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This study presents an ideological analysis on the Swedish defense committee's latest report regarding Sweden's coming defense work. The essay describes the chosen ideologies which consist of liberal conservatism and social democracy, and the political parties representing the ideologies Moderaterna and Socialdemokraterna. Through the party programs, the ideologies and government publications, this study reveals that there is some alignment between liberal conservatism and the report published by the Swedish defense committee. This alignment is most seen in regards to international relations, more specifically Sweden's alliance with NATO.

Uppsatsens syfte är att göra en översyn på Utrikesförvaltningens konsulära krishantering, med fokus på beredskap, samarbete och utmaningar. Jag har tagit del av offentliga rapporter om bland annat Utrikesförvaltningens krishantering, men också andra kriser (som Tsunamin 2004 och Covid-19). Mitt empiriska material består av de 16 intervjuer som har genomförts med tjänstemän inom Utrikesförvaltningen som arbetar, eller har arbetat, med olika kriser som har drabbat svenska medborgare utanför Sveriges gränser. I min analys har jag utgått från teorierna byråkrater på gräsrotsnivå (street-level bureaucrats) samt tillfälliga organisationer (temporary organisations). Jag har valt att utgå från dessa teoretiska ramverk eftersom det är tjänstemännen som praktiskt arbetar med konsulära kriser, samt att krishanteringsarbete ofta sker i temporära organisationer. Analysen visar att de intervjuade tjänstemännen anser sig ha en god beredskap när det gäller att arbeta med konsulära kriser, speciellt eftersom de har praktisk erfarenhet av detta. Att ha ett fungerande samarbete, inte bara med kollegorna i krisorganisationen, men även mellan UD i Stockholm och utlandsmyndigheterna är också viktigt. Tjänstemännen upplever att de har ett gott stöd från UD-KC, men att det finns ett behov av att få tillfällen att öva mer när det gäller olika krissituationer, som till exempel krigsutbrott. En del intervjupersoner skulle också vilja få utbildning ur en mer psykologisk synvinkel, vilket innebär hur man kan reagera i krissituationer. Några av de utmaningarna som tjänstemännen upplever i konsulärt krisarbete är bland annat att tekniska hjälpmedel inte fungerar, att det inte finns utrymme för återhämtning när krisarbetet är slutfört samt att det kan vara svårt att hjälpa alla människor som hamnat i kris., 2024-05-24

This study investigates the trust that foreign-born individuals place in Sweden's crisis management, particularly reflecting on the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics indicate that foreign-born individuals were twice as affected by the pandemic as native-born individuals, making this a significant case for study. The aim of the study is to investigate how these individuals perceived the management of the COVID-19 crisis and to map and understand their trust in future crisis management efforts. Using data from the SOM-Institute, the study mapped the trust levels of foreign-born individuals and conducted two focus groups to explore into the underlying reasons for the perceptions. The theoretical framework was mainly focused on how experiences and reflections of the experience form trust. Findings revealed that trust levels among foreign-born individuals varied based on personal factors, not solely on their experiences during the COVID-19 crisis. Notably, individuals raised outside of Europe exhibited lower levels of general trust, highlighting a critical area for future crisis management strategies. The study also identified several negative experiences that need to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of Swedish crisis management.

As a consequence of urbanization and the resulting rural decline, rural aeras today face unique threats and risks. Despite this, there is little knowledge about the conditions of rural areas, especially in times of crisis. Meanwhile, local resilience can enable communities to withstand, adapt to, and recover from crisis and stresses, with local collaboration and community cohesion being the rural area’s greatest strengths. Something that previously been noted and thought to positively affect local resilience is place identity. This survey study thus aims to understand ther elationship between place identity and local resiliens among Swedish rural communities. Data was collected through surveys distributed to community centers in rural areas and analyzedusing descriptive analysis. The results indicate the place identity is a central factor in influencing rural communities’ ability to cope with crises. Strong emotional ties to the local area promote cohesion and collative action during crises. The study also highlights variations based on geographic location, with purely rural areas exhibiting higher levels of place identity and local resilience compared to more urbanized areas. These findings highlight the role of place identity in local resilience and emphasize the importance of not viewing rural areas as homogeneous.

Interorganisatorisk samverkan kring ungdomsbrottslighet Denna forskningsstudie strävar efter att utforska och analysera samverkan i praktiken mellan skola, socialtjänst, polis och fritidssektorn med utgångspunkt i det konkreta exemplet med SSPF-samverkan. Med en teoretisk förankring i New Public Management(NPM), Tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning TSL och översättningsmodellen ämnar studien undersöka hur olika aktörer tolkar och implementerar samverkan inom SSPF-kontexten. En central aspekt som belyses är betydelsen av tillit som en grundläggande faktor för en effektiv och hållbar samverkan mellan de olika aktörerna. Genom att fokusera på implementeringen av SSPF i två specifika kommuner, inte med avsikten att jämföra dem utan snarare för att bredda förståelsen för samverkanspraktiker, syftar studien till att identifiera framgångsfaktorer, utmaningar och möjliga lärdomar inom samverkansområdet. Genom att utforska och analysera samverkan i praktiken strävar studien efter att bidra till ökad insikt och kunskap om hur samverkan kan utvecklas och förbättras för att främja samhällsutvecklingen och välfärden. Genom att integrera teoretiska perspektiv och empiriska data avser studien att bidra till en fördjupad förståelse av samverkansprocesser och mekanismer, samt att bidra med praktiska rekommendationer och insikter som kan stödja utformningen av framtida samverkansstrategier och policybeslut inom området samverkan mellan offentliga och icke-offentliga aktörer.

In this thesis I studied the crisis discourse of the rightwing populist party Reform UK in relation to the Covid 19-pandemic. Through a narrative discourse analysis of official tweets and retweeted articles/videos I found that its crisis discourse was ever-changing. I found four phases of discourse. In phase I, the discourse mostly revolves around strong support for the government. The dichotomy echoes the typical nativist dichotomy of “the people'' vs “foreignthreat”. In phase II, the discourse and dichotomy change. The party is critical of the government, describing it as an “elected dictatorship”. The object of criticism is governmental covid restrictions, namely lockdowns. Several dichotomies are present during this phase including: “democracy vs elected dictatorship”, Similar criticism is present during phase III. This time, the threat is the vaccine passport, which is viewed as the “thin end of the wedge”. In phase IV, the crisis discourse about the pandemic abruptly fizzles out and is replaced by a renewed nativist discourse about independence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.I found that crisis is something “passive”. What is viewed as a “crisis” only becomes a crisis through the dialectical process of reaction and action, through the interaction between an actor’s perception of a situation and their subjective interpretation of the situation and subsequentactions. A populist actor therefore can, through their words and actions, either augment or abatethe seriousness of a situation to suit their own political needs.

