The democratic process in Myanmar has been a troublesome one. Since the democratic wave arrived the country has witnessed an intense conflict which has led to something that the Human Rights Watch has called an ethnic cleansing. This essay focuses on the institutional instability and will try to explain how the instability and its product of low civil knowledge contributes to the manipulation of the people by the state elites, in this case the military. The main theory that is used during this essay is created by the political scientist Jack Snyder who writes about how weak institutional development in democratic processes has a greater risk of getting hijacked by elites within states who does not want to give up all of their power to the democratic force. This essay will also use theories from other political scientists such as Robert Dahl to strengthen some of the arguments about the democratic process. The questions that this essay will discuss is whether the weak institutional situation and the low civic skills together with the manipulation by the military is the main problem to the chaotic situation we are witnessing today. To approach this problem the essay will examine three important institutional parts of the Myanmar society to try and create logical conclusions about the situation based on Jack Snyder's theory.

The aim of this study is to investigate differences that exist in Estonia and Russia with regard to civil society, democracy and corruption and try to find out what can be possible causes to the vast differences in these two countries. Many political scientists claim that civil society plays a key role in democratic transitions. This paper takes its point of departure in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and Estonia and Russia became independent. Since then Estonia has had a flourishing economy which attract many foreign investments, with Sweden as the greatest investor. The country has also managed well to adjust quickly from totalitarianism to democracy. This paper also addresses issues with corruption as it is a major problem in Russia and affects every day life in society. My results show that since Vladimir Putin came to power, Russia has got a higher degree of corruption and the evolution of democracy has gone backwards. I also found that there is a lack of social capital in the Russian society. In Estonia however, the results show that the country now has a well-functioning democracy. The legal environment for NGOs has steadily improved since Estonia became member of the EU. However, there still remain some deficit with regards to being a participating democracy at the grass-root level within the civil society. The theories used in this paper are Heidenheimer´s theory on corruption and Robert Putnam´s institutional theory on horizontal organization and social capital. The methods used are comparative case study and most similar systems design.

Bachelor essay in political science by Linus Johansson, fall of 2006 “Aid and corruption: How do aid donors handle the corrupt regimes?”. Supervisor: Jan Olsson. The purpose of this essay is to describe the aid relation between donors and corrupt governments, to find out whether donors reckon on the problems with implementation of aid to corrupt governments when they decree their aid policy. There are a lot of different ways to implement the economic aid that are being used by the donors today, and this essay will try to exemplify the different methods of implementing the economic aid. To elucidate the relation between donors and corrupt regimes, the essay analyzes three themes: the first two questions are about the policies used by the donors, and the third question are used to shed light on the actual implementation of aid to corrupt governments. The three themes are: i) Different aid policies used by the donors ii) Do donors use particular policies against corrupt regimes? iii) Do corrupt regimes receive less foreign aid? This study stresses the fact that donors do not act like a group unit in the matter of development assistance policy, instead they act in several separate groups, this may complicate the endeavour of making economic aid effective. The conclusion of the essay is that corrupt governments are treated the same way that lesscorrupted government are, nothing today indicates that donors would give less economic aid to the corrupt regimes. This is interesting considering that donors outwards maintain the importance of rewarding good institutions, that signifies that those who in practice does not attach great importance in this matter does not fulfil their own policies. It is an important issue because corruption seems to debilitate the effects of development assistance, but development assistance having problem of debilitate the corruption in the recipients’ countries.

