| 1. |
- Eriksson, Arita, 1974-
(författare)
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Europeanization and Governance in Defence Policy : The Example of Sweden
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explores the Swedish Europeanization process with respect to defence policy with the help of analytical tools from policy analysis. The time period studied is 1999–2004. Europeanization is defined as embeddedness, that is, linkages between the national and the European policy processes, and these linkages are conceptualized as participation, problems and solutions. The thesis seeks to analyse the modes of governance that characterizes the Europeanization process and discusses its results in relation to Europeanization mechanisms and the concept of European governance. It also elaborates on the implications of Europeanization for Swedish defence policy.Europeanization of participation is found with respect to a number of forums—decision making, implementation and external relations. Participants in the Europeanization process are identified as well as a reorganization of some of the patterns of participation in the Swedish defence policy process. The Europeanization of problems found is at first focused more on security policy issues than defence policy issues, but gradually the latter also become Europeanized, a process which is made visible in the political language of the defence policy bills studied. The main solutions identified in the Europeanization process are the creation of an EU military capability, the establishment of decision-making structures, capability requirements and capability development.The Europeanization process in the area of defence policy is found to be characterized by a mix of modes of governance. Various parts of the process contain elements of bargaining, hierarchy and facilitated coordination. The modes of governance may co-exist and change over time.
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| 2. |
- Sjögren, Anders, 1968-
(författare)
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Between Militarism and Technocratic Governance : State Formation in Contemporary Uganda
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- State-civil society relations in Africa have during recent decades been transformed in the context of economic liberalisation and state reform. This study explores state-civil society relations in contemporary Uganda, from 1986 to the present, in order to illustrate and explain the scope for and capacity of different social forces to create access to and democratise the state. The study interrogates state-civil society relations under the present National Resistance Movement government as these are expressed through forms of interest representation and conflict regulation in different political arenas. It analyses the theoretical problem through an empirical study of the health sector at both national and local levels. Changes in the health regime - the rules and practices that regulate health politics - are analysed by a historical reconstruction of how different health regimes evolved from demands from social forces on the colonial and post- colonial state, in relation to broader patterns of political change. The ruling political coalition from 1986 has promoted a model for capitalist development based on donor-driven economic growth, institutional reform and political monopoly – what is referred to in the study as technocratic governance. Throughout, however, the technocratic tendency has been shaped in relation to the political economy of militarism as a more openly repressive form of authoritarian rule. The study argues that limits to democratisation of state- society relations within the health sector and of Ugandan politics at large are best explained by relations of domination in society, within the state and among external political forces. The main finding is that democratisation of the state has been resisted by ruling groups, and therefore restricted.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Agné, Hans, 1970-
(författare)
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Democracy Reconsidered : Britain, France, Sweden, and the EU
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether some positions in democratic theory should be adjusted or abandoned in view of internationalisation; and if adjusted, how. More specifically it pursues three different aims: to evaluate various attempts to explain levels of democracy as consequences of internationalisation; to investigate whether the taking into account of internationalisation reveals any reason to reconsider what democracy is or means; and to suggest normative interpretations that cohere with the adjustments of conceptual and explanatory democratic theory made in the course of meeting the other two aims.When empirical methods are used, the scope of the study is restricted to West European parliamentary democracies and their international affairs. More particularly, the focus is on the making of budget policy in Britain, France, and Sweden after the Second World War, and recent budget policy in the European Union. The aspects of democracy empirically analysed are political autonomy, participation, and deliberation. The material considered includes parliamentary debates, official statistics, economic forecasts, elections manifestos, shadow budgets, general election turnouts, regulations of budget decision-making, and staff numbers in government and parliament budgetary divisions. The study reaches the following conclusions among others. (i) The fact that internationalisation increases the divergence between those who make and those who are affected by decisions is not by itself a democratic problem that calls for political reform. (ii) That international organisations may have authorities delegated to them from democratic states is not sufficient to justify them democratically. Democratisation still needs to be undertaken. (iii) The fear that internationalisation dissolves a social trust necessary for political deliberation within nations seems to be unwarranted. If anything, views argued by others in domestic budgetary debate are taken increasingly serious during internationalisation. (iv) The major difficulty with deliberation seems to be its inability to transcend national boundaries. International deliberation at state level has not evolved in response to internationalisation and it is undeveloped in international institutions. (v) Democratic political autonomy diminishes during internationalisation with regard to income redistribution and policy areas taken over by international organisations, but it seems to increase in public spending. (vi) In the area of budget policy-making there are no signs that governments gain power at the expense of parliaments during internationalisation. (vii) To identify crucial democratic issues in a time of internationalisation and to make room for theoretical virtues like general applicability and normative fruitfulness, democracy may be defined as a kind of politics where as many as possible decide as much as possible.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Catrin, 1970-
