| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Bolin, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Disagreeing with the nation state : Why some Swedish municipalities refuse refugee reception
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweden is often characterized as being a generous country when it comes to allowing immigrants entrance. However, since the national government is dependent on the local level for acceptance of refugees, there is a potential risk that a discrepancy emerges between the number of immigrants accepted at the national level and the number accepted at the local level. In fact, today, a significant number of municipalities hesitates to accept agreements with the government. These municipalities disregard the large flows of refugees that reach Sweden daily and oppose the pressure from Swedish authorities to contribute to the upholding of a continued generous migration policy. To be able to understand the motives of these reluctant municipalities we need to know more about what characterizes them. In this paper, we investigate both the structural and the political patterns of these municipalities and explain how they differ from those that do receive refugees. Drawing from the concepts of immigration control and multilevel governance, we deduce a number of hypotheses about how structural predictors will have an impact on the formation of local policy. Deriving from an extensive new data set of all Swedish municipalities for a handful of years, we outline the characteristics of these cases. Our findings suggest that complete immigration control is not only quantitatively different from a low level of reception, but also qualitatively different. That is, it seems as if some of the mechanisms at work when a municipality refrains from refugee reception altogether are not the same as those resulting in agreements at low levels. Instead, local opinion, expressed as the view towards refugee reception among the established parties, appears to be the factor most consistently showing importance throughout our analyses. One possible interpretation of this might be that while levels of reception, to some extent, are guided by structural prerequisites, such as the economy, the situation in the labour market and the capacity to accommodate refugees, etc., the decision to completely refrain from reception is primarily guided by ideological motives.
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| 3. |
- Bolin, Niklas, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Do Anti-immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy
- 2014
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Political Studies. - : Wiley. - 0080-6757 .- 1467-9477. ; 37:3, s. 323-343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the increased electoral success of anti-immigration parties, questions regarding whatimpact the parties actually have naturally follow. Previous research has rarely explored thisquestion. Furthermore, within this body of research, one is given different answers. While someargue that anti-immigration parties have made an impact on public policy, others find no suchevidence. This article shows that some of this inconsistency is a consequence of the method-ological strategies that have been employed. Previous studies are either single case studies orcomparisons of a small number of countries. Consequently, different parties in different insti-tutional settings are compared, making it difficult to estimate the actual impact of the party ofinterest. In order to circumvent such methodological problems, this article explores the ques-tion of anti-immigration party impact on a local level and asks if the Sweden Democrats (SD)have managed to influence decisions on refugee reception in Swedish municipalities. Theanalysis shows mixed results. First, while unable to find an independent effect of the size ofthe representation of the SD, it appears that the party’s impact is conditioned by them holdingthe balance of power. Second, the SD’s impact is not dependent upon whether there isright-wing or left-wing rule, although local migration policy is stricter when the main right-wingparty has strong support.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bolin, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
Obstructing national policy. The case of Swedish municipalities and refugee reception
- 2014
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweden is often characterized as being a generous country when it comes to allowing immigrants entrance. However, since the national government is dependent on the local level for acceptance of refugees, there is a potential risk that a discrepancy emerges between the number of immigrants accepted at the national level and the number accepted at the local level. In fact, today, a significant number of municipalities hesitates to accept agreements with the government. These municipalities disregard the large flows of refugees that reach Sweden daily and oppose the pressure from Swedish authorities to contribute to the upholding of a continued generous migration policy. To be able to understand the motives of these reluctant municipalities we need to know more about what characterizes them. In this paper, we investigate both the structural and the political patterns of these municipalities and explain how they differ from those that do receive refugees. Drawing from the concepts of immigration control and multilevel governance, we deduce a number of hypotheses about how structural predictors will have an impact on the formation of local policy. Deriving from an extensive new data set of all Swedish municipalities for a handful of years, we outline the characteristics of these cases. Our findings suggest that complete immigration control is not only quantitatively different from a low level of reception, but also qualitatively different. That is, it seems as if some of the mechanisms at work when a municipality refrains from refugee reception altogether are not the same as those resulting in agreements at low levels. Instead, local opinion, expressed as the view towards refugee reception among the established parties, appears to be the factor most consistently showing importance throughout our analyses. One possible interpretation of this might be that while levels of reception, to some extent, are guided by structural prerequisites, such as the economy, the situation in the labour market and the capacity to accommodate refugees, etc., the decision to completely refrain from reception is primarily guided by ideological motives.
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| 6. |
- Bolin, Niklas, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Political Parties and Local Refugee Reception in Sweden
- 2013
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the increased electoral success of anti-immigration parties, questions on what actual impact the parties obtain naturally follow.Previous research only sparsely has explored this question. Furthermore, within this body of research we are given different answers. While some arguethatanti-immigration parties have made an impact on public policy others find no such evidence. We argue that some of this inconsistency is a consequence of the methodological strategies that have been employed. Previous studies are single case studies or comparisons of a smaller number of countries. Consequently different parties in different institutional settings are compared making it hard to estimate the actual impact of the party of interest. In order to circumvent such methodological problems this studyexplore the question of anti-immigration party impact from a local level and asks if the Sweden Democrats (SD) has managed to influence decisions on refugee receptions in Swedish municipalities.Our analysis show mixed results. Firstly, while we are unable to find an independent effect of the size of the representation of SD we show that the party's impact is conditioned by them holding the balance of power. Secondly, SD impact is not dependent on whether there is a right-wing or left-wing rule although wecan show that local migration policy is stricter when the main right-wing party has a strong support
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Larsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Är en region alltid regional?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Regioner, regionalism och entreprenörskap. - Sundsvall : Mittuniversitetet. ; , s. 29-47
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 9. |
- Lidén, Gustav, 1983-
(författare)
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Adding Validity and New Results to the Global Explanations of e-democracy
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in democratic processes, often summarized by the term e-democracy, has seldom been analysed from a global perspective. Although the UN eParticipation index provides one of the few examples of an international measurement of e-democracy, it has been thoroughly criticized. At the same time, however, a number of studies have added knowledge in the field of global determinants of e-democracy by using this very index. In this study I resolve this by: (1) examining whether the UN index is a valid measurement of e-democracy; (2) inquiring whether there are alternative measurements of e-democracy and finally (3) retesting the determinants of e-democracy using the UN index and alternatives together with a larger data set and more suitable estimations than have previously been used in this field. The paper gives answer to these questions. First, even if the index has flaws it is not necessarily as problematic as assumed. Second, combining this index with measurements of democracy corresponds with the emphasis in the literature on e-democracy being embedded in democracy. Third, the determinants of e-democracy on a global scale show the positive importance of technology but also of socio-economic variables and population size.
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| 10. |
- Lidén, Gustav, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Analysing the intersections between technology, performativities and politics : The case of local citizen dialogue
- 2013
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Ingår i: Transformations. - 1444-3775. ; :23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper addresses the challenges to the theories of the political sphere posed by a digital society. It is suggested that this most evident at the intersection between understandings of technology, performativities, and politics that combines empirical closeness with abstract understandings of socio-political and cultural contexts. The paper exemplifies this by reporting on a study of online citizen dialogue in the making, in this case concerning school planning in a Swedish municipality. Applying these theoretical perspectives to this case provides some key findings. The technological design is regarded as restricting the potential dialogue, as is outlined in different themes where the participants enact varying positions—taxpayers, citizen consumers, or local residents. The political analysis stresses a dialogue that lacks both polemic and public perspectives, and rather is characterized by the expression of different special interests. Together, these perspectives can provide the foundation for the development of applying theories in a digital society.
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