With scholars emphasising the need for crisis management to account for social structures in society and discussing ways to use or enhance social capital in crises, awareness is needed among crisis management actors on the diverse types and functions of social capital. There is also a need for more gender-based analysis since womens networks often are overlooked and gender-based assumptions are present in the literature. The purpose of this study is to explorethe view on social capital in the Swedish crisis management system and answer three research questions: 1) What are key crisis management organisations' views on social capital and how present are gender dimensions in their views? 2) How do the organisations' views correspond to or differentiate from existing literature on social capital? 3) What are the organisations'perceptions of how these views translate into practice? By qualitative policy reviews and interviews the organisations' views are compared to a theoretical framework consisting of literature on social capital. Key findings show that the organisations view social capital to play an important role for individuals, organisations, and the crisis management system as a whole, but perceive the translation of these views to practise differently. The organisations are aware of the importance of context for social capital's function, possible downsides with it and that new networks can emerge in crises, which is in line with existing literature on the subject.

Deliberation is of utmost importance from a democratic perspective because citizens shall be involved in the co-creation process at the local level (SKR 2019). The common theory in deliberate democracy is described as the participation of different people who all have gathered in an arena to voice their opinions (Fishkin 2011). The role of civil servants is essential in the process of deliberate democracy because of their position as the ones that structure and plan it, and as importantly, they are the ones upholding the communication between politicians and citizens (Ostrom 1996). The thesis has aimed to investigate how civil servants from three “best practice” municipalities in Sweden work, their attitudes and the respective challenges. Three qualitative interviews with civil servants have been conducted whose daily work relates to deliberative democracy. The outcome of the thesis shows how the interviewed civil servants work with deliberation in all their roles, what their attitude towards deliberation is, and which challenges they have identified. In the analysis section, the result is discussed in relation to the theoretical framework and previous research. A key takeaway presented shows that civil servants, in their role at the municipality level, perform versatile work, and all respondents emphasise the importance of their role and that it forms the foundation for deliberation. The attitude of the civil servants is positive towards deliberative democracy and underlines the importance that everyone who participates in deliberation must be able to voice their opinion, should they want to. They also show a challenge, which is the work needed before the deliberation takes place, which takes time, and another challenge is letting all citizens into the room for dialogue. Finally, an urge is raised that it sometimes can be challenging to get other civil servants to cooperate ahead of a deliberate process.

Sweden's migration policy has undergone crucial changes since the last national elections in 2022. With the right-wing Sweden Democrats being a part of the current government, rules have become stricter, the political tone harsher. Fear and hate seem to dominate discursive spaces, 'the migrant' is perceived as a threat to Swedish Society. In political debates and media coverage, emotional expressions shape these discursive dynamics significantly. This thes isinvestigates Swedish migration discourses from an emotion-focused perspective, applying the method of Emotion Discourse Analysis. Therefore, it examines two discursive events from 2023, one being a press conference about the planned Reporting Act and the second being a speech held by Jimmie Åkesson at the national conference of the Sweden Democrats. The theoretical lens combining Sarah Ahmed's Cultural Politics of Emotion with Simon Koschut's Affective Sites of Contestation helps to uncover the emotional victimisation of the migrant figure in all discursive spaces, where fear and pity dominate the emotionality of discourse. Concurrently, it becomes evident that minorities can reclaim autonomy through emotional mobilisation when they have access to discursive public spaces where they are able to perform agency.

This essay aims to contribute to ideology research by examining how Sweden's Christian Democrats' health care policy has developed over time in a society that is becoming increasingly more secular and how the party's ideological appearance has been affected by this. Through a text analysis using an analysis scheme with two political domains (secular and religious) and three levels of analysis (authority, the construction of healthcare and the view of people), all election manifestos and party programs from the Swedish Christian Democrats since 1973 have been analyzed. Previous research has shown that the Christian Democrats have adjusted their ideology by rather using the ideology as a source of inspiration. Previous research also shows that Christian democratic parties must strategically regulate their ideology and religious appearance in order to remain relevant in a society where the influence of religion is decreasing more and more. Through an analysis, it was clarified that between 1973-2006 the party balanced between seeing the state and religion as authority, only to assume after 2006 that the state is the authority. The analysis also showed that the party considered that the construction of healthcare should be based on the Christian Democratic idea of a unified system until 2001, where they turned to the assumption that conflicts of interest are what is needed to develop healthcare. Last but not least, it emerges that the party's view of people in the context of care has always been related to the religious domain where they advocate the right to life and absolute human dignity. The Swedish Christian Democrats have thus become increasingly secular in two out of three levels of analysis, and the conclusion that the party has strategically changed its ideological appearance can be drawn.

Fragile and conflict affected states are exceedingly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change and natural hazards. Although a large amount of research recognizes a connection between conflict, state fragility and disaster risks, the area is still largely under-developed. In this study, the case of Haiti is used to explore the complex nature of disaster governance in a highly fragile and conflict affected context (FCAC). The study seeks to contribute to the research gap on disaster governance is conflict areas by examining the roles of international humanitarian actors in three different post-disaster contexts in Haiti: the 2010 earthquake, hurricane Matthew in 2016 and the 2021 earthquake. Through the analytical lens of social contract theory, the study aims to contribute to increased understanding of relationships between actors in disaster governance, by exploring how social contracts can be characterized in FCAC. The findings of this study show the need for an expanded view of social contracts in FCAC in order to improve disaster governance in contexts with a fragile state-society relationship. The study argues that the normative view of a state-society social contract of mutual trust and expectations is not applicable to the post-colonial context of Haiti. Instead, the findings reveal a complex web of power relations connected to both international, national and local actors.

