Residential segregation is a significant problem in most cities around Sweden. Resulting in political, social, and economic exclusion for citizens that live in residential segregated areas. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to create an increased understanding of what residential segregation means and highlight the consequences, and what it entails for citizens in ethnic and socioeconomic segregated areas. An additional purpose of this study is to examine how citizens in residential segregated neighborhoods experience residential segregation, and how inhabitants experience their citizenship in the context to residential segregation. We have also chosen to study how Västerås and Örebro municipalities designed policies contribute to preventing residential segregation. The chosen methodology for this study is qualitative research interviews. We have chosen to do ten semi-structured interviews, five from each neighborhood. This study has been narrowed down to only research citizens who live in Bäckby and Vivalla and are over the age of eighteen.
The material collected will be analyzed and examined based on the municipal policies and the chosen theories. The chosen theories are citizenship and urban citizenship from Marshall and Bottommore (1992), Ruth Lister (2007), Patricia Burke Wood (2017) and Gilbert & Phillips (2003), and residential segregation from the view of Iris Young (1999) and (2002) and Irene Molina (1997). In conclusion, the participants feel that their life opportunities are affected by living in an ethnic-and socioeconomic segregated area, they also express that the opportunities they receive are not equal to people from areas with good conditions. The participants express that their citizenship differs in practice from in theory. An additional conclusion is that the policies were found to be deficient and the municipalities were incapable of not only implementing but also pursuing a strategy, for these reasons, we can not determine if the objectives of the policies were achieved.
Since the end of the 20th century, foreign names in the Swedish labor market have led to ethnic discrimination. This has driven immigrants to undergo name changes in order to pursue jobs and become an ordinary tax paying Swede. The purpose of this study is therefor to investigate if immigrants face ethnic discrimination on the Swedish labor market and its eventual effects. Furthermore, the purpose is also to investigate what the phenomenon of name change means for democracy in terms of inclusion, exclusion, and political justice. This will be done by applying the qualitative research method in five semi-structures interviews. The five interviews will then, in combination with the theoretical definitions of inclusion, exclusion, and political justice, inform the results of the study. Lastly, it can be concluded that experiences of ethnic discrimination that have led foreign individuals to change their name, can be described in terms of the denial of their feelings and skills. The outcome and effects are positive both at work and emotionally. Carrying out name changes is an individual choice based on free terms and is therefore judged democratically. This instead becomes a matter of political justice due to social constructions that determines the remaining outcomes and our positions in society.
Syftet med denna uppsats var att analysera policys och handlingsplaner angående brottsförebyggande och trygghetsskapande arbete från Örebro kommun och Västerås stad för att sedan se hur dessa dokument liknar varandra samt skiljer sig åt. Uppsatsen ska även redovisa vilken utsträckning som samverkan påverkar det brottsförebyggande och trygghetsskapande arbetet. Bakgrunden till studien redovisar de nationella förändringar som har skett i Sverige angående polismyndigheten samt det brottsförebyggande arbetet. Studiens empiri alltså de offentliga dokumenten är inhämtad via kommunernas egna hemsidor. Både internationell samt nationell forskning har använts som underlag för denna studie. Teoretiska perspektiv om samverkan har använts som teoretiskt underlag för denna studie vilket är grunden för diskussionen i denna uppsats. Då har teorier om tvärsektoriell samverkan och samverkan mellan kommuner och myndigheter nyttjats. Analysverktyget som har använts är Carol Bacchis WPR-ansats som användes för att analysera policydokumenten och handlingsplanerna. I denna studie så avgränsas ansatsen till tre frågor som är mest relevanta till just denna analys. Slutsatser i denna studie visar att samverkan och ett kunskapsbaserat arbete är de centrala verktygen för ett fungerande brottsförebyggande och trygghetsskapande arbete. Slutsatser visar även att det finns få lokala skillnader mellan dessa kommuner vilket kan bero på nationella riktlinjer. Det krävs dock ett ännu effektivare arbete och en bättre resursfördelning då det finns stora brister i det lokala brottsförebyggande arbetet. En mer effektiv interkommunalsamverkan kan vara lösningen på de problem som representeras i materialet.
This essay is about gender differences in attitudes towards a Swedish membership in Nato. The selected method for this essay is a quantitative survey method, and the purpose is to contribute to research on influential attitudes towards Nato amongst Swedish citizens. The presented results include the opinions of Swedish citizens that have participated in two surveys. One created by the authors of this essay, and the other by the SOM-institute. Regression analyses were performed to investigate the relationships between the variables. This essay concludes that there are gender differences in the attitudes of the Swedish population towards a Nato membership where men appear to have a more positive attitude. It was also found that there are gender differences in the Swedish population when it comes to concerns about the crisis or a war. That may explain why there is a positive view towards a Nato membership, as women that were worried about a crisis or a war, also are more positive towards a Nato membership.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the pandemic's impact on integration policy based on lived experiences from Bäckby, Västerås and Vivalla, Örebro. The aim of this study is to contribute to an increased knowledge of the challenges for integration policy in vulnerable areas. This thesis will analyze how the pandemic has affected the possibilities to achieve the goals of the integration policy in these areas. The research will be carried out through qualitative research methods using semi-structured interviews with eight different respondents. These eight respondents share their lived experiences of living in a vulnerable area during the pandemic.
