Uppsatsen har till syfte att kartlägga problematiken med inflytandegrad och olika förutsättningar för politiskt deltagande för Malmö stads invånare genom Malmöinitiativet och Malmöpanelen. Det är två demokratiska innovationer som implementerats i Malmö stad för att utöka invånarnas politiska delaktighet och stärka legitimiteten i politisk beslutsfattning. Studien har en demokratiteoretisk utgångspunkt som ligger till grund för att förstå de relevanta aspekterna av undersökningsobjektet. Dokumentforskning och intervjuer används för informationsinsamling om Malmöinitiativet och Malmöpanelen. Resultatet analyseras genom det demokratiteoretiska ramverket. Innovationerna uppvisar brister när det kommer till att förverkliga reellt inflytande men skapar viss förutsättning för Malmös invånare att påverka politiken. Lika rättighet att delta genom de båda innovationerna erbjuds alla invånare genom Malmöinitiativet medan personer under arton och de som inte är folkbokförda i Malmö exkluderas i Malmöpanelen. Trots det, visade det sig att olika förutsättningar utifrån demografi och resurser, lade en grund för en ojämlik möjlighet till deltagande. / The paper aims to map the problem of different levels of influence and different opportunities for political participation for residents of Malmö through Malmöinitiativet and Malmöpanelen. This is two democratic innovations implemented in the city of Malmö to expand citizens' political participation and strengthen the legitimacy of political decision making. The study has democracy theory as the basis for understanding the relevant aspects of the object under examination. Document Research and interviews are used to gather information about Malmöinitiativet and Malmöpanelen. The result are analyzed through the framework of democracy theory. The innovations have shortcomings when it comes to the realization of real influence, but creates a certain prerequisite for residents of Malmö to influence politics. Equal rights to participate in the two innovations are offered to all residents through Malmöinitiativet while persons under eighteen and those who are not citizens are excluded from Malmöpanelen. Nonetheless, it turned out that the different prerequisites on the basis of demography and resources, made a foundation for an unequal opportunity for participation.

I den här uppsatsen kommer korruptionens påverkan på Bosnien-Hercegovinas demokrati att analyseras. Korruptionen har ett starkt fäste inom landet då det ses som en vanlig del av samhället både från medborgare och politikerns synvinkel, detta ses som ett hinder för fortsatt utveckling på flera nivåer. Tanken finns, om att Daytonavtalet möjliggör för korruption på grund av avtalets stiftande av landets komplexa struktur och uppdelning. Uppsatsen metod är en fallstudie, där landets korrupta tillstånd kommer analyseras utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk. Korruptionens påverkan på demokratin kommer att analyseras utifrån Marks Warrens (2004) teori: den moderna tanken om korruption, där korruptionens effekt inom olika domäner i samhället analyseras. Domänerna som undersöks är, den rättsliga makten, den legitima makten, den verkställande makten, den offentliga makten och det civila samhället. Utifrån en teoretisk analys av dessa domäner dras sedan slutsatsen om korruptionen haft någon påverkan på demokratin i landet. Trots demokratiska val är demokratin svår att upprätthålla om de demokratiska normerna i Bosnien-Hercegovina bryts genom korruption. Demokratin har påverkats starkt inom de ovannämnda domänerna och korruptionen är ett hinder för demokratins existens i Bosnien-Hercegovina. / In this paper, the impact of corruption on Bosnia-Herzegovina's democratic development will be analyzed. Corruption has a strong foothold in the country where it is seen as a normal part of society both from citizens and politicians' point of view; this is seen as an obstacle to further development at multiple levels. An existing idea is, that the Dayton agreement is enabling for corruption, because of the agreement's founding of the country's complex structure and division. The paper method is a case study, where the country's level of corruption will be analyzed from a theoretical framework. Bribery impact on democracy will be analyzed from Mark Warren's theory (2004): the modern idea of corruption, where corruption efficacies in various domains of society are analyzed. The domains under consideration are the legal power, legitimate power, the executive power, the public authorities and civil society. Based on a theoretical analysis of these domains, a conclusion is drawn about the corruptions impact of the democracy in the country. Despite democratic elections, democratic standards are difficult to maintain in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country broken by corruption. The democracy has been strongly influenced in the domains mentioned, and corruption is an obstacle for democracy to exist in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

No description available.

