This thesis investigates the reasons behind democratic backsliding by looking at the past 15 years of democratic development in Poland and Hungary, two backsliding countries, and comparing it with Czech Republic, a country that has not faced severe democratic backsliding. Previous research has pointed to many different possible reasons for backsliding but there is no agreement on theoretical explanations, especially not for backsliding in countries that were previously perceived as having consolidated democracy. This study uses Linz and Stepans five arenas of consolidated democracy and compares Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic through a most similar systems design in order to identify the arenas that can explain the democratic backsliding. In the second part of the analysis, these identified arenas -  civil society and rule of law - are more closely investigated over the 15-year time span in order to find what happened in Poland and Hungary and how it differs from what happened in Czech Republic. The study concludes that it is the combination of structurally insufficient democratic institutions and agents willing to abuse these structural deficits that lead to democratic backsliding. Further research is encouraged to identify other important arenas and include more countries in the comparison in order to strengthen any findings.

The main purpose of this essay is to examine the existing differences between how religion istaught at secondary schools in Hungary and Sweden. Furthermore, this essay will also discussand strive to answer the three questions that are stated below: 1. What differences and similarities can be found between religious education inSwedish and Hungarian secondary schools? 2. Why do these differences and/or similarities occur? 3. What are the consequences of these differences and/or similarities, according totheories on religious education and according to pedagogical theories? In order to answer these questions, this essay analyzes both Swedish and Hungariancurriculum, syllabus and other governmental documents on religious education in publicsecondary schools. Theories on decentralization, multiculturalism in schools and on seculareducation are some of the theories applied in order to achieve a multifaceted discussion. Thefinal conclusion of this essay is that there are numerous similarities and differences regardingreligious education between the countries, including content, form and focus within theprogrammes. These similarities and differences occur mainly due to political decisions, butalso due to historical and cultural contexts. The consequences of the previously statedsimilarities and differences are that students in Hungary and in Sweden can develop adifferent kind of worldview and perspective of knowledge. Furthermore, the difference withinthe two school systems may foster different values and provide students with different formsof knowledge and abilities.

This is a qualitative comparative case study, with two cases in focus Poland and Hungary. The purpose of this study is to compare two similar cases of negative democratic trends and to view similarities and differences. The research questions are; what democratic challenges do Poland and Hungary face in relation to the five arenas of the theory, civil society, political society, the rule of law, the state apparatus and the economic arena? What are the similarities and differences between the two countries? The theory used is Linz & Stepans democratization theory that uses five different arenas in order to analyze a state. The findings in the study is that there are many similarities in how the two states started their autocratization processes. The differences being that Hungary has come further in many of the arenas and are therefore more authoritarian. They also differ in the conditions the two different ruling parties had in order to start the autocratization process.

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The aim of the essay was to analyse the problems for democratic consolidation in Hungary during Fidesz time in the government. The research question was: which problems could be identified for the democratic consolidation in Hungary during 2010 to 2018 when the analysis is focused on the civil society, the political society, the rule of law and the state apparatus? In order to answer the research question a case study was done. Four of Linz and Stepan’s arenas which are important for a consolidated democracy were used. The study identified several problems for the democratic consolidation in Hungary. The problems for civil society included for instance more regulations for NGO:s and negative statements from government representatives . The main problems for political society were that Fidesz had unfair advantages, for instance regarding media. Some of the problems for rule of law were the lack of unity around the constitution and that the areas which the constitutional court has jurisdiction over has been reduced. One of the problems for the state apparatus was corruption.

Stoft är ett eoliskt, klastiskt silt-material som blåst från exponerade områden via atmosfären och avsätts i form av löss-sekvenser på andra ställen i världen. Dessa sekvenser utgör ett naturligt arkiv som innehåller information om tidigare förändringar i klimatet ända bak till kvartärtidens början för ungefär 2.5 miljoner år sedan.                       Mycket av stoftet i Europa avsattes under senaste istiden som var för cirka hundra tusen till tio tusen år sedan. En löss-sekvens är lokaliserad i Madaras i södra Ungern och är tio meter tjock, för det här projektet har stoft-prover från sekvensen analyserats med röntgenstrålning. Analysen visar vilka och vilken halt av grundämnen som stoftproverna från de olika nivåerna innehåller, vilket i sin tur hjälper till att rekonstruera klimat från den senaste istiden. Röntgenstrålningen har genererats av en apparat som heter Brukar S1 Titan och utför metoden XRF som står för X-ray Flourescence, vilken har utförts på Geocentrum på Uppsala Universitet. Tolkning av resultatet samt jämförelse med tidigare forskning ska hjälpa till att förstå klimatförändringar från senaste istiden genom att undersöka vittring och ursprungskälla. Resultatet indikerar på att information om klimat är bevarat i sekvensen, då slutsatsen är att vittring har haft en svag men tydlig effekt på stoftet som avsatts i Madaras, och att ändringar av stoftets ursprungskälla inte har påverkat den studerade sekvensen. / Dust is aeolian, clastic silt material that has been eroded from exposed land surfaces, blown via the atmosphere and deposited as loess sequences in other areas in the world. Loess contains information about changes in the climate all the way back to the beginning of the Quaternary, approximately 2.5 million years ago.                       Research shows that a lot of the European dust was deposited during the last glacial of the Quaternary period, which was from approximately one hundred thousand to ten thousand years ago. One loess sequence is located in Madaras in southern Hungary and is 10 meters thick, in this project, dust samples from the sequence have been analyzed with XRF (X-ray Flourescence). The analysis shows which and what percentage of elements the samples contain, which in turn will help to reconstruct climate from the last glacial. The analysis was conducted using a XRF machine called Bruker S1 Titan and was done at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. Interpreting of the results, as well as comparing with earlier research, will help to understand climate changes from the latest glacial by examine weathering and dust source. The result indicates that information about past climate is preserved at the site, because of the conclusion that says that weathering has had a weak but distinct effect on the dust deposited at Madaras, and that the dust source changes do not have affected the studied sequence.