Ruth Lister's theory of citizenship is used as an analytical tool and the interview questions are designed based on her four theoretical criteria for citizenship: justice, self-determination, recognition and solidarity. The national integration goal strives for equal rights and opportunities regardless of ethnic and cultural background. The results of the study show that the residents of Bäckby and Vivalla experienced difficulties due to factors such as language barriers, lack of information and prejudices, which resulted in the residents lacking support from the authorities during the time of the pandemic. The conclusion is that the pandemic has an impact on integration policies since the rights and opportunities of individuals have been neglected during the crisis.
Individuals are bound to their respective states through a legal, political, and emotional relationship called citizenship. Citizenship is a promise that is more than a paper: it is a legal, political, emotional and social connection that can be broken at any time. Citizenship is based on three pillars: the state, the individual and the legal and political ties that bind them. This research focuses on understanding how a sample of Kurdish and Arab residents of Iraq understand themselves and others in relation to citizenship achieved through semi-structured qualitative interviews. Some key findings are that there are citizens of Iraq who belive that the process of change will threaten security in Iraq and then largely the Middle East, and that change may be the main source of terrorism and further conflict. As the geographical restructuring of the region entails very difficult and complex responsibilities, the interviews make it clear that some citizens enjoy all citizenship rights, while others in the same country are deprived of it, even though equality is provided for in the new Iraqi constitution. The people of Iraq long for stability and it is clear from the interviewees' answers that that they are opposed to a new division of Iraq, and the entire Middle East. This is because they belive that it only benefits political parties, to gain more power, to weaken the region, and to be able to control, as well as have more influence in political and social life. We conclude that there are likely and many potential real-life opportunities for minorities in Iraq soon. Taking legislative action , to preserve and protect the rights of minorities, would be one of the most important indications of the Iraqi Government's commitment to diversity and democracy in the country. Securing Iraq's future as a nation state and respecting the rights of all its citizens are also part of the key conclusions that have been drawn.
Detta arbete är en fallstudie som undersöker konflikten i Ukraina. Syftet med denna studie är att studera kriget i Ukraina utifrån begreppet proxy war och Sveriges utrikespolitik gentemot Ukrainakriget. Metoden är av kvalitativ karaktär till följd av en vetenskaplig litteraturinsamling och semi-strukturerade intervjuer som empiriskt material. Intervjupersonerna är universitetslektorer på svenska universitet. Arbetet är avgränsat till det upptrappade kriget år 2022, med en viss djupdykning i krigets början, vilket är år 2014. Studiebidraget med detta arbete är en djupare förståelse kring olika krigsaspekter.Det finns huvudsakliga slutsatser som resultat av undersökningen. Den ena är att Ukrainakriget inte är en isolerad konflikt mellan Ukraina och Ryssland. Det finns olika inslag av ombudskrig i konflikten med externa aktörer som försöker nå ett önskat strategiskt utfall med krigsutvecklingen. Externa aktörer deltar som icke-krigförande genom att stödja Ukraina utan att själva direkt ingå i direkta krigshandlingar. Den andra huvudsakliga slutsatsen är att svensk utrikespolitik nått en historisk brytpunkt. Det svenska stödet till Ukraina och de utrikespolitiska åtgärderna är utmärkande. Till följd av kriget har Sverige antagit en positiv inställning till NATO-anslutning och lagt sina säkerhetspolitiska kort på ett lyckat ukrainskt försvar. Sverige bidrar med ett omfattande stöd till Ukraina, sanktionerar ryska aktörer och är i linje med den västerländska enheten. Därmed har Sverige överlämnat alliansfriheten.
This study investigates how the different political opportunity structures (POS) are related to NGO mobilization in two Chinese cities, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. Based on 48 interviews from 2016–2019, the study finds that variance in NGO mobilization is related to differences such as rules for NGO registration, more or less open-minded local leaders, and a relatively more independent media. NGO governance in Hangzhou is characterized as coopted participation. A few NGOs are allowed some influence in policy making, but in order to be allowed to mobilize, NGOs must accept a certain degree of cooptation. NGO governance in Guangzhou is characterized as constrained autonomy as the government plays a less active role in mobilizing NGOs, and more initiative for policy influence comes from the NGOs themselves.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur Sverigedemokraterna agerar i sin politiska kommunikation på Youtube i fråga om drivmedels prishöjningen. Frågeställningarna är: Hur framställer Riks drivmedelsprishöjningen som skedde under mars 2022? Den andra frågan är, hur agerar Sverigedemokraterna i sin politiska kommunikation i fråga om drivmedelsprishöjningen? Riks är ett Youtube-kanal som lanserades år 2020 och är finansierad av Sverigedemokraterna. Sociala medier erbjuder nya möjligheter för spridande av politiska budskap. Det är därför relevant att undersöka hur Sverigedemokraterna agerar i sociala medier för att kommunicera deras budskap gällande de höga drivmedelspriserna. I uppsatsen används teori om gestaltning eftersom den behandlar hur problem framställs i medier. En till teori som används i arbetet är teori om populistisk politisk kommunikation i sociala medier. Metod i uppsatsen är WPR ansats som behandlar hur problem representeras i medier. Materialet för analysen är Riks videos. Slutsatsen i uppsatsen är att kanalen gestaltar problemet på ett polariserande sätt där klyftan mellan folket och eliten betonas. l Riks framställer framför allt problemet med drivmedelspriserna med regeringen som syndabocken. På Riks beskrivs det svenska ”folket” som goda och naiva. Denna framställning är baserad på den populistiska premissen om att samhället består av två grupper nämligen det goda folket och den ohederliga eliten. Den politiska kommunikationen på Riks är typiskt för populistisk kommunikation. Slutsatsen är alltså att Sverigedemokraterna agerar populistisk i hur den väljer att kommunicera de politiska budskapen gällande drivmedels prishöjningen. Sverigedemokraterna på Youtube kanalen Riks använder sig alltså av icke formellt och vulgärt språk för att etablera en relation med publiken, framställa sig som representanten till folket och väljer de polariserande lösningar som betonar klyftan mellan folk och eliten. Detta är typiska drag för populistisk kommunikation och gynnas i sociala medier.
