| 1. |
- Adman, Per, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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A field experiment on ethnic discrimination among local Swedish public officials
- 2017
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 43:1, s. 44-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study presents an innovative field experiment exploring ethnic discrimination in contacts between local public officials and members of Swedish society. Using a correspondence study design, fictitious individuals with Arabic-and Swedish-sounding names contacted Swedish municipalities via email, asking questions about access to preschools. The findings indicate disadvantageous treatment of individuals with Arabic-sounding names in terms of the informal tone of the replies, as Swedish-sounding names were replied to in a friendlier, more welcoming way. Regarding the more formal aspects of the emails - i.e., whether they were replied to at all and the questions posed were directly answered - no statistically significant signs of discrimination emerge (although differences were of some substantial size, to the disadvantage of Arabic-sounding names). Still, informal disadvantageous treatment is sufficient cause for concern and noteworthy in the case of Sweden, considering its reputation as being egalitarian, immigration friendly and democratically well functioning.
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| 2. |
- Airaksinen, Jenni, et al.
(författare)
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Perceptions of power in regional networks : a nordic comparative analysis
- 2009
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - London : Routledge. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 35:5, s. 595-614
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to explore the differentiated attitudes towards power in Nordic regional networks. The analysis draws upon a unique comparative survey targeting regional network participants in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Three specific issues of power are studied: (1) the perceived influence of different actors in regional networks, (2) the perceived mandate of network members, and (3) the perceived impact of networks on regional development. When searching for the national political specifics that might determine participants' different attitudes, State administrative traditions and regional institutional set-ups are of particular interest. While regional governance in all countries is going through a period of transformative flux, the results show strong association with historical paths. The western countries' networks are characterised by less State influence, more influence by regional stakeholders, greater discretionary power of network members, and they are perceived to have more of an impact on regional development than their eastern counterparts. The results suggest that networks do not represent dichotomous alternatives to formal institutions of regional policy-making, but that they are linked to them in complex ways.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ansell, Christopher, et al.
(författare)
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How Learning Aggregates : A Social Network Analysis of Learning between Swedish municipalities
- 2017
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 43:7, s. 903-926
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using a unique data set of learning among all 290 Swedish municipalities, we use social network analysis to analyze how learning networks aggregate nationally. To facilitate this analysis, we describe five ideal-typical patterns of aggregation—core-periphery, small world, top-down regionalism, bottom-up regionalism, and urban hierarchy. Each of these ideal types has important implications for how ideas, information, and innovation will circulate among municipalities. Social network analysis allows us to both isolate these patterns and to appreciate composite patterns. The analysis indicates that Swedish municipalities are a small world network with clear regional and hierarchical elements. County seats serve an important role as network hubs.
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| 5. |
- Askim, Jostein, et al.
(författare)
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Between lockdown and calm down. Comparing the COVID-19 responses of Norway and Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 48:2, s. 291-311
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article studies the difference in the government response to COVID-19 in Norway and Sweden drawing upon theories of agenda setting, crisis management and multi-level governance. Despite having virtually identical systems of government and, initially, facing similar infection threats, Sweden opted for far less strict countermeasures than Norway. While Norway’s government response was similar to that of many European countries, Sweden received international attention for choosing befuddlingly soft measures, mostly recommendations and guidelines. This divergence is discussed vis-à-vis the multiple streams lens of agenda setting theory, highlighting differences in institutional and organisational legacies (e.g., the autonomy of government agencies) and intergovernmental relations (e.g., whether infectious disease expertise and authority is located at the local level).
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| 6. |
- Baltz, André, 1986-
(författare)
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Disseminating and collecting information : municipalities’ communicative practices and deliberative capacities
- 2022
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Routledge. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 48:1, s. 48-67
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper aims to critically explore how citizen dialogues are perceived by the municipalities and public servants who implement them. The question is answered using a multi-method approach: a content analysis of 213 self-reports on citizen dialogues from Swedish municipalities and 11 in-depth interviews with public servants working with citizen dialogues in a Swedish municipality. The findings show that citizen dialogues were thought of along three main narratives: information gathering, informing, and inclusion. Together, these narratives indicated a will to enhance informed decision-making. However, combining informed decision-making is with broad participation poses challenges; the authority had to delimit participation, establish structures, educate, define citizens and adapt existing working methods to external stakeholders. The three narratives address this adaptation.
