In this master thesis, I investigate four Public Librarys´ program activities. The purpose is to explore what the library program activities contribute to as a part of a well functioning democracy. The theoretical points, I have brought from political science. I assume three different ideals of democracy; electoral democracy, participation democracy and deliberative democracy. All have different views on what can be characterized by a well-functioning democracy. My empirical material consists of library program guides, the libraries´ target documents and interviews with staff at the libraries who work with or have overall responsibility for program activities in their respective libraries. The surveyed libraries was Stockholm city library, Sollentuna library, Uppsala city library and Gävle city library. My analysis shows that the librarys´ program activities contribute to a functioning democracy based on aspects of each discussed democratic ideals. The result of the interviews in the paper shows a deliberative democratic approach. The informants discuss and emphasise the library as a natural and free meeting place where everyone has access to debate, discuss and highlight their views.

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.

Stödmaterial från Skolverket om demokratiarbetet i förskolan och forskning visar att en glidning från den kollektiva gemenskapen har skett mot ett alltmer individuellt förhållningssätt, medan merparten av studiens tidigare forskningen belyser att delaktigheten i gemenskapen ses som viktig. Det väcker en undran hur det kollektiva och individuella synliggörs i förskolans praktik. En minietnografisk studie med observation och informella samtal användes som metod för att få syn på de olika förhållningssätt pedagogerna använder i arbetet med den demokratiska värdegrunden. Studien utfördes på en förskola med barn i åldern 3-5 år. Studien fann att det användes flera olika förhållningssätt för att fånga både det individuella barnet, och gemenskapen i gruppen till ett möjligt lärande om och genom demokrati.I studien har vi identifierat 14 olika förhållningssätt, där vissa används mer och andra mindre. Merparten av förhållningssätten behövs för att lyfta fram olika demokratiska värden och inget förhållningssätt ska ses som bättre än den andre. Studien fann även förhållningssätt som försvårade arbetet med den demokratiska värdegrunden. Både tidigare forskning och resultatet av studien visar på vikten av att ha kollegiala diskussioner om vad arbetet med den demokratiska värdegrunden står för och hur det ska gå till för att inte utmynna i omedvetna förhållningssätt från pedagogerna

Skolan som demokratisk och pedagogisk arena har till uppgift att, via en blandning av demokratiuppdraget och kunskapsuppdraget utveckla elevers demokratiska kompetens. Detta i syfte att skapa aktiva och engagerade samhällsmedborgare som kan fortsätta att utveckla och driva Sverige och världen framåt. Det här examensarbetet behandlar klassrådet i relation till skolans demokratiska uppdrag, och undersöker därigenom hur lärare i årskurs 1 – 3 uppfattar, tolkar och genomför, dels skolans demokratiska uppdrag och dels klassrådet. Genom att anta en kvalitativ forskningsansats har det varit möjligt att synliggöra lärares olika, men även gemensamma uppfattning av demokratiuppdraget och klassrådet. Dessutom har det, via intervjuer och observationer, varit möjligt att undersöka om lärare genom sin tolkning samt sitt agerande vid klassrådssituationer skapar möjligheter för elever att utveckla demokratisk kompetens. Studien inspireras av ett pragmatiskt perspektiv på lärande, där John Dewey finns som medskapare. Via resultaten går det att påstå, att klassrådet som formell arena har möjlighet att bidra med kunskap om vad demokrati är och innebär, men även att klassrådet har möjlighet att bidra med elevers utveckling av demokratisk kompetens. / The Swedish school, functioning as a democratic and pedagogical arena, aims to develop pupils’ democratic competence, through a combination of the democratic mission as well as the educational mission. This in order to form active and committed members of society, who subsequently may contribute to the development of the Swedish, and of the global society. This master thesis addresses the class council in relation to the democratic mission of the school, and examines accordingly how teachers in grade 1-3 perceive, interpret and implement, partly the democratic mission and partly the class council. Through a qualitative research approach, it has been made possible to make teachers’ different, but also common, perceptions of the democratic mission, as well as of the class council, visible. Furthermore, it has, through interviews and observations, been made possible to examine if teachers’ perception as well as their role in situations surrounding the class council create opportunities for pupils to develop democratic competence. The thesis is conducted from a pragmatic perspective on teaching, of which John Dewey is one of the co-founders. Based on the analytical result, it is possible to claim that the class council, as a formal arena, in fact provides opportunities to contribute to both knowledge about what democracy is and involves, and to pupils’ development of democratic competence.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the institutional design of Participatory Budgeting (PB) in Sweden and how the design may contribute to realize central democratic goods. The study records the different PB experiences in Sweden and focuses on one particular case, which is the only case that successfully qualifies as a genuine PB-process according to international standards and definitions. To examine this, the following questions are asked: which municipalities in Sweden have implemented Participatory Budgeting? How can the institutional design of Participatory Budgeting be described and to what extent does it enable the realization of central democratic goods? To what extent does the institutional design enable the realization of the democratic goods inclusion, popular control, considered judgment and transparency? To what extent does the institutional design enable the realization of the institutional goods of efficiency and transferability? The study is based on an institutional theory of democracy. The method used is a mixed method ideal type analysis that combines document analysis, surveys and interviews. The results of the study indicates that the PB-institutions has multiple flaws regarding the way it enables the realization of numerous of the democratic goods analyzed. The institutional design does not pay enough attention to inclusion of different social groups including marginalized groups, popular control is restricted to issues of low political salience and the PB process does not live up to the transparency level expected from a democratic institution. On the other hand, the institutional design of the PB process does take into account some aspects of inclusion among the youth inhabitants and the process has been effective in the sense that it has delivered physical results quickly.

