In the light of the twofold mission of Swedish schools, that is to say enabling pupils to develop both subject knowledge and a democratic attitude, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent adult higher education students from different language and social backgrounds, studying Swedish as a second language, are able to carry out joint writing assignments with the aid of deliberative discourse, and to what extent they thereby also develop a deliberative attitude. The twofold mission of education applies to them too. While there already exists a certain amount of research into deliberative discourse relating to education in schools, the perspective of higher education didactics in this research is still lacking. The present study is to be viewed as a first contribution to this research. The theoretical starting point of this study includes previous research into deliberative discourse by further developing an existing model regarding criteria for deliberative discourse, for example that there is a striving towards agreement, although the consensus may be temporary, that diverging opinions can be set against each other, that tolerance and respect for views other than one’s own are shown, and that traditional outlooks can be questioned. This model is supplemented by designations for a number of disruptive behaviours, such as ridiculing, ignoring, interrupting people and engaging in private conversations. The thus further developed model will thereafter act as a lens in the analysis of students’ discussions when writing joint texts. Another theoretical starting point is the view of education as communication, and of the possibility of communication creating a third place, thereby developing democracy in the here and now-situation. For this study, comprising 18 hours of observation of nine students, that is to say the discussions of three groups in connection with writing texts on different occasions, various ethnographic data collection methods have been employed, for example video recordings, participant observations, field notes and interviews in conjunction with the discussions. The analysis clarifies that the three groups developed their deliberation as the discussions about the joint assignment proceeded, and that most of the nine students furthermore expressed at least an openness towards a deliberative attitude for further discussions in the future. The disruptive behaviours mentioned in connection with the analytical model that could be identified in the discussions, for example interruptions and private conversations, proved not to constitute real disturbances; on the contrary they actually contributed towards the discussions developing, enabling them to continue. On the other hand, other and not previously identified disturbances occurred, for example a focus on grades, the lack of time and lacking language ability, which all in different ways affected the students’ attitudes towards their work. For any future didactical work on deliberative discourse in Swedish as a second language within higher education, these disturbances would need to be highlighted and made aware of for both teachers and students. Keywords: higher education didactics, communication, deliberative discourse, deliberative attitude, John Dewey, Tomas Englund, heterogeneity, ethnographic data collection methods. / Mot bakgrund av den svenska skolans dubbla uppdrag, det vill säga att möjliggöra för elever att utveckla både ämneskunskaper och ett demokratiskt förhållningssätt, är syftet med denna avhandling att undersöka i vad mån vuxna högskolestudenter med olika språklig och kulturell bakgrund under sin utbildning i svenska som andraspråk förmår lösa gemensamma skrivuppgifter med hjälp av deliberativa samtal, och i vad mån de därigenom också utvecklar ett deliberativt förhållningssätt. Utbildningens dubbla uppdrag är giltigt också för dem. Samtidigt som det redan finns viss forskning om deliberativa samtal när det gäller undervisning i skolan, saknas fortfarande ett högskoledidaktiskt perspektiv i denna forskning. Föreliggande studie ska ses som ett första högskoledidaktiskt bidrag till denna forskning. Studien tar sin teoretiska utgångspunkt bland annat i tidigare forskning om deliberativa samtal genom att vidareutveckla en befintlig modell när det gäller kriterier för deliberativa samtal, till exempel att det föreligger en strävan efter att komma överens, även om konsensus är temporär, att skilda uppfattningar kan ställas mot varandra, att tolerans och respekt för andra åsikter än de egna kommer till uttryck, och att traditionella synsätt kan ifrågasättas. Studien omfattar 18 timmars observationer av nio studenters, det vill säga tre gruppers samtal i samband med gemensam textskrivning vid olika tillfällen. Olika etnografiska datainsamlingsmetoder har använts, till exempel videoinspelningar, deltagande observationer, fältanteckningar och intervjuer i anslutning till samtalen. Av analysen framgår att de tre grupperna utvecklade sin deliberation allteftersom samtalen kring den gemensamma uppgiften pågick, och att de flesta av de nio studenterna dessutom gav uttryck för en deliberativ beredskap inför fortsatta samtal. Studenternas fokus på sina betyg påverkade emellertid i viss utsträckning deras deliberation och kan betecknas som störningar i samtalen. Inför ett eventuellt framtida didaktiskt arbete med deliberativa samtal inom svenska som andraspråk på högskolan skulle dessa störningar behöva lyftas fram och medvetandegöras både för lärare och studenter.

