For the last decades, the party memberships in Sweden have decreased from 600.000 to 300.000, although the general interest in politics have been stable during the same period. This situation can be percieved as a threat to swedish democracy; if the political parties are loosing contact with the citizens, the parties will also face the risk of not being able to canalize the views of the citizens. If that’s the case, the represenative democracy might loose legitimacy. These conclusions have triggered local municipalities in Sweden to launch ”civil dialogue”, innovative ways to include the citizens in public projects and welfare services, with the purpose to re-establish connection and trust between the public and civil sector. However, political studies suggest that civil dialogue rarely have succeeded to strenghtened democracy. In some cases, civil dialogue seemed to hurt trust and legitimacy in local municipalities. That makes the civil dialogue phenomenon interesting – how can attempts to reinforce trust and democracy result in a backfire? What in the core of civil dialogue might catalyze this backlash?

   The nature of civil dialogue suggest that cooperation between the public and civil sphere is becoming more acceptable, even desirable, in swedish politics. This development breaks with the traditional ways of public administration and bureaucracy in Sweden. However, the cooperation between the public and civil sphere is also the core of a new broad trend in public administration and governing, namely ”governace”. Governance refers to a way of adminstrating public affairs by the logic of networks, including the civil society in the public affairs with the purpose of making the public administration more effective and to find creative solutions on new problems. The first aim of this study is to recieve a new understanding how the subjective experiences of civil dialogue participants can affect legitimacy and trust, by analyzing the experiences of participants in a failed dialogue. The second aim is to explore wether civil dialogue is better understood as a part of a new broad trend in public buraucracy, governance, rather than more traditional bureaucracy. These aims are fulfilled using a case study, which has a swedish local municipality, Sunne, in focus.

   The results of the study suggests that none of the participants of the civil dialogue in Sunne experienced that they had ”been listened to”, which seems to be an important cause behind the negative result of the specific dialogue. The innovativeand failed attempt to strengthen the legitimacy of local democracy resulted in a negative reaction through the traditional channels of political participation. The study also suggests that civil dialogue and governace have some similarities regarding their main principles of value and general logic, but since the municipality of Sunne didn’t implement the steering logics of civil dialogue in its full practice, it’s hard to judge wether it should be perceived as governance or not.

Trust is an important factor that contributes to citizens' willingness to continuance use of e-gov services. However, there is a lack of prior investigation about trust and continuance use of e-gov services in Pakistan - a developing country. We propose a model to investigate citizens' trust and e-gov services' continuous use intention to fill this research gap. Our study collected data from an online survey of 558 Pakistani citizens. Using partial least squares analysis, we found that disposition to trust positively correlates with both internet and government trust. Moreover, citizen satisfaction, trust, perceived usefulness, confirmation, and perceived risk all have significant impacts on the continuous use intention of e-gov services. This research extends and validates the Expectation-Confirmation Model by exploring key factors that influence e-gov continuance use intention. As such, our study offers valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners involved in e-gov service delivery in developing countries like Pakistan. The paper also discusses our findings' implications and identifies future research directions.

Feminism som byråkrati beskriver utvecklingen av svensk jämställdhetspolitik. Främst behandlas idén om jämställdhetsintegrering. En historieskrivning, men också en analys. Från början av 1990-talet fram till idag. Vilka frågor och krav har kunnat ställas inom ramen för denna politik? Och inte minst, vad har gjorts omöjligt?

Sweden is one of the most equal countries in the world and equality is supposed to mainstream all political areas. Implementation is a common issue when it comes to democracy. It is important that national decisions are recognisable in the municipalities and it is there for important that the decisions are implement correctly. A successful implementation, due to implementation theory, shall consist of three conditions; the applier needs to understand the decision, the applier needs to want to implement the decision and the applier has to be able to implement the decision. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if Karlstad municipality has been able to imply equality within its organisation, as an employer, which also constitutes my research question. This thesis consists of a case study from an implementation theory perspective where interviews and text analysis are the primary sources. The conclusion shows that Karlstad municipality has not

Today's fast-changing organizations often strive to stay competitive in the labor market, which tends to place increasing demands on the efficient dissemination of knowledge. In many cases, an organization chooses to use the project format to complete the tasks. A projects temporary nature means additional handling experience and lessons learned, especially when there is a risk that the experience is wasted when a project is finished. For this reason, there are many methods and theories that explain how the organization should capture the lessons learned and disseminate them between projects. One method consists of routine and structured creation of final reports, which includes the experience to be captured, stored and archived.