(författare)
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Tudelad trots allt : dualismens överlevnad i den svenska staten 1718-1987
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- On May 1, 1720 the Swedish Riksdag took a seemingly peripheral decision which would however prove to have great and enduring consequences for the organization of the country’s central state administration. The model adopted then is today often referred to as the ‘dualism’ of the Swedish state. In international comparison this dualism – expressed primarily in the organizational division between a set of quite small ministries and a large number of autonomous government agencies in combination with the constitutional prohibition of individual ministers to issue authoritative orders to the agencies – is probably unique.This dualism has been characterized as “one of the great mysteries of Swedish political life” and one aspect of this mysteriousness concerns its very longevity. The main research question of this thesis is why this model has been able to survive for such a long period despite the heavy and recurring critique that has been levelled at it. Through analyses of the public debate on the issue of the dualist character of the Swedish state during four selected periods (1809-1829, 1905-1920, 1963-1972 and 1983-1987) when the critical voices have been particularly loud and articulate, a systematic picture is provided of both the participants and the argument of the debates. It is shown that critics of dualism have blamed it for being “anti-democratic”, “antiquated”, and “a threat against the rule of law” while defenders of dualism have often portrayed it as “modern”, “effective”, and “a guarantee for the rule of law”.The answer to the main research question of why the political institution of dualism has persisted for so long may briefly be summarized in the statement that it has survived by changing. In theoretical terms the thesis is inspired by historical institutionalism, a tradition which has so far mostly contributed to our understanding of institutional stability. Recently, however, theoretical developments in historical institutionalism have rather aimed at an improved analysis of change. This thesis appropriates these new ideas, especially those developed by political scientist Kathleen Thelen, in the analysis of Swedish dualism. In particular the two concepts of institutional conversion and institutional layering are tested. In the thesis it is argued that the new analytical tools were indeed instrumental in understanding and explaining institutional change but also that further elaboration of them seems necessary. Using a both longitudinal and process-oriented approach focussing on the arguments of the actors this thesis has contributed to such an elaboration of the tools for the analysis of change within the tradition of historical institutionalism.
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Monica, 1948-
(författare)
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Politik och stadsbyggande : Modernismen och byggnadslagstiftningen
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this dissertation is to describe, understand and explain the role of modernism in Swedish urban planning, and analyze if modernist urban planning ideas influenced building legislation in ways that can explain the structural changes of our cities during post-war period. Earlier epochs were characterized by intense construction of working-class housing in garden cities and large courtyard housing blocks with double-sided lighting in residences. The dissertation has been carried out within the tradition of historical institutionalism with a counterfactual approach. It covers the time from 1928 to the present with a focus on the period 1928-1975. The object of study is the formal regulations in building legislation. The central analytical instruments are formative moments and path dependence. A formative moment should be characterized by uncertainty, significance and unpredictability. Path dependence is studied with the help of theories of experience-based learning and the power of bureaucracy. The dissertation shows that modernist ideas were written into the building code of 1931 in accordance with functional partitioning and a diagram by Walter Gropius from the 1920s calling for relative distances between houses, the longer the higher houses, and direct sunlight on facades, permitting one-sided lighting in residences. Instead of prevailing praxis, cities were built in conformity with principles of buildings-in-the-park with slab blocks. These regulations were gradually tightened over time and also guided redevelopment policy. In the sixties higher slab blocks and tower blocks began to be frequently built and functional partitioning assumed a unique guiding role in traffic policy and urban planning. Starting in the middle of the 1970s, modernist ideas gradually were dismissed in government policy. Leading modernist architects where driving forces in the formative moment, supported by the Association of Property Owners. Their colleagues could, in the path dependent process, augment the modernist ideas by virtue of their profession. They led state agencies, participated in commissions on building legislation and wrote referral comments on proposals, as well as sitting on building committees together with building contractors, entrepreneurs and construction workers.
