Effective local governance assisting vulnerable groups : The case of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in Sweden

• Youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) have been analyzedfrom either individual or macro-structuralperspectives, while policy discussionshave emphasized national policy. This disregards (i) the substantial variation inNEET rates within countries, and (ii) the importance of local governance for thisvariation. We examine these issues in Sweden through the lens of interactive governance.Theoretically, four aspects of collective action are highlighted: identificationof local NEET subgroups, perceptions of problems and of solutions, andstakeholder relationships. Empirically, an initial multi-levelregression analysis ofall 290 Swedish municipalities provided the basis for semi-structuredinterviewsregarding local work with NEETs in 20 strategically selected municipalities. Thequalitative data are here analyzed using fuzzy-setqualitative comparative analysis.The results suggest that municipalities where local governance combinesthree of the four aspects, namely identifying NEET subgroups and sharing perceptionsof problems and of solutions, have lower NEET shares than predicted.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Keyword

collective action

conditions of governance

local governance

multi methods

NEETs

network theory

QCA

socialt arbete

Social Work

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)