CSR och hållbart företagande är traditionellt sett flexibelt hållna begrepp som företag uppmuntras att arbeta med på eget initiativ. Med vägledning av internationella standarder uppmuntras företag minimera negativa konsekvenser som deras verksamheter kan generera. Mot bakgrund av ett ökat behov av transparens och enhetlighet mellan företag som är verksamma på EU:s inre marknad har hållbarhetsredovisningsdirektivet antagits. Direktivet, vilket har genomförts i svensk rätt genom införande av bland annat 6 kap 12 § årsredovisningslagen, föreskriver en skyldighet för företag av viss storlek att identifiera väsentliga risker i verksamheten och redovisa dessa i en hållbarhetsredovisning som del av företagets förvaltningsberättelse. Riskidentifieringen ska göras mot bakgrund av vad som är nödvändigt för förståelse av företagets verksamhet, och innefatta risker i affärsförbindelser när det är relevant. En av de aspekterna som företag ska identifiera och redovisa risken för är korruption. Hållbarhetsredovisningskravet gäller från och med redovisningen av verksamhetsåret 2017. Svenska staten är en stor bolagsägare i Sverige och ställer krav på de statligt ägda bolagen att agera föredömligt på området för hållbart företagande, bland annat genom krav på efterlevnad av en framtagen ägarpolicy. Inom ramen för en empirisk studie har 47 statligt ägda bolags hållbarhetsredovisningar för verksamhetsåret 2016 granskats. Syftet var att fastställa hur de statligt ägda bolagen arbetar med identifiering och redovisning av risker för korruption, mot bakgrund av att redovisningskravet hittills inte har varit rättsligt bindande. Mot bakgrund av det varierande resultatet som studien visar kan ifrågasättas om samtliga av de statligt ägda bolagen agerar med en sådan föredömlighet som föreskrivs i ägarpolicyn. Genom en analys av huruvida hållbarhetsredovisningsdirektivet och 6 kap. 12 § årsredovisningslagen kan förhindra den underlåtenhet att redovisa risker för korruption som idag torde vara möjlig, konstateras att direktivet i teorin uppfyller sitt ändamål. Efter att redovisningskravet har börjat gälla kan korruption presumeras utgöra en väsentlig fråga för företag, vilket ställer höga krav för utelämnande av identifiering av korruptionsrisker i redovisningen. Ur praktisk synpunkt kan däremot anföras att direktivets språkliga utformning erbjuder en sådan flexibilitet vad gäller bedömningen av riskernas väsentlighet, att överträdelser av direktivet torde bli svåra att tillskriva företag eller dess företrädare ansvar för. Som slutsats anförs att direktivets föreskrifter borde ha utformats med mindre flexibilitet, i syfte att uppnå den enhetlighet mellan företags redovisningar som eftersträvas.

The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the five institutional factors: democracy, rule of law, freedom to trade, education and corruption, and how they affect income inequality. The analysis covers a total of 20 different countries, 10 OECD countries, and 10 low to medium income countries between the time period of 2000-2017. The study´s dependent variable is the Gini index and the independent variables are different types of measurements for corruption, democracy, rule of law, freedom to trade, and education. Results from the regression analysis have been made in order to get a better understanding in what way these variables affect income inequality. The result of the regression analysis was that four of these five variables had a negative relation with income inequality. With the independent variable “Freedom to trade” stood for the outlying result. Something that is however in line with previous research where the two categories of countries were split into two different regression analyses and showed different results depending on the type of country. We did the same thing and also then we found the same result as the previous research. Our conclusion from this study is that there seems to be a negative connection between income inequality and the five institutional factors. / Syftet med denna studie är att få en fördjupad förståelse av de fem institutionella faktorerna: demokrati, rättsstatsprincipen, handelsfrihet, utbildning och korruption och hur de påverkar inkomst ojämlikheten. Analysen omfattar totalt 20 olika länder, 10 OECD-länder och 10 låg till medelinkomstländer mellan perioden 2000–2017. Studiens beroende variabel är Gini koefficienten och de oberoende variablerna är olika former av mått på korruption, demokrati, rättsstatsprincipen, handelsfrihet och utbildning. Resultaten från regressionsanalysen har gjorts för att få en bättre förståelse för på vilket sätt dessa variabler påverkar inkomst ojämlikheten. Resultatet av regressionsanalysen var att fyra av dessa fem variabler hade ett negativt samband med inkomstojämlikhet. Där den oberoende variabeln “handelsfrihet” stod för det udda resultatet. Något som dock går i linje med tidigare forskning där man dessutom delade upp de två kategorierna av länder i olika regressionsanalyser och kom fram till olika resultat beroende på typen av land. Detta gjorde vi också och fick även då samma resultat som den tidigare forskningen. Vår slutsats av studien är att det till synes finns ett negativt samband mellan inkomstojämlikhet och de fem institutionella faktorerna.

