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This chapter describes methodological and empirical developments in research on social movement outcomes. It focuses on defining and measuring the phenomena of collective action and discusses the difficulty of establishing a causal link between collective action and its eventual outcomes. Demonstrating that a particular social movement or wave of collective action was the reason for some change requires a solid theoretical argument with a specific research design and data and rigorous empirical analysis. Changes a social movement could achieve range from changes in activists’ behavior to changes in attitudes held by the public, and from changes in the content of a political agenda or piece of legislation to a change in the entire political system. This chapter examines recent progress and emphasizes the importance of knowledge accumulation across different disciplines for the methodological improvement and further theory development of collective action outcome research.

Following Russia's invasion, Ukraine exemplifies presidential leadership during full-scale war. This study examines executive coordination from Zelenskyi's mid-2019 election to the February 2022–July 2023 war period, using media sources and official data. It introduces three new leadership models – figurehead-leader, arbiter-management and leader-implementer – to capture evolving intra-executive relations in semi-presidential systems. Power centralisation around the president has accelerated, fitting the leader-implementer model. However, in accordance with the arbiter-manager model, a stricter division of labour, especially in domestic policy, is evident. Despite semi-presidentialism's perceived conflict-proneness, the study shows it can function efficiently and allow executive flexibility during significant crisis.

The democratic significance of public broadcasting corporations has gained renewed urgency as a result of developments in the outside world and the ongoing public service committee (Dir. 2023:27). According to the accepted view, public broadcasting corporations serve democracy by strengthening the free expression of opinion. This paper argues that this argument is not sufficient. In addition to strengthening the free formation of opinions, the mission must be understood as part of democracy’s self-defense. The substance of this mission derives from the values and principles defined in the Swedish constitution (Regeringsformen). Based on the idea of a “public reason”, the democratic argument for public broadcasting corporations is that they contribute to an informative, balanced and restrained public sphere that enables a democratic overlapping consensus among citizens with otherwise conflicting interests and

How great are the powers of the Swedish king in reality, and what has the development looked like? Which similarities and differences can be seen in Denmark? The countries have a long history as monarchies, and the development has in many ways taken place in parallel. During the 19th century, both countries transitioned from royal autocracies to approaching a status as fullyfledged parliamentary democracies. The similarities found in the broad characteristics of the development can largely be explained by the historical, regional and societal similarities between the countries. Differences in how the reforms that constitute the development has taken shape can be explained through the local differences in the history of the countries. The Swedish development, constituted by smaller reforms under the same Instrument of Government, has been characterized by the long period of peace and political stability that the country has experienced. In contrast, the Danish development’s many constitutional reforms has been affected by the late abolition of royal autocracy and the devastating defeat in the war of 1864. In Sweden, during the 1950s, the work towards a new Instrument of Government started. The question of the position of the head of state proved to be of central importance for the possibility of the constitutional reform. Public opinion was against a change of the status of the head of state, but the view of the parliament was different. One explanation for this is the professionalization of politics that took place during the 1960s, which was manifested partly in that politicians in questions of politics leaned more to the left than their voters. Despite some disagreement, representatives of the major political parties reached a solution to the question of the position of the head of state during negotiations in Torekov in 1971. The result, which has been given the name The Torekov Compromise, was that the head of state was given a mere ceremonial role without polit, Hur stor makt har egentligen den svenska kungen, och hur har utvecklingen sett ut? Vilka likheter och skillnader finns att se i Danmark? Länderna har en lång historia som monarkier, och utvecklingen har på många sätt skett parallellt. Under 1800-talet gick båda länderna från att vara kungliga envälden till att närma sig en status som fullgoda parlamentariska demokratier. Likheterna som hittas i utvecklingens huvuddrag kan till stor del förklaras med de historiska, regionala och sociala likheterna mellan länderna. Skillnaderna i hur reformerna som utgör utvecklingen tagit form kan förklaras utifrån lokala olikheterna i ländernas historia. Den svenska utvecklingen bestående av mindre ändringar i praxis inom en och samma regeringsform har präglats av den långa period av fred och politisk stabilitet som landet upplevt. I kontrast har den danska utvecklingens många grundlagsändringar påverkats av dess sena uppbrott med enväldet och det förödande nederlaget i kriget 1864. I Sverige började under 1950-talet arbetet med en ny regeringsform. Statschefsfrågan visade sig vara av central betydelse för möjligheten till författningsändringen. Folkopinionen var emot en ändring av statschefens ställning, men stämningen i riksdagen var en annan. En förklaring till detta är den professionalisering av politiken som skett under 60-talet, vilken bland annat uttrycktes i att riksdagsmännen i politiska frågor låg mer till vänster än sina väljare. Trots vissa motsättningar kom företrädare för de stora politiska partierna fram till en lösning på statschefsfrågan under förhandlingar i Torekov 1971. Resultatet, som fått namnet Torekovskompromissen, blev att statschefen enbart gavs en ceremoniell roll utan politisk makt i den nya regeringsformen. I dagens rättsläge kan huvuddragen i regleringen av statschefens ställning i Sverige och Danmark sägas vara mycket lika. Båda länderna är parlamentariskt demokratiska monarkier, och kungen eller drottningen har i båda länderna enbart en symbolisk roll

The ongoing debate on Swedish municipal housing’s universalist characteristics has focused on declining supply, stricter access criteria, and changing tenant demographics. This study addresses a research gap by examining how Swedish municipal housing queues, prioritizing apartment allocation by registration duration, influence tenant selection. Using a unique dataset from Bostaden, Umeå’s municipal housing company, linked to register data, the study investigates factors influencing housing queue accumulation and usage, with a focus on immigrant background. It further analyses how immigrant background affects the timing of exiting the housing queue to secure apartments. Furthermore, the study explores how the immigrant background of individuals obtaining queue-assigned apartments influences neighbourhood demographics. The findings highlight the substantial challenges faced by immigrants, particularly those from the Global South, in terms of housing queue accumulation, utilization, and neighbourhood attainment. These insights reveal how housing queues, as seniority-based rationing mechanisms, contribute to the perpetuation of housing and socio-spatial inequalities in Swedish cities.