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| 7. |
- Bendz, Anna, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Indispensable, yet Invisible: Drinking water management as a local political issue in Swedish municipalities
- 2020
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 46:5, s. 800-819
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local policy-makers' incentives to address an issue is conditioned by how they perceive public attention. Our study focuses on drinking water management at the municipal level in Sweden. Provisioning and management of drinking water is a responsibility of the local governments. Interviews with local politicians and public administrators in seven municipalities reveal that local policy-makers think that citizens view provisioning of drinking water as a taken for granted service, and also lack knowledge of and interest in drinking water issues. Public attention is further seen as a double-edged sword since engagement in water issues often is a result of problems with water provision. The findings are discussed from a theoretical perspective of the role of agenda-setting in public policy. It is argued that the view of policy-makers of citizens as unengaged negatively affects the incentives to bring drinking water to a prominent place on the local policy agenda.
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| 8. |
- Bergh, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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What happens when municipalities run corporations? Empirical evidence from 290 Swedish municipalities
- 2022
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 48:4, s. 704-727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local governments are increasingly relying on municipally owned corporations (MOCs) to provide public services. Some describe this development as a rational response to austerity challenges and emphasise the cost-efficiency of MOCs (‘the optimistic view’). Others identify complications and associate MOCs with weak supervision, lack of accountability, and corruption risks (‘the sceptical view’). Hitherto, no studies have analysed these opposing claims on MOCs in the one and same inquiry. We address this gap by focusing on Sweden, which has experienced a dramatic growth in the number of MOCs. We examine the association between the number of MOCs, the business climate, satisfaction with local government, local tax rates, and a corruption index for all 290 Swedish municipalities. Putting the ‘optimistic view’ into doubt, results indicate that municipalities relying heavily on MOCs are associated with more perceived corruption and higher taxes but do not have more satisfied citizens nor a better business climate.
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| 9. |
- Bergström, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
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Through a glass darkly: Leadership complexity in Swedish local government
- 2008
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 34:2, s. 203-220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- New management ideas aim to change the roles of local government politicians and administrators. The new ideas are poorly adjusted to the traditional role of councillors that was built on detailed knowledge and active participation in administrative practice. Leadership has now become even more full of contradictions; many demands are hard to reconcile. But, if any managers are good at handling complexity, it should be those in the local government sector. This article discusses, based on experiences from Sweden, how the complex interface between politics and administration is, or could be, handled by a dialogue between central actors.
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| 10. |
- Blomqvist, Paula, et al.
(författare)
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Regionalisation Nordic Style : Will Regions in Sweden Threaten Local Democracy?
- 2010
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 36:1, s. 43-74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Governance in the Nordic countries has a highly local character. Most public services are provided by locally elected bodies that enjoy a high degree of autonomy in relation to political institutions at the national level. In recent years, questions about the appropriate size of local government have re-surfaced, prompted, at least in part, by the current trend towards regionalisation within the EU. In this paper we investigate empirically the question of whether regionalisation in the Nordic setting can be said to reduce the democratic quality of governance in the area of health care. We do so by comparing conditions for democracy in a provincial governing unit (a so-called county council) in Sweden, with an average size of about 260,000 inhabitants, with those in a newly created region, populated by 1.5 million. We ask, thus, if it is true that governance in the smaller unit, i.e. the county council, is more democratic than in the region, and, if so, in what way? Our results point to that there is in fact little difference in democratic conditions between the region and the county council; a result that can be attributed to the fact that local institutions for decision-making and citizen participation were carefully re-constructed when Swedish county councils were amalgamated into regions. Hence, we conclude that institutions that facilitate direct democratic participation, such as the right of citizens to attend assembly meetings or submit proposals to the assembly are probably more important for the democratic quality of governance than size. 'Small' is not always more beautiful, at least not in democratic terms.
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