The purpose of the study is to identify trends regarding the handling of the final document and the options available to spread and share experiences and lessons learned at Karlstad University.

Two research questions were formulated to answer the purpose of the study:

• How does the handling of the final document work at Karlstad University?
• How does project managers perceive the opportunities to distribute and share lessons learned between projects at Karlstad University?

A qualitative approach has been applied where we performed five interviews with project managers at Karlstad University. The empirical data were then analyzed on the basis of our theoretical framework of matters, including various coordination mechanisms, the final report and in particular the transfer of knowledge and the problems that may arise regarding this phenomenon.

The results indicate that the informal channels perceived strong within the organization, where close contact had a significant role in knowledge transfer. The final document is made from a formal template, which is a relatively new procedure for the organization. This development has been seen as very positive because it contributes to a wealth of experience in the organization. However, we have been able to see trends that there are difficulties in accessing the final reports through the organization systems, partly because project management has tended to be a “IT-matter”. We have also been able to see a demand for a more structured system that is placed centrally in the organization. Finally, we have been able to discern some tendency’s that indicate that a project office would serve as a potential tool to the structure and certain problems that the respondents are experiencing.

This essay is a comparative case study that examines the planning of civil defense from Halland, Västra Götaland, Värmland and Örebro county administrative boards from a collaborative perspective. The overall question is what similarities and differences exist between the county administrative board planning. The empiric material is obtained through semi-structured qualitative interviews with officials at the executive and supervisory level of the investigated county administrative boards. The collected material is categorized and analyzed based on an analysis model based on a framework, An Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance. The analysis compares the work of the four county administrative boards in planning civil defense through cooperation. The results of the study shows that there are major differences between the county administrative authorities in how they have taken on the task and what activity they are pursuing to create legitimacy, cross-border action and overall understanding between actors to create the conditions for civil defense planning. There are also major differences in how they perceived the governance that comes from national authority. The result also shows that there are major similarities in the needs of the four county administrative boards, including coordination in the hierarchical organization from national to local level regarding industry agreements and coherent planning. The framework can be found useful as an analysis tool for collaborative planning in civil defense.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the discourse of the Swedish state´s view of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The analyse is made through the Poststructural WPR-approach described in Carol Lee Bacchi and Susan Goodwin´s book Poststructural policy analysis: a guide to practice.[1] Biodiversity is, as the famous 2nd article of the Convention of describes it: “A collective term for all variations that exist within, as well as between, species and ecological systems. Biodiversity focuses on the genetic variation that occurs naturally in the world”.

The problem of this thesis is to examine the discourse of biodiversity and how the representation of the problem looks like. It examines how the policy worker within the Swedish state expresses problem representations in a specific law proposition (Prop. 2013/14:141) which is about A Swedish strategy for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The study object was chosen through a search for suitable policy documents.

This thesis uses Carol Lee Bacchi’s WPR-approach as a methodological and theoretical framework. The research questions for this thesis are therefore inspired by Carol Bacchi´s research questions. Although I use a modified version in Swedish adapted to this study´s purpose. 

The thesis shows that the policy-document gives higher emphasis to anthropocentrism than biocentrism. Conclusions are also drawn that the values of nature are given lower priority than values related to humans.

 [1] Bacchi, C.L. & Goodwin, S. (2016). Poststructural policy analysis: a guide to practice. New York, NY: Palgrave Pivot. och Bacchi, C.L.

Frey (Homo Oeconomicus 34(1):1–9, 2017) makes several proposals to reform and extend democracy. In this contribution, we first consider the desirability of these proposals from the point of view of a rational self-interested individual. We then conduct a questionnaire to quantify the actual support among voters. It turns out that many proposals lack support in both cases. We conclude that in making such proposals, one has to take into account not only pre-existing democratic institutions but also the support such proposals can expect from rational self-interestedindividuals.