To understand the development of inter-sectoral participation in the three intervention municipalities of Stockholm Diabetes Prevention Programme (SDPP) case studies with a longitudinal assessment were conducted using the spidergram method, document analysis and group discussions. At three time points, the members of the local steering committees assessed the extent of participation from narrow to wide inter-sectoral participation in five key areas: planning, resources, leadership, network and implementation. Wide participation of various interest groups was recognised in planning and implementing activities whereas local resources, the representation of the leadership and the extent of the network were perceived as more restricted. Expert involvement varied during the programme period but was not regarded as exerting control over the local programmes. Participation within the local steering committees decreased, with a stronger focus on the project co-ordinator and other local partners in latter years. The extent of partner engagement increased due to focusing on activities approaching multi-sector collaboration and institutionalisation. Overall, communication and shared responsibility appeared critical in influencing both the development and perception of participation. In conclusion, to understand the dynamic process of participation at different times, areas and levels, the development and use of evaluation designs combining different methods and information sources throughout the lifespan of a project are recommended.
Animal solidarity constitutes one of the cornerstones of the Green Party's ideology, and the party is often perceived as more animal friendly than other parties in the Swedish parliament. This thesis analyzes how the Green Party's perspective on animals are articulated through three discourses: animal welfare, ecology, and animal rights. Furthermore, the thesis utilizes a critical perspective and tries to discern opportunities and obstacles for animal liberation within the party's animal politics. The conclusion is that the animal welfare discourse is the dominating perspective within the Green Party, but also that the party problematizes the current animal welfare in their strive for "real animal welfare". There is also a tendency for the animal welfare discourse, combined with the ecology discourse, to obscure the animal rights discourse, the latter being more or less invisible. In a final reflection it is suggested that the animal rights movement should be more explicit regarding its criticism against the Green Party's and the contemporary's interest in local produce, KRAV-labeling, and organic meat, as well as the need to challenge the animal views of ecology to a greater extent.
Syftet med uppsatsen var att ur ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv – undersöka hur övervakning har blivit ett uttryck för maktutövning i det moderna samhället. För att besvara uppsatsens syfte användes två frågeställningar som vardera berörde framställningen av övervakningsdiskursen. Den ena frågeställningen analyserades på makronivå med utgångspunkt i diskursteori och textanalys av massmediala artiklar. Den andra frågeställningen utreddes genom en diskurspsykologisk ansats på mikronivå, där intervjuer med pedagoger och elever analyserades med hjälp av samtalsanalys. Frågeställningarna tolkades empiriskt för att sedan analyseras gemensamt i en huvudtolkning utifrån teorin om Governmentality. Vad som framkom i huvudtolkningen var att: på både mikro och makro nivå visade resultatet att det sker en positionering av elever som övervakade inom övervakningsdiskursen. Denna positionering är ett uttryck för maktutövning, i synnerhet inom det offentliga rummet och i allmänhet genom samhällsdebatten.
Veto player theory generates predictions about governments' capacity for policy change. Due to the difficulty of identifying significant laws needed to change the policy status quo, evidence about governments' ability to change policy has been mostly provided for a limited number of reforms and single-country studies. To evaluate the predictive power of veto player theory for policy making across time, policy areas and countries, a dataset was gathered that incorporates about 5,600 important government reform measures in the areas of social, labour, economic and taxation policy undertaken in 13 Western European countries from the mid-1980s until the mid-2000s. Veto player theory is applied in a combined model with other central theoretical expectations on policy change derived from political economy (crisis-driven policy change) and partisan theory (ideology-driven policy change). Robust support is found that governments introduce more reform measures when economic conditions are poor and when the government is positioned further away from the policy status quo. No empirical support is found for predictions of veto player theory in its pure form, where no differentiation between government types is made. However, the findings provide support for the veto player theory in the special case of minimal winning cabinets, where the support of all government parties is sufficient (in contrast to minority cabinets) and necessary (in contrast to oversized cabinets) for policy change. In particular, it is found that in minimal winning cabinets the ideological distance between the extreme government parties significantly decreases the government's ability to introduce reforms. These findings improve our understanding of reform making in parliamentary democracies and highlight important issues and open questions for future applications and tests of the veto player theory.
This study observed the effects of different school forms on the political interest of its students. The purpose of investigating the political interest based on school form is to see if there are any outstanding differences between private and public schools regarding political interest. The reason for this investigation was the falling grades and the diminishing political interest observed in prior studies used for this assignment as well as a reform in the school system called “Skolreformen” in Swedish that has been in effect for over 20 years at this point. Data was collected via a survey where students in four different high schools, both in the public and private, answered questions about their political interest, current study situation, view on the future and other questions related to school and political interest. A quantitative method was used, where the answers of the survey were cross tabulated to correlate different operative indicators and build a narrative to be analyzed. Quantitative correlation analysis was used to analyze the narrative. The study concluded that the political interest is overall low in both school forms. No major differences were noted between school forms, the view of the future affects political interests in a greater regard than what was expected.