Motivation and learning in schools is a subject that many researchers have focused on, yielding various theories. However, it appears that the majority of research conducted has primarily addressed motivation and learning in schools generally rather than within specific subjects. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to study how motivation and learning are fostered in the subject of social studies, which is a highly dynamic and ever-changing field, differing significantly from other subjects. The method employed is a scoping review, aimed at summarizing what some of the previous research suggests about how motivation and learning are cultivated, both in schools generally and specifically in social studies, to ascertain if there are any differences. The study is grounded in three theories of motivation and learning, all of which were linked to the results and analysis. The findings, based on numerous selected articles, indicate that motivation and learning in the subject of social studies rely heavily on relatability, specifically the ability to connect the content to real-life events, as well as on establishing a positive relationship with the teacher, receiving continuous feedback, and being appropriately challenged.

The paper examines Sweden’s and Croatia’s engagement with children’s rights within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) framework. Employing a critical theoretical approach, policy theoretical approach, disparities between legal commitments and practical implementation are revealed, particularly in Sweden’s case. Furthermore, the analysis highlights deficiencies in certain parts of Swedish legislation and questions the effectiveness of legal frameworks in translating abstract rights into tangible benefits for children. It also underscores how socioeconomic factors, including the pandemic, impact the implementation of children’s rights.In Croatia’s case, similar challenges are identified, with emphasis on the inadequate implementation of principles such as the best interests of the child and children’s participation in decision-making processes. Despite enacted laws and strategies, structural barriers to the well-being and rights of minority children persist. The text emphasizes the need to address these barriers to ensure equal treatment of all children. The conclusion underscores the need for a comprehensive approach to address challenges in both Sweden and Croatia, including prioritizing the voices and experiences of marginalized children in policy and practice. Through a comprehensive understanding of both theory and practice, both countries can continue to promote children’s rights and contribute to a more just and inclusive society for future generations

This research investigated the low female political participation in Nigeria, focusing on the political institutions in the country and how they contribute to this persistent low female political participation. To achieve this, this study was executed using the frameworks of democracy, gender, feminist and citizenship theories. Similarly, it used qualitative case study as its approach, employing purposive sampling to select participants for its research purpose, while using structured interview to collect data from the available 6 female politicians willing to participate in the research. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collated primary and secondary data. The results generated indicate that the political institutions in the country contributed to the persistent low female political participation in Nigeria. It equally found that low female political participation negatively affected the nation's democracy in several ways and offered practical solutions through which this reoccurring genderized situation can be improved. This research adds to the existing knowledge aimed at understanding the low female political participation in Nigeria. It also demonstrates that the country's heavily genderized politics correlates with the negative perception of the country's democratic system, and that the genderized politics is as a result of several systemic and institutional issues. Findings suggest that the country should eschew lip service and engage in genuine, practical, sustainable measures to gradually stamp out inequality from the grassroots.

This study aims to increase the understanding of the changes made in the Swedish press and media subsidy politics between 2018 and 2024. This is achieved through examining how the interpretation and construction of the diversity term, as well as the discourse surrounding Swedish press and media subsidy policies, has changed over time. The analysis of press and media subsidy policy documents, using Laclau and Mouffe’s theoretical approach, reveals a shift in discourse as well as in the construction of the diversity term. Over time diversity moves from including a heterogeneity of both media actors and content, to adopting a stricter definition of the term in 2024 where diversity solely should be understood as a heterogeneity of media actors. Also, a shift in discourse could be detected. In 2018, a breadth of media actors and titles was considered necessary to achieve the goal of a breadth of voices, opinions, and perspectives in news reporting. Thus, reduced ownership diversity was still considered aproblem for content diversity. However, in 2024 the importance of ownership diversity appears to decrease. A diversity of media actors and titles were no longer considered possibleto prioritize as highly as before. Instead, the importance of the diversity of media actors and titles are subordinated to the geographical spread of media actors.

In the 1990s, a war in former Yugoslavia forced many people to leave their homes and flee their country, resulting in a refugee crisis in Sweden 1992. Around 100 000 Yugoslav refugees, mainly ethnic Bosnians, sought asylum. Twenty-three years later, a new crisis emerged due to various conflicts in the world. The people who sought asylum in Sweden were mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The political responses to these refugee waves differed significantly. In the 1990s, family immigration was partly limited, whereas the 2015 refugee crisis led to drastic measures that shifted Sweden from having the European Union's most generous asylum legislation to approving as few asylum applications as possible. This essay examines how the portrayal of refugees differed between the crisis of 1992 and 2015, focusing on the Swedish newspaper “Dagens Nyheter”, and two political parties, “Socialdemokraterna” and “Moderaterna”. A critical discourse analysis was conducted on articles from “Dagens Nyheter” and protocols from the Swedish parliament. To understand the differences in the construction of refugees by these actors, two theoretical frameworks were used: orientalism and securitization. The findings revealed various ways refugees were portrayed, with a greater emphasis on securitization in 2015, although instances of securitization were also present during the 1992 crisis.

Daily, people are using different forms of media outlets too gather information regarding topics relevant and or irrelevant for them. A lot of people are also having struggles with their mental health and for search of relief and understanding for their own or others condition consume media for this reason. This study was aimed to analyze how a Swedish television network, TV4, represented a medical condition and its symptoms in the mental health sphere, OCD. The method used for this was dividing the central aspects of the disease, obsessions and compulsions, to certain subtypes and thereafter analyzing video content from the television network’s website for streaming. The conclusions that were made was that the television network had a quite broad representation regarding the obsessions of OCD but had a smaller representation when it came to compulsions. The study also sought out to find whether the representation of OCD could be reinforcing current stereotypes of the condition which the results found that it indirectly did by showing compulsions regarding cleanliness, controlling and ordering behaviors to a higher degree than other compulsions.

Democracy is a well-studied field in political science and in recent year, democratic decline has been widely discussed due to the rise of populism worldwide. In Europe more and more countries have had governments influenced or even been governed by populist parties. This thesis investigates how the ideology of governments affects how democratic a country is in Europe. A hypothesis is formulated that government ideology whether left- or right leaning, affects the level of democracy. A contribution to the field is done by the construction of a dataset of the Government Ideologies of countries in Europe during the years 1999-2019. The results show no consistent pattern for government ideology’s impact on level of democracy. No statistically significant result is found which leads to the conclusion that relationship between government ideology and democracy remains inconclusive in this study. Countries in Europe that are expected to be less democratic due to being governed by populist governments in the past decade shows indications to follow the hypothesis. The lack of significant results may be due to the limited timeframe researched and that the impact of left or right leaning governments could therefore not be captured in this thesis.

