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This study investigates the emerging phenomenon of gamification of terrorism, understood as the exploitation of video games mechanics and aesthetics to radicalize, proliferate propaganda and produce terror. Through an open-source ethnographic exploration of the “r/unexpectedjihad” community on Reddit, it attempts to answer how and to what extent violent jihadi sympathizers are gamifying terror in a digital setting. Data harvested from the subreddit underwent thematic analysis and was dissected for symptoms of gamification. Subsequently, two themes, Playfulness and Propaganda, were drawn, which allowed the researcher to decipher the means and methods used to disperse, ritualize, or even fetishize violence within the community. This thesis argues that “r/unexpectedjihad” acted as a perpetual terror gamification machine where users shared gamified propaganda and interacted with it in gamified ways. At last, it extends the glossary of gamification by introducing a new piece of vocabulary describing the observed mechanisms of propagating terror.

Securing access to land around the world is an issue that pervades many development agendas. Often promoted through legal and administrative systems, secure land tenure is used in the battle against poverty and to reduce land based conflict. Conceptualizations of secure tenure tend to differ between international institutions and academia. This thesis aims to understand how the World Bank conceptualizes secure tenure by investigating World Bank policy documents and other discursive material available online. The Bacchi“What’s the problem represented to be” (2009) method guides the analysis and asks how the World Bank constructs ‘the problem’ of insecure tenure and the proposed solutions to make it secure. The networks of access and the accompanying exclusionary effects, based on the ‘Powers of Exclusion’ theory from Hall, Hirsch and Li (2014) are not acknowledged in the World Bank discourse on secure tenure. Instead, the World Bank advocates for increased market involvement and legal regulation. This has exclusionary effects that remove access to people’s land and livelihoods. Furthermore, the composite view of secure tenure which includes customary, formalized legal and perception based security is less prevalent (van Gelder, 2010). The analysis finds that the World Bank promotes formalized legal frameworks as the main mechanism to secure tenure. These findings embed the discourse of the World Bank into larger theoretical discussions about the purpose and use of land. However, more comprehensive studies of international institutions' discourses on land tenure security are still needed to fully understand the consequences of such conceptualizations.

The rise of global social media platforms has offered civilians opportunities to share information through the use of visuals and text independently. The internet and technological advancements have thereby played an essential role in enabling individuals to share their perspectives and contribute their content to broader audiences. As a consequence of the Iranian revolution, triggered by the execution of Mahsa Amini on the 16th of September 2022, affected individuals have increasingly turned to global social media platforms, such as Instagram, to share their narratives internationally. Despite facing limitations on freedom of expression, these people utilize social media to shed light on their stories, raise awareness, garner support, and attract attention from abroad. This research explores the role of civil reporting on Instagram in the ongoing Iranian Revolution, examining the narratives involved and analyzing the situation from a postcolonial feminist perspective. Drawing inspiration from Fairclough’s language theory, the study applies discourse analysis to facilitate an in-depth investigation of 16 Instagram accounts regarding the revolution and explore how their content intersects with social synergies.

Climate change has become an increasingly political matter, shaping discursive debates over the different conceptualizations of climate action. Climate policies offer a glimpse of current discursive trends. This research analyzes climate policies by the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), two Regional Organizations (RO). Both have recently published two comprehensive climate policies to guide their continent’s paths toward climate action: the EU’s Green Deal and the AU’s Climate Strategy. The documents serve as a case study for a discourse analysis. The aim is to understand what discourses do the two ROs present and through which climate change worldviews they conceptualize climate action. The importance lies in understanding how language shapes our interpretations of real-world action. The findings indicate that climate change problems in the EU policy are conceptualized as an issue of resource misallocation, which requires economic solutions. Similar discourses are also visible in the solutions presented by the AU’s policy. However, the AU focuses more on encouraging institutional cooperation across the continent, building on principles of climate justice and social rights. Both policies also focus on the need to rethink current unsustainable economic systems, with the EU opting for circular economy solutions to reduce resource extraction.

This essay is a theory-consuming case study, the purpose of which is to investigate how Western norms and colonial power relations have influenced the design of the EU's trade agreement Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The essay's theoretical framework is based on norm diffusion and postcolonial theory. First, empirical evidence about the theories and the EPA agreement is presented, then follows an analysis where the theory is applied to the case. The conclusion drawn is that the design of the EPA agreement is influenced by Western norms, as the EU actively works to promote universal Western values, such as free trade and democracy through their economic policies. Hence, through the EU's normative power and eurocentrism, Western global patterns become universal. Furthermore, the post-colonial power relations have continued to characterize the relationship between Europe and Africa, which leads to the conclusion that the trade agreement can be perceived as an extension of colonial power relations and structures.

How can an authoritarian leader manage to get reelected for over three decades despite their undemocratic political strategy? This essay aims to explain how this is possible with the theoretical framework dictator’s dilemma, by using a comparative case study between Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe and Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni. The motivation of the case selection is their long rule from the 1980’s to, for Mugabe 2017 whereas he was forced to resign due to a coup, and for Museveni who continues his rule to this day. Due to the many similarities between the cases, the motive is to try to explain how Mugabe can be overthrown after so many years, but Musevni manages to remain president. The studie shows, based on Bruce Bueno De Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s five general rules for balancing power as an autocratic leader, that Mugabe failed to stay loyal to his inner circle. Museveni on the other hand, handled this differently, and it can therefore be argued that this is one of the reasons why Mugabe was overthrown and Museveni remains.