Kristdemokratin är ett underutforskat område inom statsvetenskapen och har som politisk-religiös rörelse ofta avfärdats som utdöende på grund av sekulariseringens konsekvenser. Emellertid finns det forskning som uppmärksammat att kristdemokratiska partier förändrar sin ideologi för att strategiskt angripa problemet med sekulariseringen.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva hur Kristdemokraternas ideologi förändrats mellan 1964 och 2001. För att uppfylla syftet har en kvalitativ textanalys av ett urval av Kristdemokraternas partiprogram genomförts.
Några av de slutsatser som dragits efter en jämförelse av programanalyserna, är att partiet har tunnat ut den från början tydligt kristna retoriken. Vidare har partiet gått från att framhålla betydelsen av kristen moral och normefterföljelse i samhället till att i stället betona vikten av en allmängiltig etik som värdegrund i samhällets alla institutioner. Partiideologin har sekulariserats även om partiet fortfarande positionerar sig som ett religiöst parti.
I denna uppsats studeras konstruktionen av bilden som ges i svensk tidningsmedias presentation av två svenska politiker vad gäller föräldraskap, kön och manlighet i relation till det politiska ledarskapet. För att genomföra studien bygger uppsatsen på teorier och tidigare forskning inom CSM- kritiska studier på män, inklusive teorier från svenska forskare såsom Klinth och Klinth & Johansson inom forskning om föräldraförsäkringen och män. I tidigare forskning har det konstaterats att politiken bygger på en manlig norm, men att föräldraskapet bygger på en kvinnlig norm, därav är det av intresse att se hur den manliga normen förändras eller samverkar med föräldraskapet i relation till politiskt ledarskap. Analysen genomfördes därför genom att studera presentationen av Gustav Fridolin och Birgitta Ohlsson, två rikskända politiker som båda blivit föräldrar inom en ganska nära tid.
I uppsatsens analys visas att det finns delade meningar i uppfattningen om hur föräldraskapet ska moderniseras eller frigöras från traditionella sociala mönster i studien om Gustav Fridolin och Birgitta Ohlsson i relation till föräldraskapet, samt att det förekommer två tydliga diskurser i ämnesområdet.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly criticized Sweden for the differences regarding the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the municipal level. Even so, studies show that there is a political will in the municipalities when it comes to realize the CRC. It indicates that there are challenges in terms of implementation. This thesis examines the implementation process in two Swedish municipalities where the local government has decided to implement the CRC. The purpose is to identify and describe the challenges that exist in the municipalities regarding the implementation and to determine to what extent the challenges can be influenced from the political level. The theoretical framework is grounded on theories of policy implementation and the findings have been compiled through interviews and qualitative text analyses. The study identifies challenges that are related, inter alia, to the ability to evaluate and control the implementation and the findings implies that the majority of the identified challenges can be influenced from the political level.
This article explores the local governance of poverty alleviation in a marginalised Hungarian rural community, with over 50 per cent Roma inhabitants, most of whom were either unemployed or participated in public work projects. Kisbalog is among those marginalised rural communities which are characterised by increasing social polarisation and ethnic cleavages as a result of selective outmigration and a municipal leadership which negotiates access to public work along racialised notions of deservingness. Hungary follows the EU concept of public private partnerships for local governance. This article unravels the room for manoeuvre for NGOs working for poverty alleviation in the context of the racialised narratives of a paternalistic local welfare state. Utilising Young's notions of social justice it explores the complicit nature of recognitional, associative and distributional justice in order to understand the interplay in partnerships between public and private agencies. From among three types of strategies, coercive, isolated and deliberative, the last one has the potential to bring about transformative changes.
When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989 and when, two years later, the Soviet Union crumbled and was divided into 15 independent states, the huge space formerly called the Communist Bloc or the countries of state socialism seemed to disappear forever, and an unprecedented process of change began. This process was just as unique from a historical perspective as the earlier attempts to build communism and/or state socialism. The changes had different speeds and directions, and while some states embraced the process of democratisation in order to “return to Europe”, others were experimenting with the ideals of a strong authoritarian state, religion, and a “return to tradition” to build a new society.
Democracy in Sweden is facing a plethora of serious challenges. The ability of political parties to engage and activate non-political citizens have been greatly reduced over the last 50 years, meanwhile the risk of increased polarization the coming years is prominent and alarming. This essay attempts to combine modern representative democracy with the ideal of deliberative democracy. The aim is to investigate if deliberation can contribute to the solution of these problems. This is accomplished through a study inspired by James Fishkin’s Deliberative Poll. Local politicians in Sweden have been invited to answer a questionnaire after which they participate in deliberation before answering a second questionnaire. The difference in results between the two questionnaires are then compared to show the effect of deliberation.
There is a clear visual difference between the politician’s answers in the two questionnaires. Nevertheless, this difference is only statistically proven in one out of the 22 tests that were run. Therefore, this study cannot draw any conclusions regarding the true effect of deliberation. Nevertheless, deliberation among local politicians in Sweden seems to be successful based on a visual comparison of the results from the two questionnaires and further study is deemed desirable.
