This article discusses the present negative evaluation of stereotypes. Do people who use stereotypes believe that a characteristic attributed to a group is categorical; that all members of group A have this trait? Empirical research & ordinary observations indicate that judgments are not so crudely made, but that people categorize in terms of probabilities. Therefore the rule "one should not generalize" seems unjustified. Further, such a view often endorses a strategy of correcting old stereotypes with the promotion of new stereotypes. The main problem is often not the negative view of others, but the idolized or victimized picture of the own group. The way to improve group relations according to the presented analysis is to become more tolerant to skeptical views of the own group. Knowledge about the universal human propensity for in-group preferences & honest statistics about actual differences will be helpful in this process. Adapted from the source document.
The aim is to offer an overview in queer theory designed for political scientists. First of all queer theory is placed in a context of feminist studies, gay and lesbian studies, the discursive turn in social science, postmodern approaches to identity, postcolonial theory and Foucault's ideas of power. Then I highlight the political theorist Shane Phelan and her considerations in citizenship. Taking a critical stance against the Modern use of binaries, Phelan argues that acknowledgement of strangeness/strangers should be given priority in ethical aspects of citizenship. In the third section I refer to Butler's theories about gender performativity and the heterosexual matrix, Sedgwick's approach to the concept of homosexuality as well as Rubin's theory about sexual hierarchies. Finally queer theory is neither antifeminist nor profeminist. Yet this theory may support feminist goals. Adapted from the source document.
Herbert Tingsten (1896-1973) was one of the leading political science scholars in Sweden during the 20th century. In 1935-1946 he was a professor at Stockholm University. In 1946-1959 he was the editor-in-chief of the leading liberal newspaper in Sweden, the Dagens Nyheter. Tingsten's extensive scholarly production can be summed up in four groups. The first group describes the political institutions and rules, e.g. his doctoral thesis about referendum in the United States (1923). The second group contains analyses of political ideas. The third group combines institutional descriptions and analyses of ideas, primarily democratic and totalitarian ones. The fourth group, lastly, consists primarily of Political Behavior (1937). This book, a classic in the study of electoral statistics, gave Tingsten a lasting international acknowledgement. Adapted from the source document.
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.
Studien redovisar den tredje mätningen som följer upp förändringar av trafikanternas hastighetsval och hastighetsefterlevnad på det kommunala huvudvägnätet i tätort. Resultaten visar att de genomsnittliga reshastigheterna ligger under gällande hastighetsgräns, men att bristande hastighetsefterlevnad fortfarande är ett problem. År 2009 fattades ett riksdagsbeslut som innebar ett mål att antalet dödade i vägtrafiken skulle halveras mellan åren 2007 och 2020. En av indikatorerna för att följa utvecklingen är "hastighetsefterlevnad på det kommunala vägnätet". Ett delmål är att minst 80 procent av trafikarbetet ska ske inom gällande hastighetsgräns. År 2012 var startår för mätserien och under 2015 genomfördes den tredje uppföljande mätningen. ; In 2009 the Swedish Parliament passed a resolution stating that by 2020 the number of fatalities from road traffic crashes should be reduced to half the level in 2007. This corresponds to a maximum of 220 deaths in 2020. In order to monitor progress toward this goal, yearly national follow-up studies are conducted to examine trends in the numbers of people killed and severely injured, along with a number of indicators. One of these indicators is speed limit compliance on the municipality streets; the milestone here is to have at least 80 per cent of all traffic travelling within the speed limit. The aim of the present study is to report the changes between the years 2014 and 2015 concerning driver speed levels and speed limit compliance on the main municipality streets. The annual measurement series started in year 2012 and with the measurement series from 2015, this third follow-up was performed.
At the Statsvetenskapliga Fonrbundet annual meeting in 2007, an report was presented concerning an investigation conducted to determine the gender distribution among those who received research grants in the political science field. The investigation focused on gender distribution for grants awarded versus total number of applications submitted to research grant providers RJ, VR and FAS between 2001-2006. Overall the picture proved positive, except for FAS statistics showing a relatively small number of grants awarded relative to the number of women who applied for grants. It was determined that follow-up work was needed to address this. Plans were made to draw up guidelines at the May board meeting for continuing work in the fall. The second issue discussed at the meeting was what criteria should apply when judging the quality of compilation theses. It was hoped that the Society could get a discussion started which would ultimately lead to the establishment of a common practice. Adapted from the source document.