Born into the context of tense geopolitical competition, the Global Gateway Initiative has shown the motivation of the European Union to take on a more ambitious role as a global actor. A trend in the academic literature hints at a shift towards a more pragmatic and geopolitically oriented paradigm in the EU´s foreign policy. In order to investigate how the EU envisions its own role, this paper adopts a theoretical framework based on role conception. Qualitative content analysis is used to analyse communication material published by the European Union on the Global Gateway Initiative. The results suggest that the EU´s role conception is ambiguous. In conclusion, this paper provides three hypotheses arguing that the inconclusive results hint at the EU being a “power in transition”, a “power in crisis” or a political actor with a complicated decision–making process.

The thesis investigates how the problem of Critical Raw Material supply chains is represented within the European Critical Raw Materials Act of 2023. Bacchi’s ‘What's Problem Represented To Be’ approach has been adapted and utilised to explore what aspects of these supply chains are problematised. By highlighting how the problem of supply chains is represented, this research aims to uncover what political, social and environmental implications are not mentioned and by extension, silenced within this European Critical Raw Materials Act. The application of the Sociotechnical Imaginaries framework highlights the factors included in the desired future of a twin transition fuelled by CRMs disseminated through the European Critical Raw Materials Act and thereby promoted by the European Commission and the European Union. However, this analysis also shows that the plan that is set in place by the European Critical Raw Materials Act to reach a twin transition pertains weaknesses and shortcomings for addressing import dependency, supply chain vulnerability as well as social and environmental implications.

This bachelor’s thesis in Political Science examines the differences between Swedish trade union members and elected representatives’ attitudes to the functions of trade unions. The study draws from theory of bounded rationality by Herbert A. Simon and theory of collective action by Mancur Olson as well as theory on social movements, to create a theoretical framework in which three functions of trade unions are identified: individual, solidarity and societal. The empirical data was gathered using a qualitative survey study in which attitudes from Swedish trade union members and elected representatives produced the study’s data. The study then used a quantitative method for the analytical work using descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and regression analysis. The findings indicate there are no particular noteworthy differences between members and elected representatives’ attitudes to the functions of trade unions. However, the study finds that women compared to men hold more solidarity-oriented attitudes towards the function of trade unions.

In October 2022, under a new administration, the Swedish government made a historic declaration to abolish the established tradition of allocating one percent of the Gross International Income (GNI) to foreign aid. This pivotal decision, unprecedented in Sweden's history, has sparked considerable attention and raised questions about the motivation behind this notable shift in aid policy. Therefore, this study employs the theory of strategic narratives to analyze the underlying motives behind this decision. By examining different levels of strategic narratives, including the issue narrative, system narrative and identity narrative, the analysis reveals the motivations for eliminating the so-called one percent target. Employing a qualitative content analysis of primary sources, including the foreign policy declaration and other official documents, the study delves into the presented rationale within these sources. The findings indicate a shift in narratives, moving from a previous emphasis on generosity and solidarity to a more economically focused approach with an emphasis on trade and national interests. This study contributes to the understanding of how strategic narratives are employed in shaping and justifying policy decisions, providing insights into the motivations behind Sweden's shift in aid policy.

Many scholars have studied the rising threat from terrorism and the different challenges for the intelligence community in the prevention of an attack. But little research has been done on countries' different preventive measures within counter-terrorism. One of those examples are between Denmark and Sweden, which have made largely different approaches to preventive measures regarding security and guarding outside of jewish institutions. After the terror attack in Copenhagen 2015, when a jewish security guard was killed outside the synagogue, the danish government contributed to an extensive reprioritization within the police's work on the surveillance and the security measures to protect jewish targets. This is a big difference to Sweden, where jewish congregations are largely responsible for their own security. Using Wilhelm Agrell´s model for warning-processes and his theory about challenges in the detection of threats, this study has found flaws with the preventative measures, both in Denmark before the attack in 2015 and in Sweden today. By using the compliance theory to examine the organizational structure of the police today in different regions, the study has also found lacking resources, lack of information and collaboration as factors that contribute to the difference between the security measures and guarding between the countries.

Education, particularly girls' education, is essential for personal and national development, addressing issues such as poverty, and political instability. However, gender disparity in education remains a significant problem, leading to increased interest from governments and international organizations in addressing the issue through policy implementation. This study, therefore, investigates the persistent barriers to girls' education in Chad by analyzing the problem representation in the discourse of international organizations' strategic development programs. The study employs Carol Bacchi's "What is the 'Problem' Represented to be?" (WPR) methodology, relying on constructivism, poststructuralism, and feminist theories. The research question focuses on the representation of the problem of low female education in Chad, its silences in discourse, and its repercussions within strategic development programs. The findings indicate that problem representations in analyzed documents on girls' education programs have limitations and omissions, prioritizing objectives such as health and economic development while marginalizing or ignoring crucial issues such as early marriage, patriarchal societies, inadequate curricula, and violence against women. By analyzing problem representations critically, the study demonstrates the need to challenge existing power dynamics and promote gender equality in education.

In later years, discourse on meat consumption has gained increased focus within the political sphere. In Sweden, despite the increase in attention, it is yet to result in any implementation of significant initiatives targeted at reducing meat consumption. In this paper, we have used critical discourse analysis to analyse the discourse on meat consumption in Sweden, searching for aspects and issues that might hinder implementing political initiatives regarding reducing meat consumption. We have searched through 23 different sources, including debates, transcription and literature, to motivate the political actions and attitudes as well as society's perception and social influence. Using newspapers and media outlets to show the opinion of the public. The source was analysed through Bacchi’s What's the Problem Represented to be? An approach where the sources were analysed through her six questions. The analysis resulted in key findings divided into four topics. These topics were Responsibility, Intervening and Control, Information and Misinformation and Social and Behavioural aspects, which all gave insight into answering the research question of what aspects and issues might hinder political initiatives targeted at reducing meat consumption within Sweden.

