the administration of the social assistance, collected from 18 municipalities in the Stockholm-area to achieve a greater understanding on how they were constructed in respect to the legislation and how the language mediated their contents. The legal aspects of the social assistance was studied through a jurisprudential method in which the legislative history, texts of laws and case laws were examined. The empirical aspect of this essay was studied through a hermeneutical method and analyzed through theories of social constructionism and legal pluralism. The results from the jurisprudential study were also used to understand how the municipal guidelines were constructed in relation to the law. The results of this essay corresponded well with previous studies in this field where considerable divergences in the approval of social assistance have been established. The guidelines allow a local adjustment of the social work stated in the Social service act, on the basis of local priorities and conditions. Our findings showed that the guidelines related to the law in varying degrees, to some extent depending on the stringency of the language used in them. We found expressions that were sometimes vague, normative and restrictive regarding the approval of social assistance. The results were discussed in respect to rule of law and the legal content of the guidelines.

This essay deals with the social services cooperation with the private sector relating to foster care. The aim was to examine whether and what the causes may be that the social service transfer tasks of authority to private actors. Furthermore, we have examined and discussed if such a working procedure can lead to consequences for the individual child and how / if the children's legal security is affected. Survey methodology is qualitative in nature where we conducted semi-structured interviews with three persons who work in different ways to be involved in work with a foster family. We have also made use of questionnaires sent to social workers around the country. The result has been interpreted on the basis inter alia, legal texts, legislative history, and two theories which have their origin in organization theory. Our results show that some municipalities do not feel that they have the resources to investigate the family. Furthermore, it appears that the cooperation of the social services have with the private sectors has declined, perhaps because of clearer legislation of 2008, or because of the sharp criticism that they received from the provincial government. Our study also shows that some municipalities still leaves management tasks to the private sector, without legal basis. Since there is no control over who is inquiring the family a result of this can be that a child is growing up in unsuitable environments, which in itself can affect the rule of law.

In 1966, the High Court of Uganda legitimised the new nation's first coup d'etat. After two decades of civil war, Ugandans enacted their first popular constitution in 1995. However, the judiciary's dominant positivist ideology, Matovu's ghost, still haunts the new legal order. The author sets out this ideology's presumptions and then critiques them against an alternative, pluralist map of laws in Uganda. / The constructive analysis of recent case law (or lack thereof) that follows shows how this ideology undermines the constitution's promises of equality and freedom. This pluralist methodology is also essential to explain contemporary crises like the Lord's Resistance Army, arms proliferation in Karamoja and Museveni's "no-party" rule. In conclusion, exorcising Matovu's ghost is a priority for Ugandans and the process deserves considered thought for legal scholars advocating the "rule of law" or interventions by the International Criminal Court.

In this thesis, the concept of the procedural aspect of the Rule of Law will be distinguished from what I argue are conceptions that are falsely promulgated as concept. The different aspects of the Rule of Law—form, substance, and procedure— are helpful in making the distinction between concept and conception. Examining procedure within the Rule of Law is particularly important, and I define a broader set of requirements of the concept of the procedural aspect of the Rule of Law. This concept is applied to understand the Indian conception of the Rule of Law, a particularly interesting case that brings out questions about culture and economic capacity. Ultimately, I argue that this broader set of requirements is better suited to evaluate the realization of the Rule of Law in all contexts.

This thesis situates the ongoing changes to pension schemes in China within the macro legal and economic conditions in that country, and contextualizes these changes in light of international influences, particularly the influence of the World Bank. Drawing on such contextualization, this thesis explores a number of related factors, including the rule of law, economic development and pension reform strategy in order to understand both the need for and flaws in pension reform in China during the past three decades. This thesis argues that the pension system has mirrored China’s economic reforms. The marketization process that began in the late 1970s impelled China to make fundamental pension reforms. The fact that China has not yet achieved the rule of law further complicates the pension reform process. This thesis concludes that the pension reforms that have been inspired by the World Bank pension model have not been ideal reform choices for China; however, several steps on the way to fundamental reform are suggested as being worth trying in China’s current economic and legal climate.

The study locates Susurluk Affair into the legal-political theory, around an axis passing through two standpoints that defines the state either as a legal or as a political institution. Two words, Susurluk Affair refer to an accumulation of incidents and relationships that point to extra-legal activities of the state that are revealed by a traffic accident in Turkey. Susurluk Affair and similar cases of extra-legal activities of the state are frequent in modern political life, although the modern state is founded on the presumption of legal use of public authority. Susurluk Affair is discussed with reference to Max Weber&amp / #8217 / s and J&uuml / rgen Habermas&amp / #8217 / s theories of the rule of law, and Hans Kelsen&amp / #8217 / s legal positivism, both of which provide perspectives that define the state as a legal institution, and from the viewpoints of doctrine of raison d&amp / #8217 / etat and Carl Schmitt&amp / #8217 / s theories of the political and sovereignty that conceptualize the state as a political institution. Susurluk Affair can be interpreted in accordance with Weber&amp / #8217 / s, Habermas&amp / #8217 / s and Kelsen&amp / #8217 / s theoretical standpoints either as a deficiency in legitimacy or violations by certain persons, however it can be interpreted as activities for maintaining the state in the framework of the doctrine of raison d&amp / #8217 / etat. On the other hand, the Schmittian approach acknowledges extra-legal activities of the state, but Susurluk Affair cannot be interpreted as a case of deciding the exception in the Schmittian sense.

