Suchergebnisse

In 1870, political science was established as an academic discipline, attached to history, at the Lund University. In 1877, a chair in history and political science was created. Twenty-five years later, it was transformed into a chair in political science and statistics. In 1926, that symbiosis was put to an end and political science was awarded a chair of its own. Pontus Fahlbeck, professor from 1889 to 1917, was a historian who developed into a social scientist with broad interests: political science, statistics, economics, and sociology. Several of his books were also published in foreign languages and he had many contacts with colleagues abroad, particularly in France and Germany. However, the critical period in the modernization of political science in Lund happened just after the middle of the 20th century, with Nils Stjernquist, holding the chair from 1951 to 1983, at helm. The dependence of history and legal science waned; the influence of social science, especially in its American version, increased. The result was a modern political science department with broad interests and worldwide contacts. References.

Recent advances in game theory and experimental social science provide insights for the study of corruption and abuse of power in local politics. We survey the evidence from theoretical and experimental research and illustrate findings and problems with two examples from a survey among local politicians and officials in Sweden. The most simplified theoretical models, such as the prisoner's dilemma, fail to capture the distinction between group loyal behavior at different levels. There are several grey zones between pro-social behavior and corruption. These grey zones can be considered corruption danger zones. While Sweden is typically seen as a non-corrupt society, there are several situations where local politicians and officials must make choices in these corruption danger zones. Both formal institutions and informal norms influence these choices, and the views among politicians can vary substantially regarding what behavior is considered acceptable. Communication, openness and public debate can help the fight against corruption. Adapted from the source document.

Book reviewed in this article: Susan B. Anthony: A Biography of a Singular Feminist. Kathleen Barry. New York and London: New York University Press, 1988, 426 pages. Samhällsvetenskapens klassiker (The Classics of the Social Sciences). Margareta Bertilsson and Bjorn Hansson, eds. Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden, 1988. Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse, edited by Kersti Yllo and Michele Bograd. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988, 318 pages, $35.00, hardback, $16.95, paperback. The New Black Middle Class. Bart Landry. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987, xi + 250 pages, $22.50. Families and Economic Distress: Coping Strategies and Social Policy, edited by Patricia Voydanoff and Linda C. Majka. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988, 306 pages, $29.95 hardcover, $14.95 softcover.

The constitutionally-based right of access to documents has a long history in Sweden and is considered crucial to Swedish democracy. On entering the EU in 1995, Sweden declared that public access to official records forms part of Sweden's constitutional, political and cultural heritage. The members of the EU for their part declared that they took it for granted that Sweden would fully comply with Community (now Union) law with respect to openness and transparency. Sweden continues to push for transparency when EU legislation that potentially contains secrecy clauses is negotiated. It turns out, however, that EU membership does pose challenges to the strong Swedish right of access to documents. The protection of personal data is controversial in Sweden to the extent that the stricter EU legislation clashes with the traditionally weak protection of privacy in Swedish law; the Swedish right of access to information has largely outweighed the right to privacy. Large amounts of publicly available personal data are amassed in databases by private actors for commercial reasons, under the protection of the Swedish constitution. This is causing problems, especially since Sweden considers Swedish constitutional law to precede EU legislation in the field of access to information. Sweden will somehow have to solve the dilemmas caused by the differing traditions of transparency between itself and other EU member states. Official Swedish inquiries and the EU Regulation will provide many answers to these questions in 2016.

Mass media play a critical role through the production of news in influencing how citizens have their perceptions and opinions shaped. This article intends to delve into the role of news production in creating knowledge and shaping public perception and opinion within the Syrian case and demonstrates that news is not an accidental occurrence, neither in terms of subject or timing. Articles on specific issues, such as the reaction to the chemical weapons attack of August 2013 and the allegations of "industrial killings" by the Syrian government, appearing in the mass media, are subjected to analysis based on the theoretical notions outlined in the paper. These two cases hint that the timing and nature of these specific news events are not as "random" and coincidental as would seem at first glance.