Despite an increased emphasis on the role of cities in reaching the EU's ambitious climate goals, attention has been lacking paid towards climate justice on an urban level. Simultaneously, following international directives, urban adaptation plans are expected to consider climate justice in their approach and acknowledge the effects and benefits of climate action on their most exposed citizens. This research aims to study how and to what extent aspects of climate justice are understood and translated into local climate action strategies. The climate action plans of Budapest, Dublin, and Stockholm are analyzed through a qualitative discourse analysis applying the “What is the problem represented to be?” (WPR) methodological approach exploring the implicit portrayals of climate justice in the documents. Guiding the analysis, the concept of climate justice has been applied by adopting Bulkeley et al. 's (2014) conceptual framework categorizing suggested actions implying climate justice into recognition, distribution and procedural justice. The findings show that urban climate action plans do include implications of climate justice, however, to varying extents and portrayals. Budapest’s and Dublin’s action plan include all three categories and offer a complementary framing of climate justice to different extents. In contrast, in Stockholm’s climate plan, climate justice implications are almost entirely absent.

This study explores how a contemporary systemic shift regarding secrecy and intelligence is affecting the strategic performance of states engaged in overt or covert intervention. These changes are conceptualized by researchers as “implausible deniability”, “delayed disclosure” and “the democratization of intelligence” and their significance are applied to limited-war theory with a theoretical focus on acknowledgment and open secrets. Comparative case study methodology and narrative analysis are used to find and explore this change. Arguing that if it has taken place, it should be found, and explored in a contemporary case where these theoretical factors exist. This case is compared to a historical case, predating the change but which contains similar dynamics, as a reference and point of comparison. Reporting and deliberations on Soviet surface-to-air missile support to North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder are compared to a contemporary case when the Moskva was sunk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. Due to this systemic shift secrecy is being replaced by ambiguity and non-acknowledgment. Mobilizing support for interventions in the future will probably require just cause, and harnessing secrecy as a source of state power might be increasingly difficult., This study explores how a contemporary systemic shift regarding secrecy and intelligence is affecting the strategic performance of states engaged in overt or covert intervention. These changes are conceptualized by researchers as “implausible deniability”, “delayed disclosure” and “the democratization of intelligence” and their significance are applied to limited-war theory with a theoretical focus on acknowledgment and open secrets. Comparative case study methodology and narrative analysis are used to find and explore this change. Arguing that if it has taken place, it should be found, and explored in a contemporary case where these theoretical factors exist. This case is compared to a historical case, predating the change but which contains similar dynamics, as a reference and point of comparison. Reporting and deliberations on Soviet surface-to-air missile support to North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder are compared to a contemporary case when the Moskva was sunk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. Due to this systemic shift secrecy is being replaced by ambiguity and non-acknowledgment. Mobilizing support for interventions in the future will probably require just cause, and harnessing secrecy as a source of state power might be increasingly difficult.

Divers from the Swedish Navy who specialize in explosive ordnance disposal are renowned for their professionalism and expertise. This study sheds light on the transformation that began at the start of the new millennium in an effort to become more adaptable and compatible with partners. The research was conducted through a qualitative study that comprised of directed open interviews. Multiple Stream Framework by Kingdon (2011) is the theory that has been applied. The theory is utilized to identify and comprehend the process of policy change and the various factors involved. According to Kingdon (2011), policy entrepreneurs are essential to the process of modifying a policy. The study identifies the presence of policy entrepreneurs who seized the opportunity presented by the government's announcement of new guidelines for the Swedish armed forces. These policy entrepreneurs have been identified as Navy personnel working on a lower level within the mine clearance diver branch. Despite minimal support from higher command, these policy entrepreneurs were able to change the profile of the Swedish Navy mine clearance divers during a period of budget cuts and reorganization in the armed forces. The new profile consisted of competencies of conventional and unconventional explosive ordnance disposal ashore.

The study aims to demonstrate to what extent speeches, Instagram posts and LinkedIn posts of Gianni Infantino, as the main representative of FIFA, have been marked by elements of Postcolonialism and sportswashing to influence the acceptance of the FIFA World Cup of 2022 in Qatar. The result of this study indicates that FIFA’s rhetoric is marked by Postcolonial elements. Also, the study suggests that certain rhetoric is employed to divert attention away from the criticism of the West in the context of the FIFA World Cup of 2022 in Qatar. Additionally, the study provides insights into how Postcolonialism and sportswashing are related to a certain extent. To reach this conclusion the authors conducted a discursive thematic analysis to highlight themes of the theory of Postcolonialism and the concept of sportswashing. Understanding the field of research into sportswashing is crucial in the pursuit of knowledge about the impact of global sports organizations on the international political arena. This study contributes to the understanding of how elements of Postcolonialism can be found in discourses for the purpose to justify international sports events.

This study examines the extent to which the Moderate Party’s 2022 election manifesto has been implemented in the Tidö-agreement through a comparative qualitative content analysis. The study uses coalition theory to create expectations and measure how much of the Moderate Party’s politics have been implemented. The theory suggests that due to their party size and to the fact that they have received the post of Prime Minister and a seat in the government, the Moderate Party should not be able to implement much of their policy. The study’s findings are however that the Moderate Party have not lost much at all in the coalition or in the agreement but rather have succeeded in implementing the majority of their election manifesto. This may be because of the fact that the Moderate Party might have changed their politics and its election manifesto prior to the election due to a possible coalition. The study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of coalition politics and the role of election manifestos in shaping policy outcomes.