In the light of the twofold mission of Swedish schools, that is to say enabling pupils to develop both subject knowledge and a democratic attitude, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent adult higher education students from different language and social backgrounds, studying Swedish as a second language, are able to carry out joint writing assignments with the aid of deliberative discourse, and to what extent they thereby also develop a deliberative attitude. The twofold mission of education applies to them too. While there already exists a certain amount of research into deliberative discourse relating to education in schools, the perspective of higher education didactics in this research is still lacking. The present study is to be viewed as a first contribution to this research. The theoretical starting point of this study includes previous research into deliberative discourse by further developing an existing model regarding criteria for deliberative discourse, for example that there is a striving towards agreement, although the consensus may be temporary, that diverging opinions can be set against each other, that tolerance and respect for views other than one’s own are shown, and that traditional outlooks can be questioned. This model is supplemented by designations for a number of disruptive behaviours, such as ridiculing, ignoring, interrupting people and engaging in private conversations. The thus further developed model will thereafter act as a lens in the analysis of students’ discussions when writing joint texts. Another theoretical starting point is the view of education as communication, and of the possibility of communication creating a third place, thereby developing democracy in the here and now-situation. For this study, comprising 18 hours of observation of nine students, that is to say the discussions of three groups in connection with writing texts on different occasions, various ethnographic data collection methods have been employed, for example video recordings, participant observations, field notes and interviews in conjunction with the discussions. The analysis clarifies that the three groups developed their deliberation as the discussions about the joint assignment proceeded, and that most of the nine students furthermore expressed at least an openness towards a deliberative attitude for further discussions in the future. The disruptive behaviours mentioned in connection with the analytical model that could be identified in the discussions, for example interruptions and private conversations, proved not to constitute real disturbances; on the contrary they actually contributed towards the discussions developing, enabling them to continue. On the other hand, other and not previously identified disturbances occurred, for example a focus on grades, the lack of time and lacking language ability, which all in different ways affected the students’ attitudes towards their work. For any future didactical work on deliberative discourse in Swedish as a second language within higher education, these disturbances would need to be highlighted and made aware of for both teachers and students. Keywords: higher education didactics, communication, deliberative discourse, deliberative attitude, John Dewey, Tomas Englund, heterogeneity, ethnographic data collection methods. / Mot bakgrund av den svenska skolans dubbla uppdrag, det vill säga att möjliggöra för elever att utveckla både ämneskunskaper och ett demokratiskt förhållningssätt, är syftet med denna avhandling att undersöka i vad mån vuxna högskolestudenter med olika språklig och kulturell bakgrund under sin utbildning i svenska som andraspråk förmår lösa gemensamma skrivuppgifter med hjälp av deliberativa samtal, och i vad mån de därigenom också utvecklar ett deliberativt förhållningssätt. Utbildningens dubbla uppdrag är giltigt också för dem. Samtidigt som det redan finns viss forskning om deliberativa samtal när det gäller undervisning i skolan, saknas fortfarande ett högskoledidaktiskt perspektiv i denna forskning. Föreliggande studie ska ses som ett första högskoledidaktiskt bidrag till denna forskning. Studien tar sin teoretiska utgångspunkt bland annat i tidigare forskning om deliberativa samtal genom att vidareutveckla en befintlig modell när det gäller kriterier för deliberativa samtal, till exempel att det föreligger en strävan efter att komma överens, även om konsensus är temporär, att skilda uppfattningar kan ställas mot varandra, att tolerans och respekt för andra åsikter än de egna kommer till uttryck, och att traditionella synsätt kan ifrågasättas. Studien omfattar 18 timmars observationer av nio studenters, det vill säga tre gruppers samtal i samband med gemensam textskrivning vid olika tillfällen. Olika etnografiska datainsamlingsmetoder har använts, till exempel videoinspelningar, deltagande observationer, fältanteckningar och intervjuer i anslutning till samtalen. Av analysen framgår att de tre grupperna utvecklade sin deliberation allteftersom samtalen kring den gemensamma uppgiften pågick, och att de flesta av de nio studenterna dessutom gav uttryck för en deliberativ beredskap inför fortsatta samtal. Studenternas fokus på sina betyg påverkade emellertid i viss utsträckning deras deliberation och kan betecknas som störningar i samtalen. Inför ett eventuellt framtida didaktiskt arbete med deliberativa samtal inom svenska som andraspråk på högskolan skulle dessa störningar behöva lyftas fram och medvetandegöras både för lärare och studenter.