Conflicts over the management and governance of forests seem to be increasing. Previous media studies in this area have largely focused on analysing the portrayal of specific conflicts. This study aims to review how a broad range of forest conflicts are portrayed in the Swedish media, analysing their temporal, spatial, and relational dimensions. We applied topic modelling, a machine learning approach, to analyse 53,600 articles published in the Swedish daily press between 2012 and 2022. We identified 916 topics, of which 94 were of interest for this study. Our results showed ten areas of forest conflicts: hunting and fishing (35 % of total coverage), energy (24 %), recreation and tourism (11 %), nature conservation (8 %), forest damages (6 %), international issues (5 %), forestry (5 %), reindeer husbandry (4 %), media and politics (2 %), and mining (1 %). The overall coverage of forest conflicts increased significantly over the study period, potentially reflecting an actual increase in forest conflicts. Some of the conflicts were continuously reported upon over time, while the coverage of others exhibited seasonal or event-related patterns. Four conflicts received most of their coverage in specific regions, while others were covered across the whole of Sweden. A relational analysis of the conflicts revealed three clusters of forest conflicts focused respectively on industrial, cultural, and conservation conflicts. Our results emphasise the value of using topic modelling to understand the overall patterns and trends of the media coverage of current land use conflicts, while also highlighting potential areas of emerging conflicts that may be of special interest for planners and policy-makers to monitor and manage.

The spatial turn in peace and conflict studies brought valuable insights about space in (post-)conflict contexts. Nevertheless, critiques of this literature call for further engagement with spatial heterogeneity. I suggest that analyzing space–time relationships is a promising avenue, as understandings of space are substantiated by heterogeneous temporal experiences. To capture space–timeheterogeneity, I introduce the concept of ‘spatio-temporal conflicts’, which draws attention to how actors construct spatial narratives based on heterogeneous and conflicting temporalities. I illustrate the analytical usefulness of this concept by employing it to explore conflicting space–time narratives around the Partisan Memorial Cemetery in post-war Mostar.

This policy brief summarizes key findings from a doctoral thesis examining the role and impact offaith in antitrafficking. This research found that faith-based antitrafficking practice is distinguishedby its emphasis on protection. Moreover, faith-based organizations (FBOs) are primarily funded byfaith-based donor networks. This is in part due to secular norms which incentivize the FBOs to eitherde-emphasize their faith identity or orient themselves towards faith-based donor networks. Whilesecular-religious divides can be difficult to bridge, religion is found to be a resource rather than aproblem in the interaction with local communities in the areas where FBOs work. Based on thesefindings, it is recommended that FBOs need to balance their emphasis on protection and individualjustice with equal attention to structural causes of human trafficking; that spaces for dialogue andlearning between secular and religious actors need to be identified; and, to avoid simplified boundariesfor religion in development but continue conversations on the role of religion in specific contextand program activities.

This study focuses on an overlooked dimension of housing policy, namely how housing can serve as a mean to exclude vulnerable groups in general, and more specifically immigrants, from long-term settlement. Research in this area is dispersed across various disciplines. To survey the field and explore how local decision-makers can utilize housing policy as a tool for gatekeeping and thus exclude vulnerable groups, we employ a systematic literature review. It consists of two main parts: the first one concentrates on the international literature on the subject, while the second investigates the Swedish context.The international review is based on a sophisticated search in the broader international scholarly literature and is analyzed through (i) statistical analysis, (ii)network analysis, and (iii) thematic analysis. The Swedish part draws on so called grey literature,analyzed through a thematic analysis.The results indicate, among other findings, that policies aimed at excluding vulnerable groups share similarities either in their design or in their consequential effects, regardless of the context in which the policy is applied. It is also evident how the literature distinguishes between policies that intentionally exclude and those that unintentionally exclude. In a Swedish context, the results indicate that municipalities in Sweden interpret their housing supply responsibility differently, leading to inequality and deviations from the principle of equal treatment. The analysis also demonstrates that economic resources and the design of laws and regulations play a crucial role in the outcome of housing policy. Notably, the phenomenon of social dumping occupies a central role in the Swedish literature. Both analyses indicate a norm shift regarding society's responsibility versus individual responsibility in housing supply issues, and that the lack of adequate housing is a significant problem both in Sweden and in many other countries., Denna studie fokuserar på en förbisedd dimension av bostadspolitiken, nämligen hur den kan användas som ett verktyg för att utestänga utsatta grupper från långsiktig bosättning. Vi fokuserar både på socialt och ekonomiskt utsatta grupper och mer specifikt på personer med flyktingbakgrund. Forskningen inom detta område förekommer i ett flertal olika discipliner. För att överblicka fältet och undersöka hur lokala beslutsfattare kan använda bostadspolitiken som ett verktyg för att agera grindvakter och därigenom utestänga utsatta grupper, tillämpar vi en systematisk litteraturöversikt. Den omfattar två huvuddelar: den första fokuserar på den internationella litteraturen inom ämnet, medan den andra undersöker den svenska. Den internationella översikten bygger på en sofistikerad sökning i den internationella vetenskapliga litteraturen och analyseras (i) statistiskt, genom (ii)nätverksanalyser och genom (iii) en tematisk analys. Den svenska delen utgår från s.k. grå litteratur som inte är granskad genom peer review (som exempelvis avhandlingar, myndighetsraporter) och analyseras endast genom en tematiskanalys. Resultaten visar att olika sorters politik som syftar till att utestänga utsatta grupper har snarlika effekter oavsett i vilket sammanhang som politiken tillämpas. I litteraturen görs en distinktion mellan metoder som avsiktligt utesluter respektive när detta blir en oavsiktlig konsekvens. Att kommuner i Sverige tolkar sitt bostadsförsörjningsansvar olika, leder till ojämlikhet och avsteg från likabehandlingsprincipen. Analysen visar också att lagar och reglers utformning samt ekonomiska resurser spelar en viktig roll i utfallet av förd bostadspolitik. Inte minst intar fenomenet social dumpning en central roll i den svenska litteraturen. Noterbart i analysen av både den svenska och internationella litteraturen är att det skett en normförskjutning kring vad som är samhällets ansvar kontra individens ansvar i bostadsförsörjningsfrågan, men också att bristen på adekvat

