Aspects of Democracy

In this episode, postdoctoral researcher Nora Anter joins the podcast to discuss her research on meritocracy. In her thesis, she examined whether promotions in Sweden’s local government bureaucracy are based solely on merit, or whether they are influenced by the groups to which people belong.

Which groups are disadvantaged in public-sector careers in Swedish local government today? Are there also advantages for certain groups? And what are the risks of recruitment based on personal connections? Join us to hear Nora reflect on why fair and equal treatment in recruitment is important for a well-functioning bureaucracy - and for a legitimate democracy more generally.

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

In this episode, Dr Karin Leijon, associate professor in political science, talks about courts as political actors. Based on her research, she addresses the influence the judicial power has on our every-day lives. Furthermore, what does the rule of law mean for citizens in terms of stability or transparency? Why is it important to separate legislative, executive, and judicial power, and how can this separation and the rule of law help safeguard democracy? Hear more about this in the May episode of Aspects of Democracy!

Karin has studied several different types of courts and, for example, written about public court defiance and about the relation between national courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

Thanks to the listeners’ questions, Mikael Rundqvist, associate professor in political science, joins Helena Iacobaeus in a vivid fireside chat on music and politics!

They bring up music that aims to change society for the better and music for expressing political visions or dystopias. Have meeting and bonding through music been a source of empowerment in freedom movements and democracy movements in history?

They talk about political music they grew up with, but they also address songs that might say something important about society today. Or have we already reached the end of musical history?

Is there a song list? Of course there is.

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

What can be done when a local municipality lacks resources to take on the challenges of today? One way is to pool resources by cooperating with neighbouring municipalities.

In this episode, Katarina Sandberg, PhD candidate in political science, talks about her research on municipalities that take on challenges together. How common is intermunicipal cooperation? Could it be problematic from the point of view of democratic accountability or is it a welcome solution to common problems?

Tune in to hear Katarina reflect on this and on her experiences of cultural differences and winds of change during her recent stay as a guest PhD candidate at Berkeley, US!

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

What can be done to strengthen democracy in Europe? What are the main obstacles for legitimacy and accountability in supranational decision-making? Based on his research on the European Union, Martin Björklund, PhD student in political science, talks about legitimacy, identity, challenges and values.

Tune in to listen to our talk on where the European Union might be headed!

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

Junior football leagues, choirs, environmental organisations and knitting clubs… what do they have to do with politics? What role - if any - does civil society play for a well-functioning democracy?

Based on her research on local democracy, trust, discontent and participation, Susanne Wallman Lundåsen, senior assistant professor, talks about the role that civil society plays in building and strengthening democracy. Tune in to hear Susanne reflect on a key aspect of democracy!

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

Curious about research for democracy? Or about PhD life in general? A few weeks before her thesis defense, Helena looks back at her journey towards a finished thesis and deals with collected listeners’ questions on PhD life. Against a backdrop of her earlier meetings with guests from a wide range of research fields, she reflects on the many ways to approach democracy research.

Together with guest host Dr. Carl-Johan Sommar, they also discuss experiences from PhD life and share tips on writing, coping, and on how to pull through in a long-lasting project. Honeytraps and imposter syndrome, do’s, don’ts and the beauty of new insights – tune in if you want to know more about PhD life!

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

In this episode of Aspects of Democracy, Professor Elin Wihlborg returns to talk about literacy in a modern era, when digital skills and media literacy are important parts of our abilities to understand society and express ourselves.

Elin is professor in political science with a broad background from welfare and democracy research and specialised in studies of how digitalisation of society affects interaction between political structures and the everyday life of citizens.

The research in RIDE – Resilient institutions in a digital era – mentioned in the episode can be found here. Tune in to hear Elin’s thoughts on literacy and how it can help against misinformation and propaganda.

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast

What role does social equality play in a functioning democracy? Is representation important in politics, media and culture?

Magnus Dahlstedt, Professor of Social Work and writer, makes a stop in the studio during his current book tour and talks about the effects of inequality in politics and education. Based on his research on segregated cities and vulnerable groups, he highlights the importance of representation and social equality.

Tune in to hear Magnus’ reflections on a key aspect of democracy – and perhaps a few tips on how to ‘bubble hop’ or wake up students with the help of rock music!

“I’m a little bit shocked!” Tune in to hear about sexual abuse of power, an often-overlooked form of corruption.

In this engaging episode, associate professor Silje Lundgren from the department of Thematic Studies talks about current research on sexual corruption as a threat against democratic procedure and bodily integrity. What is sexual abuse of power, where can we find it, and why has it not been widely recognised as corruption until very recently? How can it be prevented – and do we need to shift focus to do so?

For further reading, the International Association of Women Judges that is mentioned in the episode can be found here, and the blog post on sexual corruption by Silje and her colleagues is available here.

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The podcast series is brought to you by the political science unit at Linköping University and hosted by Helena Iacobaeus, PhD student in political science. For questions or suggestions on topics, e-mail [email protected].

Intro music credit: ZakharValaha from Pixabay.

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Listen to more podcasts from Linkoping University:

https://liu.se/en/podcast