Abstract This thesis deals with Mexico’s transition to democracy, and its problems of consolidation. Mexico has an authoritarian heritage which still, eight years after the historic election in 2000 and the coming of an electoral democracy, causes great problems in society. The thesis deals mainly with civil society, political society, and the rule of law. As a framework for the thesis, a transition model developed by Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, called the “ five arenas” is used. As Mexico in year 2000 for the first time in 70 years had a change o regime, many Mexicans believed that this was the end to the corporatist style of the “old” system, and that many problems would disappear if Mexico would be democratic. However, this was not the case. Mexico has huge problems in consolidating its democracy, and new problems have developed. This thesis tries to identify the areas which have been important to the democratization process in Mexico, and how these areas function today. It does so from an historical perspective since much of today’s problems have roots in the past. The past is then connected to contemporary Mexico, dealing mostly with the period until 2006, when the winning party from the election in 2000 the PAN, confirmed their success when they won again in 2006, but with the smallest margin even in Mexican history. The poor electoral performance of the PAN was a result of unsuccesfull politics with many promises but little change. This thesis also identifies the lack of accountability as a key-term to explain some of the failures of society to implement democratic measures in all areas of society.

Föreliggande uppsats kartlägger det politiska intressets och den politiska apatins utveckling i Sverige under 1900-talets senare hälft. Det undersöks också hur antalet ”nya”, så kallade icke traditionella partier med mandat i kommunfullmäktige, förändrats under samma tidsperiod. Genom att förankra studiet av det politiska intresset i en explicit teoretisk grund (ett av uppsatsens syften), som i stor utsträckning förbisetts i tidigare undersökningar, härleddes hypotesen att det politiska intresset torde ha ökat parallellt med ökningen av antalet ”nya” partier i kommunfullmäktige, men likaså med minskningen av etablerade partiers medlemmar och en stigande politikermisstro. Underförstått i detta antagande ligger att begreppet politiskt intresse inte låter sig reduceras till ett intresse för etablerade politiska institutioner – en tes som genomgående drivs i uppsatsen. Hopfogandet av en teoretisk grundval för det politiska intressebegreppet innebar också att betydligt fler mått på politiskt intresse och politisk apati, än de i föregående studier hittills få använda mått, kunde härledas i denna undersökning – medförande en förbättrad reliabilitet. Rådata inhämtades från de svenska valundersökningarna. Resultatet bekräftar det antagna sambandet mellan å ena sidan ökad partitillförsel och å andra sidan ökat politiskt intresse och sjunkande apati. Resultatet visar även att den politiska apatin är avsevärt mycket lägre än vad som påvisats i andra undersökningar, och att apatin i stort sätt sjunkit konstant sedan 1960-talet. Dock kan en ökning av den politiska apatin urskiljas i slutet av 1990-talet. Avslutningsvis diskuteras det politiska intressets väsen. Det görs gällande, till skillnad från den gängse uppfattningen, att en sjunkande politisk apati och ett stigande politiskt intresse har sin förklaring i en utbredning av särintressen, knapphet, mångfald, specialisering, värderelativism och i avsaknaden av en gemensam politisk ”myt” i moderna västerländska samhällen. Den motsatta förklaringen framförs emellertid ofta, nämligen att särintressen får medborgarna att tappa intresset för politik – den gemensamma angelägenheten – och apatiskt vända den ryggen. Men denna förklaring och definition av det politiska intressebegreppet, som betraktar särintressen som ”opolitiska” intressen och fråntar dem en roll som politiska drivkrafter, riskerar att göra etablerade politiska institutioner till självändamål. Därmed kontrasterar förklaringen mer eller mindre den representativa demokratins grundtanke: att politik skall spegla samhället och att politik är ett medel. För att undvika att göra redan institutionaliserad politik till aristoteliska självändamål, avrundas uppsatsen med ett förtydligande och en återformulering av en nygammal, liberalistisk politisk intresseontologi. / The presented paper maps out the development of political interest and political apathy in Sweden in the latter part of the 20th century. Also, it is investigated how the number of “new” – non traditional – parties with seats in the municipality, has changed during the refered period of time. By anchoring the research of political interest in a explicit theoretical foundation (one of the papers purpuses), wich highly has been disregarded in earlier research, it was hypothesized that the political interest has increased parallelly with an increasing number of “new” parties in the municipality, but also with an decreasing number of members in established parties and a increased general political distrust. Implicit, this hypothesis claims that the concpetion of political interest not can be reduced to mean the same as an interest in established political institutions – a thesis that is pinpointed throughout the paper. The forward-bringing of a theoretical foundation of the concpetion of political interest, also implied that significantly more measurements of the concept, than is used in other studies, could be deduced within the framwork of this study – improving reliability. Empirical data was mainly collected from the Swedish election studies. The results confirm the hypothesized correlation between increased political interest, decreased political apathy and a growing number of new parties at the local level. As well, it is showed that the political apathy is considerably lower than it has been claimed in other inquiries, and that the apathy almost constantly has decreased since the 1960th. Although, a small increase in the political apathy seems to arise in the late 1990th. Finally, the ontology of the political interest is discussed. It is argued, unlike the general understanding of politics, that the decrease in poltical apathy and the increase in political interest have its explanation in a spreading and prevalence of “special interests”, scarcity, manifoldness, specialization, and value-relativism, and in a loss of a common political “myth” in modern western societies. Although, the opposite explanation is often put forward, namely that “special interests” makes citizens losing interest in political issues – common concerns – and apathical turning its back. But, this explanation and definition of the concept of political interest, that sees special interests as “unpolitical” interests with limited political significance, risks doing established political institutions to ends in themselves. Thererfore, the explanation more or less contrasts the main idea of representative democracy, that is: politics is aimed at mirroring and reflecting society, and politic is a “mean”. In order to avoid doing established political instituions to Aristotelian ends in themselves, the paper is finally reformulating and clarifyinging a blend of new and old liberalistic ontology of political interest.