Distrust towards Swedish public authorities, the judiciary, and various forms of municipal activities – including social services – is not a new phenomenon in Sweden and has been particularly noted in relation to so-called socially vulnerable areas. The issue of the role of social services has also been exploited within radical Islamist circles, both nationally and internationally. In early 2022, attention was drawn to a malign information influence campaign in relation to the Swedish social services as well as the Care of Young Persons Act (LVU), which claimed, among other things, that the Swedish social services kidnap children and particularly target children of foreign origin and Muslim faith. Several different actors in Sweden initially united on social media and through in-person demonstrations, and soon thereafter the issue took on an extensive international dimension. This would later evolve into what has been called the largest information influence campaign Sweden has ever faced. In the wake of this campaign, hostility and threats have been directed against Swedish public institutions and individual social welfare officers and calls for violence and terrorist attacks have been made. Furthermore, it has been noted that actors with links to radical Islamist milieus – some violent – also have promoted and spread such narratives. The following study presents a chronological account of the origins and development of the so-called LVU campaign, both in Sweden and internationally, as well as the links between these dimensions. The study's empirical material consists mainly of content from freely available social media, with a particular focus on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and is based, among other things, on a daily review of a number of prominent foreign Arabic- and Turkish-language accounts – both prior to the emergence of the campaign, in 2021, as well as during its immense development in 2022. In addition to this chronological account, a narrative analys, Translation from: LVU-kampanjen: Desinformation, konspirationsteorier, och kopplingarna mellan det inhemska och det internationella i relation till informationspåverkan från icke-statliga aktörer (2023), Myndigheten för psykologiskt försvar (MPF)

This policy report outlines the group research on advocacy, decision-making, and EU policy change towards green energy transition and climate neutrality, focusing on resource- and energy-efficient buildings, as well as energy efficiency more broadly within the EU's Fit for 55 legislative packages. The research also includes analyses of advocacy and decision-making related to EU policy change for decarbonizing maritime shipping. The project explores how stakeholder coalitions shape policies for sustainable environments since decision-making is influenced by stakeholders and conflicts of interest. By providing better insight into EU policy change dynamics, this report offers valuable knowledge that can enhance policymakers' understanding of how to influence future EU policies on energy efficiency and building energy performance, as well as a clean energy transition more broadly, promoting Swedish interests. It highlights the complexity of decision-making in energy efficiency and climate impact reduction within the EU while also underscoring the influence of stakeholders and conflicts of interest. As a result, actors with inadequate grasp of political dynamics can hinder effective energy policy design and implementation, posing challenges to achieving climate goals and sustainable development. Similarly, since negotiations are key to advance regulation, it is found that less politicization and polarization facilitate deliberative negotiations and policy-oriented learning, among other things. Thus, strategic advocacy is crucial for Swedish policymakers aiming to successfully influence future EU energy and climate policies.

The decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to leave Ecowas reflects the bloc’s failure to address security and humanitarian issues in the subregion. It is also a result of people losing faith in Ecowas’ leadership after years of complacency and inconsistency in championing its democratic principles. Pragmatic dialogue with the member states currently run by military regimes will be crucial if regional collaboration is to be revived. And defending democratic values will be crucial if civilian rule and popular trust are to be restored.

If public stakeholders like public transport authorities (PTAs) take on the role as a provider of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), this may contribute to attaining key targets, including reduced car use, congestion and transport poverty. Therefore, we ask: Can PTAs provide MaaS, and if so, how can they achieve this target? This study applies three complementary theoretical approaches to public innovation to analyse the service innovation of the Norwegian MaaS leaders, the PTAs Kolumbus and Ruter. These are theories about public risk tolerance, reorganisation, and collaborative innovation. Methods applied are interviews, comparative analyses, event participation and document studies. Our analyses demonstrate that the selected PTAs exercise a “loose” form of meta-governance, or partnerships, and gradually innovate and have become early MaaS providers. Hence PTAs may be able to lead MaaS development. Moreover, various public authorities may, by setting environmental standards and providing funding, be essential in attaining innovation in MaaS and electrification., Hvis offentlige aktører som kollektivselskaper tar rollen som tilbyder av mobilitet som tjeneste (mobility as a service, MaaS), kan dette bidra til at viktige mål nås, slik som redusert bilbruk, kødannelse og transportfattigdom. Derfor spør vi: kan kollektivselskaper tilby mobilitet som tjeneste, og hvordan kan de oppnå dette målet? Denne studien benytter tre komplementære teoretiske tilnærminger til offentlig innovasjon for å analysere tjenesteinnovasjonen i de norske MaaS-lederne, kollektivselskapene Kolumbus og Ruter. Dette er teorier om offentlig risikotoleranse, omorganisering og innovasjon gjennom samarbeid. Metoder anvendt er intervjuer, komparative analyser, deltakelse i arrangementer og dokumentstudier. Våre analyser viser at de utvalgte kollektivselskapene utøver en type “løs” nettverksstyring, altså partnerskap, og har gradvis utviklet seg til å bli MaaS-tilbydere. Derav kan kollektivselskaper lede utviklingen mot mobilitet som tjeneste. Videre kan ulike offentlige myndigheter, gjennom å sette miljøstandarder og tilby finansiering, være essensielle i å oppnå innovasjon i MaaS og elektrifisering., Regulating smart mobility

For decades, major Europarties like the EPP, PES, and ALDE have advocated increased EU integration, pushing for democratic and institutional strengthening. However, this paper, which features analysis of their 2024 election manifestos, reveals few concrete governance reform proposals. This may well indicate internal divisions. The Greens, though, standout with their federalist agenda. The paper explores factors influencing Europarties' stances and questions the commitment of national member parties. When national and EU-level campaigns diverge, it weakens Europarties' cohesion and influence.