This qualitative study employs established theoretical frameworks to examine the conditions and circumstances for unit managers within social services across three different municipalities. The results indicate that a positive and supportive work environment, where unit managers feel valued and have access to resources and support, is crucial for reducing stress and increasing motivation. Autonomy and discretion are also essential for creating a motivating work environment, but excessive workload can limit these factors and lead to stress and frustration. The findings support previous research emphasizing the importance of social support and autonomy in promoting work engagement and well-being among leaders. Unit managers’ descriptions of the need for situational leadership contribute to understanding their leadership practices, where they balance flexibility with a stable foundation. For long-term success, it is crucial to invest in the well-being and work environment of unit managers. Further research could explore and analyze which specific supportive measures and strategies are most effective in reducing stress and improving the work environment for unit managers within social services. Keywords: Unit managers, social services, leadership, work environment, autonomy, situational leadership, Job Demand-Resource model, Self-Determination Theory, success, organizational stress.

Both the topics of government stability and political polarization have a long tradition in political science. This paper's goal was to examine if there is a causal relationship between polarization and government stability in Europe. Prior research has presented arguments for both positive and negative effects of polarization on government stability. Here, the distinction between polarization as divergence and polarization as extremity is used to clarify some of the issues in this research. Government stability is operationalized in terms of the number of days a government is in power. Polarization as divergence is operationalized using Dalton's polarization index, while polarization as extremity is measured by the size of outer-edge parties. A multiple regression analysis is used to determine if there is a correlation between these factors and government stability. The results show that there is a correlation between polarization as divergence and government stability, acting as a stabilizing factor. However, there is also a correlation between polarization as extremity and government destabilization. Therefore, the conclusion of this paper highlights the importance of distinguishing between these two understandings of polarization. Depending on the type of polarization, it can either be a positive or negative factor for government stability. The paper concludes with a discussion on the different causal explanations and how researchers can proceed to gain a deeper understanding of the subject.

This thesis combines theories on internal colonisation, justice and deliberation, and poststructuralism in order to analyse how Swedish state actors construct justice for the Sami people in deliberation. Analysing a government bill for a law on consultation between state, regional, and municipal actors, and Sami representatives as well as four interviews with municipal level officials and politicians who conduct consultation this thesis finds that the state view on justice for the Sami people is highly legalistic and grounded in a need to live up to international obligations rather than any moral claims. While municipal discourse is more varied the hegemony of the state-level discourse disallows for any other ideas of justice within the field of discursivity. The end result is a discourse which grants state actors complete decision-making rights while withholding that right from the Sami representatives. This study further contributes to usage of theory by proving the usefulness of combining theories on colonialism, just transition, and poststructuralism in order to gain a more complete picture in research.

This research examines the intersection of climate change and gender equality and the differences in rural and urban communities of Lagos state, Nigeria. By using a case study methodology, the research comprises a case analysis of Lagos and a comparative analysis between its rural and urban areas to investigate the differential impacts of climate change on gender equality. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders, including community leaders, NGO representatives, and residents, supplemented by an online questionnaire to give a wider range of perspectives. The theoretical frameworks of Intersectionality and Vulnerability helped guide the analysis and highlighted the factors that intersect to influence gendered experiences of climate change. Secondary data was obtained from findings within the broader literature. This study reveals that climate change heightens existing gender issues, particularly in education and economic opportunities, with rural areas experiencing more severe impacts due to limited resources and infrastructure, whilst urban areas are better equipped but still face unique challenges related to urbanization and environmental changes. Recommendations are provided for policy interventions and future research to address these problems, emphasizing the need for gender-responsive climate policies and inclusive community engagement. Overall, this research contributes to the body of work on climate change and gender equality.

This thesis explores the intersection of right-wing ideological institutionalism and immigration policies in Sweden, focusing on the experiences of international students at Linnaeus University. The research investigates the rise of the Sweden Democrats, a party rooted in neo-Nazi ideology that has successfully rebranded itself while maintaining nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric. By analysing historical and contemporary shifts in Swedish immigration policy, the study reveals how societal attitudes and political strategies have fueled the party's ascent. The study employs a qualitative research methodology, including focus groups and interviews, to assess the impact of these political developments on international students. The findings highlight the challenges faced by this demographic, particularly in navigating stringent migration regulations and the broader socio-political environment. The research concludes that the empowerment of right-wing ideologies in Sweden threatens the inclusivity of Swedish society and poses significant risks to the prospects of international students.

Popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes are moments of crisis that pose a dilemma for the military. This study seeks to examine why the military defends the regime in some cases but defects and supports the opposition in others by examining how civil war dynamics influence the likelihood of military defection during popular uprisings. The study focuses on the effect government reliance of militia groups on the risk of defection. I argue that a higher degree of reliance on militias increases the risk of military defection in conflict-affected countries. This is because a higher degree of government reliance on militias results in the fragmentation of state security forces, which in turn alters the military's calculations when deciding whether to defend the regime or defect. Using structured, focused comparison, the study compares the Sudanese military’s response to popular uprisings in 2013 and 2019 and finds that a higher degree of government reliance on militias in 2019 is an important factor in explaining the military's decision to defect because of the increased fragmentation of security forces that compromised the military’s loyalty to the regime.

The voter turnout in the European Union has been declining since its introduction in 1979. Previous studies have studied this phenomenon and given several reasons to why this is happening. The aim of this thesis is therefore to examine this phenomenon by studying several democratic institutions and their effect on member states voter turnout in the European Parliament. This is done by anchoring the several hypotheses in rational choice institutionalism and empirical institutionalism and testing them towards the result. By using a multivariate regression analysis to analyze which variables might affect the European voter turnout, the variation in voter turnout between member states is studied. Such variables include national voter turnout, the distribution of seats in the European Parliament, obligatory voting, national election systems and more. The study found some significant relationships between voter turnout for the European parliament and national voter turnout, obligatory voting and differences between election systems between the national. Obligatory voting and differences in election systems have a big impact on voter turnout in the European parliament, whilst national voter turnout have a lower impact on turnout.