The core value of any democracy is the right to freedom of expression and thought. In a system of representative democracy, the citizens vote in regular elections to choose a representative to best govern their interests. Of importance is a chance for citizens to have insight into how the public authorities exercise the power given to them. The principle of public access to information is a fundamental principle in Sweden’s form of government and is supposed to ensure transparency regarding public sector activities. One way to achieve transparency is with the possibility for officials to report alleged illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices directly to the organization, an act known as whistleblowing. The question of possible corruption in Swedish municipalities has become a topic of discussion. A concern for an extensive silence within the public sector from numerous actors such as media and labor organizations has also arisen.  The contribution of this study is to analyze and evaluate the possibilities provided by Swedish municipalities to encourage internal whistleblowing, as previous research stresses its value for the organizational integrity and ethical climate. Applying a qualitative method, the aim of this thesis is to empirically study policies and documents for implemented whistleblowing systems in Swedish municipalities. The results show that the ways vary in which it is made possible for public employees to blow the whistle within their organization. Most of the reporting channels are managed within the municipality. Possibilities for external reporting, which could strengthen review of reported wrongdoings, are limited. The used definition in Swedish municipalities mainly refers to corruption as a behavior that violates the law. The definition is problematic as it might fail to detect other forms of corruption such as nepotism, cronyism, or discrimination. Implemented whistleblowing systems do not guarantee a high sense of protection for a reporting person. A fear of retaliation could therefore have the effect of employees not reporting. The results of this thesis are of great importance as it shows that Swedish municipalities might not gain information of potential wrongdoings and unethical practices.

Korruption lässt sich als ökonomische Austauschbeziehung mit den Akteuren Prinzipal, Agent und Klient darstellen. Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, welche Faktoren das Ausmaß der Schädigung des Prinzipals durch Korruption beeinflussen und mit welchen Mitteln der Prinzipal entgegen steuern kann. Neben den Auswirkungen von Kontrollen, Strafandrohung, kulturellen und individuellen Faktoren wird insbesondere der Einfluss der Entlohnungsgestaltung untersucht. Die Zusammenhänge werden mit Hilfe formaler Modelle dargestellt und durch eine Auswertung empirischer Untersuchungen ergänzt.:1. Einleitung 2. Korruption als gesellschaftliches Phänomen 3. Verbreitung und Auswirkungen von Korruption 4. Korruption als ökonomische Austauschbeziehung 5. Wirkung von Aufdeckungsmechanismen und Bestrafung 6. Individuelle und kulturelle Ein üsse auf die Korruptionsentscheidung 7. Korruptionsvermeidende Entlohnungsverträge 8. Zusammenfassung

2. Die Fortschritte der internationalen Gemeinschaft in Richtung des Ziels, durch externes Eingreifen in den Staatsaufbau des Kosovos Demokratie und Marktwirtschaft zu erwir-ken, sind trotz aller Teilerfolge geringer als erhofft. Auch zwölf Jahre nach der Interventi-on der NATO und der Errichtung der UN-Übergangsverwaltungsmission (UNMIK) bleiben drängende Probleme weiterhin ungelöst. Die fehlende politische Orientierung der UNMIK bzw. ihr widersprüchliches Mandat stellte sich als zentrales Hindernis des State-Building-Prozesses heraus, wobei die Klärung der Statusfrage lange offenblieb und sich das Prolongieren einer Entscheidung über die Statusfrage äußerst negativ auf den gesamten Prozess des State-Buildings auswirkte. Prominente Erklärungsmuster für die Rückschläge und Verzögerungen im State-Building-Prozess werden in den folgenden Ein-flussfaktoren gesehen: nationalistische politische Eliten, unfähige Staatsgewalt, passive Politik der externen bzw. internen Akteure, korrupte Personen, unprofessionelle politische und wirtschaftliche Eliten, den Staat schwächende parallele Machtstrukturen, Schatten-wirtschaftliche Praktiken ökonomischer Reproduktion.