Hur klarar egentligen medierna att rapportera om komplicerade politiska energibeslut? Utgångspunkten i granskningen är de fem energipolitiska regeringsbeslut mellan 2003–2020 som under hösten 2023 fick svidande kritik av Riksrevisionen. Motiveringen var att besluten var dåligt underbyggda och brast i konsekvensanalys. Samma kritik skulle kunna riktas mot mediernas rapportering. Rapporten visar bland annat: De som kommer till tals i nyhetsrapporteringen är framför allt elbolagen och den politiska oppositionen.Trots att det finns mycket forskning på området, intervjuas sällan forskare. Inte heller citeras det ur de många utredningar som gjorts.Miljörörelsen är så gott som osynlig i rapporteringen.

The post-Cold War era has ushered in an array of complex challenges, expanding the scope of security agendas for states and multilateral organizations alike. This transformation necessitated regional and international approaches, encompassing multifaceted security threats such as human rights abuses, international terrorism, climate change, migration, pandemics, and cyberattacks. As a result, coordination between civilian and military actors became indispensable. However, this shift brought forth a multitude of civil-military concepts, each tailored to specific entities but resulting in significant confusion due to subtle variations in terminology and interpretation. For instance, the United Nations, European Union, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization employ various civil-military concepts, often sharing similar terms but conveying distinct meanings. Such conceptual disparities can lead to misunderstandings and hinder effective coordination. This paper introduces an analytical tool that categorizes organization-specific civil-military concepts into archetypes and provides a repository of official concepts and their summaries. The analytical framework is based on four core parameters of each civil-military concept, i.e. the main perspective, the scope, the level of applicability, and whether the concept entails a dedicated function. This resource aims to facilitate a common language for navigating and bridging different civil-military concepts. While essential for national militaries in multinational operations, this guide also benefits civilians engaging with military organizations, providing insights into military approaches to civil-military relations and aiding in identifying interlocutors within military structures. Ultimately, this framework accommodates future developments in civil-military concepts, enabling a contextual understanding within the existing conceptual landscape.

The future role of AI in healthcare is largely seen as positive, inevitable, necessary, and driven by the private sector. These dominant narratives obscure decision-making about these future applications, with little room for political scrutiny, or public participation. Public, and private resources, are being funnelled to support various AI health technologies. By prioritising some and not others, we are being set on a path that will greatly impact our future health, lives, and societies. My research sheds light on these processes and provides tools to expand the scope for inclusive public participation in the debate on future role of AI in healthcare.

The Covid-19 epidemic came at a sensitive time for Russia’s leadership, which was attempting a political reset and structural reforms, including the removal of President Putin’s presidential term limits. This article examines how issues related to the pandemic provided new opportunities for the systemic opposition, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who emerged as the main beneficiaries after capitalising on opportunities created by the epidemic. The underappreciated role of systemic opposition parties in electoral authoritarian systems, which balance “voice” and “loyalty” to benefit both themselves and the regime, is examined in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.

Modern society is increasingly dependent on digital services, making their dependability a top priority. But while there is a consensus that cybersecurity is important, there is no corresponding agreement on the true extent of the problem, the most effective countermeasures, or the proper division of labor and responsibilities. This makes cybersecurity policy very difficult. This article addresses this issue based on observations and experiences from a period of guest research at the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen), which made it possible to study how cybersecurity policy is developed and implemented in the Swedish financial sector. Observations include policy implementation challenges related to squaring different roles and perspectives mandated by different laws, and to collaboration between independent government authorities, but also policy development challenges: How can the full range of perspectives and tools be included in cybersecurity policy development? As Sweden now revises its cybersecurity policy, this is a key issue., Den aktuella studien är finansierad av Stiftelsen för Strategisk Forskning (avtalsnummer SM22-0057)QC 20240807

QC 20240719

Något har hänt i svensk politik. De barnpolitiska förslagen haglar.Frågor om barn och unga har blivit heta. I det politiska samtalet ochpå nyheterna sammanförs barn och unga, migration och integration,brott och straff, förort och utanförskap på olika sätt. Samtidigt sombarns rättigheter har stärkts på flera sätt genom lagstiftning undersenare år, ser vi också att politiska förslag som rör barn allt oftare gårut på en sak: ökad social kontroll. Det gäller kanske särskilt de barnpolitiska förslag som rör migration och integration. Den här bokentar därför temperaturen på utvecklingen inom just dessa områden.Bokens fokus gör också att den säger något om den ökade politiseringen av barns integration och välfärd som vi ser i samtidens Sverige.I boken ger 19 författare exempel på de senaste årens förändringari lagstiftning och praktik som direkt eller indirekt riktar sig till utsatta grupper av barn och familjer med bakgrunder som inte är majoritetssvenska. Lästa tillsammans, skildrar författarnas olika bidrag enberättelse om en välfärdsstat i förändring. Det är en välfärdsstat somtydligare, och oftare, betonar exkludering framför inkludering utifrån ett synsätt där krav och kontroll leder till ordning och integrering. Det leder till den för samtiden kritiska frågan: Kan exkluderingav vissa barn och deras sociala kontexter leda till sammanhållning?, En forskningsantologi med 19 författare med bakgrund i olika samhällsvetenskapliga discipliner.

This study examines the evolution of the better regulation agenda, particularly under President Ursula von der Leyen. Using Stone’s (1988, 2012) concept of public policy, the analysis identifies two main dimensions in EU official documents: the presentation of a policy problem requiring attention, and the policy solutions proposed to address or resolve it. The analysis relies on primary data, which includes all official EU documents, and secondary data from civil society and media. The documents have been analysed via qualitative, semi-automatic content analysis conducted with Atlas.ti. The analysis reveals a shift in the Commission’s better regulation agenda and its policies over time. Initially, in the early 1990s, EU law was considered as being too technical and complex, leading to efforts to make EU law clearer and simpler. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, EU legislation was increasingly seen as a burden, particularly for businesses. Consequently, the primary policy solution became the simplification of EU legislation, driven by a deregulatory agenda that often compromised societal standards. Under Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the same policy problems persisted, but the approach to policy solutions became more diverse and comprehensive. Instruments like REFIT, the REFIT platform, and the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) were introduced, with a more inclusive language compared to the previous period. A notable shift took place under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by framing the policy problem solely as EU legislation being too burdensome and costly for businesses, especially for SMEs. Importantly, the definition of SMEs is so broad that 99.8% of all companies nowadays fall under this category. The overall focus shifted to costs, making them a central issue. As a result, policy solutions have aimed at relieving these burdens and costs, pursuing the ‘One-In, One-Out’ (OIOO) principle, which considers only costs, while leaving out t