Over the past decade, the Moderate Party of Sweden has undergone a significant transformation in its immigration policies, shifting from a historically liberal stance towards advocating more restrictive measures. Employing a longitudinal case study design and qualitative content analysis, this research investigates the underlying factors driving this notable policy shift. By scrutinizing party records, official statements, newspapers interviews, manifestos, and parliamentary discussions from 2012 to 2022, the study aims to unravel the complexities of the Moderate Party's evolving stance on immigration. Beginning with a contextualization of the party's historical position on immigration, the research delves into the driving forces behind its transition towards more restrictive measures. Leadership changes, electoral dynamics, and external events such as the European refugee crisis are examined to comprehensively analyze the party's policy trajectory. Under the leadership of Fredrik Reinfeldt, the party embraced a narrative of openness and generosity towards asylum seekers. However, the onset of the 2015 migration crisis marked a pivotal turning point, prompting a reassessment of immigration policies. Findings reveal a nuanced interplay of factors contributing to the Moderate Party's evolving stance on immigration. The study identifies a strategic recalibration of the party's position to align more closely with prevailing public opinion and electoral dynamics. This recalibration, while addressing integration challenges and societal costs associated with increased immigration, underscores the party's commitment to maintaining electoral viability amidst complex societal realities.

This study examines the transformation of the Israeli prime minister’s rhetoric following theevents of October 7, 2023 through the lens of securitization theory. Since October 7, Netanyahu’rhetoric has moved from broad warnings and defensive stances to quick specific battle plans. Henow stresses the need for big military moves and taking over Gaza. This study focuses on PrimeMinister Netanyahu's speeches and how he has reframed threats to Jewish identity as dangers toIsrael's very existence. Netanyahu has illustrated Hamas as an existential threat to both Israel'sstate and Jewish identity. His words highlight the killing of Israeli civilians, invasions of landand war. He frames these acts as severe threats that call for unusual military steps. By bringingup Jewish history and identity, Netanyahu has strengthened the idea that Jewish identity key toIsrael's ethnic-national character is under attack. The study highlights how non-existential threatsto Jewish identity can be constructed and rapidly communicated as existential to influence publicopinion and justify actions that would otherwise not be legitimate under normal circumstances.

Mexico faces serious human rights challenges, with violence against women being one of the most critical issues. International attention has turned to Mexico due to the alarming rate at which women are harmed or killed. This shift is largely due to the efforts of feminist organizations, women activists, and the families of victims, who have successfully broken the silence that previously downplayed the severity of the issue. To address this, the international organizations committed to the protection of human rights, such as the EU and the UN, are developing strategies to support Mexico in overcoming its human rights crisis. This thesis compares the strategies used by the EU and the UN in assisting Mexico to develop public policies tackling VAW. Through a comparative analysis method, the study examines the patterns, similarities, and differences in the approaches of these two organizations, as well as the dynamics of their relationships with Mexico and between each other. The findings reveal that while both institutions employ comprehensive strategies involving civil society, legal measures, and diplomatic efforts, their approaches differ due to the nature of their relationships with Mexico. These differences impact funding mechanisms, collaboration instruments, and the legal obligations derived from the bilateral agreement with the EU and CEDAW with the UN. The study concludes that although international involvement has strengthened Mexico’s legal framework regarding VAW, the strategies of these organizations require reassessment and improvement to effectively eradicate all forms of VAW and to impact the lives of women at risk of violence in Mexico.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how the Swedish Democrats (SD) try to hide their roots of right-wing extremism by the use of political whitewashing to appear as a more established and accepted party in the eyes of society as well as by other members present in parliament. The essay analyzes and compares the party’s party program from different years, the first one from 1989, the year when the first party program was adopted. The theoretical framework of Gunnar Sjöblom acts as a focal point when conducting analysis of the three political arenas, the parliamentary, the internal and the electoral arena, with a specific focus on the electoral arena. The method used to find out how SD have been using political whitewashing is qualitative content analysis. This essay shows how political whitewashing has been used in different ways and is focused on three policy areas where SD has been the center of controversial debates. The analysis showed that SD has been frequently using political whitewashing in an attempt to position themselves as a less extreme party in favor of a more centralized party.

Foreign-Imposed Regime Change is a topic which has been widely covered in different studies before this one, usually as to understand its why it fails. In this analysis the Bush Administrations ‘motivations’ to conduct FIRCs in Afghanistan and Iraq are researched and answered. This is of interest as FIRCs are often covered from an operational standpoint rather than a motivational one. It also serves the purpose of finding how governments motivate the conduct of FIRC, if it is based one’s national security or whether it is done serve other purposes. To understand motivations three theoretical perspectives are utilized: The democratic peace theory, power transition theories, and what I call Lebow’s motivations for war. These help us understand what motivations are and how they can be argued. The analysis will be done through a textual analysis of primary and secondary sources, primarily gathered from national archives. These sources are then summarized as to create a narrative which explains the conflicts through their events, which are later tested as to come to a conclusion. Through this process it became apparent that the Bush Administration was motivated not as to produce functioning governments, but rather to serve their own purposes.

This study aims to examine whether there is a connection between populist parties and voter turnout in the European parliament election 2019. Populist Parties have had remarkable high success in recent years, which makes it interesting to study the electoral effects of this. Based on the theoretical framework by Stoke’s, Reif and Schmitt and previous literature on populism and voter turnout, this study analyzes the possible connection between populism and voter turnout. The main question is therefore if there is a connection between populist parties and voter turnout and as a second question if there are any differences between rightwing populists and the leftwing populists. According to the previously existing literature, there are three hypotheses, one that the populist parties will have a higher voter turnout than the mainstream parties due to their ability to mobilize people, the second hypothesis is that the voter turnout will be lower for populist parties since most of them are Eurosceptic and the third hypothesis is that the right wing populist will have a higher voter turnout than the left wing populists. Through a quantitative analysis based on a dataset from Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, the study aims to find a connection between type of party, populist party or mainstream party, and voter turnout. The result in the regression analysis indicates that the populist parties present a slightly higher voter turnout than the mainstream parties with the context of the country included. However, since this result is not significant, one cannot be sure if this potential connection is random or causal. Further studies need to investigate this to determine if a relationship exists.