To be able to climb the political hierarchy, careers on a local level is crucial, because local experiences are considered positive and desired in order to succeed. Sweden has a party-dominant electoral system, which means that election results are a product of the parties' internal nomination process. The latest research shows that nomination committees give preference to candidates whom they themselves believe can be associated with. This study intends to investigate which formal and informal rules can affect nominations for the party's election lists. Furthermore, what is desired by the parties' nomination committees in the selection of candidates, and the importance of contact capital in the nomination process. The study has been based on a qualitative research approach and the empirical material has been obtained through semi-structured interviews. The participants in the study have been three electoral commissioners and three full-time politicians with at least one trust assignment. The results have been analyzed with the help of the theory of contact capital, homosociality and previous research. The study result shows that the nomination process is not completely self-sufficing of the nomination committee's subjective premises. Where it is clearly observable that there are a number of qualities that are meritorious, and that can assist candidates in the nomination process. It has proved to be important that candidates have a network, and a confidence to be able to succeed.
One reason why people avoid using social media to express their opinions is to avert social sanctions as proposed by the spiral of silence theory. We here elaborate on individual-level sensitivity to social rejection in relation to voicing political opinions on social media sites. Given the uncertainty about sharing political views in social media, and the fact that social acceptance, or rejection, can be easily communicated through, for instance, likes, or a lack of likes, we argue that rejection sensitive individuals are less likely to share political information in social media. Combining an analysis of unique survey data on psychological characteristics and online political activity with focus group interviews with Swedish youth supports our argument, showing that rejection sensitive individuals are less inclined to engage politically in social media. The results extend on previous research by establishing the role of rejection sensitivity in political engagement in social media.
Engaging in political protests are becoming increasingly common, and considering the potential, individual, costs and the low probability of affecting the political outcome, it is necessary to understand the motivations behind such actions. The desire to be part of a social group is deeply rooted in human nature, and previous research proposes that the groups one belongs to may influence the decision to engage in protests. We build on this research and suggest that social exclusion, individual fear of exclusion and need to belong interact in explaining who is likely to become engaged. In two studies, one natural experiment and one lab-experiment, we show that social exclusion increase willingness to participate in protests for individuals high in both rejection sensitivity and need to belong. We conclude that contextual factors, such as exclusion or marginalization should be considered in relation to individual level personality factors when explaining who is likely to become engaged in political protests. These results are important since they suggest that some people engage in politics simply due to social reasons and are less ideologically motivated.
Much of identity formation processes nowadays takes place online, indicating that intergroup differentiation may be found in online communities. This paper focuses on identity formation processes in an open online xenophobic, anti-immigrant, discussion forum. Open discussion forums provide an excellent opportunity to investigate open interactions that may reveal how identity is formed and how individual users are influenced by other users. Using computational text analysis and Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC), our results show that new users change from an individual identification to a group identification over time as indicated by a decrease in the use of "I" and increase in the use of "we". The analyses also show increased use of "they" indicating intergroup differentiation. Moreover, the linguistic style of new users became more similar to that of the overall forum over time. Further, the emotional content decreased over time. The results indicate that new users on a forum create a collective identity with the other users and adapt to them linguistically.
Why do people engage in collective actions, such as demonstrations? We suggest that intentions to engage in protest activities come from the perception that the action is an efficient way to affect policy but is also dependent upon the level of others' engagement. Specifically, lower support should spur intentions to engage if the individual believes that the collective act is an efficient means to bring about social change. In two experiments, manipulating social support, efficacy increased intentions to participate in collective actions but mainly for participants with low social support (Experiments 1 and 2). In Experiment 3, manipulating efficacy, high social support was related to decreased intentions to engage. However, in this study, social support did not interact with efficacy.
How do regime complexes as social orders affect relations among international organizations (IOs)? This article explores this question by studying the longitudinal development of interorganizational practices and the social meanings attached to these practices that constitute a regime complex. Adopting a practice lens, our analysis redirects scholarly attention from rationalist accounts of strategic interactions between IOs to the study of patterned "doings"among actors in regime complexes. The mixed-methods analysis of interorganizational practices between eight IOs in the global health regime complex shows that cooperation among IOs is not primarily the outcome of rational responses to problems of collective action. Rather, IOs engage in similar types of practices because they want to be considered "good"IOs that follow a repertoire of habitual and appropriate practices. In turn, interorganizational practices create social meanings that constrain IOs. The approach put forward in this paper demonstrates the ordering effect of practices on the global health regime complex.
Abstract
Is it possible to create a more inclusive citizenship? The main objective of this essay is to explore the different possible ways of how to create a more inclusive society and citizenship based on the two principles of jus soli and jus sanguinis and how these principles are connected to the question of distributive justice. The method used is primarily a qualitative text analysis of academic literature. Theories in the field of political science such as theories of justice, theories of democracy- and citizenship have been implemented in the essay to achieve a more complete analysis of possible ways to create a more inclusive citizenship. The result of this research was that with inclusion follows exclusion and that it is impossible to create an inclusive citizenship from neither principles nor content. Citizenship is a human right according to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many theorists agree on that with citizenship there should also be freedom, rights and obligations. Therefore, a part of the study will examine how large a roll the state should play in terms of positive and negative freedom. To illustrate how the two priciples and the citizenship content can be used in real life, two contries will demonstrate how citizenship can be used in practice. The two contries are Sweden and the United States of America. The conclusion is that how to become a citizen and the question of justice are intimately connected, but that the puzzle of inclusion and exclusion can not be finally solved within the nation state.