This study primarily investigates the conceptions of democracy held by young Swedes: What conceptions can be found? How are these conceptions similar to and different from each other? My main intention is to present nuanced pictures of different ways of viewing and of arguing for and against democracy. Some attention is also paid to possible differences between different youth groups, in terms of age, gender, and socioeconomic background. In addition, I will relate the investigation to research concerning school and the socialisation that is supposed to take place there. What concepts of democracy do Swedish schools seem to inculcate in students? Theoretical discussions of democracy serve as the framework of the study, and throughout the work democracy is regarded as an ambiguous concept. I have designed an analytical tool by depicting the discussions of democratic theory from three perspectives. The first concerns what democracy is and how the rule of the people should be designed. The second deals with the justifications for democracy, and why it is or is not to be preferred. The third perspective focuses on some crucial matters in discussions of democracy. The empirical material analyzed consists of ten focus group interviews with students in two age categories: 14–15 and 18–19 years old. The groups were composed so that the members would include both genders and a range of socio-economic backgrounds. The main idea of focus group interviews is to take advantage of group-interaction dynamics. Opinions are often formed in interaction with other people, and since consideration and reflection are central concerns of this thesis, focus group interviews are thus very suitable. The findings indicate that there is a dominant understanding of democracy. The young people interviewed emphasize that democracy means that everybody has a right to participate in decision making, that, for example, universal suffrage and freedom of speech are necessary features and that democracy in practice connotes an elite/electoral democracy (at the national level) with politicians as the real power holders. Although some features of Sweden’s existing democracy are widely criticized, democracy as a fundamental concept is celebrated. The main justification for this support is that democracy includes everybody. A view of everybody’s equal value is implicit. The critical matters highlighted concern human nature in relation to democratic requirements, how to handle extremist political movements, and the limited possibilities and unequal opportunities for people to participate in the existing democracy. Within this overall picture, somewhat different conceptions can also be detected. Two themes are particularly prominent in the discussions. Without overtly mentioning the word, the young people interviewed strongly emphasize the concept of equality. One line of discussion concerns the participants’ own experiences of being subordinate to adults, another the concept that equality presupposes equal opportunities to influence society. Democracy is also considered to be a human matter. Notably,when speaking of equality and freedom, the interviewees rarely mention these words directly. Mention of political institutions is also lacking from the discussions. Some of the findings can be regarded as reflecting the conceptions of democracy manifested in and passed on by schools. The study may also provide some guidance concerning how to approach social and political issues in the school.