Créés en 1822 par le Conseil d’Etat français et, repris dans de nombreux autres pays comme le Koweït, les actes de gouvernement ont toujours été très discutés, en raison d’un manque de critères clairs et d’une immunité juridictionnelle qui rendent souvent difficile leur distinction avec certaines théories voisines. C’est la doctrine qui, depuis toujours, propose des critères et des classifications des actes de gouvernement. Malgré tous ces efforts, cette théorie est manifestement contraire aux principes généraux du droit, aux libertés fondamentales et, surtout, à l’Etat de droit. Il en est ainsi de la faculté de retirer, sans en justifier, la nationalité koweïtienne à une personne et du droit d’interdire à des citoyens étrangers résidant en France, de voter pour désigner leur Président de la République. La montée des idées populistes, ici et là, rend les actes de gouvernement encore plus redoutables pour la démocratie. Dès lors, même si la doctrine est divisée sur la question, leur suppression pure et simple, en France et au Koweït, apparaît comme une nécessité dont il convient simplement de déterminer les modalités / Created in 1822 by the French « Conseil d’Etat » and, introduced in several other countries such as Kuwait, Government acts have always been very much criticized, because of a lack of clear criteria and jurisdictional immunity which often make difficult their distinction with some neighboring theories. It is the doctrine that has always proposed criteria and classifications of government acts. Despite all these efforts, this theory is clearly contrary to the general principles of law, to fundamental freedoms and, above all, to the rule of law. This is the ability to withdraw, without justification, Kuwaiti nationality to a person and the right to prohibit foreign citizens residing in France from voting to designate their President. The rise of populist ideas here and there makes government acts even more dangerous for the democracy. Therefore, even if the doctrine is divided on the matter, their pure and simple abolition, in France and in Kuwait, appears to be a necessity which should simply be determined by the modalities

Constant references to literal meaning and its relevance in order to preserve the rule of law (predictability, in particular) do not reflect the complexity of our language. In this paper I analyze the descriptivist conception that seems to underlie these references and I present an alternative conception, new theories of reference, that allows us to account for our language in general, and for legal interpretation in particular. Once a semantic conception is assumed, in the last part of the work I reflect on what arguments are relevant to adopt a certain interpretation when difficult cases arise. / Las constantes apelaciones al tenor literal y a su relevancia para preservar el principio de legalidad (especialmente la previsibilidad) no reflejan la complejidad de cómo opera nuestro lenguaje. En este trabajo analizo la concepción descriptivista que parece subyacer a esas apelaciones y presento una concepción alternativa, las nuevas teorías de la referencia, que nos permiten dar cuenta de nuestro lenguaje en general, y la interpretación jurídica, en particular. Una vez se asume una determinada posición semántica, en la última parte del trabajo reflexiono acerca de qué argumentos son relevantes para adoptar una determinada interpretación cuando se producen casos difíciles.

The aim of this thesis is to examine whether Venezuela's democratic decline could be explained by the consolidation theory of Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan. Between the years 2005 – 2017, the organization Freedom House concluded that Venezuela’s political and civil rights declined, resulted in that Freedom House classified Venezuela from “partly free” in 2005 to “not free” in 2017, and several scientists classified Venezuela year 2017 as an autocracy. The method is to apply the consolidation theory and its five arenas (the civil society, the political society, rule of law, state bureaucracy and economic society) in the case Venezuela between the years 2005 – 2017. Each arena contains different qualifications which are all needed for a state to transition from democracy to consolidated democracy. However, in this thesis the aim is to study if the consolidation theory is able to explain a state’s transition from democracy to autocracy. By using material as scientific articles and reports, it is concluded that each arenas’ qualifications have deteriorated between the years 2005 - 2017. Therefore, it is found that the consolidation theory works very well in explaining a state’s transition from democracy to autocracy, which in this case is Venezuela.

This dissertation examines the recurrence of coups d´état (overthrow of government) in a State officially democratic, Guinea-Bissau, between 1980 and 2012, a period that marks the first coup since independence and the final coup to a government elected under the umbrella of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). Based on qualitative literature, historical and documentary research, we seek to maintain our expertise in theoretical and methodological explicit frameworks, it is not our intention to achieve absolute truths, but rather contribute to the construction of a new synthesis with new reflections on the content of theme "coups". The work contextualizes the different periods traversed by the country and reflects on the operative logics at various period of the coups, as well as on the challenges for the affirmation of the Rule of Law and, above all, on how could this apparent paradox be: a coup as a generating mechanism of participation in the national political arena. Therefore, the study sought to highlight the need for a less limited conception of democracy and "colonized" that allows observing and judging, from another perspective, the Bissau-Guinean democracy in terms of political participation, social density and popular legitimacy. / Esta dissertação de mestrado analisa a recorrência de golpes de Estado num Estado dito oficialmente democrático, Guiné-Bissau, num intervalo entre 1980 e 2012, período que sinaliza o primeiro golpe de Estado após a independência e o último golpe a um governo eleito através do Partido Africano para Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC). Com base em pesquisa qualitativa bibliográfica, histórica e documental, buscamos sustentar nossos conhecimentos em quadros teóricos e metodológicos explícitos, pois não é nossa intenção alcançar verdades absolutas, mas antes, contribuir para a construção de uma nova síntese, com novas reflexões sobre o conteúdo da temática “golpes de Estado”. O trabalho contextualiza os diferentes períodos atravessados pelo país e reflete sobre as lógicas operantes em diversos momentos dos golpes, bem como sobre os desafios para a afirmação do Estado de Direito e, principalmente, como se daria esse aparente paradoxo: golpe como mecanismo gerador de participação na arena política nacional. Portanto, o trabalho buscou destacar a necessidade de uma concepção de democracia menos limitada e “colonizada” que permita observar e julgar, de uma outra perspectiva, a democracia Bissau-guineense em termos de participação política, densidade social e legitimidade popular.