Klädindustrin är en av världens mest förorenade industrier och har en stor negativ miljöpåverkan. Medvetenheten och intresset av miljöfrågor ökar samtidigt som det finns en ovilja hos konsumenter att köpa hållbara produkter, vilket kallas ”det gröna gapet”. En ökad förståelse för det gröna gapet tillåter företag att arbeta på ett mer specifikt sätt mot sina tillväxtmål utifrån behovet av en mer hållbar konsumtion inom och mellan nationer. Däremot finns det en bristfällig kunskap kring hållbarhet avseende kulturens inflytande i miljömedvetna attityder och värderingar samt verkningsgraden i marknadsföringsstrategier som bidrar till att minska det gröna gapet. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för det gröna gapet avseende hållbar klädkonsumtion i studiens forskningsländer Sverige, Ungern och Marocko, samt undersöka skillnader och/eller likheter för huruvida konsumenter i dessa nationskulturer konsumerar hållbart avseende kläder. Studien är kvalitativ och bygger på en tvärkulturell flerfallsstudie, där primärdata grundades i 15 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien har visat följande slutsatser: Det saknas en konsensus kring definitionen av hållbar klädkonsumtion inom och mellan forskningsländerna, vilket leder till det gröna gapet. Forskningsländernas beteenden går i linje med Hofstedes undersökningsresultat, medan deras värderingar både bekräftar och motsäger teorin. Skillnaderna mellan forskningsländernas konsumtionsbeteende beror på ländernas förhållningssätt till Hofstedes kulturdimensioner, där den största skillnaden är att svenskar konsumerar kläder hållbart utifrån medvetna val, ungerska konsumenter konsumerar utifrån second hand och marockaner konsumerar kläder via klädbyten. Likheten mellan forskningsländernas konsumtionsbeteende är att konsumera kläder utifrån deras kvalitet och tidlöshet. Avseende hållbar klädkonsumtion värderas egoistiska värderingar samt funktionella och estetiska värden högst bland samtliga länder vare sig kläderna är hållbart producerade eller inte. Studien tillför ett teoretiskt bidrag till den företagsekonomiska forskningen samt ett praktiskt bidrag till marknadschefer i deras beslutsfattande kopplat till att utveckla företagets verksamhet och nå ut till klädkonsumenter för att minimera det gröna gapet. / The clothing industry is one of the world's most polluted industries and has a huge negative impact on the environment. Awareness and interest in environmental issues are increasing while consumers are unwilling to buy sustainable clothes. This reluctance is referred to as “the green gap”. The purpose of the study is to expand the understanding of the green gap regarding sustainable clothing consumption in Sweden, Hungary and Morocco from a consumer perspective, and to investigate differences and/or similarities for whether consumers in these national cultures consume sustainably regarding clothing. This qualitative study is based on a cross-cultural multiple-case study with an abductive approach. The study's primary data is based on 15 semi-structured interviews. The study showed that there is no consensus on the definition of sustainable clothing consumption within and between the research countries, which leads to the green gap. The differences between the consumption behavior of each research country are due to how the countries stand in relation to Hofstede's cultural dimensions; Swedes consume clothes sustainably based on conscious choices, Hungarians mainly consume clothes via second hand and Moroccans consume clothes via clothing swap. Regarding sustainable clothing consumption, egotistical, functional and aesthetic values are valued highest among all countries, whether the clothes are sustainably produced or not. The greatest similarity between the research countries is that consumption is based on the quality and timelessness of the clothes. The study adds a theoretical contribution to business economics research as well as a practical contribution to marketing managers in their decision-making linked to developing their business and reaching out to clothing consumers to minimize the green gap.

Democratic backsliding is a growing threat against peace in Europe. In the 1990s, Europeunderwent extensive democratization, including Poland and Hungary, who were painted asexemplary in the transition. In recent years, however, the countries have shown the opposite development and are today the two countries in Europe that have the fastest declining democracy. The aim of this thesis is to understand this phenomenon and investigate the democratic developmentin Poland and Hungary through process tracing from the end of World War II to the year 2020. To do so, the theory of political culture is applied to elaborate the explanations of the development. Furthermore, there is a need to do further research concerning democratic backsliding in Poland and Hungary as they are often considered equals in the academic debate. Additionally, the purpose ofthis thesis is therefore to rebut this inaccurate presentation of the countries. The results are achieved by using process tracking and most different design as main methods. Thefindings of the thesis are based on the results of the analysis, concluding that the anti-democraticdevelopments in Poland and Hungary do indeed have differences. Through the process tracking, differences are found in the explanatory variables. The countries have similar critical events whichhave shaped the countries collective memory differently. This difference is also found in how the parties have created legitimacy among the population.

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