This study examines the crisis management of COVID-19 in the municipality of Stock-holm by applying HRO-principles. HRO-principles are, according to earlier research, used by organizations with the ability to manage risky situations without mistakes. The HRO-principles were first used to study especially nuclear power plants and airplanes; the or-ganizations seemed to be able to avoid mistakes since they acted in accordance with the principles. Currently, the HRO-principles are increasingly applied to studies of crisis ma-nagement, for example COVID-19. The municipality of Stockholm is a particularly inte-resting case to study because of the high risks they encountered as the municipality that was affected the most in the beginning of a pandemic and also had to manage the exten-sive lack of knowledge. To perform the study, qualitative content analysis of written evaluations of the municipal crisis management was completed. This study draws con-clusions about the fulfillment of the principles and about lessons learned concerning the principles applicability in this crisis. The result shows that the municipality to a varying degree acted in accordance with the principles, however, no one of the five principles were completely fullfilled. The result also shows that lessons are learned from the HRO-prin-ciples applicability in this crisis. This study also highlights the need for further research about the HRO-principles in the study of crisis management.

Studiens fokus ligger på att samla in flyktingars upplevelser och erfarenheter för att ta reda på vilka utmaningar som flyktingar går igenom i sin integrationsprocess. Forskning visar att invandrare har ett sämre levnadsvillkor jämfört med infödda svenskar och blir diskriminerade på arbetsmarknaden på grund av deras etnicitet. Studien görs genom en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer som fokuserar på flyktinggrupper från Afghanistan och Syrien som har störst antal flyktingar i Sverige. Namnet på respondenter har bytts för att skydda deras integritet. Med hjälp av vetenskapliga artiklar som förklarar begreppen integration, segregation, etnicitetsteori och intersektionalitetsteori, samt tidigare forskning om socialt utanförskap och diskriminering, analyseras insamlade data genom intervjuer för att svara på studiens frågeställningar. Frågeställningar handlar bland annat om hur flyktingar beskriver sin integrationsprocessen i det svenska samhället samt vilka hinder och framgångsfaktorer de identifierar. Resultatet av studien visar att flyktingar blir diskriminerade på arbetsmarknaden. Flyktingar lever i ett socialt utanförskap vilket betyder att de har svårigheter att knyta kontakt med svenskar. Respondenterna nämner att alla i samhället ska bli respekterade och vara inkluderade oavsett vad man har för bakgrund. I resultatet framkommer det även vikten av rättigheter och skyldigheter samt samhörighetskänslan bland respondenterna.

Svensk skogspolitiks övergripande mål är jämnt uppdelat mellan miljömålet och produktionsmålet. Det gäller även den fjällnära skogen vilken besitter hög biologisk mångfald, samt stora arealer produktiv skogsmark vilket enligt skogspolitikens mål ska vara jämnt uppdelade. Skiftningar mellan prioriterat miljömål och produktionsmål har däremot indikerats de senaste 20 åren vilket lyfter upp studiens övrigripande forskningsfrågor angående hur svensk skogspolitik styrs och hur den fjällnära skogens nära framtid kan se ut i samband med nya ekonomiska ersättningar presenterade i proposition 2021/22:207. Denna studie undersöker de svenska riksdagspartierna i frågan om miljömål och produktionsmål i en svensk skogspolitisk policyförändring med hjälp av ACF. Genom att undersöka och förklara riksdagspartiernas övertygelser och koalitioner i samband med kammardebatten om proposition 2021/22:207 angående ersättning där ansökan om avverkning nekats i fjällnära skog ämnar studien undersöka och förklara drivkrafterna bakom ett skogspolitiskt beslut med viljan att skapa ökad förståelse angående hur svensk skogspolitik styrs och hur det kan påverka skogens nära framtid. Genom att bryta ner och analysera partiernas normativa och empiriska ”policy core beliefs” genom en tematisk innehållsanalys identifierar studien motstående koalitioner i fråga om brukandet eller bevarandet av den fjällnära skogen gällande hotbild, förvaltning och styrmedel. Därmed bidrar studien till en ökad förståelse av hur partiernas övertygelser kan spegla policyförändring i en skogspolitisk fråga och hur det i sin tur kan påverka den fjällnära skogens nära framtid.

Several earlier studies have discussed the relationship between economic inequality and democracy, although no consensus have yet been reached regarding whether there is a relation and the actual shape of it. The aim of this study is to investigate this relationship via a time series cross sectional analysis. The study is performed with panel data containing measurements of the quality of liberal democracy within countries, as well as measurements of economic inequality (distribution of pretax national income and wealth in the household sector within the richest 1% and poorest 10% of the population). The study shows a relationship between economic inequality and the quality of liberal democracy. Furthermore, the different conceptualizations of economic inequality are shown to have different effect and relevance depending on the social groups in question. Income distribution correlates strongly positive with an increase in democratic quality regarding the poorest 10% of the population, while wealth distribution correlates negatively regarding the riches 1%. Furthermore, two theoretical mechanisms through which these effects could occur are investigated; one focuses on the effects that economic inequalities have on support for democracy among the poorest, the other on the effect that concentration of economic assets has on political equality and the actions of the wealthiest within society. The study shows support for the second mechanism regarding a relationship between measures of economic inequalities and measures of how much political influence is based on economic assets, where more economically unequal societies tend to also have a more unequal distribution of political influence.

The case of the National Liberation Army (NLA) in Macedonia, taking up arms against the state in 2001, is a largely underrepresented in the literature. Thus, basing this study on the theory of contingent events and a relational perspective, the purpose of this study is to examine the processes and motives behind individuals joining the National Liberation Army in Macedonia. This was done by conducting semi-structured interviews with former rebels and combatants from Macedonia and analysing the material qualitatively, using the constant comparative method through the lens of the theory. The study of civil wars and rebel participation and mobilisation have long been dominated by quantitative studies and rational choice theory, which is why this study instead is qualitative in nature and based on the personal and individual perspectives of former combatants. I found that the main reasoning behind joining the NLA was to increase the rights for Albanians in Macedonia. Further, rebel participation, as well as the development of the motives behind it, were the result of a process of experiencing discrimination and contingent events. The eruption of violence can be contributed to the relationship and interactions between the Albanians experiencing discrimination and the Macedonian state, having acted as an oppressor. Thus, the results include not only understanding why individuals joined the NLA, but also how.

