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Good political science is about making true and important statements about politics. Its first task is to allow this objective to guide practical research -- and teach how to work. Good political science is not paralyzed by the difficulties of reaching one's own ideals. Nor is it more difficult to achieve those ideals than those of anybody more important. Good political scientists note that difficulties are reflected on them, but never let them reduce involvement in political science tasks. Only by way of exception may good political science consist of a discussion of good political science. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this article is to study how Sweden's political parties handled the process of constitutional review from 2004-2008. In particular the analysis examines how parties choose between their office-seeking, policy-seeking and vote-seeking goals and the desire to maintain ultra party agreement. Three expectations are identified: (a) parties' different strategic situations lead them to advocate different long-term goals; (b) different parts' levels will take different stands in order to increase their influence vis-a-vis other levels: (c) party leaderships will try to increase their freedom to negotiate with others by avoiding extensive intra party debates or decisions. The study is based on 30 interviews with representatives closely involved in the constitutional-reform process. The conclusion is that parties have self-interested goals as regards the question of how the political game should be regulated. The conflict between different intra-party levels is also obvious. However, due to party members' disinterest in the constitutional review, party leaders did not need to adopt a variety of strategies to avoid a large scale intra-part debate, It was enough for them to claim that the resulting compromise was actually something of a victory' for each party. Adapted from the source document.

Equal pay for equal work and equal opportunities for promotion, the theme of this study, serves to highlight the conditions for equality in one of the most important areas in most adult lives; work. Why study gender? One answer is that the ability to achieve equality in the social hierarchy, given equal qualifications, is a moral intuition that appears to be a necessary condition for steering a progressive society. Adapted from the source document.

The authors explore the question of whether activity on the part of Swedish authorities aimed at shaping public opinion has shifted from the dissemination of information to the issuing of propaganda. Their project involves four case studies of different agencies. Issues explored are the questions and themes taken up by authorities and which forms of opinion shaping organizations share in common, as well as which forms are unique to a specific type of administration. Adapted from the source document.

International Politics has been characterized as an American social science. This article traces the early development of the discipline in Sweden in the shadow of US hegemony. The advantages & disadvantages of the Swedish decision to keep International Relations (IR) within the broader discipline of Political Science are discussed. Recalling the early tensions between International Politics & Peace & Conflict Research, the author identifies some prominent traits in the development of Swedish IR in recent decades. Finally, broader developments in IR research generally are outlined in terms of consecutive debates, continuously broadening research themes, fashions, reaction to dramatic events in the world, & dialectics between paradigms emphasizing anarchy or order. References. Adapted from the source document.

Herbert Tingsten's program for the critical analysis of ideologies promised to make political science more useful for understanding current political developments. However, in this article it is argued that these promises cannot be sustained unless normative political analysis is included as well. A point elaborated, is that there is a close analogy between normative political analysis and public policy evaluation. In both cases, the aim is mainly to illuminate the implications and consequences of certain values and ideals -- not to prove them. In this sense, the usefulness of normative research is evident in that it enlarges and deepens our understanding of the values and principles to which we are committed. References.

This article discusses the political relevance of recent proposals on universal basic income to the Swedish welfare state. I explore powerful arguments in favour of such proposals in this particular institutional context & confront them with two dimensions of the objection of political unfeasibility: (a) that basic income implies more fundamental normative & institutional discontinuity than sustainable implementanon allows & (b) that an adequate basic income would be unaffordable. I argue that this objection does not apply to all meaningful basic income schemes. Partial basic income & time-limited basic income promise to bring many advantages of a full basic income without implying a brutal clash with either (a) or (b). References. Adapted from the source document.

The nation is often portrayed as a natural political unit, a bearer of common values facilitating democracy & equality. However, the construction & reproduction of nations is also intimately tied to hierarchies & mechanisms of power, not least gender power. This article shows how nation & gender arc construed simultaneously in ideas & symbols, as well as in everyday practices. The article argues that memory work is a possible way to gain insight into the everyday construction of gender & nation, & to develop new theoretical understandings. An overview of central themes of the discussion on gender & nation is presented. Memory work makes explicit the ambivalent processes by which women as acting subjects are denied agency & turned into objects of the nation. References. Adapted from the source document.

Five parties held (almost) all seats in the Swedish Riksdag between 1921 & 1988. Although contenders have been around since the mid 60's, it took until the elections of 1988 & 1991 for three newcomers to make a breakthrough: Miljopartiet (1988), Kristdemokraterna & Ny Demokrati (1991). This article examines the serious challengers that emerged in the early 2000s, i.e., Junilistan, Piratpartiet, Sverigedemokraterna & Feministiskt initativ. How did they emerge, what issues & ideas do they represent, & what characterizes the voters that are attracted by them? The articles' main focus is on the last question. We conclude that although there are variations between the supporters of the four different parties, they share some common properties. The typical contender- voter is a young man that is uninterested in politics, has a low education & is poorly integrated into the labor market. Adapted from the source document.