Theories of deliberative democracy, which emphasize open-mindedness and cooperative dialogue, confront serious challenges in deeply divided political populations constituted by polarized citizens unwilling to work together on issues they collectively face. The case of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia makes this clear. In my thesis, I argue that such empirical challenges are serious, yet do not compromise the normative desirability of deliberative democracy because communicative mechanisms can help transform adversarial perspectives into workable, deliberative ones. To realize this potential in divided societies, mechanisms must focus on healing and reconciliation, a point under-theorized by deliberativists who do not take seriously enough the feminist critique of public-private dualisms that illuminates political dimensions of such embodied processes. Ultimately, only a distinctly two-stage process of public deliberation in divided populations, beginning with mechanisms for healing and trust building, will give rise to the self-transformation necessary for second-stage deliberation aimed at collectively binding decisions.

Saudi Arabia is being challenged by increasing demands for democratic reform. Although many Saudi citizens desire such change, in order to maintain stability, dramatic and rapid reform is not considered prudent. Nor is the adoption of a Western model of democracy seen as a way forward. Indeed, such a shift would be counterproductive for most Islamic nations. A more measured approach, introducing reforms that build on traditional Islamic democratic ideals, would help to maintain stability and legitimacy for the various stakeholders involved. Consequently, attention has been turned to the ‘Majlis Al Shura’ or the Al-Shura Council, an Islamic Advisory Council that ensures policies and laws follow the principles of Islam. Shura, developed from the Holy Quran, is an ancient practice that has profound significance in Arab culture and history. It provides a framework which ensures scholars and experts from a variety of backgrounds are consulted on issues related to governance. Currently, the role the members play in governance of the Saudi State is decided by the King, who appoints individuals to the Council according to their perceived suitability. However, the Saudi Arabian Al-Shura Council is a highly respected institution. Allowing citizens to elect members, rather than having the King holding the authority to appoint them, would not only be well received, but would create a more effective check on governmental power, help satisfy the demand for more citizen input into public affairs, and pave the way for future, more substantial reform, if desired by Saudi society.

Over recent years, there has been an intense and polarised debate about the extent of democratisation in Turkey, although this has tended to be defined in institutional terms (for example, in the supposed reduction in military tutelage of the political system and the institutional recognition of minority rights). This study seeks to widen the terms of reference by examining the current challenges confronted by the Turkish media within the media-democracy relationship and, using the Kurdish question as a case study, examines the extent to which mainstream Turkish Media are contributing to deliberative democracy. It also seeks to identify where the Turkish media should be most appropriately located within competing models of media and democracy. This analysis of the challenges confronted in achieving and protecting media freedoms in Turkey is based on three empirical exercises. Semi-structured elite interviews were conducted with representatives from most of the mainstream media organisations in the country. Interviews were also conducted with political party representatives, NGO members and academics to ascertain their opinions of the media s democratic performance and credentials and also explore the extent to which they engage with journalists and news organisations routinely in their work. Finally, a content analysis of the coverage/content of two specific events related to the Kurdish Issue (the launch of the Kurdish language TV Channel TRT6 and Uludere Airstrike) in five mainstream Turkish newspapers was conducted. The interviews reveal sharply contrasting views about the extent to which democratisation processes are progressing in Turkey, and identify a range of barriers that continue to inhibit the democratic performance of the mainstream media (e.g. commercialization, state censorship, and other forms of political pressure). The detrimental impact of these factors is to a large degree confirmed by the content analysis of coverage of the Kurdish issue, but the analysis also shows that news output does contain a degree of diversity and difference. For this reason, it is not appropriate to conceive of the Turkish media as acting entirely as a closed message system for political elites.