The government of the Netherlands evoked a State Commission to write an advice on the future viability of the Dutch democracy. In this contribution, we describe the issues and proposals the Commission discusses in its reports, and thus provide insights in the functioning of a modern democracy and on the discussion of improving it. This paper also enables the non-Dutch speaking scientists to provide input to this discussion. 

Theconcept of rural proofing, identified by the Government in its Rural WhitePaper, involves identifying whether new or existing policies will havedifferential impacts in rural areas and considering adjustments orcompensations to address these. The article examines how local authorities canput rural proofing into practice at the local level. Based on researchundertaken for the Countryside Agency, it considers how local authority policyand decision making processes can lend themselves to rural proofing andmitigate differential impacts in rural areas. A localised rural proofingchecklist is drawn up and a range of issues associated with implementing such amechanism are debated. Conclusions are drawn as to how local authorities cantake rural proofing forward.

In the contemporary landscape of public care, digital data has emerged as a fundamental prerequisite, increasingly influencing not only the operational practices of care providers but also the very subjects of those receiving care. 

This study delves into the intricate process of datafication within Swedish public care, focusing on how data is produced, processed, and utilized across various care environments. The research adopts an ethnographic approach, rooted in the theoretical framework of assemblage as articulated by Deleuze and Guattari, to investigate the multifaceted and socio-technical dimensions of datafication. By closely examining the daily, often unnoticed practices related to data and data-driven system, this study uncovers how seemingly minor actions collectively contribute to broader socio-political ramifications within Swedish public care. 

The findings highlight the pivotal role that data plays in shaping the structure and delivery of care, and emphasize the need for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the broader consequences of datafication in public health and social services. This research thus contributes to the ongoing discourse on the impact of digital technologies on public care systems, offering critical insights into the balance between technological advancement and the human aspects of care.

Svensk offentlig sektor är i många avseenden fantastisk, men det finns också brister. Det främsta syftet med denna bok är att för första gången presentera tjänstelogik (Service Dominant Logic) som ett sätt att betrakta offentlig verksamhet. Med sådan logik för ögonen kan verksamheten förstås på ett annorlunda vis. Förhoppningsvis kan logiken bidra både till praktiska lösningar och till en förvaltningspolitik som är ändamålsenlig och relevant.

I boken demonstreras hur retoriken bakom offentliga tjänster ofta bygger på resonemang från varuproduktion i tillverkningsindustrin (Goods Dominant Logic). Detta medan tjänsteforskare samstämmigt menar att varors logik ofta leder fel. Varor är fysiska och statiska och tillverkas vanligen i stängda fabriker. Tjänstelogiken är däremot till för organisationer som, likt våra myndigheter, arbetar med immateriella, komplexa och föränderliga ting. Enligt denna logik samskapas värden i en ofta öppen miljö, i interaktionen mellan myndigheter och medborgare, företag och andra aktörer.

Ett annat syfte med boken är att illustrera förvaltningspolitikens betydelse för vår välfärd. Det borde inte behöva påpekas att logiken i mötet med förvaltningen kan vara livsviktig för många. Brister kan leda till att en utbetalning uteblir, så att en barnfamilj inte har mat på bordet. Misstag kan göra att någon inte kommer tillbaka i arbete efter en tids sjukdom. Men trots att problemen debatteras, och trots välfärdssystemens väsentliga andel av statsbudgeten, står förvaltningspolitik sällan högt på någon regerings dagordning.

Med eller utan förvaltningspolitiskt stöd arbetar myndigheterna oförtrutet vidare. För dem är tjänsteforskningens rön inte obekanta. Däremot är många omedvetna om det banbrytande perspektivskifte som skett. Nytt med tjänstelogiken är bland annat att tjänstebegreppet reserverats för att beteckna alla de förutsättningar som krävs för värdeskapande. Då även varor ger sådana förutsättningar, är även de en del av tjänsters logik. Den tjänstelogik som på senare år har utvecklats, tillämpas även av ledande industriföretag. Den gör anspråk på att vara en generell teori för allt värdeskapande.

Det är nu hög tid att tjänstelogiken, som tidigare mest tillämpats i privata verksamheter, görs tillgänglig och kommer till användning i en mer aktiv svensk förvaltningspolitik. Den något anpassade offentliga tjänstelogik (Public Service Logic) som introduceras här har utvecklats med stöd av kollegor vid Centrum för tjänsteforskning (CTF). Stödet har varit gott, då forskare vid denna institution anses höra till de världsledande inom tjänsteforskningen. De artiklar om tjänstelogik som publicerats vid CTF är flest till antalet och har sammantaget citerats av flest forskare runt om i världen.