Etnisk diskriminering är ett fenomen som kommit att bli allt mer vanligt förekommande i den mediala debatten. Sedan några år tillbaka utreds också diskrimineringstendenserna från statens sida, och nyligen har mer anslag garanterats statens särskilda utredare. Förekomsten av debatt och utredning vittnar om att det är ett allvarligt och utbrett samhällsproblem som i längden är ohållbart. Med ständigt växande minoritetsgrupper och framväxten av ett allt-mer multietniskt samhälle i Sverige är det därför viktigt att så snabbt som möjligt komma ur den problematik som idag tar form genom etnisk diskriminering. Det finns en bred upp-fattning om att bekämpningen av etnisk diskriminering utgör nyckeln till integration, mång-fald och jämlikhet. Denna uppsats tar sin utgångspunkt i invandrarhistoriken som är den största bidragande faktorn till att Sverige idag är multietniskt. Sedan löper uppsatsen vidare genom att med hjälp artiklar, litteratur, utredningar, rapporter m.m. visa hur diskrimineringen ser ut idag, var den förekommer, vilka förklaringar den har samt att påvisa åtgärdsbehovet. Mycket av detta faller givetvis inom ramen för den existerande samhällstrukturen och en mängd teori-er finns om hur både rasism och diskriminering yttrar sig. I litteraturen beskrivs diskrimineringen som ett strukturellt problem där alla samhällsnivåer är inblandade, vilket förstås innebär att det krävs stor kraftsamling på alla områden mot diskriminering. Jag menar här att en mycket god bas för att finna felen samt föreslå riktlin-jer för fortsatt antidiskrimineringsarbete bör starta på individnivå. Uppsatsen fortsätter där-för naturligt genom att resultaten av en intervjuserie som gjorts vid Högskolan i Jönköping presenteras och analyseras. Mot bakgrund av den teoribildning som läggs fram i början av uppsatsen dras sedan slutsatser baserade på befintliga teorier och resultat som de personer som intervjuats har redovisat. Idag görs redan en hel del för att bekämpa etnisk diskriminering, men det är egentligen skrämmande lite med tanke hur vanligt fenomenet är. I december 2004 kom rapporter i media som visade att över en tredjedel av 4000 personer som tillfrågats svarade att de blivit diskriminerade, flera av dem systematiskt. Där lades också konkreta åtgärdsförslag fram på vad som behöver göras. Utvecklingen är dock mycket långsam och det finns ett brett miss-troende bland invandrade svenskar för att staten och samhället aktivt handlar för att stävja diskrimineringen. I uppsatsen skisseras dels förslag på åtgärder som baseras på vad som kan bekräftas och vad som kan förkastas av de svar som intervjuserien gett, dels varför utvecklingen är så trögrörlig. Denna typ av problematik är komplex, men genom uppsatsens förlopp kommer grunden till problematiken klarlägga. Genom ett gediget fokus på individuella åsikter, upp-fattningar och erfarenheter läggs flertalet svarsalternativ fram.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to study to what extent the UN millennium development goals have influenced Sweden’s development policy. The research method that I have used is a qualitative text analysis and I have studied the ideas in governmental texts and millennium development goals reports from 1995-2008.My hypothesis is that the basic ideas that has symbolized Sweden’s development policy has not changed much since the adoption of the millennium development goals in year 2000. This hypothesis is based on different ideas that the basic perspectives in international development policy are rather constant.My conclusion is that many of the areas that are affected by the millennium development goals already are prioritized areas within Swedish development policy, for example poverty reduction and gender equality. Therefore are these areas not influenced so much by the millennium development goals. A slightly stronger focus on international co-operation and sustainable development can be seen in the more recent material, where it’s possible that the millennium development goals have had some impact of this.

This thesis aims at studying the European Union’s actions against applicant states. In this case Turkey has been chosen as a variable, because of its unique applying accession. Turkey is a country which has been applying for a membership of the European Union since 1989 and Turkey is the only state which has been searching for membership for more than twenty years. Turkey has been given a lot of critic of not fulfilling the political criteria of the Copenhagen criteria’s. There has also been a political debate however Turkey is a European state and if its culture and religion belongs to the EU- principals.   This thesis contains an interesting analyze of the EU´s acting towards Turkey´s accession versus the criteria’s of Copenhagen. The concrete and précised questions are; in which way arguments the European parliament about turkey´s accession? What kind of opinions and announcements has the commission and the council of ministers about the accession? Can Turkey´s accession to the EU be explained by the Copenhagen criteria’s, or are there other reasons beyond which can give another explanation?  The research methods being used is an argumentation analysis which has been made on the empirical material, such as the documentation from the European parliament, Commission and the council of ministers.

The Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) has for a long time often been labeled a populist political party. It has however not been the subject of in-depth study to what extent the party really is populist. A study on whether the party and its supporters fulfill the criteria that a social science definition of populism would stipulate is therefore needed, in order to establish accurately whether the party is populist.    The definition used in my study accentuates three qualities that specify populist organizations: an antagonistic attitude against prevailing power structures, demands for increasing democratic influence and advocating a certain people’s rights ahead of others. The qualitative analysis of documents central for the party shows that it fulfills all of the criteria illustrated in the definition that is the basis of my study. Concerning the sympathizers of the party, I show, with a quantitative analysis using survey data, that a majority of the supporters of the party also fulfill the criteria in the definition, and show propensities of being more populist than other Swedish voters. The conclusion of my study is that the Sweden Democrats are to be considered a populist party, and that their followers tend to be more populistic than other voters.

In May 2007 a committee called ‘’Ansvarskommittén’’, assembled by the Swedish government, came with a proposal of changing the Swedish regional structure. The committee which consisted of representatives from all the sitting parties in the parliament proposed that the present regional structure consisting of 20 county council districts and 21 counties would be reduced to between 6-9  regions called ‘’regionkommuner’’. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the committee’s proposal balances democratic and economic values by using a qualitative method. The committee’s proposal is analyzed by a comparison in five political areas with two differentiated regional theories called old and new regionalism. These theories are described and analyzed under the assumption that the old regionalism prioritizes democratic values and the new regionalism prioritizes economic values. Furthermore, the purpose of this essay can be divided into three parts. The first part is to describe and analyze how the old and new regionalism balances democratic and economic values. The second part consists of analyzing the committees proposal with the same criteria’s as the two regionalism theories and how they balance these two values in each area. The last and most important part is to analyze and describe how the committee balances the values in a bigger picture and if any of the values seems to be prioritized. The committee’s proposal is analyzed in the same areas as the two regionalism theories and the conclusion is that the committee’s proposal is closely related to the new regionalism in three areas. One area is a combination of the two theories and the last area is not discussed. The result of this essay is that the committee’s proposal is closer related to the new regionalism since the balance between democratic and economic values seems to point towards a prioritization of the economic values.

Abstract Essay in Political Science, autumn 2010. ”ALBA – A regional integration project with good conditions?” Autor: Anna Sjögren. Course: Political Science, C-level, Tutor: Sten Berglund   An essential part of the political science research on regional integration has been about why states join economic unions and what forces drive the process of integration. This essay is a case study on the Latin American regional integration project called ALBA. The purpose is to, from the ideas of the swiss political scientist Walter Mattli, investigate if ALBA has the conditions to be a successful integration group. To reach the purpose two questions have been asked: 1) What does the demand for regional integration in Latin America looks like? 2) What does the supply of regional integration in Latin America looks like? My methodological approach has been to read scientific articles and news articles that deal with ALBA and to see what they say about the conditions that are crucial according to Mattli. The result shows that the market in the region is not so diversified but that the member states have been doing some trading with each other. A lot of the trade has involved oil and that has effected the cooperation. The global financial crisis has implyed challenges to ALBA, as the oil price has fallen. But it has also given the alliance more legitimacy when the economic system that ALBA criticize has showed its deficiencies. To become a long-term project ALBA should end its dependence on oil. In Hugo Chávez ALBA has a rather undisputed leader. That Cuba, since the start of ALBA, has changed its political leader can have a significance. Due to the political orientation of ALBA the deveopment in the member states is crucial for the future of the union. That Brazil has chosen not to be a member of ALBA has both advantages and disadvantages for the alliance. Chávez has avoided a putative struggle of power but ALBA would probably be stronger if the region's economic, demographic, and territorial giant was participating.

Is citizenship gendered? The answer to this question for most feminist theorists has to be a resounding ‘yes’. For them citizenship has always been gendered in the sense that women and men have stood in different relationship to it, to the disadvantage of women. In recent years citizenship has been combined to gender by a number of feminists. Their work is all about the importance to reconstruct citizenship because they believe it fails to engage or to include women. This thesis examines the limitations of citizenship as it is in its current construction. The discussion clearly indicates the need to use gender and difference as categories of analysis in the creation of an inclusive conception of citizenship. The thesis will focus on the theoretical project and particularly on three debates around the ‘engendering of citizenship’. Discourse analysis is used as textual analysis in order to compare these three alternative models to citizenship. The aim is to investigate what solutions they find to include women into public life. One can appreciate that citizenship is a complex problem and so are the debates concerning it. It is important that feminists discuss this question carefully so that citizenship does not loose its meaning.