Keywords: Citizenship, Inclusion, Jus Soli, Jus Sanguinis, Rights, Duties,
Are female politicians less likely to be promoted to specific ministerial posts, and is it important for them to toe the party line? This article focuses on whether the selection of ministers has a gender-specific dimension. Building on role congruity theory and research showing that female and male politicians are evaluated in a different manner in leadership positions, we present some original hypotheses. For example, we hypothesize that female politicians are less likely to be appointed to cabinet when they have held gender-incongruent committee positions in parliament. We also hypothesize that women are less likely to be appointed to cabinet posts when they have previously deviated from the party line. In an empirical analysis of Swedish ministerial appointments in six cabinets, we find that female politicians were less likely to be appointed to cabinet posts when they have held positions in 'masculine' parliamentary committees and when they deviated from the party line in their parliamentary speeches. These results suggest that women are more harshly judged when holding positions that are not in line with traditional gender stereotypes and have important implications for our understanding of gender and political leadership.
Machine learning algorithms (ML) are increasingly used to support decision-making in the exercise of public authority. Here, we argue that an important consideration has been overlooked in previous discussions: whether the use of ML undermines the democratic legitimacy of public institutions. From the perspective of democratic legitimacy, it is not enough that ML contributes to efficiency and accuracy in the exercise of public authority, which has so far been the focus in the scholarly literature engaging with these developments. According to one influential theory, exercises of administrative and judicial authority are democratically legitimate if and only if administrative and judicial decisions serve the ends of the democratic law maker, are based on reasons that align with these ends and are accessible to the public. These requirements are not satisfied by decisions determined through ML since such decisions are determined by statistical operations that are opaque in several respects. However, not all ML-based decision support systems pose the same risk, and we argue that a considered judgment on the democratic legitimacy of ML in exercises of public authority need take the complexity of the issue into account. This paper outlines considerations that help guide the assessment of whether a ML undermines democratic legitimacy when used to support public decisions. We argue that two main considerations are pertinent to such normative assessment. The first is the extent to which ML is practiced as intended and the extent to which it replaces decisions that were previously accessible and based on reasons. The second is that uses of ML in exercises of public authority should be embedded in an institutional infrastructure that secures reason giving and accessibility.
Machine learning algorithms (ML) are increasingly used to support decision-making in the exercise of public authority. Here,we argue that an important consideration has been overlooked in previous discussions: whether the use of ML underminesthe democratic legitimacy of public institutions. From the perspective of democratic legitimacy, it is not enough that MLcontributes to efficiency and accuracy in the exercise of public authority, which has so far been the focus in the scholarlyliterature engaging with these developments. According to one influential theory, exercises of administrative and judicialauthority are democratically legitimate if and only if administrative and judicial decisions serve the ends of the democratic lawmaker, are based on reasons that align with these ends and are accessible to the public. These requirements are not satisfiedby decisions determined through ML since such decisions are determined by statistical operations that are opaque in severalrespects. However, not all ML-based decision support systems pose the same risk, and we argue that a considered judgmenton the democratic legitimacy of ML in exercises of public authority need take the complexity of the issue into account. Thispaper outlines considerations that help guide the assessment of whether a ML undermines democratic legitimacy when usedto support public decisions. We argue that two main considerations are pertinent to such normative assessment. The first isthe extent to which ML is practiced as intended and the extent to which it replaces decisions that were previously accessibleand based on reasons. The second is that uses of ML in exercises of public authority should be embedded in an institutionalinfrastructure that secures reason giving and accessibility.
Should artificial intelligences ever be included as co-authors of democratic deci-sions? According to the conventional view in democratic theory, the answer dependson the relationship between the political unit and the entity that is either affectedor subjected to its decisions. The relational conditions for inclusion as stipulatedby the all-affected (AAP) and all-subjected principles (ASP) determine the spatialextension of democratic inclusion. Thus, AI qualifies for democratic inclusion if andonly if AI is either affected or subjected to decisions by the political unit in relevantways. This paper argues that the conventional view is too simple; that it neglectsdemocratic reasons to recognize only agents and/or moral patients as participantsin decision-making. The claim defended is that AAP and ASP implicitly affirmrequirements for agency and patiency. In ASP, the entity included must be an agentunderstood either in terms of legal status, capacity to comply with the law or abil-ity to recognize legitimate authority. In AAP, the entity included must be a patient,understood either in terms of capacity for sentience or consciousness. Thus, the ideahere is to explore the potential democratic inclusion of artificial intelligences by anupdated account of the relevant conditions of agency and patiency that are implicitin democratic theory. Although conceivable that AI is or will be either affected orsubjected in relevant ways to decisions made by political units, it is far less clear thatAI will ever be agents or patients in the sense required for democratic inclusion.
Welfare service experiences are known to shape citizens' trust in public institutions and their sup-port of the welfare state. But, there is poor understanding of how this relationship is shaped in systems of mixed provision, that is, welfare states that use public in-house as well as contracted private providers for publically funded services. Drawing on the notion of system trust this article provides a theoretical account of how mixed-provision welfare systems condition the relationship between service experience and trust, affecting the legitimacy of the state. Utilizing a random-ized vignette experiment with participants in a general citizen survey in Sweden, we investigate whether it matters for the formation of institutional trust if the welfare service is provided by a public or third-party private provider. The main result show that the spillover of trust from positive service experiences with the provider to trust in public institutions is higher in cases of public ser-vice provision. Thus, the possibility of using welfare services to build trust in the welfare system seems to be greater when public provision is used.
