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A world government based on democratic principles would be ideal, but this is unlikely to come about any time soon. However, the mere impossibility of immediately implementing an idea does not make that idea wrong. Meanwhile one can work through existing institutions such as the UN and European Union to improve accountability in the arena of world politics. Adapted from the source document.

While there is a general definition of democracy, in more than 2000 years of its existence there are still many questions lingering about issues such as: which individuals (if any) should be excluded from collective decision making, the role of experts, should decisions be made by popular vote or through representatives, etc. The article is a follow-up of a previous study entitled "The potential of the local democracy," & explores what representatives themselves think of democracy & the democratic decision making process. Local politicians will be asked about their idea of 1) democracy in general, 2) concrete approaches to strengthen democracy, 3) their vision of citizens' role in democracy, 4) their actual actions towards citizens. The study will consist of interviews of approx. 3000 local (city, county, & region) representatives. References. Adapted from the source document.

The role of knowledge in politics, as well as the extent to which it plays a role in government-level decision-making, is explored. The need is cited for further research in this area. 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.

Comparative politics is the only one of the political science subdisciplines that is defined in methodological rather than substantive terms. Since, however, scientific enterprises are always and unavoidably comparative, any emphasis on comparison and comparative method is certainly less than helpful in attempts to grasp the meaning of the term "comparatie politics". According to general usage in political science, comparativists are engrossed in political similarities and differences between countries; this lexical definition, however, corresponds poorly with stipulative definitions embedded in the practice of research. For one thing, by performing important hypothesis-generating and similar tasks, studies of one case form a central and integrated feature of comparative politics. Furthermore, much comparative research moves on the levels of individuals and groups, and makes use of countries as contexts rather than units. As political science has matured to be a nomotetic discipline, aiming at the building of empirically falsifiable explanatory theory, the crossing of borders in space and time has become a necessity, and comparative politics is today much more than an isolated political science compartment only. References.

Constitutional reform measures, currently in committee, are going to be brought before voters in an election scheduled to take place in the year 2010. Proposed measures meeting all requirements, including voter approval, will then go into effect at the beginning of 2011. Political science professor Torbjorn Bergman and Magnus Blomgren (Ph.D.) are currently engaged in a project that involves analyzing the constitutional reform process. This project is taking place over a three-year time span, from 2008-2010. While previous research has explored constitutional reform efforts retroactively, Bergman and Blomgren have adopted a unique approach in that they seek to analyze the constitutional reform process while it is in progress. 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.

This article focuses on political talk in the media. Taking the point of departure in discourse & conversation analysis the aim is to study relations & methods on a micro level in two forms of staged talk; the interaction in live interviews & the practices of quoting in edited news reports. The study of live interviews is based on programs broadcasted during the Swedish election campaigns 2002 & 2006. The study shows how relations of power are negotiated in interaction. Methods used by the politicians to deal with delicate situations created by the questions asked are analyzed. The analysis of edited news reports shows how techniques of quoting have been part of a process moving the stage of the political debate more & more into the media. Quoting is a flexible resource frequently used by journalists in the dramatization of news stories & the re-contextualization of others voices. Adapted from the source document.

A manifesto for the good political science raises some fundamental questions. What makes the manifesto as a genre? Are there any essential difference between a political manifesto in the conventional sense and a scientific manifesto? The function fills texts of this kind in an academic discipline? No matter what we think of functional explanations in general, I would in this context to say that we can get the answer to the first two questions through the last. An etymological meaning of the word "manifesto" can be helpful. Manifesto is that which is obvious, and to manifest something that is obvious there. But this opens up once an ambiguity: this means that what is revealed in a manifesto is something that is already evident outside the manifesto, or vice versa, something that is made manifest by Manifesto, by manifesting? Adapted from the source document.