In this study, the role that construction, architecture and infrastructure plays in efforts to advance within a global hierarchy of cities, as well as effects on the people behind the construction, are explored through the curious cases of Qatar and Singapore. Although drastically different in most cultural, geographical and historical aspects, these two cases demonstrate clear similarities in their strategies to obtain international status and acquire capital. Upon closer examination of the image that these two countries’ project to the outside world, and the developments of their urban landscapes, it becomes clear that they are competing within the same arena. Further, stories from migrant workers in the construction industry of each country exposes extensive similarities concerning the lived experience of low-skilled labor force in these wealthy states. The findings of this paper uncover that urban developments within these countries are carried out at the expense of migrant labor rights.

Crime politics was in 2015 described as becoming increasingly post political where politicians advocate for similar solutions regardless of their ideological standpoint. Simultaneously gang related crime gets progressively more media coverage and public attention in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent Swedish crime politics was post political in 2022. Assuming all political expressions are ideologically constructed this is done with a qualitative approach using ideological analysis. Mats Lindberg’s analytical framework enabled the material to be analysed both regarding policy proposals and the reasoning behind them. The primary analytical material consists of Sweden’s three biggest political parties and their manifestos published before the 2022 election. The analysis shows that crime politics in Sweden is becoming continuously conservative focusing on controlling the population and increasing prison sentences to reduce crime. The parties can in varying amounts stay true to their ideology in their motivation of their suggested policies. Other themes found in the material are a description of crime rates as escalating and the perceived insecurity from the public which are used to motivate policies.

The Euro Crisis occurred in several European countries due to high government debt and institutional failures in 2008, leaving many unable to pay their public debts or maintain their budget deficits. During the crisis, a group of three institutions known as the Troika, played a crucial role when offering financial assistance to countries in need of a bailout. The financial assistance included mandatory austerity measures which in combination with the economic situation often resulted in social and political unrest among the citizens, with divided political leadership. Today, some of the most severely affected countries (PIIGS) have shown different economic outcomes after the crisis. Most prominent are Greece and Portugal. Studies show a rise of populist parties in Europe during recent years, as well as findings explaining its connection to financial crises. This study aims to study the connection, while exploring the possibility of populism influencing economic policymaking in the context of the Euro Crisis. The cases of Portugal and Greece are compared because of their similarity of severity of the crisis, but differentiated economic outcomes as well as presence of populism in their countries. The study finds that Greece’s populist party could influence the agenda and economic policies through short termism favoring simplistic solutions.

The issue of climate change initially emerged on the UN Security Council’s agenda in 2007 during an open debate on climate change, energy and security. Since then, there have been several debates held on the topic, which have attracted significant academic attention. In 2023, a debate was held in the UN Security Council on sea-level rise and its implication for international peace and security. The aim of this study is to investigate how the construction of climate change as a security threat has evolved in the UN Security Council debates between 2007 and 2023. The study will apply the securitization theory and conduct a discourse analysis using the WPR approach to analyze meeting records from the 2007 and 2023 debates. The analysis demonstrates two identified thematic findings. Firstly, there are ongoing divergent views on whether climate change falls within the mandate of the UN Security Council and secondly whether the issue of climate change should be seen as a future, present or existential threat. The results demonstrate that the construction of climate change as a security threat has undergone a process of securitization, thus confirming the established pattern in the previous research. This thesis further emphasizes that a wide range of member states now recognize climate change as an existential threat in the 2023 debate, aligning with the framing of the issue made by SIDS in the 2007 debate.

In February 2022, Russia initiates a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and a new war on the European continent is a fact. This leads to condemnations and support for different sides of the conflict. While the European Union (EU) takes a clear stance for Ukraine, militarily and economically, China chooses to not condemn the invasion. This paper intends to answer the following research question: How does the EU express itself in its communication about China before and after the Russian’s invasion of Ukraine? Through the concept of speech act in accordance with the Copenhagen School’s securitisation theory and discourse analysis, following the What's the Problem Represented to be? (WPR) approach, the paper aims at identifying the EU discourse on China. This is made by analysing statements and speeches by representatives of the European Council, European Commission, and European Parliament before and after the invasion. This thesis finds that the frequency of securitising moves towards China has increased after the invasion of Ukraine. The following discussion also displays that the effects of the representation of China can be identified in the political behaviour of the EU towards the country.

In 2016, a national policy package consisting of six support measures was legislated and clarified in the Swedish school law. The six support measures aim to create clarity and guidance for teachers, principals and other relevant actors to integrate newly arrived children and youth and ensure they achieve the national curriculum requirements. Recent reports state that the gap between native and foreign-born students continues to grow and that segregation increase in Sweden. Foreign-born students fall behind in terms of study results and make up the majority of those who are not eligible for high school. This research focuses on those relevant actors whose primary responsibility is to enforce the policy package 2016 into practice. The research aims to explore and understand how these relevant actors experience, understand and enforce the policy package 2016 in practice through the lens of critical policy analysis and four contextual dimensions. This research undertakes a qualitative study with interviews as the primary method for data collection. The findings from the interviews show that context plays an essential role in how the relevant actors experience, understand and enforce the policy package 2016 into practice. The main finding indicates that the policy package 2016 is perceived as vague and open up for individual interpretation. The relevant actors' individual interpretation is affected by their school's geographical location, student intake, competence, experience, routines, resources, and collaboration.