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| 7. |
- Bedford, Sofie
(författare)
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Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan : Repression and Mobilization in a Post-Soviet Context
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Post-Soviet Azerbaijan is often portrayed as a very secular country. Thus the mobilization of mosque communities in the late 1990s and their conflictual relationship with the authorities came as a surprise. The main aim of the dissertation is to shed light on this mobilization, focusing on the Sunni Abu Bakr and the Shi’ite Juma mosque communities in Baku. On the premise that Islamic mobilization may be interpreted as a “social movement”, internal, contextual and interactional aspects of mobilization have been studied. The analysis is chiefly based on interviews conducted in Baku in 2004/2005 with Imams, worshippers, religious and secular authorities. The study finds that young people looking for new approaches to religion have been drawn to these communities, where they encounter an independent, educated, conscientious clergy and, indeed, a “new” religion. This “sovereign” Islam does not go down well with authorities who fear politicization of religion. The Soviet heritage has provided them with a view of religion as something that should not be publicly displayed and with the institutions to control religion. Another key feature whose impact on state policy towards religious organizations cannot be underestimated is the fear of imported radicalism. A look at Islamic mobilization in North Caucasus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reveals many similarities, yet one momentous difference is the harsher repression in these contexts, which decreases the chances of a non-radical mobilization. The thesis concludes that the role of the state in mobilization processes in non-democratic contexts is crucial but counterintuitive, as the regimes’ efforts to stop the mobilization of movements actually leads to its intensification. In Azerbaijan, official pressure brings community members closer together and strengthens their resolve, rather than putting an end to mobilization. It also puts a spotlight on these communities which lights up the way for others in search of something new.
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| 8. |
- Behnke, Andreas, 1960-
(författare)
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Re-presenting the West : NATO’s Security Discourse after the End of the Cold War
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is a critical investigation into the discursive processes through which the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has re-produced a geopolitical order, or nomos, after the end of the Cold War and the demise of its constitutive enemy, the Soviet Union. The thesis examines both the ontological as well as the epistemological aspects of these processes. It seeks to understand what new security relevant identities and spaces are defined in NATO’s discourse, as well as from what epistemic vantage point this new security political order is mapped and inscribed. More specifically, this thesis is based on the assumption that the continued existence and political relevance of the Alliance rests on its ability to re-produce ‘the West’ as a geo-cultural space that serves as its security referent object. The thesis concludes with a critical evaluation of NATO’s post-Cold War geopolitical order and the meta-theoretical commitments underlying its conception of security.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Birnbaum, Simon, 1977-
(författare)
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Just Distribution : Rawlsian Liberalism and the Politics of Basic Income
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Should liberal egalitarians endorse the idea of an unconditional basic income for all? This thesis defends a politics of unconditional universalism, offering a liberty-respecting and non-perfectionist basis for maximin-guided policies. The argument starts off from a Rawlsian justification of basic income in the context of institutional ideal theory. This view is based on the aim of maximising the prospects of the least advantaged in ways consistent with a robust protection of people’s effective freedom, the social bases of self-respect and access to meaningful activities at each stage of their lives.The thesis then moves on to specify such a position in response to objections based on ideas of fair cooperation and strong reciprocity. Linking John Rawls’ arguments on property-owning democracy to Philippe Van Parijs’ case for ‘gift-equalisation’, the study defends the view that a basic income is not inherently exploitative or beyond the scope of justice. To the extent that unconditional universalism is tied to the idea of sharing gift-like resources, it is just a matter of distributing wealth to which nobody has a justified prior claim, not an unfair redistribution of labour income.Introducing a problem of feasibility, however, the thesis also argues that unconditional wealth sharing may fail to meet liberal commitments and to counter structural exploitation unless constrained by other requirements of justice. The latter include a minimal autonomy constraint on maximin-objectives and the set of in kind transfers and social infrastructure needed to foster the activities and virtues on which the stability of this ideal relies. The thesis concludes with a study on the application of such standards to real-world conditions. It is argued that policy options combining a modest basic income with work-based social insurance and universal access to social services are more promising than strategies where a high basic income would replace core components of the welfare state.
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