This thesis studies political parties in Sweden and their attitudes toward the Israel-Palestine issue during the period from 2006-2021. The analysis assumes that political parties act strategically, guided by their party goals across different arenas: parliamentary, internal, and electoral. Five key party goals—policy, vote-seeking, position, party cohesion, and international credibility—are used to analyze the strategic behavior of these parties. The Israel-Palestine issue holds strategic relevance for several political parties. Left-leaning parties (such as the Green Party, Social Democrats, and Left Party) benefit the most from strategically engaging with this issue. Even parties like the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party recognize strategic relevance in addressing the Israel-Palestine issue. Notably, the Center Party påsy the least attention to this issue. The most relevant party goals are policy and international credibility. The study also reveals significant relationships between parties and their sympathizers. In addition, the results offer concrete examples of how the party strategy works within the political parties, thus contributing to party strategy research, Swedish foreign policy and the Israel-Palestine issue in a Swedish context. In conclusion, the Israel-Palestine issue is deeply ideological. While it serves as a political tool in foreign policy debates, its impact is even more pronounced in domestic discussions, where parties use it to underscore their ideological stances. Overall, the Israel-Palestine issue remains to be one of the most polarized topics in the Swedish foreign policy debate.

Har relationen mellan religion och partipreferenser förändrats bland svenska väljareunder de senaste tre decennierna? Tidigare studier visar att religionsröstningen långtifrån varit betydelselös bland svenska väljare. Genom att studera SOM-undersökningen 1988–2023 visar detta kapitel att sekulariseringen även nått svensk politikoch att människors religiositet betyder allt mindre för vilket parti de tycker är bäst.Samtidigt är det allt färre som besöker gudstjänst. Bland de som regelbundet besökergudstjänster är dock religion alltjämt betydelsefullt, men denna erfarenhet är av alltmindre vikt för partipolitiken., Religiös förändring i Sverige

This study examines the potential link between descriptive and substantive representation. More precisely, we examine whether a higher level of political descriptive representation of women improves their substantive representation in terms of policy spending in areas that are known to be prioritized by women. We use data from a pooled sample of all of the 290 Swedish municipalities covering the years from 1994 to 2021. We make at least four contributions to the research field: we use multiple measures of (1) women’s political representation and (2) policy spending, and we also (3) test assumptions at the subnational level, where policy spending matters most, and (4) assess them over a longer period of time, stretching across almost three decades. In contrast to our expectations, the findings show that the descriptive representation of women has no influence on policy spending; instead, economic and demographical aspects dominate.

In this study, we contribute to the research field concerning early voting by examining the rejection of early votes in the general election in Sweden in 2022. The results show that the rejection rate of early votes in Sweden is high, which is of course problematic because eligible voters who vote should not have their ballots rejected because of errors. Contrary to our theoretical expectations, we did not find any patterns in the level of rejected early votes among the municipalities. We also examine why early votes are rejected, and the findings demonstrate that errors of different kinds occur, though some are more common than others, for example, putting more than one ballot paper in a ballot envelope seems to be a common problem. Finally, we provide several recommendations for the Election Authority concerning how the level of rejection of early votes can be reduced in Sweden

This thesis examines portrayals of misogynistic incel violence and its implications for understandings of misogyny, violence and security. To do so it asks the question of what meaning is ascribed to misogynistic incel violence, and how? Rather than investigating misogynistic incels’ own stories of their violence, this thesis turns to public portrayals of misogynistic incel violence, i.e. within news media and at policy-making levels, to explore how these portrayals affect understandings of wider gendered violence and what the potential implications may be to understandings of security, threat and national identity. This thesis thus investigates the manner in which misogynistic incel violence is politicised and securitised, or not. With that it examines how understandings of this gendered violence are both reliant on and reproductive of certain power dynamics in broader society. The papers that form this thesis identify particular narratives (such as isolated loners, boys being left behind and a backlash against feminism) and show how these work to obscure the misogyny at the heart of misogynistic incel violence. Two of the papers address portrayals of misogynistic violence in the US, the third turns to Sweden to investigate how an assumed gender-equal context may impact the portrayal of explicitly gendered violence. These qualitative studies draw on data from interviews and document analysis in order to provide an in-depth analysis of the portrayals of misogynistic incel violence. Ultimately, the papers argue that such portrayals perpetuate the conditions that make misogyny possible. Rather than recognising the structural nature of misogyny, the portrayal of misogynistic incel violence focuses on the stories of the individual perpetrators. Misogynistic incel violence is thus contained and exceptionalised. This thesis shows what is at stake when misogynistic violence is not recognised for what it is.

The European Union (EU) is known to have considerable market power, which flows from the size of the single market and its sophisticated regulatory capacity. However, relatively little is known about how, when and why the EU uses its market power and what its power projection signifies for our understanding of EU external action. This thesis explores the EU’s techniques for leveraging market power, as well as the factors that drive or constrain its active use of such power. It finds that the EU’s projection of market power is highly regulatory in nature, and often shaped by factors associated with the EU’s internal integration in specific policy areas such as environmental sustainability and digital markets. The thesis proposes that in these areas, competing networks of EU policy entrepreneurs can leverage a variety of structural and contextual factors, such as stringent EU laws, sophisticated EU regulatory capacity, societal fear of negative externalities and highly developed international regimes, to promote their preferred uses of market power. Based on these findings, the thesis argues that EU market power has limited transferability across sectors and is unlikely to be leveraged in geopolitical games or to propel the EU to become a true geopolitical player. Nonetheless, in a context where geopoliticization enhances the friction between the EU’s internal market and external market regimes, the EU can be expected to step up the use of market power to externalize European regulatory regimes in specific sectors in order to protect the integrity of the internal market and achieve international market integration on its own terms.

