| 1. |
- Andersson, Lisa
(author)
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Coordination patterns and institutional settings : a comparative study of labour market programs for unemployed youth in Sweden and the United Kingdom
- 2022
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 43:1, s. 90-107
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the past decades, Europe has seen increasing interest in and pressure to coordinate social policy. Studies on the coordination of social policies have found that institutional settings affect coordination patterns when comparing different welfare state ideal-types. Adding to this body of research, this paper compares two countries with diverging authority to regulate social policy areas; Sweden representing a unitary decentralized state and the UK representing a regionalized state. With labour market programs for youth serving as a case, the purpose of this paper is to compare the development of inter- and intra-policy coordination over a period of 10 years, analysing the impact of regulatory authority. Policy documents which set the regulatory frame of the programs are analysed from the perspectives of instruments, and territorial levels of regulatory authority and how these connect to coordination patterns. The results show that levels of discretion and processes of decentralization and fragmentation of regulatory authority impact on coordination patterns, where inter- and intra-coordination develops under different circumstances.
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| 2. |
- Berg, Linda, 1973, et al.
(author)
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Swimming against the tide: Why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU
- 2013
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 34:2, s. 142-161
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While the free movement of labour in the EU is generally depicted as a positive feature of the single market, it was also controversial in the debate on EU enlargement. Actors opposing enlargement argued that large waves of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) would ‘swamp’ western labour markets, leading to so called ‘social tourism’ and increasing xenophobia. Contrary to developments in other countries, Sweden was one of only three Member States to immediately open its doors to citizens from the EU accession countries of 2004 and 2007. Sweden has also been one of few EU countries to actively promote greater liberalisation of labour migration policy for third country nationals (TCNs) within the EU; and the new Swedish Immigration Law of 2008 dramatically liberalised the TCN labour migration policy and made it more employer-driven. We argue that in order to understand why Sweden has supported increased labour mobility within and from outside of the EU, we need to complement existing explanations by analysing the preferences of the political parties. A two-dimensional analysis focusing on economy and culture provides an understanding of why so called ‘unholy coalitions’ of parties in support of liberal labour policies have emerged in Sweden during the2000s. The article ends with a discussion of lessons learned from the Swedish case and wider implications for rights-based mobility in the EU.
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| 3. |
- Bexell, Magdalena, et al.
(author)
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Realizing the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development–engaging national parliaments?
- 2022
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 43:4, s. 621-639
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article examines the role of national parliaments in policy processes related to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, adopted in the UN General Assembly in 2015. We outline three main roles of parliaments in the case of national policy-making based on intergovernmental agreements: legislative and policy approval, citizen representation, and accountability. The cases of Sweden and Ghana are examined with regard to those roles, looking for factors that impact the degree of parliamentary involvement with the 2030 Agenda. The cases show that while formal features of political systems impact how parliaments exercise those roles, political choice among policy-making elites and voters is an equally important factor shaping how those roles play out. Yet, political choice can in turn be circumscribed by competing domains, issues and actors in national 2030 Agenda processes. Even if the two countries chosen for comparison are dissimilar with regard to substantive challenges faced in realizing the 2030 Agenda, they are alike with regard to weak involvement of their parliament in policy-making related to the 2030 Agenda thus far. The conclusion puts forward possible implications of a lack of parliamentary involvement for the domestic democratic legitimacy and realization of the 2030 Agenda.
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| 4. |
- Björnehed, Emma, PhD, et al.
(author)
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Making the most of the frame : developing the analytical potential of frame analysis
- 2018
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In: Policy Studies. - : Routledge. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 39:2, s. 109-126-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Frame analysis has been developed and applied across contexts in several disciplines such as policy analysis, where the perspective has proven fruitful to carve out essential differences in the construction of meaning and to understand the responsiveness of the strategic use of ideas. However, this article argues in line with other scholars that the analytical potential of frame analysis is not fully utilized in most empirical studies. The article addresses two points of critique raised against frame analytical perspectives: the limited view of the framing process and the limited understanding of frame effects. We suggest two analytical dimensions that help to develop the analytical potential of frame analysis in policy analysis and beyond: firstly, the institutionalization process of frames which can capture the struggle of meaning within policy processes and also distinguish between the varying influences of different frames over space and time. Secondly, the extension of frame effects that through a reconceptualization of frame effects can capture how a frame has an effect on actors other than the audience and beyond its immediate purpose.
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| 5. |
- Dahlstedt, M.