This paper investigates how an organization attempts to repair trust after organizational-level integrity violations by examining the influence of organizational rules on trust repair. We reconstruct the prominent corruption case of Siemens AG, which has faced the greatest bribery scandal in the history of German business. Our findings suggest that tightening organizational rules is an appropriate signal of trustworthiness for external stakeholders to demonstrate that the organization seriously intends to prevent integrity violations in the future. However, such rule adjustments were the source of dissatisfaction among employees since the new rules were difficult to implement in practice. We argue that these different impacts of organizational rules result from their inherent paradoxical nature. To address this problem, we suggest managing an effective interplay between formal and informal rules.

Der weltweite Wasserkraftboom wird entweder mit seinen Vorteilen (Hochwasserschutz, Wirtschaftswachstum, erneuerbare Energieerzeugung) oder negativen Auswirkungen betrachtet (Zerstörung intakter Lebensräume, Verdrängung der Bevölkerung und Bedrohung von Existenzgrundlagen). Die vorliegende Arbeit versucht den Wasserkraftboom besser zu verstehen wie auch den Fakt, dass dieser bislang nicht zum Bau großer Wasserkraftwerke geführt hat. Eine Fallstudie wurde von Juli bis Oktober 2016 und Juli bis August 2017 in Bosnien und Herzegowina durchgeführt. Auch dort ist die Zahl der gebauten Wasserkraftprojekte im Vergleich zur Zahl der geplanten Projekte vernachlässigbar gering. Qualitative Forschungsmethoden wurden angewendet und drei wesentliche Schlussfolgerungen gezogen. Erstens (Kap. II) wird erläutert, warum der Boom in Bosnien und Herzegowina nicht in dem vorgesehenen Ausmaß stattfinden wird und inwieweit das Phänomen einer Übertragung auf globalen Maßstab standhält. Zweitens (Kap. III) wird deutlich, wie v.a. kleinere Wasserkraftprojekte von Akteuren zum persönlichen Vorteil genutzt werden. Korruption ist in diesem Sektor weit verbreitet und eng mit dem Diskurs über nachhaltige Entwicklung im Land verbunden. Die kleinen Wasserkraftprojekte schaffen einen sicheren Raum für korrupte Akteure. Schließlich (Kap. IV) wurde untersucht, wie die BewohnerInnen eines kleinen Dorfes in Bosnien und Herzegowina ihre Vorstellungen von Nachhaltigkeit rund um die Wasserkraft verändert haben. Dies taten sie in Übereinstimmung mit sich ändernden sozioökonomischen Bedingungen. Dieses Kapitel illustriert, wie die Flexibilität des Begriffs Nachhaltigkeit für marginalisierte lokale BewohnerInnen von Vorteil sein kann. Die vorliegende Dissertation zeigt, dass der Wasserkraftboom, obwohl bislang weitgehend nur "auf dem Papier" existent, dennoch bereits reale materielle Konsequenzen für nachhaltige Entwicklungsstrategien, Korruption und das lokale Leben mit sich bringt. / The global hydropower boom is a well-known phenomenon. It is either considered for its benefits to sustainable development or cautioned against its negative socio-environmental impacts. Yet the number of existing hydropower projects is not very high globally. This thesis thus aspires to develop a better understanding of the global hydropower boom and why this boom has not resulted in large-scale hydropower plant construction. The hydropower boom in Bosnia and Herzegovina was selected as the object of study. There, the number of constructed hydropower projects is negligible in comparison to the number of planned projects. Qualitative research methods were used to explore the case in depth. The data was collected between July and October, 2016 and between July and August, 2017. Three main conclusions were drawn from the fieldwork conducted. Chapter II shows and explains why the hydropower boom is unlikely to take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the extent foreseen. It also questions the phenomenon at a global scale. Chapter III shows how small-scale hydropower projects are used by various actors for personal benefit. Corruption is rife in the sector and closely connected to the sustainable development discourse in the country. A key finding here is that small-scale hydropower projects create a safe space for corrupt actors. Chapter IV explores how the inhabitants of a small village in Bosnia and Herzegovina changed their sustainability imaginaries around hydropower. They did this in accordance with changing socio-economic conditions. This chapter thus illustrates how the flexibility of the term sustainability can be beneficial to marginalised local inhabitants. In general, this thesis, therefore, contributes to the hydropower literature. It shows that the hydropower boom is largely ‘on-paper’ but with real material consequences for sustainable development strategies, corruption, and local lives.