In this dissertation, I offer a novel perspective on what happens when political ethics meets political practice by exploring how Swedish parliamentarians reason about ethical dilemmas related to transparency, honesty, and compromise. Additionally, I study what parliamentarians consider to be the most challenging ethical dilemmas, the most important virtues, and the most problematic vices. Drawing on 74 in-depth scenario based interviews and using a multi-stage analytical framework, I empirically show how several under-theorized aspects of political dilemmas are critical to how parliamentarians’ reason about everyday political dilemmas. Transparency, often seen as a cornerstone of democratic accountability in the literature, is considered by parliamentarians in relation to how it affects their political independence, appearance, and judgment. Honesty, a virtue often mentioned by parliamentarians, is, I argue, more about avoiding lying than always speaking about everything that is true. Compromising, generally viewed favorably in the literature, was in practice challenged by the difficulties in upholding and properly communicating the theoretically crucial difference between making a compromise and finding consensus. In the chapters on virtues and vices, I show how a multi-theme and multilevel perspective illuminates the role of virtues and vices in politics overall and their influence on how parliamentarians reason about dilemmas. Theoretically, a key contribution lies in the introduction of powerlessness as a central aspect for understanding what political dilemmas are, who faces them, and how they are handled. Moreover, by synthesizing the results from the empirical chapters with previous literature, I show how three additional analytical categories are critical for understanding how politicians reason when they face political dilemmas: the ethical sphere in which the dilemma occurs, the optics of the action taken, and how they have demarcated their responsibility, I denna avhandling bidrar jag med ett nytt perspektiv på vad som händer när politisk etik möter politisk praktik. Jag undersöker hur svenska riksdagsledamöter resonerar kring etiska dilemman relaterade till transparens, ärlighet och kompromisser samt vilka aspekter som är relevanta när de gör det. Jag utforskar även vad parlamentariker själva anser vara de mest utmanande etiska dilemmana, de viktigaste dygderna och de mest problematiska lasterna. Med utgångspunkt i 74 djupgående scenariebaserade intervjuer med svenska riksdagsledamöter och genom att använda ett multidimensionellt analytiskt verktyg visar jag empiriskt hur flera tidigare underteoretiserade aspekter av politiska dilemman är centrala för att förstå hur riksdagsledamöter resonerar när de möter dilemman. Transparens, ofta sedd som en demokratisk hörnsten, beaktas i relation till hur det påverkar politiskt oberoende, framträdande och omdöme. Ärlighet, en av riksdagsledamöter ofta nämnd dygd, handlar, argumenterar jag, mer om att undvika att ljuga än att alltid tala om allt som är sant. Kompromissande, vilket generellt ses som positivt i dilemmalitteraturen, utmanas av svårigheterna att upprätthålla och kommunicera den teoretiskt viktiga skillnaden mellan att kompromissa och att söka konsensus. I kapitlen om dygder och laster visar jag hur ett flertematiskt och flernivåperspektiv belyser dygdernas och lasternas roll i politiken generellt och deras påverkan på ledamöters dilemmaresonemang i synnerhet. Teoretiskt är ett väsentligt bidrag i denna avhandling introduktionen av maktlöshet och dess betydelse för att förstå vad politiska dilemman är, vilka politiker som möter dem och hur de hanterar dem. Genom att kombinera resultaten från de empiriska kapitlen med tidigare litteratur visar jag även hur tre ytterligare analytiska kategorier är centrala för att förstå hur politiker resonerar när de ställs inför politiska dilemman: den etiska sfären som dilemmat uppstår i, hur deras handlingar uppfattas av relevanta

This dissertation examines how rebel organizations are affected by their leader’s social capital. In conflict research, leader functions and roles have been diverse, for example solving coordination problems in collective action, or devising ideologies for broad public support. What is missing is relating inter-individual differences to the social context within which these differences are argued to matter. Studying leader-level variation across conflict stages enables the identification of how the abilities of a leader interact with the challenges at hand. Spelling out the social context within which both the leader and the rebel organization are embedded, allows for the identification of the socially conditioned advantages and constraints that produce and restrict the application of human capital. I argue that a rebel leader's social capital influences a rebel organization prior to and during conflict, and when parties consider ending conflict. To investigate the main research question “how are rebel organizations affected by their leader’s social capital”, this study makes use of newly collected data on all rebel leaders from 1946 -- 2023. The results of the analyses suggest that a rebel leader's social capital is correlated with slower conflict onset, less competitors during conflict, and a mixed relationship with the likelihood of negotiation onset. In addition to the empirical contribution, I add to the literature, as I re-consider and statistically examine three central concepts in the conflict literature. I conceptualize and operationalize conflict onset as a process, thus nuancing existing explanations of mobilization dynamics prior to and for the purpose of civil conflict. Second, explain the number of rebel organizations during conflict, or "insurgency cohesion", by highlighting that both types of competitor emergences take place in the same social space. Third, I consider negotiation processes both in their public and secret format and how they relate, t

This dissertation explores the role of opposition parties in autocratization, focusing on Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). By examining the CHP during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule from 2002 to 2023, it reveals the complex roles and strategies of opposition actors in both resisting and contributing to autocratization. It challenges the binary view of opposition success or failure, suggesting that opposition parties like the CHP are dynamic entities within autocratic regimes. They can combat and contribute to autocratization through their discourse, policy decisions, and actions. By analyzing the CHP's evolving strategies, alliances, and discourse, the research underscores the opposition's pivotal role in shaping Turkey’s political landscape. Employing a diverse methodology, including 20 elite interviews, 10 focus group discussions with 60 participants, archival research, and participant observation, the thesis introduces two new concepts: rigid opposition and flexible opposition. Initially, the CHP maintained a rigid opposition characterized by identity-based polarization. However, over time, the party shifted to a more flexible approach, forging strategic alliances and adopting an inclusive discourse. This transformation underscores the adaptable nature of opposition strategies, illustrating that opposition actions cannot be solely evaluated on a binary success-failure scale. While the CHP's flexibility is essential in countering autocratization, it also poses the risk of contributing to it and diluting party identity. Additionally, the dissertation examines the evolution of the CHP’s discourse. By comparing election campaigns and protests, the study shows how the CHP's shift from an exclusionary to an inclusive discourse challenged the ruling AKP's polarizing populist narrative, while the previous exclusionary approach contributed to political polarization. This inclusive discourse played a crucial role in the CH