Based on the democratic goals and mission in the Swedish curriculum and the rapidly changing media landscape, this study examines how textbooks, for pupils aged 13-15, present the writing of argumentative texts. Using content analysis and Ivanić's six discourses of writing and learning to write as a framework, fundamental aspects are reviewed: the writer, the reader, the media, the function attributed to the argumentative texts, and the writing discourse. The results show that the genre discourse dominates, closely followed by the skills discourse. If the same pattern also can be found in the practice it can be interpreted as a problem in relation to the democratic goals and mission. Furthermore the result depict the writer as a person with simple skills who write about ordinary issues (in contrast to the professional writer who can change major issues). In the textbook the reader is highlighted as important, but the pupil is not provided with any guidance to understand and find the reader. The textbooks also suggest that argumentative writing mainly has a dialogic function. However, this might be an issue in the classroom as writers will encounter difficulties conducting a dialogue with an unknown reader.

Detta är en kvalitativ studie där sex legitimerade samhällskunskapslärare i gymnaiset intervjuats. Intervjuerna har genomförts i Sverige, uppdelat mellan två olika kommuner och detta för att kunna få in fler deltagare till studien. Syftet med studien har varit att både undersöka och analysera hur de intervjuade legitimerade samhällskunskapslärarna betonar demokrati. Även hur de arbetar med demokrati i undervisningen beroende på inriktning i gymnasiet. Studien undersökte de likheter och skillnader som finns mellan hur lärarna väljer att lägga upp demokratiundervisning i yrkes- och högskoleförberedande program. Som blivande samhällskunskapslärare fann vi ämnet intressant att undersöka för att se över om det finns skillnader/likheter beroende på programtyp. Även att vi anser det vara intressant att se hur lärare betonar demokrati i undervisningen. Under studiens gång har vi utgått från Dewey och hans teori om demokratipedagogik. Teorin betonar vikten av att elevernas tid i skolan speglar deras demokratiska förhållningssätt i framtiden. Tidigare forskning pekar på att samhällskunskapsundervisning skiljer sig åt beroende på om man läser på yrkesförberedande eller på ett högskoleförberedande program. Det som skiljer sig åt är bland annat att prov och studiematerial har en enklare utformning för yrkeselever än högskoleförberedande elever. Dessutom nämner Skolinspektionen att intresset för samhällskunskap är svagare hos yrkeselever. Detta är något studiens resultat visar, att samhällskunskapsundervisningen skiljer sig beroende på inriktning i gymnasiet. Resultatet av studien visar att det som skiljer sig är bland annat undervisningsupplägget. Lärarna anser att de inte hinner lika mycket i yrkesprogrammen som de annars gör på de högskoleförberedande programmen. Resultatet visar även att lärarna anser det ha med elevernas intresse att göra. Att elevernas intresse är avgörande för lärarens upplägg av moment.

The main aim of this study was to research what students’ perceptions of the ideal citizen are. Thus the aim was also to explore which skills or knowledge studets feel they require, with special regards to practical learning exercises, in order to become their ideal citizen. In order to fulfill the main aim, the study also aspired to explore upper-secondary students’ experiences of practical learning exercises within their previous civics education, their opinions on practical learning exercises and what types of practical learning exercises they wish their civics education would include. Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method for this study. The data analysis method used was qualitative content analysis. The study found that the experiences of practical learning methods were highly varied amongst the participants. School elections and work or economics related exercises were most common. Furthermore, the study found that 80% of participants were positive to practical learning activities within the subject of civics, the other 20% were neutral. All participants could name a practical learning exercise they wished their civics education would include. The most common desires were exercises related to human interaction in some form. The study found the most commonly identified citizen idealtype to be the personally responsible, the democratically informed and the justice-oriented citizen. Finally, the type of knowledge that was most forthcoming was social reconstructionism and social efficiency. The findings of this study were in accordance with the previous research in the field. The findings of this study are relevant as they provide a guideline for future teaching within the civics subject in Sweden where students’ wishes are accounted for in alignment with the Swedish democracy mission.

