| 1. |
- Andersson, Staffan, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Korruptionen i det svenska folkstyret : vad säger medborgarna?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Surveyjournalen. - : Linnaeus University. - 2001-9327. ; 1:2, s. 103-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Prior research on corruption highlights the importance of considering ordinary citizens’ views of corruption in politics and public administration. A key reason for this is that these views appear to have a significant impact on people’s confidence in public institutions. Moreover, to get a better understanding of corruption in “least corrupt” democracies with functioning market economy, it is important not only to include bribery, but also other types of corruption. In this article we use country representative data from Survey 2012 of such a case, Sweden, to better understand the variation of corruption across levels of government and how respondents’ own experiences of corruption relate to their perceptions of corruption. Cross-country studies portray Sweden as one of the least corrupt. However, Swedes tend to see corruption as present in public administration and in the recent past Sweden has experienced several corruption scandals. Our results show, in line with previous studies, that corruption is perceived as more common in subnational government than state government. In addition, when asked about their own experience of corruption (or the experience of someone they know) we show this to vary depending on what type of corruption situation it concerns: More respondents have experience of nepotism than bribery. Another major finding of the present article concerns the relationship between respondents’ experience of corruption and their perception of how much corruption there is in government. In particular, perceptions of extensive corruption are more likely among those with own experience of corruption. Given the potential impact of corruption views on support for the democratic system, this link between citizens’ experience of corruption and perception of its prevalence merits further research.
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| 2. |
- Babajan, Tigran, et al.
(författare)
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Leaving a Folk Church : Patterns of Disaffiliation from the Church of Sweden
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Religion and Society. - Oslo : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 0809-7291 .- 1890-7008. ; 34:1, s. 40-55
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Why do members leave the Church of Sweden? We address this question by employing longitudinal micro-level data, including socioeconomic variables, rootedness in the local parish and relation to the church, on the entire population of Sweden. We draw from in-depth longitudinal panel data analyses in this article. In line with secularization theory and prior work, higher education and individual income as well as being male are positively associated with disaffiliation. Moreover, moving from local parish and especially being or becoming resident of the capital city of Stockholm are significantly associated with a higher probability of leaving the church. Drawing on the theory of civil religion, we also find support for being baptized and confirmed in the Church of Sweden still being antidotes to disaffiliation.
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| 3. |
- Babajan, Tigran, 1986-
(författare)
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Oligarchs, State Power and Mass Opinion : A Study of the Role of Oligarchs in Post-Soviet Pseudo-democracies
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis attempts to understand the role of oligarchs in post-Soviet pseudo-democratic regime trajectories. The two dominant, competing streams of prior work have emphasized either the importance of state power or that of mass opinion in these processes in order to explain why some regimes successfully maintain their grip on power, while others make gradual steps towards democratization. However, the role of oligarchs has been largely overlooked; a gap filled by this study. It employs both widely accepted, as well as unique data to approach the research problem. The work presented in this thesis involves large-N surveys, analyses of media reports and an in-depth case study. There are three key findings:First, for an overwhelming majority of citizens in post-Soviet pseudo-democracies, oligarchs’ actual, negative influence on the political system as well as popular perceptions of unfair wealth concentration are conducive to beliefs that a non-democratic regime is what is needed in order to set things right in their country.Second, the findings from Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine demonstrate that four politically motivated, rival oligarchs focused on enhancing their reputation and organizational capacity in their struggles for power. In all four countries, regimes used their state power to counter the rival oligarchs. Evidence from Armenia and Russia provides a nuanced understanding of these interactions. In particular, incumbents in these countries used their state power to manipulate public opinion in order to damage the reputation and credibility of the rival oligarchs. This thesis suggests that the main regime leaders do so in order to portray themselves as more trustworthy than their oligarch rivals.Third, a survey analysis of Kyiv university students shows that they view most oligarchs as corrupt and harmful to their political system. According to the survey results, oligarchs’ concentration of wealth appears to disqualify them from being legitimate political players. Yet, further evidence from this thesis suggests that people differentiate between oligarchs as a group and as individuals, which allows at least some oligarchs to enhance their reputation by using their vast material wealth. I conclude this thesis by discussing possible policy and societal implication of the results and by setting out some new venues of future research.
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