Även då exemplen i boken främst hämtas från statliga myndigheter, är tjänstelogiken högst relevant även för politiker och tjänstemän inom kommuner och landsting. Boken kan även fungera som kurslitteratur inom universiteten samt för utbildning av chefer och personal.

I denna rapport förordas att regeringen ska inrätta en varaktig utvecklingsmiljö inom kommittéväsendet. Det skulle ge ytterligare politisk handlingskraft. Avsikten skulle vara att bekä­mpa sådana sektorsövergripande samhällsutmaningar som involverar ett system av aktörer och som visat sig svåra att bemästra genom ordinarie styrning och samverkan. Som exempel kan nämnas punktligheten i järnvägstrafiken eller den fara för patientsäkerheten som uppstår när livsviktiga läkemedel saknas vid landets apotek.

Både i fråga om kvalitet och kostnad kan betydande samhällsekonomiska vinster då hämtas hem. Samtidigt skulle varken utvecklingsmiljön eller de lösningar den frambringar medföra någon belastning på statsbudgeten. Myndigheternas ansvar påverkas inte och deras deltagande skulle inte medföra några juridiska konsekvenser. Inte heller krävs det någon ny mottagarkapacitet eller andra förstärkningar inom Regeringskansliet.

Med en regeringsnära utvecklingsmiljö skulle Sverige ansluta till en lång rad av länder som redan etablerat vad som ofta kallas för labb eller som mera kraftfullt beskrivs som en insatsstyrka.  Poängen är dock inte att tvinga fram eller att styra utformningen av de lösningar som utvecklas, ej heller att ta över ägarskapet.

I utvecklingsmiljön skulle aktörerna få den kvalificerade hjälp de efterfrågar för att gemensamt lösa ut frågor som ”trillat mellan stolarna” och där ansvaret tycks ligga på ”ingen, någon, vemsomhelst eller alla”. Nackdelarna med den annars relativt väl fungerande sektorsindelningen och resultatstyrningen skulle kunna minska. En del av kritiken mot den så kallade stuprörsförvaltningen skulle kunna stillas. 

Idén är inte ny. Andra har tidigare argumenterat för liknande åtgärder. Föreliggande rapport bidrar med en extensiv genomgång av relevant litteratur samt en kartläggning av Regeringskansliets arbetssätt, förmågor och tillkortakommanden. För att undersöka vad myndigheterna själva kan hantera har det även gjorts praktiska försök samt kartlagts vilka förmågor som finns i befintliga svenska utvecklingsmiljöer. 

Försöken och kartläggningarna visar att myndigheternas egna ansvar att samverka räcker långt. Av naturliga skäl saknar de dock uppdrag och mandat att självsvåldigt anpassa och använda andra aktörers resurser i tjänstesystemet. Många myndighetsöverskridande utmaningar blir svåra att åtgärda när inte alla ställer upp. Myndigheternas representanter efterfrågar därför en aktörsneutral arena på regeringens överordnade nivå där de ges vägledning och professionellt stöd. Något sådant stöd har hittills inte kunnat påräknas.

Genom kartläggningen av Regeringskansliets arbetssätt blir det tydligt varför idén om en utvecklingsmiljö inte tidigare har tagits tillvara. Kansliet är helt enkelt utformat för beredning av ärenden och styrning och inte lämpat för praktisk utveckling. 

Förutsättningarna är däremot bättre inom kommittéväsendet. Där skulle den efterfrågade miljön kunna inrättas utan en bortre tidsgräns, som fallet varit med Expertgruppen för Studier i Offentlig ekonomi (ESO).

Kommittéväsendets relativa närhet till regeringen gör att de aktörer som bjuds in till miljön sannolikt kommer att vilja delta. Genom att låta uppdragen tilldelas av Statsrådsberedningen skulle även många av de oavsiktliga hinder kunna undanröjas som följer av att styrningen är sektorsindelad och primärt inte avsedd för gränsöverskridande frågor.