The aim of this study is tos to make visible if and how teachers integrate democratic abilities in social studies education. I also want to examine what teachers experience enable or hinder the teaching of democratic abilities. The study is based on the following questions: Does deliberative and participatory democratic abilities apply in teaching and if so, how is this done in the actual teaching? What opportunities and challenges do teachers find in conversations-and participatory democratic abilities? The study examines how teachers teach deliberative and participatory democracy. This study is qualitative and based on interviews and observations offour teachers working in grade 3. The theoretical frame of the study is founded on the deliberative democracy model of Tomas Englund and Åsa Forsberg which is used to study how deliberative abilities take place in teaching. Furthermore, the theory formed by Roger Hart, called Ladder of participation,is used to study whether teachers invite studentsto participateand influencetheir own education. I also used Ljungberg and Unemar Öst theory about teacher's communicative strategies in connection with the controversy handling to give an understanding about how teachers handle controversy, but also how they in connection with controversy encourages deliberative conversations.The results of the study showed that the students did apply and practice conversations democratic abilities.Despite this, some deliberative democratic abilities were more prominent than others.On the other handthe application of participatory abilities were not as common as training deliberativ democractic abilites.

The minority rights paradox is articulated at the level of political theory, is deployed by liberal democratic institutions, and can be observed in the political discourse of mass communications. Minority groups, it is argued, are paradoxically claiming purported rights that are unsupported by the values upon which the claimants base their claim. On the one hand, minority claims are made on the basis of rights secured by a liberal democracy; on the other hand, the claims undermine the legitimacy of liberal reasoning—the same reasoning that legitimizes the rights on which the claims are made. The self-referential implications of this paradox are as follows: Either the minority claim negates its own justification or the underlying justification renders the claim moot. In either case, the charge of paradox effectively puts an end to the conversation by dismissing minority rights claims before they are properly understood. My aim is to first, come to terms with political dialogues in which the charge of paradox occurs and second, to overcome the stultifying effects of the minority rights paradox through a deliberative approach to negotiating the concept and content of minority rights claims. Evaluating the claims of minorities, I will argue, requires a dialogue that can adapt to the participants in the dialogue—an inclusive deliberative process that gives formal, procedural and substantive recognition to the worldviews of minority cultures in political decision-making.

<p>E-uppsatsen ventilerades i NT-högre seminariet.</p>

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / In deliberative democracy, attempts to reconcile questions of gender and civil society are deadlocked over fundamental assumptions concerning the role of deliberation and the possibility that exclusion and inequality are inherent in democracy. Normative theories of deliberation - encouraging free, equal and impartial participation by citizens are fueled by the power of reason. Reason giving is associated with dominant groups – namely white, middle-class men; passionate, emotive and particularized speech is associated with politically disadvantaged groups such as women, minorities and poor. Limited empirical findings indicate rational models of deliberation do not affirm theorized inequalities. In this case, female participants neither experience unequal access or treatment within deliberation. This dissertation seeks to provide a framework for resolving the debate posed by difference democrats over whether deliberative democracy remedies the problem of inequality by examining fourteen National Issues Forums public deliberations. One set of deliberations feature an equal mix of male and female participants, another set with more male than female and a third with more female than male participants. I examine the types of talk women and men use in deliberations and whether affective claims negatively affect deliberation. Ultimately, I find that inequality based on gender exists in most of the deliberative forums I surveyed. I argue that the type of inequality plaguing deliberative democracy exists a priori – before participants enter the forums – and then manifests itself inside the forum as well. The normative structure of deliberation that is supposed to screen or bracket out inequality and the strong influences of the economic and political elites just does not happen to the degree deliberative democracy needs in order to continue the claim that it is net beneficial over the status quo.

The United Nation has declared a number of articles that protect human rights and with those articles imposing special obligations on the state to enforce these requirements. With this in mind it's not too hard to understand the democratic triumph over other regimes. The democratic regime has great theoretical and empirical support for its ability to bring higher levels of human development to citizens. This could be one of the reasons why democracy has spread over the world since the 19th century. But in recent years the importance of democracy has been questioned. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the connection of various democratic principles to human development. We are particularly interested in analyzing 1) if dissimilar democratic principle have any relation to human development and 2) if there are any democratic principles that tends to have a distinguishable relation to human development over recent decades. In this paper we use correlation- and regression analysis to analyze this relationship. The democratic principles are measured with the democratic components created by the V-Dem institute while human development is measured with the Human Development Index. Our findings give support to the existence of a relation between all measured democratic principles and human development. According to our findings, the democratic principle of equality has a distinguishable relationship to human development that runs over recent decades. This paper concludes the several shapes of relationships that occur between democratic principles and human development.