There is only one answer to why we did not have a referendum on applying for NATO membership. The changed security situation in Europe and the clearly changed threat against Sweden that has arisen from Russia's invasion of Ukraine have changed political views on Sweden's security. Sweden, which has been publicly neutral and non-aligned, is now choosing a clear side and requesting entry into the NATO defense alliance. The previous defense cooperation has proved to be insufficient, and Swedish politicians are now taking action. A liberal perspective on the individual is being replaced by a more realistic perspective and a collective responsibility for Sweden in political decisions. In my study, which uses hermeneutic and explanatory methods, I respond to this using the Multiple Streams Framework theory. I explore and interpret the significance of the examined texts and materials, attempting to explain their context, background, and meaning. With the help of the theory, I explain the context. Through qualitative document analysis, my ambition is to explore and interpret the significance of the possible reasons that exist or existed and to try to explain their context and meaning to avoid a referendum on such a significant issue as membership in NATO.

The Swedish Armed Forces will expand in personnel and equipment during the following years. In 2025 the number of conscripts will be 8000 per year. The Air Force will keep 2 fighter squadrons of JAS 39 C/D at the same time as they train 4 fighter squadrons in JAS 39 E. To be able to do this, the Air Force need permanent staff, who can train new conscripts and work within the expanded base unit organization. The Aircraft Maintenance Companies are continuously recruiting new aircraft technicians, both SNCO and civilian, but it has been difficult to recruit officers. This study examines the factors that may underlie the choice of education after military service. The result shows that the respondents had SNCO’s as positive role models, while the officers more often were seen as negative role models. The respondents who chose civil engineering programs answered that they have high technical self-efficacy and that the psychological cost is low. Higher salary on the civilan market can be one of the reasons that the respondents doesn´t chose a military career.

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether two theories can have explanatory power on two real cases – the invasions of the Falkland Islands in 1982 and Kuwait in 1990. There is a theory that can be used by a state to unite a population towards a common goal – diversionary action. This is the basis for this study. To fully understand why this method was used and what made the two states to continue, the two theories – information bias and sunk cost fallacy – are studied. This is to be able to understand the human factor behind decisions of choices. The study is conducted as a case study with congruence analysis in two steps with the theories towards one case at a time. Causal mechanisms, i.e. situations we can analyse and have a direct impact on the outcome, have been identified to reinforce or falsify the theories. The result of the study shows that the human brain is definitely affected and chooses to subjectively interpret the environment from several different aspects such as objectivity, self-confidence and personal interests. Furthermore, the study also shows that authoritarian leaders find it difficult to identify when events are going in the wrong direction as their invested prestige is at stake.

Corruption is something that can undermine both the function of the public administration and democracy itself. Furthermore, to complicate matters, the word corruption includes a variety of meanings. Consequently, this essay aims to examine corruption from the point of view of several municipal officials from three Swedish municipalities. Thus, an interview study was conducted where eleven interviewees were asked about how they apprehend, and in turn feel that they can act against potential corruption. Their answers are theoretically analysed from the concepts developed by Lundquist (1998), who perceives public officials as “guardians of the democracy”, connecting to the essay’s democratic framing of the issue. The results show that there has been a change in how the municipalities handle what could be attributed as forms of bribes and that the interviewees feel that corruption, in the form of bribery, is not apparent. Different forms of conflict of interest are however more problematized by several of the municipal officials. The results, in conclusion, show that the organizational culture and an open conversation about issues that can be seen as corruption are crucial for handling the complex conception of corruption.

In this paper youth representation among Swedish local government politicians is examined. Although youth people (18-29 years) constitute 20% of the electorate only about 7 percent of the politicians are young. This means youths are represented at a quota of 37% compared to the other age groups that average at least 100%. The study aims to fins explanations in terms of individual resources and political structures in the Swedish municipalities. The study finds that when it comes to individual resources, the main factor is the education level of the municipality. In terms of political structure, the study finds that the main factor is the presence of the parties’ youth leagues in the municipality and how many offices the average politician holds. However when the variables are controlled for between each other the only significance remains in the share of youth league members and social trust.

In this study I will examine whether or not there are any differences in the representation of ethnic minorities and women between Hollywood movies released in the 1990’s and remakes of the movies released in the late 2010’s. The study is based on the assumption that the numerous political movements for equality in the 2010’s, such as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite, might have led to a shift in the political climate that would impact the level of representation in the movie industry. The changes in representation will be explored in both a quantitative and a qualitative manner as both the dialogue time and the contents of the movies will be analysed. The analysis will connect the results of the comparisons to both the political movements as well as relevant political theories. The study finds that ethnic minority representation heavily increases in the movie remakes where thematic aspects allow for it. Meanwhile women remain underrepresented in both originals and remakes. Lastly, from a qualitative perspective, the depictions of both women and ethnic minorities is found to be improved in the remakes as harmful stereotypical characterisations and tropes tend to be removed.

This study aims to examine the liberal conservative ideology of the Swedish party Moderaterna and the disagreements within the party regarding profit driven free schools. Robert Wenglén is a local politician for Moderaterna who has got attention for his deviant opinion in relation to the party line. Wenglén argues that the current Swedish free school system is not in line with the school policy that Moderaterna should advocate considering their liberal conservative ideology. The research question is: How can we understand the policy of Moderaterna on profit driven free schools in light of their liberal conservative ideology? The method builds upon the liberal conservative dimensions by Jan Hylén and uses material as news articles, debate articles and interviews with politicians. The analysis leads to a conclusion that shows that the different sides refer to the same concepts but interpret these concepts differently, and as a result their policies differ. The current policy of Moderaterna matches the negative freedom of neoliberalism in multiple aspects. A consequence is a restricted concept of freedom, and to reconcile such a policy to the collectivist ideas of conservatism inevitably leads to ideological contradictions.