Terrorism is a global problem that has a negative effect on people’s lives all around the world. News media has a big part in how society understands terrorism and therefore it is important to examine how they report and portray terrorists. Using Sjoberg and Gentry’s Beyond Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Thinking about Women’s Violence in Global Politics this essay examines how news media portrays men and women in terrorist organisations, and if the mother-, monster-, whore narratives can be found. The method of textual analysis was adopted to analyse news articles from papers from around the world. The findings show that there is a significant difference in how female terrorists are portrayed versus male terrorists. The findings also show that writers most commonly depict female terrorists as monsters, this indicates that the monster narrative is the most common one found in news articles. This knowledge is important because it improves our understandings of why we view female terrorists the way we do.

The ongoing war in Ukraine and Gaza have sparked international discussion on how to manage the situation but also on which side one should stand in these conflicts. One axis ofsupport these discussions occur are along ideological lines. What this paper aims to achieve is to understand where the left- and right-wing stand in these conflicts and what kind of reasonings that they put forwards to justify their support. In order to come to a conclusion this paper will use a text analysis method on different ideologically charged text in form of debate articles, policy documents and other public statements from four Swedish parties, two on the left and two on the right. This method will be a qualitative idea analysis that will focuson different statements from these texts that will then be analyzed and interpreted throughan IR constructivist lens. What could be concluded from this paper was a clear result that all four parties were on the side of Ukraine but differed on the Israel-Palestine with the right-wing leaning more to Israel and the left-wing leaning towards Palestine. This because two of the parties were more in the center of the ideological divide while two of them were on clear opposite sides with the more socialist party siding with Palestine due to principal and historical support while the more conservative party sided with Israel due to clear outspoken support and ideological similarities with the ruling party of Israel.

This thesis examines the explanatory potential of Charles A. Kupchans hypotheses on cooperation and discord within defence alliances. The hypotheses are analysed in the context of Turkish non-alignment towards NATO’s open-door policy and the Swedish NATO-application. The thesis finds that the hypotheses partially explain Turkish non-cooperation but more importantly, it highlights the complex dynamics that shape decision making, cooperative and non-cooperative behaviour within NATO. It shows that Türkiye’s pursuit of strategic autonomy and growing regional ambitions have been fuelled by increasing nationalist and anti-western domestic policies, leading to conflicts with other NATO members, resulting in sanctions and political isolation. Concessions regarding sanctions have been catalysts for Türkiye’s final ratification of the Swedish NATO-application.

The Swedish Armed Forces have experienced a series of fundamental reorganizations during the 20th and 21st centuries. This study investigates the inquiry into the Leadership and Authority Organization for Defence (LEMO) introduced in 1991, one of the pivotal restructuring efforts undertaken by the Swedish Armed Forces, which resulted in the transformation of the Armed Forces into an agency within the government. An exploratory qualitative textual analysis was undertaken to address the research question, guided by the structural and symbolic perspectives outlined by Bolman and Deal (2019). The study reveals that the decision to allow branch commanders to retain both responsibility and rank, coupled with the absence of a higher staff function, led to reduced efficiency in the workflow. Consequently, the Chief of Defence was burdened with assessments that should have been conducted by the Chief of staff of the Headquarters. This reduction in leadership adversely affected joint operations within the Swedish Armed Forces.

There is a shortage of qualitative research inquiring into Swedish election manifestos, which could provide the research field with a deeper understanding of how the EU is discussed in election manifestos. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine signs of Europeanisation in Swedish election manifestos, employing a qualitative content analysis and the theoretical concepts of politicisation and Europeanisation. The results show that Swedish parties politicise several different dimensions of the EU in both national and European election manifestos, discussing contextual factors as well constitutional issues. While the parties thus display signs of Europeanisation, they discuss the EU ambiguously which adds complexity to the image of Swedish parties’ election manifestos as Europeanised. This thesis sheds light on how Swedish parties' EU discussion can be approached qualitatively, providinga deeper understanding of EU contents of election manifestos.

In a world marked by climate change, globalization, and rapidly increasing population growth food security is a crucial factor for the survival of both individuals and states. To meet these challenges m countries, develop food security strategies to cope and create a resilience. This study aims to apply a resilience perspective on food security strategies in developed countries, like Sweden and Norway. Through a thematic analysis has expressions of resilience been identified and together with a theoretical typology of resilience diverse types of resilience has emerged. The results show that ecological resilience is the dominant type in these national food security strategies followed by elements of social-ecological resilience. The results also highlight what actions the countries strategies consider to be resilient. Furthermore, the strategies expressions of resilience are mostly similar but also shows differences between the methods of creating resilience within food security.

This thesis aims to analyse Vladimir Putin’s strategic use of communication in his interview with Tucker Carlson in February of 2024. The research questions intend to identify the use of such strategies and how they are used to further strengthen Putin’s political agenda. The interview was studied together with a theoretical framework consisting of propaganda analysis, narrative analysis and critical discourse analysis of which all were abetted with one of Lukes’ three faces of power. Previous research has shown how dictators have used propaganda to both legitimize their current position and justify actions. These findings concur with the result found in this thesis, but the studied material also proved to contain a more offensive and hostile strategy. The results consequently gave some insight into how Putin, and other dictators, can use media to strengthen their positions of power and legitimize military interventions. But it also demonstrated how language can be operated to produce mistrust and possibly weaken opponents.

This thesis examines the discourse within both national and international strategies to analyse the processes through which the seabed becomes securitized, aiming to enhance the knowledge of Seabed Warfare. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) concerning national security, geopolitics, and global power dynamics. Strategies published by France, the United Kingdom, NATO, and the EU are examined through a critical analysis based on securitization theory, merged with the WPR method. The findings uncover the necessity for resilience to confront contemporary threats, emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches, updated strategies, evolved situational awareness, enhanced information sharing, and the development of capabilities to enable measures at significant oceanic depths. Finally, a discursive trend emerges, addressing threats necessitates unified action, whether through partnerships, alliances, or unions. Seabed Warfare is not an isolated problem within the maritime domain, it affects and requires cross-sectoral and multidimensional solutions.