In this paper, we argue that the current focus on cycling must not neglect the need to improve public transport services for the large number of people who do not want to or are unable to cycle. An attractive public transport service is currently therefore the most important component of a sustainable transportation system. The question we address is what measures are needed to improve public transport to make people who do not cycle satisfied with the services such that their well-being increases. Based on research studies of satisfaction with public transport, measures at three levels of public transport services (use, access/egress, and overall) are identified and discussed.

De gebrekkige economische integratie en de grote culturele verschillen tussen de lidstaten van de eurozone pleiten tegen substantiële inkomensverzekering op het niveau van de eurozone. Het zou het Belgische model van permanente solidariteit tussen noord en zuid kopiëren naar een hoger niveau.

Urban transformations and policy responses  

Mikael Granberg

We now have a rapidly growing global city system that is changing society. The economic and social settings are impacted and even ecology is changing as urban areas develop into new biospheres. The impact of this process is considerable and has far reaching consequences for the way society will develop in the future. Changes and challenges are channelled and mediated through societal structures and through the actions of a multitude of heterogeneous actors—formal and informal, top-down or bottom-up, individual or collective—in action and reaction to perceived changes in society. This means that the culture, lifestyles, design, economy, management and governing of cities is essential for world developments. The central issue is how societal actors in urban settings handle the impact of these changes (transformations) in a way that facilitates sustainable urban development?

Society itself is a continuous process of action, decisions and effects where the actions of earlier generations have a considerable impact on contemporary developments and where contemporary action and decisions will impact future generations. Accordingly, we are talking about an ongoing historical conditioning of society. One aspect of this is path dependency. Path dependency occurs when incumbent structures, i.e., infrastructure or institutions (norms, routines and rules) guides (facilitates or delimits) behaviour. It is important to state, however, that the structuring always is temporary path dependency only temper continuous processes of change. Change in path dependent conditions take place through formative moments or windows opportunity and this refers to situations were historical and contemporary circumstances align in ways that make rapid change possible despite structural constraints. Changes in formative moment can be rapid and revolutionary. Formative moments can be driven by different types of crises (political, economical, technological, social and environmental) leading to paradigmatic shifts in society changing the preconditions for policy making and making more radical change possible.

The urban setting can be perceived as a common. That is, a common pool of resource, challenges and problems that has to be owned and handled by the inhabitants of the city. Governance of commons requires a flexible system for policy making that includes interactive and adaptive steering, including social and policy learning. Flexible policy making demands a positive feedback loop that creates order out of our experience and storing these experiences as knowledge. Proactive and flexible policymaking is not about finding the right policy for the future to come. The focus must be on flexible and proactive policy making that is formulated at scales appropriate for decision makers and citizens. This is a more systemic perspective on policy that concerns itself more with who interacts with whom, about what, rather than targeting specific, well-defined outcomes as policy goals. From this perspective policy is perceived as a process. With this perspective on policy follows that a multitude of agents can act as policy-makers, not just government agencies, but also firms and industry associations, NGOs and private foundations. Uncertainty connected to social development encourages viewing policy as an on-going exploration with many possible changes of direction rather than an optimization exercise based upon detailed assumptions about the lay of the land ahead and a clear and explicit goal about where the journey is to end. One issue is, of course, if the incumbent policy system will be able to adapt to accommodate flexible policy processes or if path dependency will hinder or considerably slow down such development?

The idea that climate change adaptation is best leveraged at the local scale is a well-institutionalized script in both research and formal governance. This idea is based on the argument that the local scale is where climate change impacts are “felt” and experienced. However, sustainable and just climate futures require transformations in systems, norms, and cultures that underpin and reinforce our unsustainable practices and development pathways, not just “local” action. Governance interventions are needed to catalyse such shifts, connecting multilevel and multiscale boundaries of knowledge, values, levels and organizational remits. We critically reflect on current adaptation governance processes in Victoria, Australia and the Gothenburg region, Sweden to explore whether regional-scale governance can provide just as important leverage for adaptation as local governance, by identifying and addressing intersecting gaps and challenges in adaptation at local levels. We suggest that regional-scale adaptation oers possibilities for transformative change because they can identify, connect, and amplify small-scale (local) wins and utilize this collective body of knowledge to challenge and advocate for unblocking stagnated, institutionalized policies and practices, and support transformative change.