This essay focus on the European Union and its democracy both from a national perspec­tive and from an international perspective. Furthermore, the essay center on the con­cept of democratic deficit, this in order to study the European Union´s status regarding the democratic legitimacy. This study intends to nuance the problems that previous research and previous researchers have de­fined as democratic deficits in the European Union and ends up in conducting a textual anal­ysis of the latest European Union treaty, the Lisbon Treaty. The aim is that by using previous research on the democratic deficit in the European Union examine whether the Lisbon Treaty has enhanced the EU's position regarding democratic legitimacy. In other words, my study aims to identify what the deficit is and if it exists. The results show that the Lisbon Treaty has been trying to improve the democratic legitimacy and that some practical adjustments have been made, but it also show that there is much that still can be improved before citizens have full democratic rights.

This essay has covered the democratic development in Poland between 2008 and 2018. The purpose of this essay is to test and see if an existing democracy theory can explain the democratic development in Poland. The questions that I will be answering are;  Is Poland an embedded or defect democracy?  Can Merkel’s theory about embedded and defect democracy explain the development in Poland?  The theory that is used and will be tested is Wolfgang Merkel’s theory about embedded and defect democracy. This theory will be carried out in the same way as Matthijs Bogaards and his addition of a diffusely defect democracy. Bogaards’ addition of diffusely defect democracy complements Markel’s theory with another definition of a defect democracy combining several of Merkel´s definitions of defect democracies.  This is a qualitative essay with a qualitative method. The theory will be in the form of both dimensions and definitions. The result is that Poland shows signs of a defect democracy, but Merkel’s theory about defect democracy, and carried out according to Bogaards, cannot totally explain the development in Poland. The conclusions are that Poland should be seen as a diffusely defect democracy and that Merkel’s theory cannot explain the democratic development in Poland.

This paper aims at analyzing and understanding the political conflict between the EU and member states Hungary and Poland that has increased in recent years. Though this paper's focus will be on the different understanding and application of democracy, its meaning and values. By understanding the different approach to democracy, through liberal democracy and illiberal democracy, one may understand the conflict better and its implication for European integration. This paper analyses the democratic development in Hungary and Poland, the theories behind their development and its response from the EU. The importance of understanding the core values of democracy and understanding of it, be it liberal democracy or illiberal democracy, is not to be underestimated. Only by understanding these differences in core values can we understand the conflict of Rule of Law between the EU and its illiberal member states. This paper concludes that the negative democratic development in these states and their governments' public philosophical and political narratives for their reforms are not in coordination with neither reality nor public opinion. It also finds that the development of illiberal democracies within the EU is a threat to future European integration and the normative legitimacy of the EU in internal and foreign matters.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka att om - och i så all hur - elevers uppfattningar av undervisningsinnehållet ändras, när olika delar av innehållet varieras och framhävs. Det som studerades var två lektioner i samhällskunskap med fokus på representativ demokrati och de deltagande elevernas uppfattningar om detta innehåll före och efter dessa lektioner. Undersökningen gjordes med hjälp av en fenomenografisk metod för att beskriva uppfattningar utifrån ett skriftligt enkätmaterial som användesi en Learning Study. Dessutom användes ett variationsteoretiskt perspektiv på lärande för att analysera hur de olika lektionerna kom att iscensättas med hjälp av kritiska aspektersom analysinstrument och hur relationen mellan lektionen och elevernas uppfattningar kundebeskrivas utifrån slutsatserna om vilka uppfattningar som eleverna hade efter lektionen och hur innehållet hade gestaltats.Slutsatserna var att det gick att hitta samband mellan hur innehållet hade presenterats och unikauppfattningar somelever uppvisade efter lektionerna. Det visade sig till exempel att för att göra en mer problematiserande uppfattning om representativ demokrati möjlig för eleverna att utveckla, så krävdes att innehållet varierades mer och att de kritiska aspekternai innehållet framställdes mer varierat. En annan slutsats var att undervisningsinnehållet var mer komplext och innehöll fler kritiska aspekter av representativ demokratiän de som lärarna i Learning Study-arbete hade identifierat.