Trust is a crucial asset for any society, and the quest to generate and uphold trust is as crucial as ever. Several contemporary societal developments are proposed as being particularly challenging for upholding and restoring the levels of trust in society, including increasing ethnic diversity, rising inequality and the related geographical segregation. It has been convincingly argued that democratic institutions may generate trust by neutralizing some of these effects. This article explores how the mechanisms of trust differ in segregated, disadvantaged neighbourhoods as opposed to the surrounding general society. The empirical material consists of individual-level data from a segregated neighbourhood (Vivalla) in a medium-sized city in Sweden (Örebro), with a random sample from the population of the city (the Vivalla area excluded) as the comparison reference point, representing the general society. In the article we introduce perceived safety as an important mediator between trust in legal and government institutions and generalized trust, through which the differing mechanisms become evident. In the disadvantaged neighbourhood, we show that trust in government institutions has the function of primarily decreasing crime-related insecurity, which in its turn affects generalized trust. Thus, the relationship is indirect. In the city population, the effect instead goes directly from trust in government institutions to generalized trust. The results suggest that the potentials of different means to build and restore trust are dependent on local context.
Ett förslag mot bristen på fängelseplatser är privata anstalter. Att överlåtadelar av statens våldsmonopol till marknaden är dock vanskligt, ochekonomiska fördelar finns knappast. Både principiella och praktiska skältalar för att inlåsning av kriminella ska skötas av myndigheter, skriversamhällsvetarna Monika Berg och Tobias Johansson-Berg.
There is a pressure for the public sector to promote innovation but the research-based insights into how public sector organizations innovate is still low. Managers are in a constant balancing act between the conflicting demands of exploit and explore where the public sector are challenged by the disruptive nature of innovation. This paper explores the embedded innovation capabilities in a municipal organization by identifying enablers/barriers which affect the readiness to innovate.
The study is a qualitative, instrumental case study based on interviews with managers in a Swedish municipality which investigates the antecedents to innovation, which in turn contributes to knowledge on the managerial balancing act between exploit/explore in an empirical setting. The paper identifies a balancing act which risks defaulting towards optimization rather than innovation because of barriers for innovation being seen existing while enablers are assumed. There is a contested meaning behind innovation, making the balancing act between the known and the unknown which leads to a low readiness to innovate.
Undersökningen ämnar att belysa ett område som inte ägnats mycket tidigare uppmärksamhet, medborgerligt förtroende på regional nivå. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en teoretisk bakgrund kring kopplingar mellan korruption, förtroende och legitimitet formulera ett samlingsbegrepp där korruption förstås i relation till förtroende och legitimitet och inte endast utifrån lagstiftning. Detta för att sedan utifrån detta begrepp undersöka förekomsten av samt vilka regelverk svenska landsting har att förhålla sig till för att motverka korrupt beteende.
Undersökningens slutsatser är att det samlade regelverken som landstingen har att förhålla sig till är att anse som klart formulerade. En oväntad slutsats visade sig även. Ett stort antal av svenska landsting och regioner uppvisade stora brister i kommunikationsförmåga.
Middle managers have an important, but rarely recognized role in supporting innovation. This paper follows a group of middle-managers in a Swedish municipality over a five-year period in an attempt to understand middle managers role in innovation support, what they do and what they need. The study identifies that the creation and maintenance of innovation space as crucial for supporting innovation by others. Innovation support in this case where trough trust-based management rather than conscious promotion of innovation. This study also identified potential problems concerning the relationships with other parts of the municipality external to the innovation space. The results highlight a need to look further into concepts such as co-governance and the continuous management which supports employee driven innovation.
There is a growing pressure for innovation in the public sector. Research on innovation suggests a new role for organizations, from a producer of predefined goods and services to a facilitator of co-creation and new forms of network-based governance. Previous research is mostly focused on the need for organizations to collaborate across sectors (inter-organizational) to promote innovation, less on the need for collaboration across local governments different departments (intra-organizational) but also across smaller units (inter-departmental). The aim is to explore how internal conditions affect a municipality’s innovation capability.
This is done through a study based on interviews with departmental managers. The study reveals a heterogenic organizational environment where managing is situated and intra-departmental on the expense of inter-departmental and intra-organizational collaborations. The study also reveals that the situation is created by established practices, processes and structures which do not promote inter-departmental collaborations and thus does not build intra-organizational innovation capabilities.
Policy changes towards global sustainable development have important consequences for how these policies are organized. New and alternative models of organizing tend to emphasize indirect control rather than direct control and supervision. However, our understanding of their effects and consequences is not very well elaborated. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of specific characteristics and effects of organizing alternative environmental policies towards sustainable development. The paper is based on a field study of the latest attempt in Sweden to work towards sustainable development. In 1998, the Swedish government formulated a programme for local investments aiming at positive environmental effects and increased employment rates. In this article, we have posed more general questions on how to understand and to theorize upon the organizing of sustainable development. We suggest a view of the implementation of environmental policies towards sustainable development as a chain of translation. These translations highlight unintended consequences of the policies, e.g. the creation of a temporary linguistic community allowing local and global 'time spaces' to merge.
I den allmänna debatten kan vi återkommande läsa och ta del av medborgares tyckanden och tänkanden kring stundande eller redan genomförda privatiseringar inom den allmänna vård och omsorgen. Utifrån den allmänna diskursen och den tidigare forskningen kring fenomenet privatisering inom det offentliga Sverige har frågor väckts om hur man inför dessa nya driftsformer säkerställer folkliga värdegrunder som offentlighetsprincip och insyn. Redan i de inledande delarna av upphandlingsdokumenten som de båda huvudmännen, Sala Kommun och Västmanlands läns landsting, upprättat framgår en intressant olikhet i fråga om begreppsinnebörd och tolkning. Allmänt förhåller sig båda fallens avtalsregleringar mycket detaljerade och utförliga. Sammanfattningsvis har denna studie visat att såväl offentlighetsprincip som insyn säkras under upphandling.