Uppsatsen fokuserar på medborgardialogen som hållits i Uppsala kommun under planeringsprocessen för de sydöstra stadsdelarna där det planeras byggas en stor mängd bostäder, en ny tågstation och en ny spårväg. Under medborgardialogen har det uppstått stort motstånd från en andel av lokalbefolkningen vilket är något som resulterat i skapandet av Föreningen Sydöstra Uppsala. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer undersöktes om medborgardialogen har haft den demokratiserande effekt som önskas utifrån vad tillgänglig forskningen säger om medborgardialoger. Uppsala kommuns syn på projektet jämförs med den syn Föreningen Sydöstra Uppsala har, delvis utifrån planerna i sig och delvis utifrån hur väl de anser att medborgardialogen har fungerat. Det undersöktes även genom canvassing om lokalbefolkningen delar samma syn på medborgardialogen och byggplanerna som Föreningen Sydöstra Uppsala har. Undersökningen finner att medborgardialogen kan påstås ha ökat lokalbefolkningens deltagande i planeringsprocessen, däremot har metoden som kommunen använt inte stort stöd inom forskningen när det kommer till att utöka mängden lokal demokrati i samhället. Det finns även ett stort lokalt motstånd mot byggplanerna, något som representeras av föreningen Sydöstra Uppsala.

<p>The primary purpose of this thesis is to study how political agents construct and give meaning to the concepts of democracy, representative democracy and referendums. The starting point of the thesis is the pressing issue whether or not Sweden should hold a referendum on the new EU constitution. To analyze this question my choice of method is critical discourse analysis and the topical theories revolve around democracy and responsibility.</p><p>My study shows that there are three different discourses in this debate: “the democratic process”, “the representative democracy” and “the concept of democracy”. However, the meaning of the concepts in these discourses varies depending on which side the political agents are on. It is obvious that the concepts are not fixated and that they are used as catchphrases to define ideological motives. In addition, the concepts are used differently to enhance certain values in a democracy.</p><p>The result of this study shows the paradox and conflicting values that are associated with the concepts. This means that the notion of democracy changes depending on what the agents want to perceive. The political agents who do not support a referendum often refer to what a representative democracy symbolizes. Agents who support a referendum consider the democratic process as an incentive for a democratic ideal. In this context, the discourse of democracy does not arise from a primary level but rather a secondary. This implies that the criteria for a liberal democracy are fulfilled and the debate revolves around abstract values.</p>

<p>The purpose of this paper is to see how politicians use Internet communication in their daily work and how they use it to interact with citizens of Vasteras city. To reach my conclusions I used both theoretical methods such as literature studies and qualitative interviews with the towns 11 trustees. Accoarding to this study the politicians saw not only a lot of potentials and advantages in Internet communication but also many difficulties and obstacles. In this case the cons far exceeded the pros. One of the main reason is the bad experiences which caused by rasist attacks/threats made to politicians and also the difficulties in handling of sensitiv documents which was seen as a stress factor. Vasteras home page is more seen as a very inert two way communication channel, due to the lack of discussion/debate forum. Other forms of communication via other media is prefered. Obviously IT is a fast and complementary media but face to face communication is prioritized rather than computer communication. E- democracy, E- meeting, E- discussion can not replace face to face communication. There is a strong belief among the municipal executive committee in the representative democracy as the best functional political system. The political climate characterizes as a sort of conservatism or pessimism when it concerns IT and democracy. Despite all of this, there are many optimistic attitudes about IT in a future perspective. Marketing and education are essential elements that benefit to more dialog and interactivity which can influence the quality of democracy. The Internet is perceived by many of respondants as an excellent horizontal communication than vertical.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>In the beginning of 2007 the Swedish municipality Örebro decided to have a democratic</p><p>experiment, which ought to go under the name, “Dialouge for the citizens”. The</p><p>representative elected politicians in Örebro tried to find ways to involve the people in the</p><p>process of ruling. Why they choose to try this experiment on this very delicate matter, the</p><p>closure of several schools in the municipal, is one of the questions this essay is trying to</p><p>answer.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to find out whether the process was an attempt for the politicians</p><p>of the representative democracy to implement deliberative democracy in the structure of the</p><p>local governance.</p><p>The result of this study is that the politicians didn’t manage to reach to the citizens the way</p><p>they formerly had planned.</p>