(author)
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Now you see it, now you don't : Reconsidering the problem of representation
- 2008
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 29:2, s. 233-248
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The article reconsiders the problem of representation. Processes of representation, it is argued, not only take place in the arena of official politics, but are also being conducted in other social arenas, albeit in different forms. In order to understand the problem of representation faced by contemporary democracy, we must thus develop alternative approaches that proceed from a broad view of politics, that place more emphasis on the symbolic dimensions of politics, and that scrutinize the borderlands between politics and culture. In this article, a framework for such an approach to representation is presented, building on the traditions of both political and cultural studies. According to the approach outlined, representation may be viewed not only as an institutionally constrained praxis, but also as more generally applicable symbolic-communicative practices. © 2008 Taylor & Francis.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Erikson, Josefina, 1979-
(author)
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Ideas and actors in policy processes. Where is the interaction?
- 2015
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 36:5, s. 451-467
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several influential frameworks in the field of policy analysis explicitly acknowledge that the role of ideas is as important as the role of actors in analyzing and understanding policy and policy change. An issue of principal interest in this body of literature concerns the interaction between ideas and actors. This article argues that, regardless of important contributions from previous research, the literature can be enriched by new analytical tools that further our understanding of the complex interplay between ideas and actors in policy-making. The article outlines a dynamic approach to policy analysis, which has proven fruitful in producing high quality empirical research in a Swedish case of policy on prostitution. Three new analytical dimensions are specified and operationalized: (1) the political institutionalization of frames, analyzing how the influence and content of ideas change over space and time in policy-making; (2) the mechanisms of institutionalization and assignment of jurisdiction through which ideas become part of the political context and work restricting and enabling for actors; and (3) risk-taking and limitation as unintended consequences of actors' involvement and strategic action in the construction of meaning.
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| 8. |
- Grossi, Guiseppe, et al.
(author)
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Joint owned companies as instrument of Local Government: Comparative evidence from the Swedish and Italian water sector
- 2011
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 32:3, s. 277-289
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The combination of features from the public and private sectors in jointly owned companies imposes challenges to the governance and control mechanisms of these organisations, which have been criticised for lacking accountability. Where there is fragmented ownership, the interests of different owners need to be coordinated. The aim of this article is to consider how such companies can be governed in order to avoid this lack of accountability. The focus is on Swedish and Italian experience with joint public–private water supply companies in the local government area. The analysis draws on the literature on corporate governance in the public sector and shows that, even though contextual differences exist between the Swedish and Italian cases, there are also similarities in regard to the need to manage the conflicts of interests that surface due to fragmented ownership.
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| 9. |
- Hellström, Tomas, et al.
(author)
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Policy instrument affordances : A framework for analysis
- 2017
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 38:6, s. 604-621
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study uses the concept of technological efficacy derived from ecological psychology and design studies to offer an alternative way of analyzing how policy instruments affect change. Reasoning from this, the paper outlines a framework for analyzing policy instruments in terms of their affordances. We define affordances as the means through which an instrument exerts influence on its intended target audience. Using this approach, we contend that policy instruments may be analyzed as interfaces that organize social relations and create structures of opportunity and/or restrict possibilities for action. We argue that explicating the pathways through which instruments afford or constrain action is a central task for policy analysis. Our proposed framework of analysis builds on the idea that instruments yield effects by facilitating action and learning. We further contend that the actions that an instrument can facilitate or inhibit are determined by specific affordance modalities of the instrument in conjunction with contingencies of the actor and the policy environment. Examples from research policy are used to illustrate some of these effects.
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| 10. |
- Jennstål, Julia, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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The ethics of deliberative activism : in search of reasonableness and dialogic responsiveness in provocative art exhibitions
- 2019
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In: Policy Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0144-2872 .- 1470-1006. ; 40:6, s. 648-661
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- “Deliberative activism” refers to the integration of two ideals of citizen participation: deliberation and activism. While there are strong arguments for bridging the gap between the two ideals, it is equally important to keep what is distinct about deliberative activism because all activism is not (and presumably should not aspire to be) deliberative. In this article, we claim that there are certain ethical and epistemic norms of deliberation that can inform our understanding of “deliberative activism”, thereby help to draw the boundary between activism and deliberative activism. By looking at a particular form of activism—provocative art—that is intuitively antithetical to the deliberative ideal, we argue that simple activism can be differentiated from deliberative activism by considering to what extent activists’ adhere to principles of reasonableness and dialogic responsiveness. Using four cases of controversial, provocative art exhibitions in Sweden that challenges the boundaries of public deliberation we conclude that that it is important to distinguish acts that initiate deliberation from those that are acts of deliberation in themselves. The distinguishing factor must be at the heart of deliberation namely an ethical commitment to dialogue. To the very least, actors must explain their claim as if they were in dialogue.
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