The right-wing Swedish Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) is increasingly active on social media. Using discursive psychology, this text explores the rhetorical organization of text and rhetorical resources used on the Swedish online forum Flashback. The aim is to reveal and problematize truth claims about NRM made by antagonists and protagonists. Questions are (1) how and what do NRM antagonists and protagonists convey in Flashback posts about NRM, and its ideology and members? (2) how do NRM antagonists and protagonists make truth claims about NRM in Flashback posts? The empirical material consisting of 1546 Flashback posts analyzed to identify typical discussions on "NMR's true nature"; accomplished social actions stemming from the posts. Findings show that the Flashback thread can be understood as being a rhetorical battle that concerns the "truth" about NRM, where a variety of rhetorical resources are used to render statements credibility and those involved legitimacy.
Den ökade gängkriminaliteten i Sverige har blivit en samhällsviktig fråga. Allt yngre personer lockas in i den kriminella världen. Idag begår barn och ungdomar brott på uppdrag av äldre ungdomar och vuxna inom kriminella gäng. Initierat av Västerås Stad har Länsstyrelsen Västmanland tillsammans med Polismyndigheten och i samverkan med en rad olika aktörer tagit fram ett informationsmaterial. Gängsnacket, som materialet kom att heta, är ett informationsmaterial som vänder sig till så kallade viktiga vuxna som har nära kontakt med barn och ungdomar. Materialet innehåller exempel på vanliga risk- och skyddsfaktorer som vuxna bör vara uppmärksamma på.
Uppsatsens syfte är att genomföra en extern intressentutvärdering av implementeringsprocessen av informationsmaterialet. Vidare ämnar uppsatsen även att undersöka hur viktiga vuxna har mottagit det. Data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Uppsatsens respondenter är leverantörer, användare samt observatörer. Uppsatsen har en grundad teoretisk ansats där datainsamling har varvats med analys av data. Ytterligare data, både i form av tidigare forskning och respondentsvar, har kompletterats vid behov under uppsatsens gång.
Uppsatsens slutsats landar i att materialet har många goda förutsättningar för en lyckad implementering. Många användare ser stora fördelar med materialet och dess enkelhet. Dock krävs det att leverantören beaktar de svagheter med materialet som framförts i det fortsatta implementeringsarbetet. Svagheter som upptäckts i samband med denna utvärdering är att vissa användare upplevt att materialet inte bidragit med ny och hjälpsam information. Implementeringsproblemet ligger i hög grad i en bristande vilja och engagemang hos användarna, vilket leverantören då bör arbeta med att förändra.
This thesis takes a closer look at the USA Patriot Act and the literary debate that has followed the passing of that Act. The aim of the thesis is to define what freedom is for the two opposing sides using McCallum's freedom model.
The literary analysis shows that the most common argument from authors who are pro Act is that in desperate times like these one must relinquish a part of the individual's freedom to ensure the safety of the collective. Amongst those authors who are against the Act concerns are raised for the possibilities of abuse as a result of increased government power such as the ability to detain immigrants for long periods of time, surveillance and increased exchange of information between federal agencies.
Syftet med detta arbete är att försöka ta reda på vilka egenskaper som framtidens ledare kommer att behöva inom den kommunala sektorn, men också om det finns eventuella förutsättningar som måste förändras för framtidens ledare. Tio intervjuer genomfördes med personer på ledande positioner inom fyra kommuner i Mellansverige. Utifrån detta sammanställdes intervjumaterialet, och ur detta framkom tre övergripande huvudområden organisation, egenskaper och framtid som sen utmynnade i ett antal ledord. Mot dessa tolkades teorier i ett försök att koppla de till det framtida ledarskapet. Slutsatsen är att det inte finns bara en teori att förhålla sig till, utan det gäller att kunna hantera kontexten och förutsättningarna, och utifrån den kunna anpassa sig. Ett transformativt synsätt kring ledarskap kan vara ett sätt att lyckas i framtiden.
The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset has influenced several thinkers of thetwentieth century, among whom Julius Evola, Ayn Rand, and Pierre Bourdieuspecifically have been examined in this article. The selection of thinkers indicates thatOrtega has influenced both those on the left and those on the various strands of theright. In relation to Evola, Ortega’s critique of the emergent masses in the age ofmodern democracy has been emphasized, although they do not share the sameoverarching social philosophy as Ortega is essentially a proponent of liberalism whichEvola fiercely opposes. Regarding Rand, there are striking affinities between Ortega’smajor work Revolt of the Masses and Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness in relation topersonal responsibility and the state’s role in providing welfare. Bourdieu, on hisbehalf, has manifestly linked his reasoning in his major work Distinction to Ortega’swork The Dehumanization of Art. Overall, this shows that Ortega’s philosophy has animpact on both the left and the right.
The extent to which people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are voting is an underresearched area. In order to fill this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review with a focus on voter turnout and democratic inclusiveness among people with ID. In total, we found N = 9 studies that met our inclusion criteria, all of which were based on samples from Western countries such as Croatia, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and US. Our findings suggest that people with ID have substantially lower voter turnout than ordinary voters. Constraining factors for voting and other instances of democratic inclusion include educational limitations and physical obstacles at ballot places, as well as being under full guardianship. On the other hand, living in a household with a voter constitutes a facilitating factor. Because of the limited number of studies, we suggest that more basic quantitative and qualitative research in many countries ought to be conducted.