In this paper we describe the development of Swedish municipalities as we trace the origin of the modern municipality to the late 19^th century to today with a special focus on the last 40-50 years of development. With this as a background, and related to the research literature, we develop four different theoretical perspectives (ideal types): (1), The municipality as community: focusing on common interests and challenges in the local social and political order. (2), The state integrated municipality: focusing on the implementation of national welfare functions, the role of the municipality and the steering and control efforts of the nation-state. (3), The facilitating municipality: focusing on mobilization and integration of different types of resources across borders within the public sector and between public and private institutions. (4), The market oriented municipality: focusing on freedom of choice reform and that public activities should be put on the market according to the belief that competition is the most important motor of public economy. The different theoretical perspectives, it is argued, catches notion and ideas guiding the development of local politics and democracy. Experiences from reforms, which are related to these ideas, are presented. The overall questions raised are what ideas are empirically represented in different policy fields? The paper concludes by discussing two examples of contemporary policy fields in the light of the four theoretical perspectives.

In this paper we describe the development of Swedish municipalities – we trace the origin of the modern municipality to the late 19^th century to today with a special focus on the last 40-50 years of development – through four different theoretical lenses (ideal types): (1), The municipality as a common (communitarian) that focuses on common interests and challenges in the local social and political order. (2), The state integrated municipality that focuses on the implementation of national welfare functions, the role of the municipality and the steering and control efforts of the nation-state. (3), The market oriented municipality that focuses freedom of choice reform and that public activities should be put on the market according to the belief that competition is the most important motor of public economy. (4), The coordinating and facilitating municipality that focuses on how to mobilize and integrate different types of resources across borders within the public sector and between public and private institutions. By using the different theoretical perspectives it is shown that the development of local politics and democracy is driven by different ideas. Experiences from reforms, which are related to these ideas, are presented. The article concludes by pointing out some important challenges and potential pathways for future development of local democracy in Sweden.

The purpose of the study is to describe how financial management functions within the individual and family care services in three mid-sized municipalities.

27 interviews with managers and key personnel at three management levels in Örebro, Växjö and Jönkö-ping were conducted using a descriptive approach and qualitative method. In addition governing docu-ments and delineations in regards to these municipalities have been studied.

The combined findings show that all municipalities have separate visions and control systems/models for their municipality with focus on management by objectives and politically determined goals, which in-clude economical measurements and requirements for the departments. Moreover, are also tracking sys-tems, which are described as following up on the results thru indicators and/or measurable goals. The municipalities utilize framework financials and budget processing on a high level and its timings appears similar in each municipality.

Additionally the study has shown that there is a desire and aspiration to implement central economic goals in all three municipalities. The interviewees describe how they use their leadership to anchor, follow up and create participation in economic objectives and results thru instrumental and institutional leadership. All describe the importance of good forecasting in order for the financial management to work and create legitimacy, but they also see difficulties in anticipating needs arising mainly from livelihood support and external placements. None of the municipalities have a specific resource allocation model for individual and family care services. The study shows relatively small changes in the budget year over year, which in addition to difficulties in forecasting affects their perceived ability to take action.

Conclusive, the study shows dilemmas in the individual and family care services and the difficulty of combining legal certainty and protection for the most vulnerable in our society, all while utilizing shared public resources in a responsible and appropriate manner.

How a citizen dialogue or planning consultation is conducted can be a root cause of planning contests in new construction projects. The aim of the paper is to study the effects of the citizensial dialogue in connection with the local development “Muminlandet” theme park at Skutberget. This study explores how the citizen dialogue have been done in Karlstad and tries to look at it in different democracy perspectives. The method used is qualitative semi-structured individual interviews with politicians, civil servants and citizens in order to gain their view of the process. The study analysis shows that the development of Skutberget area in Karlstad municipality has been divided into two separate plans. In one part, which is the outdoor recreational area, citizen dialogue has taken place with deliberative aspects in the form of focus groups and direct dialogues with the citizens. The second part is about “Muminparken” and it has been planned for public consultation meeting. Citizens have only given comments on this plan, but have not had the possibility to have a direct dialog with the people in charge, so no deliberative talks have been achieved. The conclusion that follows is that there has been no opportunity for citizens to enter into dialogue with the municipality regarding the “Muminpark”. The conclusion that follows is that there has been a certain tension between the representatives from my interviews and the citizens. They see the building plan from two different perspectives.