Turning a blind eye to the complexity of insecurities in Africa, peacebuilding discourses and practices on the continent have been too much focused on military interventions in regions like the Sahel, notably Mali. This paper critiques prevalent conceptualizations and practices, highlighting their shortcomings in effectively addressing the specific regional realities of the continent. It argues for a more nuanced understanding of African contexts, emphasizing the need to incorporate local perspectives and traditional governance structures into peacebuilding efforts. Additionally, it critiques the dominance of Western methods and perspectives in peacebuilding policies and advocates for greater recognition of African agency in defining and addressing security challenges. Overall, the paper recommends a hybrid and inclusive approach to peacebuilding that integrates indigenous knowledge and local capacities alongside international frameworks., Contents: Foreword [by Peter Wallensteen] -- Introduction -- Ake, post-colonial knowledge generation and peacebuilding -- Has peacebuilding become a wicked problem? -- Mali's slippery slope to collapse -- Positionality and reflexivity in peacebuilding? -- Regionally adaptive hybridity as a holistic, context-specific peacebuilding framework? -- The shift to 'regional peacebuilding' -- Conclusion -- Bibliography

I skolforskningen anmärks det av och till på att de elever som vistas i skolan har olika erfarenheter och identiteter, men att skolundervisningen ändå är monokulturell, präglad av majoritetskulturen. Detta kan leda till att elever som tillhör minoritetsgrupper har svårt att känna igen sig i och ta till sig undervisningen. Inom den interkulturella pedagogiken förordas av detta skäl kulturell mångfald bland skolpersonal, då lärare som har migrationsbakgrund förväntas ha kompetenser som gynnar lärande såvälsom integration för elever som delar deras bakgrund. Samtidigt kan det finnas baksidor av att dela livserfarenheter med sina lärare, och det finns goda argument för att inte lägga alltför stort fokus på elevers och lärares bakgrund i skolan. I detta kapitel diskuteras olika perspektiv på betydelsen av migration som delad livserfarenhet mellan lärare och elev.

This article examines the Indies' significant role in Spain's economic warfare during Philip IV's reign. It challenges the perception of the American territories as peripheral participants, emphasizing their central involvement in the General Reprisal against the French during the Franco-Spanish War. The study reveals interconnected policies between the Indies and European territories, the adaptations of the reprisal scheme to suit the American settings, and the consideration of each territory's unique conditions. It also highlights the importance of the French mercantile community in Seville, their integration into the Atlantic trade, and their strategies to recover property in the American territories. Additionally, the article analyzes the introduction of rogation days in the Indies as a complementary measure, serving as a propaganda tool to otherize the French, influence public opinion, and shape perceptions of foreignness. Overall, the research enhances our understanding of Spain's economic warfare strategies and their global impact., Bibliografiskt granskad

This study investigates religious dealignment in Sweden by analyzing changes in the correlation between attendance at religious services and party preferences from the late 1980s to the early 2020s, in conjunction with key indicators of secularization. The study addresses three research questions: 1. Has the frequency of religious service attendance among Swedes decreased? 2. Has the religious commitment of regular attendees at religious services declined in Sweden? 3. Has the correlation between Swedes’ party preferences and religious service attendance weakened? The data consist of surveys of Swedish voters conducted 1988-2023. The findings indicate increased religious dealignment and secularization among the already extremely secular Swedish population. The proportion of voters who attend religious services decreases and the relation between attendance at religious services and party preferences declines. However, this dealignment is not explained by internal secularization among regular attendees of religious services., Religiös förändring i Sverige

This paper compares responses to crises through analysis of labour market policy in Sweden and the UK between the Global Financial Crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic. In drawing on 'restructuring regimes', we offer insights into the dynamics of change in the two countries, focussing on the development of short-time working schemes. We argue that Sweden learned lessons from the GFC that helped prepare for future crises, whereas the UK's muted response left it ill-prepared for the COVID-19 crisis. The paper contributes to debates around restructuring regimes through an analysis of the journey between two crises in which we characterise Sweden's approach as proactive and pre-emptive and the UK's as reactive and ad hoc. By locating analysis in traditions of self-regulation and voluntarism in Sweden and the UK, respectively, we expand upon the role that industrial relations play in maintaining the stability, or not, of national restructuring regimes.

Democracy, often viewed as noble, relies on politics, which is paradoxically seen as dirty. The aim of this essay is to problematize the bad reputation of politics and to discuss the implications for its place in democracy. The question is: why is politics so ugly? Themes such as conflict avoidance, excessive conflict, deception, and market logic in politics are discussed. The conclusion justifies politics’ bad reputation, citing both theoretical and empirical evidence of deception. The fear of conflict and its opposite, an increasingly harsh tone, are problematic. This results in people’s reluctance to participate in political elections. To protect democracy, we must address these issues and encourage more participation in politics.

This book analyses the role of Europarties in the deepening of integration and the debates on the future of Europe. It is guided by three fundamental research questions: What strategies do Europarties utilize to advance their visions of Europe? What is the relative influence of the actors in the networks of the Europarties? How successful have the Europarties been in shaping the future of Europe? European integration cannot be understood without accounting for the impact of the Europarties. Theoretically, the book utilizes the concepts of advocacy and agenda-setting, identifying Europarties as transnational partisan actors operating at intergovernmental and supranational levels of EU decision-making. Europarties have consolidated their organizational structures, and more importantly, have over the decades built their own networks and coalitions that enable them to wield influence in ways rarely captured by previous studies. Empirically, the book investigates the networks and positions of the Europarties, constitutional reform processes, and the role of the Europarties and their EP political groups in the broader debates on the future of Europe.

