Denna studie undersöker globaliseringens påverkan på demokratins utveckling i Gambia utifrån tre olika dimensioner; ekonomisk, politisk, och social globalisering. Till skillnad från andra västafrikanska länder har Gambias demokrati utvecklats negativt till autokrati, trots globalisering. Genom sökning av historiska händelser syftar uppsatsen till att förstå hur demokratiska förändringar i politiska rättigheter och civil frihet är kopplade till de tre dimensionerna av globalisering. Resultaten visar ett komplicerat förhållande mellan globalisering och demokrati. Den ekonomiska globaliseringen inverkar både positivt och negativt, beroende på landets ekonomiska stabilitet och hur regimen agerar med korruption eller retorik mot utländskt inflytande. Den politiska och sociala globaliseringen har en stark indirekt och negativ inverkan, trots att krafterna är positiva genom internationella organisationers och länders krav samt den idéspridning som sker genom befolkningens internationella kontakter. Den negativa inverkan består av regimens reaktioner mot dessa positiva krafter i form av politiska och civila inskränkningar. Mot slutet av den analyserade tidsperioden blir regimen alltmer desperat genom auktoritära metoder men den förlorar också alltmer kontroll. Det förefaller som den grundläggande effekten av globalisering ändå till sist har en positiv inverkan genom att regimen förefaller upplösas.

Sweden and Iran are faced with a similar societal crisis following the outbreak of the new Coronavirus but are in many ways fundamentally different countries. Using the MSSD (Most Similar System Design) the study aims to explore similarities and differences in crisis management between the two countries through a comparative analysis of certain facets within domestic (education, freedom and rights) and foreign policy (migration and international relations). The starting point is to assume the Coronavirus as the central explanatory variable, additionally the underlying theoretical debate concerning the relationship between ‘legitimacy’ and ‘effectiveness’ adds another analytical dimension. The study found major differences between Swedish and Iranian crisis management, primarily regarding what policies were enacted but also in the effect these had. Although Sweden and Iran assume similar travel restrictions, the latter is facing a strong migratory current out of the country, in stark contrast to the former. Additionally, when confronted with similar problems, such as fear of an increase in domestic violence, the two countries react differently. The differences in governmental form, national statistics and aspects such as religion and demography appear to reveal themselves after policies are enacted, with limited effect on what exactly is enacted in the first place.

Can a nation without being an independent state reach democracy? According to some researchers a democratization process cannot happen without having an independent state with control over their own territories. The Kurdish people without a given state are divided between four authoritarian states in the Middle east and in opposite to its neighbors' have Kurds ambition to become democratic always existed. The purpose pf this thesis was to analyze if Iraqi Kurdistan is heading towards democracy and to find what the driving factors behind the democratization process are. The thesis used a qualitative text analysis approach with a complementary case study where the thesis focused on Larry Diamonds internal and external factors as a guiding instrument to determine what political mechanisms have driven Kurds and politicians' transition to democracy and peace. The analysis presented that authoritarian division, authoritarian development, free values, civil society, peaceful pressure and limits of sanctions and aid conditionally drove them. For answering the research problem, is a democratization processes possible for non-independent states? It is possible, Kurds in Iraq have so far accomplished to establish an electoral democracy, and a consolidated democracy is not impossible if legitimacy among politicians are increased and if freedom of expression is uncontrolled by politicians and if corruption decreases.

The aim of this paper is to study the course of events that led up to the 2021 legislation which allows Russian president Vladimir Putin to continue his presidential term until 2036. Based on the theoretic framework of historic institutionalism, the paper uses path dependence as the tool of analysis for the study. Using said tool, the paper aims to contribute to contemporary research on autocratization and provide new explanatory factors on what autocratization processes might look like. As such, the overall aim of the paper is to, with the aid of historical institutionalism and path dependence, explain the how’s and why’s in the autocratization process in Russia. By combining said analytic tool with a textual analysis methodology, the study finds distinct signs of path dependence during the time period studied.