Coalition formation in a new municipal parliamentary landscape. Pragmatism in policy-related windows of opportunities Coalition building in Swedish municipalities has traditionally been dominated by two political blocks at the opposite sides of the ideological left–right scale (Bäck 2003; Wångmar 2006). The success of the Sweden Democrats in the last elections have challenged that pattern. Statistics on coalition formation since the 2014 election indicate that the traditional policy scale no longer dominates local government. Coalitions of parties closely situated next to each other on the left–right scale are not as common as before. Interviews with 19 leading politicians in five Swedish municipalities that formed majority coalitions, including parties on the left as well as the right block, indicate that neither the traditional left–right scale nor the GAL–TAN dimension played a decisive role in these coalition formation processes. Instead, the ability of political parties to cooperate within the coalitions and building on personal chemistry, was considered the most important factor in the coalition building process on the municipal level. ; Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv
The main purpose of this essay was to study whether niche parties that were represented in municipal councils in Sweden during the 2007-2010 term of office were politically relevant. Furthermore, factors that might facilitate political relevance for niche parties were studied. Political relevance was studied using two theoretical perspectives. The objective model of political relevance presents four categories of relevance based on the relations between political parties in a political assembly; governing parties, coalition parties, blackmail parties and isolated parties. The subjective model of political relevance relies on the party representatives' own judgments of the relevance of their parties. To study objective and subjective political relevance, party representatives were interviewed. The results showed that seven out of eight niche parties were politically relevant according to the objective model, and six out of eight niche parties were relevant according to the subjective model. For the study of possible facilitating factors, a comparative table was formed using statistics and official data. Percentage of seats and type of majority coalition seemed to affect the possibilities for niche parties to become governing parties. A large percentage of seats and being represented on the municipal executive board and committees seemed to facilitate subjective political relevance.
In the past eighty years, the Swedish university and higher education sector has undergone major changes. The conditions for conducting higher education and research have fundamentally changed. Universities and colleges have evolved from narrow elite institutions to educating large sections of the population and have increasingly attracted the interest of politics. They are located throughout the country and have gradually been assigned greater and greater resources and responsibilities. The majority of publicly funded research is currently conducted at the country's universities. At the same time, the sector's development has been characterized by considerable continuity. It is impossible to understand the structure of today's Swedish higher education landscape without taking into account the background and historical development of the universities and colleges. This report deals with developments in the period 1940–2020. The starting point is the state's reforms in higher education and research. It is both about broad, overarching reforms that affected large parts of the activities at universities and colleges in one context and about the continuous adaptation of regulations and systems. The purpose is to draw an overview of the development of the modern Swedish university. The report is primarily aimed at people working at universities and authorities, but also at politicians and people from the interested public who want to know more about the background to today's university and college system and why it looks the way it does. The report has been prepared by the University Chancellor's Office, as part of the mission to follow developments in Swedish higher education and research. The University Chancellor's Office also annually publishes up-to-date statistics on the Swedish university and a large number of reports on various themes.
Recreational fishing is of high social and economic value worldwide, and participation is increasing at a global scale. The extent and biological effect of recreational fisheries have only recently been characterized on a limited number of targeted stocks in Europe. Several studies have shown that there is an effect of recreational fisheries on stock status in Europe and globally, and the importance of acknowledging this sector is increasingly conceded. In Sweden, recreational fishing is defined by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management as any fishing without a professional licence, i.e. fishing for own consumption, recreation, tourism and for competition. Annual surveys have shown that at least 1.4 million Swedes participate in recreational fisheries at least once per year, and total catches have been estimated to about 18 380 t. The species most frequently caught in Swedish recreational fisheries are perch, pike, brown trout, crayfish, lobster, Zander, salmon, Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic herring, and cod. Recreational fisheries are covered in national as well as international management strategies for sustainable fisheries, in particular the common fisheries policy (CFP). The CFP concerns adopting a precautionary approach to fisheries management, and in support of this the EU Data Collection Framework was introduced in 2001. In accordance with this, member states are obliged to collect data on e.g. recreational fisheries for selected species defined under the DCF (EU, 2008) or EU-MAP (EU, 2016). The current knowledge on recreational fisheries in Sweden is largely based on combined postal surveys and follow-up by telephone conducted by Statistics Sweden (SCB) on behalf of HaV. In this essay, the current knowledge on the Swedish recreational fisheries, available methods and key species is reviewed. Important research topics needing further examination, aiding the fulfilling the data collection obligations and increasing the overall understanding and knowledge of the Swedish recreational fisheries, are stated.