The Norwegian public sector, in particular local Councils as the principal supplier of welfare services, face great challenges in the coming years. Expectations and demands upon public services are increasing in proportion with the increase in private wealth. Among the consequences are higher demands on the distribution of welfare services, and the need for a more effective use of resources.

Inspired by New Public Management theories, Norwegian local Councils have made considerable changes in management over the last 10-20 years. To meet the demands for increased activity, public sector has undergone a transition towards a less hierarchal organisational structure, their delegation to appropriate performance units has increased, and systems to monitor aims and results have been introduced. With respect to the latter, it has become crucial that data concerning resource utilisation and economy are made easily available and can be related to management issues.

In 2001 the national government introduced the so-called KOSTRA public reporting system (Kommune-ST-at-Rapportering) The overall aim of KOSTRA is to produce relevant, reliable, current and comparable management information. In addition, the KOSTRA reporting system will provide an improved database as an aid to service provision, as well as providing a foundation for improved Council management.

Our aim with this assignment has been to take a closer look at KOSTRA as a suitable tool for resource management within local Councils, and to see whether Councils do in fact use it actively in their own administrational priorities and activities. We have illustrated this by taking a closer look at possible connections between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils` economic situation, priorities and effectiveness.

We have found no grounds in our studies to indicate that there is any difference in the allocation of priorities between those local Councils using KOSTRA in management-related activities and those who do not. On the other hand, we have discovered links between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils`economic situation.

This connection is very interesting. It is the Councils under financial stress which appear to be using KOSTRA actively.

Our major conclusion is that KOSTRA alone does not produce all necessary and relevant management information. KOSTRA is more applicable when seen in context with the complexity of public sector, and with a firm knowledge of the system's underlying indicators.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the crisis management process in the context of Sweden’s changed agenda in terms of community preparedness to crisis management. The study is conducted through interviews with key positions at county governments and municipalities. Through a descriptive case study using a qualitative method the essay answers the following question: How is the complex crisis management process performed at county and local level and what requirements of support does the crisis management process demand? The results from the interviews were compiled to an empirical crisis management process and with help of Lundqvist´s (1992) implementation theory based on Understand, Can, Will, compared to the normative crisis management process. The most significant conclusion of the essay is a well evolved collaboration has been identified in the relation between actors at regional and local level. The study has found certain parables between the empirical crisis management process and Lundqvist´s Policy process stages with main tasks in administration. Even though the informants experience some problem within the crisis management, we find that the actors due to a great dedication are able to handle the crisis management.

This study examines how the EU Floods Directive - an extensive and innovative legislative instrument for integrated and participatory flood risk planning in all EU member states - influences local flood risk management in one member state, Sweden. The study identifies that: many municipalities have received new knowledge; crosssectoral organisational structures for water and flood risk issues at the local level are being formed or strengthened; and the flood risk issue has been elevated up the political agenda. There are also however clear signs that a number of other fundamental issues are not being adequately addressed in the complex institutional setting that results from the directive's implementation. These issues are undoubtedly obstructing the development of a more integrated and participatory flood risk management system. Of key importance here are questions relating to how roles and mandates are communicated and adopted, the lack of coordination between the Floods Directive and the Water Framework Directive, and the inadequate involvement of the municipal level and other stakeholders. Practical recommendations on how to redirect development towards more positive outcomes in these areas are thus formulated.

In 2018, forest fires occurred in Sweden, which put high pressure on rescue services and society. Several parts of the country were subject to a fire ban.

The purpose of the document study is to investigate whether forest fires could become a continuous danger for municipalities and their inhabitants in the future. The study also strives to investigate measures to combat forest fires and whether these measures are adequate. In order to work in the right direction and not lose course, three questions were asked, "What patterns do we see overtime regarding forest fires?", "What measures have been taken to combat forest fires?" and "Are measures against forest fires sufficient?". These issues helped to select research evidence and the right empirical material.With critical realism as a scientific approach, the problems with forest fires were highlighted and research work started. By applying applied geography / forest geography, its causes and risks could be studied. With the mapping / mapping, the potential forest fire risk could be mapped in the future. Following a survey of potential forest fire risk in the future, it turned out that Skåne risks being most affected by forest fires due to changing climate in the region. This made the study limited to Skåne. The County Administrative Board of Skåne's risk and vulnerability analysis for 2014 and the Land use plan for Östra Göinge became the documents that were analyzed in this document study. By analyzing the risk and vulnerability analysis, it explains what risks are considered to be a potential danger, how the danger is mitigated and how resources and measures are prioritized. In the overview plan we can see if the forest fire risk was taken into account and if so how.