According to the Swedish defense decision in 2020, the government decided to increase the military organization regarding the number of soldiers that can be put on active duty in case of war, from 60 000 to 90 000 men. The Swedish government came to a decision together with the help of two reports that the Swedish Defense Commission had written. In the decision, they wanted to reestablish a military presence in certain areas of Sweden. The Swedish Armed Forces was tasked to provide a report regarding the defense decision and in that report, the Swedish Armed Forces suggested that it would be better to use existing regiments and platforms for basic training. This study will examine why the government decided against the recommendation of the armed forces. The method used is a theory-consuming case study and two theories from Allison & Zelikow's theoretical models for decision-making, named Rational Actor Model and Government Politics Model. The result of the analysis is that the decision was both rational and a product of bargaining with different players.

The concept of defense capability is commonly used in Swedish social debate and within strategically oriented communication from the government and armed forces. However, this concept does not origin from any formally established definition or concept clarification. Instead, its meaning varies, or is implicit, which is unfortunate when this capability needs to be addressed and communicated intelligibly in uncertain times. This study aims to seek additional understanding of the concept in a strategic context and contribute to a future expansion of its theoretical framework. The concept was analyzed using thematic analysis within three government issued defense policy document and three strategic document or doctrines from the Swedish armed forces. In a second phase the concept was assessed using John Gerrings framework for understanding concepts through eight different criteria. The study shows that the application of the term and its numerous attributes is not fully consistent between the government and the armed forces within investigated documents. Hence, the need of a formal definition and a further operationalization of the concept can be confirmed. The most important contribution to a developed theoretical framework of defense capability is the successful extraction of the concepts core meaning.

The aim of this study is to gain a greater understanding of citizen participation in Lund’s municipality. Lund municipality have based their model of participation on Sveriges kommuner och regioner’s (SKR) model of citizen participation which is derived from Arnstein’s model of citizen participation (also known as Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation). To analyze the implementation of the citizen participation the theory about deliberative democracy was used. With four interviews from different departments within Lund’s municipality, two from citizen organizations and one from a politician, an analysis was be made. The choice to interview three different perspectives was made with the intention to gain on broader perspective regarding citizen participation. The core tenants of Arnstein’s theory of participation are operationalized which were then used as themes in the interviews. The resulting analysis shows that there are major difference in perspective regarding citizen participation that are not shared among the different actors. However, a conclusion could not be made regarding why this is the case, serval factors could have an impact like unclear guidelines or conscious design.

Judith Butler’s gender theory examines gender as a social construct that is created and reproduced by societal structures. Stuart Hall’s representation theory also centers around this idea, but rather concerning how media images both create and are created by a historical, cultural and political context and therefore changes and reproduces a specific way of viewing our society. This thesis, then, aims to examine what feminist image that feminist films have chosen to portrait during the years of 2017 to 2022. This will be examined through a two parted analysis of six films that have won the WFCCs Award for “Best Movie About Women” during these years. First, through a quantitative analysis of representation in the films. Then, as a qualitative analysis where the films’ main themes and characters will be analyzed more in depth. This, with the aim of exploring how a film can be regarded as a feminist depiction of women when the term “woman” is regarded as a social construct, and how the depiction in itself tells us about the way our society views “women”. The thesis concludes that feminist film centers around themes of patriarchal structures, women outside of the feminine image and that feminist films have the ambition to have an intersectional approach but excludes depictions of women of color and people with disabilities.

On June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). The right to abortion, which was previously protected by the constitution, has been delegated to the states, who now have the power to decide and legislate on the matter. Since the abortion issue has been delegated closer to the people, it is highly relevant to examine how democratic the consequences of the decision are and whether it can be supported by democratic theory. To answer this, the study has used Brettschneider’s democratic theory (2007) and three democratic values - equality, justice and freedom, in a normative analysis. Through this, the study shows an incoherence between public opinion and abortion legislation, as well as shortcomings in abortion legislation and the legislative system in the USA. Therefore, the results of the study show that the consequences of the delegation of power are undemocratic, but that it’s also dependent on which state you look at.

February 2011 began with demonstrations against Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya. It quickly escalated into a violent civil war. The actions of the UN and NATO have been widely discussed. The purpose of this essay is to examine the objectives behind the UN’s and NATO’s intervention in Libya. This will be done by applying Graham Allison’s organizational model to the case to test its explanatory power. The study is a single case study with a theory-testing ambition. The objectives behind the UN’s and NATO’s intervention are examined and analyzed based on three factors: protection of civilians, promotion of democracy and regime change. I concluded that both the UN and NATO initially had the protection of civilians as their primary objective. However, NATO’s objective shifted to regime change as the conflict intensified by supporting the rebels. The main objective of the UN was to protect civilians with an ambition to promote democracy, as they followed the established practice. NATO violated international law and practice, which equated to acting solely for regime change. Furthermore, the theory could explain the general features of the conflict but not in great detail.

This essay is about trust in the police organization at two time periods, the mid - and late 1990s and 2010s. In these periods the national polls pointed at a weaker experienced trust in the police compared to other time periods. Trust in the national institutions is of importance to the democratic system. National polls are however very seldom complemented by studies based on qualitative methods aiming at an understanding of what kind of reasoning and thoughts that can underlie the quantitative results. The aim of this thesis is to analyze articles from different newspapers to identify ideas that can underlie the statistical results by possibly influence the readers' experience of trust. Since few qualitative studies within this field have been made this study is carried out as an exploratory and empirical study while the theoretical framework is limited to the concepts of idea and trust. The results show that there is reason to continue the development of qualitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of the poll results and of possible uncertainties that can be embedded in them. For instance this study shows that there can be uncertainties regarding the boundaries between the police and the judicial system.