This study was made with the purposes of characterizing milk supply and marketing chains, postproduction losses of milk, and evaluating the potential of supply chain management approach to reduce milk losses in Ethiopia. Primary data were collected by semi-structured survey questionnaire and interview of key informants. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel sheets. Mapping, characterizations, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the collected data. Both quantitative and qualitative-narrative methods were used in analysis. The finding revealed that farmers, cooperatives/unions, traders, and catering institutions were the major chain actors in milk chain in the study area. With 73% of milk sold by farmers passing through cooperatives/unions to the next chain actors, cooperatives/unions were the focal firms in this supply chain. Production was characterized by smallholders with few numbers of cows and low productivity of milk per cow per day. Cow breed and lack of access to credit were identified as critical resource and the most constraint that hinder production improvement. Marketing relationships among the chain actors were characterized as lacking long-term market orientation and were mostly on the spot and transaction based. The assessment on the enabling environment indicated further need of support from governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to build the capacity of chain actors, particularly the farmers. The study indicated existence of significant amount of milk losses in the milk chain. With 39% of the total losses happening at cooperatives/union stage, cooperatives/unions were identified as loss hotspot point in the chain. Poor milk handling practice at the collection points, lack of immediate acceptors, milk carrying tools used, means of transport used, and ineffective communication with other partner in the chain were identified in order of severity as important problems causing milk losses in the study area. Based on the study results and review of others' work in similar contexts, this study argued for SCM to be part of solution in improving this dairy chain. The study showed cases where effectively implemented SCM approach converted dairy chains from chains characterized by dismantled, high conflicts of interests among the chain actors, and high losses of food in the chain to chains with mutual interest trying to maximize the profit to the whole chain actors. Integrated and collective actions by all chain actors aiming at reducing costs, improving quality, and minimizing food losses in the chain were central to these efforts. Therefore, SCM approach needs to be part of the solution in increasing profitability and reducing milk losses in Ethiopia in general and in the study area in particular. However, the needs for detailed further study, some of which are recommended by this study, are worthwhile.
Agriculture provides the most essential service to mankind, as production of crops in sufficient amounts is necessary for food security and livelihood. This chapter examines the question of whether organic agriculture can produce enough food to meet future demand. This question relates to a moral imperative and any evaluation must therefore be based on objective scientific facts excluding ideological bias, political correctness, economic incentives or environmental opinions. The chapter begins by defining the conditions necessary for a stringent evaluation of crop yields and explains potential pitfalls. Yield data from national statistics, organic and conventional long-term experiments and comparative studies are then compiled and evaluated, followed by a discussion of the main factors behind low-yielding production. In a global perspective, the scientific literature shows that organic yields are between 25 and 50% lower than conventional yields, depending on whether the organic system has access to animal manure. The amount of manure available on organic farms is usually not sufficient to produce similar crop yields as in conventional systems and therefore green manures are commonly used. However, organic crop yields reported for rotations with green manure require correction for years without crop export from the field, which reduces average yield over the crop rotation. When organic yields are similar to those in conventional production, nutrient input through manure is usually higher than nutrient addition in conventional agriculture, but such high inputs are usually only possible through transfer of large amounts of manure from conventional to organic production. The main factors limiting organic yields are lower nutrient availability, poorer weed control and limited possibilities to improve the nutrient status of infertile soils. It is thus very likely that the rules that actually define organic agriculture, i.e. exclusive use of manures and untreated minerals, greatly limit the potential to increase yields. Our analysis of some yield-related statements repeatedly used by advocates of organic agriculture reached the following conclusions: Organic manure is a severely limited resource, unavailable in quantities sufficient for sustaining high crop yields; legumes are not a free and environmentally sound N source that can replace inorganic fertilisers throughout; and low native soil fertility cannot be overcome with local inputs and untreated minerals alone. Agricultural methods severely limiting crop yields are counter-productive. Lower organic yields require compensation through expansion of cropland – the alternative is famine. Combining expected population growth and projected land demand reveals that low-yielding agriculture is an unrealistic option for production of sufficient crops in the future. In addition, accelerated conversion of natural ecosystems into cropland would cause significant loss of natural habitats. Further improvement of conventional agriculture based on innovations, enhanced efficiency and improved agronomic practices seems to be the only way to produce sufficient food supply for a growing world population while minimising the negative environmental impact.
