The aim of this master thesis is to investigate if WTO members' shifting behaviour in the Dispute Settlement Mechanism may be explained using a game theoretic approach. To do this, the author uses a three step process: First, a thorough quantitative analysis of how the DSM works and how the members behave in it is carried out. Second, with the result from the first part in mind, a game theore

This thesis is a theory-testing analysis of the free-market commercial neo-liberal welfare-regime convergence hypothesis, stating that welfare regimes in a globalized international economy will converge towards the liberal welfare regime. Given the structural settings of the EU context, the cases of Denmark, Finland and Sweden, i.e. the social-democratic welfare regime within EU, constitute ?most

The purpose of this article is to describe the discourse in which public-private partnership (PPP) resides, within the Swedish parliament, in the field of infrastructure. I have chosen to look at the latest three years deliberation where PPP appears in parliament bills. This case study is based upon discourse as a qualitative method. Five indicator signs which is history, comparison, geographic l

Bolivia is a multiethnic country where the indigenous people constitute the majority of the population. Despite two decades of attempts to take the democracy further is its foundation more volatile than ever. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine if exclusion is taken place in Bolivia from year 1982 until today and if so in which way political exclusion constitute problems of democracy in

In November 2001, Malta experienced the first larger arrival of irregular immigrants when a boat carrying 57 people landed on its shores. Since then, the influx of immigrants has continued which constitutes a new phenomenon for this small country situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea - it has become the destination for immigrants seeking a better life in Europe. These so-called ?boat peo

Building on previous work on the agenda-shaping powers of the Council Presidency, this heuristic case study identifies and explores a set of important factors that influence the Presidency´s ability to shape the EU-political agenda. The primary material consists of a set of interviews with Portuguese and Commission officials, treating the Portuguese Presidency in 2007. Four main findings are discu

In this thesis I will study and analyze official policy documents from the Swedish Sports Confederation(RF). I will be performing a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on these documents from a gender theory perspective, also influenced by queer theory. Sports remain one of the most gendered institutions in society. It is the purpose of this study to ascertain the way RF treats gender in its officia

This thesis aims at analysing conflicts between different ideals of democracy, using the example of a newly implemented citizen´s initiative reform. This reform gives citizens the right to make policy proposals to Swedish municipal councils. The proposals are to be handled in the same way as proposals from the municipal council members. An ideology analysis of various government documents as well

The aim of this theoretical study is to explain how the notion of the Other and Otherness affect individuals possibilities to form multiple, personal identities. This is done by the use of the theory of the Other and the construction of identities. In my analysis I will be using the power perspective presented by Lukes. The purpose of my study is also to investigate whether a focus on similarity o

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how municipalities handle planning of megaprojects. The term megaproject here refers to a large project in terms of time, space, investments, numbers of agents etc. With an increasing importance of the phenomena the need of discussing the role local politics could take in this process is important. How do municipalities handle the difficulties that come wi

This paper investigates whether there is a right not to suffer from poverty. The investigation is being conducted from the theoretical standpoint/view that only civil and political rights constitute justiciable rights and rights proper from a moral stance, whereas economic and social rights constitute mere political agendas or less. In the search of an answer to this question the content of econo

This essay constitutes a qualitative case study about democratization theory and the middle class in Russia. This is a very important case to study, especially because of the geographic position of the country as well as the economic importance Russia has as a part of the G8. In the essay the author seeks to answer the question whether the lack of a significant middle class in Russia can be a part

Public opinion can be shaped as well as transformed in a number of ways. Government authorities occasionally make use of public information campaigns to educate and steer the public. In this thesis the balance between public and private, the individual and the society is analysed in terms of dimensions of individualism and communitarianism. These dissimilar theories on how the society ought to be

Sustainable development is a concept that has been interpreted in a multitude of ways in different contexts. This essay argues that the discourse of "ecological modernization" has strongly influenced the way in which the concept of ?sustainability? has been constructed in Swedish environmental policy. This interpretation of the concept of sustainability offers the possibility of combinin

The enlargement of the European Union has been claimed to be one of the most powerful foreign policy instruments to spread peace and stability in the wider Europe. The EU if often expected to have a responsibility for the broader European region, a responsibility that can be derived from treaty texts and declarations. The effectiveness of the enlargement instrument is dependent on the credibility

I believe that it is uncomplicated to present a plausible rational account of the final result of the negotiations. There are also reasons to believe that normative considerations played a role in Norway´s decision to unilaterally increase its contribution to the Central and Eastern European countries. The purpose of this paper however is to show that in order to achieve a deeper understanding of

By conceiving identity as endogenously defined and construing other central political concepts according to this assumption, constructivism has proven apt to understand and explain phenomena that eariler were hard to grasp. Constructivist ideas have here been used in order to analyze the events surrounding the Single European Act as a contrast to the more conventional rationalist approach used by

Den här uppsatsen vill belysa Normmodellen som ett analysredskap för institutionell utveckling inom offentlig förvaltning. På vilket sätt behöver den offentliga förvaltningen organisera sig för att möta kraven från en globaliserad värld, som kommer att ställa krav på den offentliga förvaltningens demokratiska organisationsform. En hierarkisk styrd kommunal organisation kommer att få det svårt att

This thesis strives to tell a story of archaeological knowledge production at the Uppåkra site in Scania, southern Sweden, through focusing upon the actual work on site. Ethnographic study of archaeologists in the field brings the thesis into contact with sites and material practices as well as literary sources and accounts of archaeology and methodological problems. Following these leads the thes

Det här examensarbetet behandlar Suzukipedagogiken och barns upplevelser av föräldrars aktiva stöd och engagemang när deras barn lär sig spela ett musikinstrument. Undervisningsmetoden bygger på interaktionen mellan elev, förälder och lärare, vilket utgör Suzukipedagogikens hörnstenar. För examensarbetets utförande valde jag ut fyra informanter, utifrån kriteriet att de skulle ha haft minst en för