The thesis is a qualitative case study of women small-scale farmers in Morogoro, Tanzania. The research explores how women small-scale farmers experience water shortages, their mitigation and adaptation strategies, and what the implications of these are. The theoretical framework used is intersectional ecofeminism, the gendered division of labour, and the concepts of mitigation and adaptation. During a field study in Morogoro in 2023, semi-structured interviews were used to understand what factors shape the experiences of water shortages among women small-scale farmers, and if/what strategies they use to handle or overcome water shortages. Thematic analysis was utilised to identify repeating themes in the empirical material. A key finding was that the experiences of water shortages are highly gendered, intersecting with capital and geography as well, to create a complex network that also effectively affects the use of mitigation and adaptation strategies. However, the study found that only one mitigation strategy was used among the respondents. The thesis concludes that it is important to make visible the gendered aspects of water shortages, as the factors that shape the experience also inhibit adaptive capacity.

The topic for this thesis is corruption as an obstacle for development. More specifically the research looks at how corruption affects one of our most important agents of change; the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The specific research question guiding the study is “How do civil society professionals perceive that corruption in their operational environment affects their ability to achieve their objectives?”. To address the research question, an analytical framework has been formulated based upon the Theory of Change and its different stages in the results-chain. The scope of research has been narrowed down to looking at environmental CSOs operating in South Africa. To collect data, the method of semi-structured interviews has been implemented and the data was then analyzed using a thematic analysis. The findings of the research concludes that corruption in the organizations’ operational environment is a central obstacle for them to be able to achieve their short-, medium-, and long-term goals. Furthermore, the impact that corruption has on organizational activities appears to vary depending on the type of activity. Lastly, corruption can also pose a hindrance for environmental CSOs to procure their necessary resources. These findings illustrate the significance of researching corruption’s specific effects on civil society actors and that more research on the topic is necessary.

One of today’s most valuable trade routes consists of digital submarine cables trafficking the seabed of the oceans. Our modern society depends on fast and secure digital connections for economic transactions, government for vital functions and military communication. This has become an arena for competition and an instrument for geopolitical power used by great powers such as USA and China. The global market of today depends on digital submarine cables, this makes them a critical vulnerability and therefor also to a potential military target in case of a conflict. This study compares the two IR-theories neoliberalism and neorealism with a competitive analysis in order to show which has the best explanatory power for the development within the area of digital submarine cables. The study examine how USA and China as states are acting within the government of digital cables and what role international institutions have. Are digital cables treated as an instrument for geopolitical power or as a digital common for the globalized market?

The European Union is one of the world’s most impactful development actors. As such, it has adopted the Policy Coherence for Development framework in order to minimize contradictions between policies that affect developing countries. The ultimate goal of the framework is to increase development effectiveness to the welfare of developing partners. However, the existing literature is rich in doubts of the framework’s feasibility, as well as arguments that the EU’s development policy is increasingly executing the union's foreign interests rather than the interests of developing countries. This thesis contributes to the literature by conducting an in-depth analysis on the coherence between the thematic objectives in European Union’s development policy and its foreign policy. As a double case study, thematic coding analysis is conducted to uncover the policies’ objectives and main themes. A framework that conceptualizes policy coherence in terms of overlaps and contradictions then guides the analysis. The findings show the complexity of the Policy Coherence for Development framework, and demonstrate the many ways in which both overlaps and contradictions between the two policies can be identified. Ultimately, the thesis argues the importance of in-depth studies that illustrate the complexity of policy coherence to underpin the larger debate.

The dissertation explores the refugees and EU securitization processes pursued by Hungary and Poland during the period of refugees’ crisis. The securitization theory is used along with CDA and topos tool to analyse the politicians’ speeches and statements, the joint reports of the two countries, besides Orbán’s national consultations. Where a clear security language in all of these sources that link multidimensional security threats to both refugees and the EU was discovered. Although the two countries differed in producing and reusing the contexts and words that were relied on different spatiotemporal location, but they shared one result. Where “exceptional” hostile policies towards both refugees and EU were adopted. Based on this result, the dissertation argues first: the common security fear from refugees enhanced the similarity in securitization processes on the micro level. This led to creating a bipolar regional security complex that enhanced the legitimacy of both countries’ anti-immigration policies. Second: the common Eurosceptic sentiments that transformed into the processes of securitizing the union itself as a threat -at the aforementioned levels- reinforced the legitimacy of their position on non-compliance with the union's immigration policies. The Securitization theory, which was developed by CS, is applied to the data that the dissertation collects through the use of CDA and topos tool. In order to understand the relationship between securitizing both refugees and EU as multidimensional security threats and the anti-refugees, moreover the refusal of EU’s immigration policies. Where they gained the legitimacy despite their violation of EU and international obligations, furthermore human rights.

The study examines how gender equality is represented and problematized in the ASEAN Committee on Women Work Plan 2021-2025. The study seeks to explore discourse of gender equality present in the work plan, by employing Carol Bacchi’s “What is the problem represented to be” method. The findings are analyzed through a postcolonial feminist approach to underpin some silences and subject positions, created by the problem representations current in the text. The findings implied that gender equality mostly is a “female issue”, in which “women”, are perceived as both the victims and the agents of change. Furthermore, women are generally defined as one coherent group and factors that differentiate their needs are partly neglected and overlooked. Despite that gender equality is framed as a fundamental value in the action plan, some formulations imply that gender equality is used as a means to achieve other goals of economic nature. Lastly, the recurrent framings of gender (in)equality attributed to male-biased social norms, might risk reinforcing certain gender stereotypes, which eventually could contribute to the policy resulting in being counterproductive in decreasing gender gaps in Southeast Asia.