This report is based on the results obtained from two questionnaire studies carried out during 1999 and 2007. The aim of the studies is to increase our knowledge about the attitudes and approach of the police to traffic safety work and how these attitudes have changed with time. In the first study 729 randomly chosen police officers completed the questionnaire and in the second 1,022. The results show that the basic attitude among the police towards traffic surveillance has become more positive. The attitudes towards the directives from the governing bodies and their ability to participate in decision making have improved slightly from the first measurement to the second measurement. However, it is characteristic that a fairly large proportion still is dissatisfied with the same. The attitude of the police towards their own reporting of accidents has not changed appreciably at all. On the other hand, the understanding that a certain amount of statistics shall be reported is slightly greater in 2007 than in 1999. The attitudes towards automatic surveillance have strongly improved although a well-visible policeman is still advocated. The need to reinforce the surveillance of professional traffic is considered to be greater in 2007 than in 1999. According to the police, the attitude amongst the public towards speeding offences has become more negative than it was before. Nevertheless, a relatively high proportion still believes that it is a relatively minor offence. In 2006, the tolerance level for speeding offences was lowered at the same time as the fines for traffic offences were raised markedly. The results of the questionnaire show that the police are neutral towards whether or not these measures will influence the public's acceptance of the traffic safety work, which could indicate that they have not yet defined their attitude regarding the question. More than half of all police officers in 2007 do not believe that the public are aware of the possibility of having a time for consideration with respect to the acceptance of a fine for a breach of regulations. Finally the results show that in 2007, more controls were carried out than before. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from these results are that the police have developed a more positive attitude towards the traffic safety work and that, at the same time, more traffic controls are being carried out. But there are also many who still do not feel that they are able to influence their work. Furthermore, many are dissatisfied with the governing body's directives regarding traffic safety work. Such a dissatisfaction can influence the psycho-social work environment and the motivation for carrying out good work, but concretely the results show that such a dissatisfaction influences, both directly and indirectly, how many traffic controls one carries out.
In this report future annual emissions amounts of gaseous pollutants, particulate matter (PM10) and noise from the non-road mobile machinery sector in Sweden were estimated. The estimates over future emissions amounts were conducted for each year from 2006 to 2020. Special focus has been taken to the impact of European and national legislations, the age distribution of different types and sizes of machinery and measures to reduce the annual emissions. Besides different measures to reduce emissions, corresponding costs were also estimated. The study comprises fuel consumption and emissions of CO2, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and noise from non-road mobile machinery equipped with diesel engines with a rated engine power of 37 to 560 kW. Non-road mobile machinery for example includes tractors, wheel loaders, excavators, articulate haulers, mobile cranes, combined harvesters, forestry machinery and trucks. The current report was a supplementary study to a report describing a methodology for estimating annual fuel consumption and emissions from the non-road mobile machinery sector in Sweden for year 2006. Inventory data of the year 2006 study was obtained from the Swedish machinery testing institute's machinery inspection operation, statistics of sale returns from trade organisations and the Swedish motor-vehicle register. The number of machinery and annual fuel consumption and emissions amounts for year 2006 is presented in table S1. Besides estimates of annual fuel consumption and emissions amounts, emissions of noise was also derived both at a national level and for a specific construction site. For the case study the results showed that it was possible to reduce the average noise level with more than 3 dB(A) compared with the base scenario just by choosing the machinery fulfilling the strictest noise limits, i.e. Stage II which was mandatory for most machinery from 2006. Other measures simulated included various types of retrofit of noise reduction packages. The specific cost for the different measures to reduce average noise emissions from the specific construction site varied from 4 000 up to more than 500 000 SEK dB-1. For the estimate of future fuel consumption and emissions amounts various simulations were conducted, each with a different measure for reducing the annual amounts. Five main emission reduction measures or programs were studied: - Scrappage program - Alternative fuel program - Voluntary emission regulation program - Retrofit of aftertreatment program - Noise reduction program The impact on engine exhaust gas emissions and noise of the current European emission and noise regulations, Stage I to IV and Stage I to II for emissions and noise respectively were common for all simulations or programs. Besides the impact of European regulations, annual work was set to a fixed value for each type of machinery and year simulated, thus eliminating any potential changes of the state of the market. The result of the baseline scenario "Business as usual" (BAU), i.e. only taking account to the impact of European regulation, is presented in table S2 for four different years Both fuel consumption and emissions of CO2 remains fairly constant as an effect of the assumption that the annual work was set at a fixed value. However, emissions of especially NOx and PM showed a major reduction due to the tighter and tighter regulations. All programs simulated were able to reduce the emissions compared with the BAU scenario with exceptions for emissions of nitrogen oxides, which increased in some of the alternative fuel programs. Both the absolute reduction and cost varied significantly between and within the various programs. Reduction of NOx varied from an accumulated increase in emissions of 25 000 tonne to an accumulated reduction of 22 000 tonne for the studied period from 2006 to 2020. At the same time the accumulated cost for the programs varied from a few hundred million SEK to more than 60 000 million SEK. In table S3, specific reduction cost for each pollutant in SEK kg-1 for eight typical emission reduction programs are presented. The results showed that the most economically favourable alternative for reducing emissions from non-road mobile machinery was the voluntary emissions regulation program, i.e. early introduction of machinery fulfilling coming emission limits. Another important result was that the introduction of alternative fuels as a mean of emissions reduction was associated with rather high costs compared to the actual reduction in emissions. For emissions of nitrogen oxides the specific reduction cost varied from almost 100 SEK kg-1 up to a few hundreds of SEK kg-1 except for the alternative fuel programs, which resulted in a considerable higher cost.