| 1. |
- Linde, Stefan
(författare)
-
Communication and Cooperation : A Study of the Relationship Between Political Communication and Large-scale Collective Action
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates the importance of communication for individual cooperation in large-scale collective action dilemmas. In small-scale collective action, where participants have the possibility to meet face-to-face, communication has been shown to drastically increase levels of cooperation. These positive effects are generally believed to be related to the possibilities of exchanging mutual commitments, sharing strategic information, creating and enforcing shared norms, developing trust, and creating a common group identity that communication offers. In large-scale dilemmas, involving thousands or even millions of participants, possibilities for communication are highly restricted beyond the immediate social vicinity of individuals. Participants are therefore unable to reap the positive benefits of communication that are available at the small-scale. Furthermore, as the public goods on which individuals cooperate in large-scale dilemmas often are both distant and abstract in nature (climate change, ozone depletion, overpopulation), the role of communication as an informational-shortcut might be even greater in large-scale dilemmas. That is, individuals need information about the characteristics of the resource in question, the relevant set of other actors participating, and the individual costs and benefits of cooperation.To compensate for the lack of communication and first-hand information, individuals in large-scale dilemmas are generally assumed to rely on different forms of judgmental and behavioral ‘heuristics’ (e.g. generalized trust and internalized norms) to make cooperative decisions. In this thesis I focus on one type of heuristic that generally has been overlooked in research on collective action; the individual reliance on information from trusted elite sources. Specifically, I study the extent to which individuals use communications from political parties when making cooperative decisions. The aim of the thesis is thus to investigate the relationship between political communication and large-scale collective action, and how this relationship varies with individual and contextual factors. This is studied in the context of climate change mitigation, which is a typical case of large-scale collective action, characterized by the large number of anonymous actors, the negligible impacts and high costs of individual cooperation, and a general lack of face-to-face communication and first-hand information.Using a country comparative approach, and cross-sectional survey data, the results show that: 1) political communications both directly and indirectly (by shaping perceptions of collective efficacy and collective benefits) influences individuals’ cooperative/non-cooperative decisions, and that this effect goes beyond other individual level factors, e.g. ideology, income, education; 2) not only specific communications, but also perceptions of the overall political climate (degree of polarization and the average party stance) affects attitudes both directly and indirectly; 3) these effects are not isolated to certain environments, but (to varying degree) can be found across political contexts and parties. The results have important implications both practically for policy makers, by creating a deeper understanding of the formation of individual climate change attitudes, and theoretically, by creating a better understanding of how individuals make decisions in large-scale collective action dilemmas. Future research should both validate the results from this study using other research designs (e.g. longitudinal or multilevel data, experimental designs), and expand on them, for example by exploring how different sources of communication and different types of information interact and influence the reception of communication content.
|
|
| 2. |
- Newell, David
(författare)
-
Locating Wind Power Policy : The Mechanics of Policy Subsystem Interactions
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation investigates the drivers behind political decision-making and the policy outcomes resulting from political decisions. It is proposed that in policy processes where political decisions are made at multiple levels or across multiple policy subsystems, policy outcomes can be understood in terms of the mechanisms (i.e. the processes or means) of interaction between multiple policy subsystems within which political decisions are made,resulting in more or less policy alignment between political decisions and policy outcomes. Policy network theory and policy subsystem theory are used separately as the basis forderiving two potential explanations for the mechanics of policy subsystem interactions. Because political decision-making authority in the wind power policy process in most Western democratic countries is spread across multiple policy subsystems, and because there has been significant variation between wind power policy outcomes between these countries, wind power policy processes in European Union countries are used as an empirical point-of-departure for exploring and illustrating the mechanics of policy subsystem interaction. A survey of the research on wind power development is used to illustrate and explore preliminary empirical indications of support for a framework derived from policy network theory. The case of political decisions made in Sweden over the past twenty years related to wind power development and production is used to illustrate and explore preliminary empirical indications of support for an explanation of policy subsystem interactions derived from the Advocacy Coalition Framework proposed here, as well as to explore the drivers of political decisions. This dissertation therefore contributes to understanding how policy subsystems interact. The dissertation contributes theoretically to the literature on policy processes generally, as well as to network/network management theory, and to the Advocacy Coalition Framework/policy subsystem theory. It also contributes to understanding two strategically chosen, embedded cases within the broader case study of political decision-making in the wind power policy process in Sweden.
|
|
| 3. |
- Poelzer, Gregory A
(författare)
-
Extracting Legitimacy : Input, Throughput, and Output Legitimacy in the Mining Industry
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Legitimacy affects questions on constitutional design, international political regimes, and specific policy sectors. Although it permeates society at various levels, legitimacy becomes particularly crucial when decisions hold long-term or permanent consequences. In democratic societies, decisions on electoral reform or constitutional amendments typically include various checks and balances to increase the legitimacy of the outcome and similarly, on a smaller scale, resource development also undergoes of series of checks and balances to improve legitimacy. I investigate one such resource development, mineral extraction, to look at key factors of input, throughput, and output legitimacy in a policy sector with long-term or permanent outcomes.If the strength of the input legitimacy (democratic, participatory quality) is high, then a deficit of output legitimacy (decisions, outcomes) can be overlooked –and vice-versa. This interpretation of legitimacy focuses on the decision-making process and the outcomes, but with the active role companies take in mining operations it becomes critical to consider the non-state actors involved in the process. To address this additional piece of this equation, throughput legitimacy is utilized to analyze the effect of relationships in policy decisions. By looking at the quality of interaction, this thesis investigates where throughput fits within the three dimensions of legitimacy in the mining sector.Using interview and survey data from Sweden and Canada, this research in this thesis addresses both theoretical and empirical issues. Theoretically, the effect of multiple actors on the policy process legitimacy of policy processes are explored. Using the input, throughput, and output legitimacy trichotomy provides a basis through which to investigate the changes engendered by different governance arrangements and their effect on legitimacy. When support for policy also depends on activity outside the formal processes of government, the implications for legitimacy change –creating a new theoretical criterion. Empirically, the qualities and factors that affect the legitimacy of a process are identified. The findings of this thesis provide insight on future process designs; understanding the relationship between participation, interaction, and outcomes inresource development processes and the factors critical to legitimacy emerges and endures.
|
|