The polarizing effect on the relationship between the West and Russia poses poses challenges to the otherwise close ties between right-wing populist parties and Russia. The thesis utilizes political imaginary in conjunction with political narratives to understand the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 on the political imaginaries of the Sweden Democrats, the National Rally, and the Freedom Party The study specifically explores how these parties perceive Russia as their leader, their opposition to the European Union (EU), and thus also the underlying tension between populism and liberal democracy. Using a narrative analysis of debates in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2023, the study finds that the conflicts between national-patriotism and cosmopolitan-globalism, as well as between the elite and the people, continue to be central to the parties' political imaginaries, even after Russia's invasion. However, there has been a change in the imaginary regarding the conflict between the people and the elite, due to the parties' evolving understanding of Russia's leadership. Despite the change, the tension between liberal democracy and populism remains. The findings align with the understanding that different parts of the political imaginary are more or less rigid.

The issue of domestic violence has been often framed as a women’s issue. Despite men being the majority of perpetrators in Kosovo, the engagement of men in the process of addressing violence against women remains a largely unexplored step in ending it. This paper investigates the state policy on addressing Gender Based Violence (GBV) and evaluates the implementation of measures engaging men in that process, using a gender norm theory-based framework. The data are from two publications about gender equality and GBV from the Kosovo government, supplemented by publications from NGOs and key informant interviews with two experts from Kosovo’s Women’s Network and Centre for Counseling, Social Services and Research. The findings showed a presence of extensive legislation on addressing violence. Despite this, due to the informality of the executive sector and patriarchal culture, there is a lack of implementation and follow-through, with civil society organisations being the primary agents of change. The findings, analytical themes developed and the evaluation of existing measures will provide a stepping-stone to developing improved measures and implementation tactics for GBV in future research.

This thesis examines the intersection of economic democracy and environmental sustainability in the agricultural sector, using the Danish agricultural co-operative Andelsgaarde as a case study. Employing the theoretical framework of economic democracy, as described by Dahl (1985), Archer (1995), and Malleson (2012), the study analyses Andelsgaarde's approach towards realising its environmental sustainability objectives within the co-operative model. A quasi-deductive research methodology is used to assess the alignment of Andelsgaarde's operations with the concepts of economic democracy, including democratic ownership and decision-making, participatory planning, objectives beyond profit, and radical realism. The findings reveal a significant alignment between Andelsgaarde's strategies and the concepts of economic democracy. Furthermore, the study suggests that these concepts may facilitate environmental sustainability. However, the conclusions emphasise the need for further research to validate these findings. Consequently, this thesis contributes to the accumulating body of research at the intersection of economic democracy, co-operatives, and environmental sustainability, advocating for additional studies to further understand these connections in different contexts.

This essay aims to explore how women are portrayed within populist discourse. By comparing the discourses in party programs, official documents, and statements from political leaders; our intention is to explore how women are characterized within left-wing and right-wing populism. Is there a difference between left and right, or does populist rhetoric always abate women considering its primary focus, the battle between the common people and the elite. By using Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laulau’s theory of discourse analysis, we have investigated how the populist discourses describe the master signifier woman and the nodal points: equality, gender, family, and feminism in the political parties’ official material. Since the language plays a significant role in shaping politics, the theory is used to deconstruct the discourse. We found a difference between the two populist discourses, whereas the right-wing populist discourse connects ‘woman’ to protection, safety, child bearer, as well as the continuity of the nation. The left-wing populist discourse connects ‘woman’ to meanings like worker and citizen and describes women as equivalent to men.

This Bachelor’s thesis attempts to provide a better understanding of how US government-funded development agencies justify their funding, how that process is conducted, and in what ways it relates to the actual practice of development. Namely, the study looks at the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the United States Agency for International Development. Specifically, it looks at how these development organizations frame themselves and what type of discourse they employ to frame themselves as institutions worth funding. This is done through a qualitative design making use of content document analysis, along with two theoretical approaches in the analysis both securitization theory and realism’s approach to international politics. Structured into five parts the study aims to provide an easily digestible piece of text that also provides the reader with a sufficient basis of knowledge on the topic at hand. The research finds that budget justifications extensively differ from each other. Based on the material used in the study it is also found that there is a higher expectation for the ARC to be able to facilitate development compared to USAID. Finally, the paper tries to provide an explanation and reasoning for this being the case.

The thesis investigates discourses on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression in national addresses performed by Russian President Vladimir Putin since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It applies an embedded approach of Critical Discourse Analysis and Queer Linguistics to disseminate how such discourses are produced by Putin in the war. The theoretical approach of Nira Yuval Davis (2011) ‘politics of belonging’ is employed to analyze in which ways such discourses are instrumentalized in a political effort to construct a Russian national community of belonging and its performative function in the war. The analysis identifies how the discourses naturalize heteronormativity and gender binarism as well as antagonize non-heteronormative gender identities and sexualities by the invocation of cultural, moral, religious, and anti-Western values. The analysis further demonstrates the construction of a national community of belonging which produces a threatening sexualized ‘Other’ that poses an acute threat to the Russian nation. Finally, it concludes that Putin’s demonization of non-heteronormative subjects carries an important function in the war by providing a legitimizing and mobilizational foundation.