The ‘Volk en Vaderland’ (VoVa) weekly newspaper served as the principal propaganda tool which allowed the Dutch fascist organisation National Socialist Movement – Netherlands (NSB) to propagate a meticulous blend of antisemitic, anti-Marxist and anti-‘establishment’ conspiracy theories, operating in complementary capacity to the ill-defined palingenetic vision of Dutch national rebirth (‘palingenesis’). Later in the wartime collaboration years, the various components of Dutch fascism were concretised (‘finished’) not by the NSB but by the Berlin-directed civilian occupation regime. As will be presented, utilising mixed-methods content analysis, VoVa’s double scrutiny in both a quantitative and qualitative examination points to the conclusion that the collaboration period had a stout germanisation effect on the completion and even replacement of the various facets of the initial NSB ideology: With pan-Dutch nationalism becoming increasingly outphased by pan-Germanicism; anti-jewish measures being introduced in the Netherlands by Berlin supported by NSB propaganda; and, finally, the revitalisation of ‘abolitionist’ antisemitic and anti-Marxist rhetoric occurring in virtue of Hitler’s invasion of the USSR. Thus, skewing the expectations of the natural fascist development under a heuristic fascist studies theory model, with particular attention paid to the elements most relevant to Holocaust & genocide studies, the NSB case study alludes to various noteworthy effects of intra-fascist wartime collaboration, and how it completed or even altered the propagated visions for societal transformations and persecutions. Therein, the thesis finishes with the recommendation that other national fascist organisations across World War Two Europe may have suffered equal changes to their abolitionist and palingenetic agendas following intra-fascist wartime collaboration with Germany and Italy; requesting further research is engaged in on other such fascist organisations across Euro

Protracted economic crises, accelerating inequalities, and increased resource scarcity present significant challenges for the majority of Africa's urban population. Limited state capacity and widespread infrastructure deficiencies common in cities across the continent often require residents to draw on their own resources, knowledge, and expertise to resolve these life and livelihood dilemmas. DIY Urbanism in Africa investigates these practices. It develops a theoretical framework through which to analyze them, and it presents a series of case studies to demonstrate how residents invent new DIY tactics and strategies in response to security, place-making, or economic problems. This book offers a timely critical intervention into literatures on urban development and politics in Africa. It is valuable to students, policymakers, and urban practitioners keen to understand the mechanisms and political implications of widespread dynamics now shaping Africa's expanding urban environments., Contents: Introduction: Do-it-yourself Urbanism in Africa's Cities / Patience Mususa and Stephen Marr -- Comparative DIY Urbanisms: Reflections on a Concept's Pasts, Presents and Futures / Stephen Marr -- The Makeshift City and Do-it-yourself (DIY) Urbanism / Martin J. Murray -- Reflections on the DIY Paradigm and Urban Living in Nigeria / Mohamed-Bello Yunusa -- DIY Urbanism in an African Context and its Potential as a Collaborative Placemaking Tool for Bridging Africa's Urban Infrastructure Deficit / Mathias Agbo Jr. -- Political Economy of Community-Led Security Provisioning in Urban Africa / Victor Adetula -- The Politics of Urban Insecurity: Hybrid relations and party dominance in Lagos / Nigeria, Henrik Angerbrandt -- 'Accra We Dey': Precarious Histories, Creative Place-Making, and Reimagined Futures in Urban Ghana / Jennifer Hart -- Everyday spatial practices and production of urban commons in Accra, Ghana / Victoria Okoye -- Learning from DIY urbanism: Lessons from Freetown / Federico Monica -- DIY Urbanism as Ecotopia: The Case of the Green Camp Gallery in Durban, South Africa / Antje Daniel -- Disability and Urbanism in Malawi / Jonathan Makuwira -- The Biopolitics of Do-it-yourself Urbanism on the Zambian Copperbelt / Patience Mususa -- Conclusion: DIY Urbanism as Politics of Interruption / Stephen Marr and Patience Mususa

Strategic urban planning has long been promoted as an important approach to transitioning to sustainable communities. However, previous literature on the Nordic context has critiqued strategic activities because they often take place outside of statutory planning procedures and therefore present legitimacy deficiencies. While the inclusion of both stakeholders and diverse expertise has been recognised as important in strategic planning, previous planning literature has focused either on the role of politics or knowledge in planning, but not as much on the relationship between the two. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of how political and epistemic authority affect the legitimacy of strategic planning by exploring how participants in an informal strategic planning process enact authority. By applying a theoretical framework of stakeholderness and boundary work, the paper shows how the balance between political and epistemic authority is important when legitimizing strategic planning processes. The paper concludes by suggesting the concept of knowledgeable stakeholders to describe actors’ enactment of political and epistemic authority. This paper argues for a need to repoliticise participation in strategic planning by illuminating the interrelatedness of politics and expertise, to which the concept of knowledgeable stakeholders can contribute, CC-BY 4.0

Drawing on research on political culture and research on geopolitical orientations, this article analyses public opinion in the three Baltic states (2014 and 2021), focusing on political support, inter-ethnic relations and geopolitical attitudes. In the first section, the empirical analysis demonstrates widespread public support for the national communities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Most respondents feel a sense of attachment to or pride in their respective homeland, and a relative majority of all respondents feel that their contemporary political systems are preferable to other systems in the past. At the same time, the analysis alert us to distinct ethnic differences: the Russian-speakers in the three countries tend to be decidedly more nostalgic about the Soviet past and less satisfied with the present regimes. Confirming and updating findings familiar from previous studies, this article also notes that the population groups in the three Baltic states were growing more or less accustomed to the domestic situation, up until the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. In the second part of the article, we turn to geopolitical belonging and security perceptions in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The European Union (EU) launched the European Pillar of Social Rights to improve social rights for EU citizens. However, little is known about the domestic dynamics of implementing these new rights. This article examines the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive in three member states with different policy traditions (Denmark, Germany, and Poland). Based on an actor-centred approach, the article demonstrates that two main factors were crucial in motivating national actors to shape the implementation of these rights. First, the economic costs, including new permanent costs emerging from the provisions and the administrative costs of implementing an EU directive, shaped actors’ positions in all three countries. Second, the values of gender equality – whether promoting gender-equal leave or traditional family values – constituted an underlying reason for actors to customise the EU rules differently. Both factors, used as a defence or driver for change, increase differentiated policy implementation., EuSocialCit: The Future of European Social Citizenship