A professor in public law discusses her experience with interdisciplinary sciences, especially between public law and political science regarding peace and conflict research. Public law and political science are unified in many ways, especially after the increasing influence of the highly politicized EU-law, and have yielded good results within the study of soft law (i.e. informal rules), conflict, human trafficking, and the power of the EU jurors. However, maybe the most ambitious project of them all is the research of how states of war and dictatorships can be transferred into states of peace and democracy. Despite its many opportunities, interdisciplinary science has its problems, such as a lack of a mutual scientific language and different theoretical structures. Luckily, many of these problems can be countered with thorough planning. L. Pitkaniemi

In recent Swedish political debate a former anonymous group has been noticed, political appointees in the political executives. In media they are often characterized as politicians and in the last decades an expansion of them has taken place, both at governmental and municipal level (Stockholm). However, studies of this key group are surprisingly few. The study is related to "politicization", a concept widely used in international political science. Not only the expansion (and the recent feminization) of the group is here discussed. Even more important is the changing patterns of careers and the creation of staffs of political appointees that surround the politicians. The changes can be viewed as an effort from the politicians to regain control of the bureaucracy. By studying this, at least in Sweden, neglected group, the concept on politicization also is developed. Adapted from the source document.

This article discusses modern Islam & what is commonly called Islamism. The aim with the discussion is to bring forward different views on the content & emergence of Islamism during the 20th century. The material for this discussion composes of three books each presenting different perspectives on the topic. The books are Olivier Roy's Globalized Islam, Bobby S. Sayyid's The Fundamental Fear, & finally Politics of Piety by Saba Mahmood. The discussion is narrowed down to two themes or questions: a) terminology -- what does one mean when using the word Islamism? b) Islamism & the relation to West -- is Islamism described as a reaction to western hegemony, a product of West, or something else? In the article support is given to Mahmood's attempt at understanding Islamism on a micro-level. Mahmood's analysis is argued to be a fruitful attempt to move away from generalizations & diffuse understandings of Islamism. Adapted from the source document.

The article argues that Aristotelian virtue ethics & deliberative democratic theory can beneficially be considered to have a shared normative structure. The review is conducted as a comparative idea analysis, through which the respective perspectives are reconstructed. The first reconstruction, that of the Aristotelian virtue ethics, is led by three dimensions of relevance to ethical theory. These dimensions are, although indirectly, also guiding the reconstruction of the second theory, i.e. the deliberative democratic theory. The conclusion we reach is that the theories, be it with different emphasis, generally share a common view in relation to all three of the aforementioned dimensions, as well as regarding the value of deliberation. They both have a dialectical or structured approach regarding ontological basics. Both of them also motivate their main values with intrinsic as well as instrumental reasons. In addition, they share a mainly particularistic conviction, as they believe that the values are determined through a deliberative process. The concluding remarks stress the need for further & ongoing discussions on the relationship between theories of ethics & theories of democracy. 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

As a consequence in internationalization and general trends in publishing, compilation theses, a form of publication relatively new to the political science field, are likely to become increasingly common. Those specializing in social sciences disciplines such as psychology and economics have had more experience in dealing with this type of publication. Based on their experiences, it is possible to unite on certain guidelines when evaluating publication quality. A compilation thesis should typically include from three to five scholarly contributions. At least one contribution should be self-authored. It should be clear what portion of the writing has been contributed by the doctoral candidate. Contributions should deal with a common overall theme. The beginning summary of the thesis should be carefully evaluated for its effectiveness in pointing out gaps in earlier research on the topic under discussion and for the pulling together of contributions. Esaiasson discusses how some years ago teaching staff at the Goteborg Institute developed a set of evaluation guidelines but notes that the institute hasn't produced compilation theses in recent years, so the guidelines havent yet been tested in actual practice. Further discussion is needed concerning the criteria for evaluating this emerging type of publication. Adapted from the source document.

During the year 2007 the Swedish Political Science Society conducted an investigation aimed at determining the degree of gender equality within the field of political science. Toward this end, they focused on universities and colleges. Since conditions of equality are considered to be relatively good among students, this investigation, which builds on earlier equality studies at political science institutions, focuses particularly on conditions at higher (i.e., post-doctorate) levels where disparities still exist. Of particular interest are employment conditions, which can significantly influence men's and women's desire to remain at a particular institution or within their chosen field. While not proposing solutions to problems found, those conducting the study have found that it raises further questions. Among these questions are: What is the gender distribution of persons in trusted positions, including temporary posts? Do women receive, on a par with men, support, including grants, in furthering their academic careers? Finally, the article considers the challenge to equality posed by the fact that, as women are embarking on their careers they are also often starting families, and even the well-educated among them continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the responsibility for care-giving in the home. Adapted from the source document.