Recent damage to the Nord Stream pipelines 1 and 2 has highlighted the vulnerabilities of the critical undersea infrastructure which our modern societies so heavily depend on. As our societies turn more dependent on these undersea systems- the question of the security, protection and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure is put to the forefront. In an European context both the policy of EU and NATO is analyzed to examine how two of the European institutions with the highest decision-making capacity is responding to the situation. Through qualitative content analysis, the research paper aims to delve into the development of European critical underwater infrastructure. With a theory testing perspective both critical junctures theory and securitization theory is applied to the specific event of the Nord Stream-sabotage and its following aftermath. The results of the study implied, through operationalized criteria, that a) the Nord Stream-sabotage could be seen as a critical juncture in relation to the development of the critical undersea infrastructure and b) confirmed the securitization of European critical undersea infrastructure.

Europe stands at the face of transformative changes, where the study of EU integration becomes crucial in comprehending the complex dynamics between member states and EU institutions, as well envisioning its future. Since its origin, the parliament has played a fundamental role in advancing political integration across national borders by representing EU citizens. However, recent years have witnessed shifts that seem to alter the European Parliaments role and its leaning towards integration, indicating a move towards increased intergovernmentalism within the EU. By examining its historical progress and stances towards integration, we can gain deeper insights into how its role has shifted and how it affects the EU's future, done by comparing two different periods, 2004-2009 and current election period 2019-2024. By using competing theories of European integration, this paper purposes to map out implications for the European union future. This study seeks to seal a significant research gap by investigating the European Parliament's role in integration. By analyzing parliamentary materials with debates longitudinally, this research aims to identify shifts in attitudes towards European integration. Results were shown that indicated the European parliament’s attitude towards integration had its changes in recent decades. From previously being a strong advocate for deeper integration, the European parliament has now a more nuances view of supranationality and intergovernmental collaboration. Future directions for European integration suggest a more cautious and gradual approach, continuing to cooperate without transferring excessive power to central EU bodies. This could have reaching implications for the future of the union and for the role of the European parliament in the continued integration process. This study on the role of the European Parliament and its integration is of great importance to political science, since of its ability to surround various aspects of

Denna studie undersöker förutsättningarna för implementering av EU:s nya skogsstrategi i en flernivåstyrningskontext. Policykonflikter har varit framträdande inom olika områden, inte minst inom skogspolitiken, och skogsägare har haft svårigheter att navigera bland de regleringar som finns både på nationell och EU-nivå. Därför fokuserar denna uppsats på den övergripande forskningsfrågan: Är skogspolitiken samstämmig? Genom att analysera och jämföra policykoherensen mellan EU:s skogsstrategi och två viktiga svenska policydokument – klimathandlingsplanen från 2023 och strategin för biologisk mångfald och ekosystemtjänster från 2013 – syftar studien till att belysa hur väl dessa strategier samverkar och är samstämmiga inom skogspolitiken på både EU- och nationell nivå. Studien finner överensstämmelser mellan vissa mål i EU:s skogsstrategi och de svenska dokumenten, vilket indikerar en potential för implementering. Samtidigt identifieras konflikter mellan vissa policys, särskilt vad gäller prioriteringar och tidsramar. Dessa avvikelser minskar policykoherensen och skapar hinder för en effektiv implementering av EU:s skogsstrategi i Sverige. Studien bidrar därmed till en ökad förståelse av skogspolitikens samstämmighet och belyser utmaningar för implementeringen av mål på olika nivåer inom den svenska skogspolitiken.

Tidigare implementeringsforskning har fördjupat förståelsen för faktorer som påverkar och kan utgöra hinder för ett effektivt genomförande av olika politiska åtgärder. Denna studie syftar till att bidra till denna tidigare forskning genom att analysera relationen mellan social acceptans och graden av implementering. Detta då social acceptans, som tidigare har studerats som en begränsande faktor i beslutsfattandefasen, inte har getts samma uppmärksamhet som ett potentiellt hinder för implementering. Social acceptans har operationaliserats till två konkreta och mätbara variabler, motstånd och allmän opinion. Med en kvantitativ ansats och multipel regressionsanalys har relationen empiriskt studerats genom att titta på tillståndsgiven vindkraft i norra Sverige. Resultaten visar att ett högre motstånd har en signifikant negativ inverkan på implementeringsgraden, vilket innebär att projekt som möter större lokalt motstånd har en lägre sannolikhet att framgångsrikt implementeras. Å andra sidan visar allmän opinion ingen signifikant effekt på implementeringsgraden. Ett positivt allmänt stöd för vindkraft räcker därmed inte alltid för att säkerställa framgång på lokal nivå. Dessa resultat är betydelsefulla eftersom de understryker att somliga aspekter av social acceptans kan förklara varför implementeringsmisslyckanden sker på lokal nivå. I fallet med tillståndsgiven vindkraft ter sig dessa aspekter dessutom vara så pass avgörande att inte ens vinstdrivande faktorer såsom gynnsamma fysiska förutsättningar för vindkraftsutveckling kan mildra effekterna av dem.

The aim of this study has been to analyse the Norwegian climate discourse and itsimplications on disaster diplomacy between the member states of the Arctic Council. For the purpose of this study, disaster diplomacy refers to the occurrence ofcooperation to address the disaster that is climate change. The Arctic was chosen asthe subject due to it being one of the regions most affected by climate change, whichcreates threats to Arctic societies and ecosystems. The concept of disaster diplomacy and John S. Dryzek’s classifications of climatediscourses form the theoretical framework of this study. The analysis was conductedusing a qualitative textual analysis and found that the Norwegian climate discourse ispredominantly environmentalist, seeking proactive measures to mitigate climaterelatedconsequences. Thus, the Norwegian climate discourse can be assumed to createfavourable conditions for disaster diplomacy. However, certain climate-related issuesrisk causing challenges for disaster diplomacy amongst the member states of the ArcticCouncil.

The inclusion-moderation thesis argues that, as radical parties become included in coalition governments, their positions and rhetoric will moderate as a consequence of compromising with, and adapting to the parties they are governing with. With lacking empirical evidence, however, the effects of inclusion on radical parties are still not clear. The Sweden Democrats (SD), a Swedish radical right-wing populist party, became the country’s second largest party after the election of 2022 and received considerable influence through the “Tidö-agreement” with the new coalition government. They are thus a recent example of a radical right populist party gaining influence in Europe. This paper examines the rhetoric of the SD’s party leader, Jimmie Åkesson, before and after the election of 2022 through qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that no moderation has taken place in their radical right populist rhetoric after inclusion. Furthermore, the nativist aspect of their rhetoric seems to have become far more pronounced, and increasingly influences other aspects of their rhetoric as well.