This study shows that the risk of forest fires will increase in the future due to. changing weather conditions. It also shows that risk and vulnerability analysis do not take into account the change, the increased risk and lack a long-term perspective on risk and vulnerability. The study also shows that information on what are forest fire influencing factors such as weather, vegetation and topography are not taken into account. Land use plans need to pay more attention to forest fire risk and report measures to combat it.

Keywords: Forest fire, Risk, Fire risk, Physical planning, Risk analysis

Fire protection is an example of a complex production process. This study measures efficiency by constructing binary and ordinal output variables from information on residential fires in Sweden about how a fire spreads from when the fire and rescue brigade arrives to when a fire is suppressed. The motivations behind this study are that there are only a few studies trying to estimate production efficiency for fire and rescue services, that data on a more detailed level is interesting for some public services, and there is a need to be able to measure efficiency differences even if only a binary or ordinal output variable is available. Using a logit random parameter model, the random effects are interpreted as efficiency differences. The conclusions are that fire and rescue services with a more flexible fire organisation with first response persons, working in collaboration with other municipalities and with larger populations are more efficient.

The personnel are said to be the most valuable asset of the Swedish Armed Forces. The efficiency of the organisation is nevertheless challenged by lack of personnel. This in times of deteriorating stability in the Baltic region and one of renaissance of the mission of national defence. In order to meet these challenges, it is imperative to attract, develop and to keep the personnel. This study aims to answer the question of what the main causes of turnover focusing on the officers and non-commissioned officers. The methodical approach has been that of a qualitative interview study, using Frederick Herzberg´s Two-Factor theory as a theoretical lens. The main factors emerging in this study are those of the impact of family-work conflict, uncertainty of the career development and the lack of a leadership to manage these factors to a positive outcome. As of this it is recommended by the authors of this study to more strongly emphasize the role of the employer in the training and the profession of the modern officer. This in order to cope more efficiently with the above challenges in order to maintain the most valuable asset of the armed forces, namely the officers, non-commissioned officers, and last but not least, the rank and file.

On the first of January 2012, a new public authority was formed in Värmland, due to a new legislation on public transport. The first task for the new public authority was to produce a plan for the development of public transport. In order to do so, it had to execute an extensive consultation process about the long-term goals of public transport. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how a public authority can use a consultation process as a means to clarify accountability and produce unified goals. To answer that, I have done a case study about how the new regional public authority in Värmland for public transport has acted in the process of writing a plan for the development of public transport. The research assignment is: What role did the consultation process have in the task of building a new organisation for Public Transport in Värmland? I proceeded from an institutional perspective, clarified by Clarence Stone’s Urban regime theory.

20 persons where interviewed in the study, both participants in the process and representatives of the new public authority. I have also studied the outcome of the process (the plan for the development of public transport), protocols and agreements that influence the process.

The result of the study is that the consultation process has had three roles in the task of building a new organisation for public transport in Värmland; To inform about the new organisation, gather input and to discuss the result of the process.

Många organisationer tenderar idag att försörja chefsvakanser med interna kandidater. Vidare

innebär detta i sig både för- och nackdelar i de organisationer som i hög grad använder sig

utav en intern arbetsmarknad. Chefsförsörjning är en del i att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare

samtidigt som man kan skapa förutsättningar för att utveckla sin personal mot nya mål.

Däremot krävs det att organisationerna vid själva rekryteringsprocessen främst ser till

kandidaters faktiska kompetens. Därmed måste det också tas i beaktning att organisationen i

vissa fall måste gå externt för att knyta åt sig den bästa kompetensen som de är i behov utav. I

denna uppsats genomförs en kvalitativ studie som vänder sig mot respondenter i offentlig

verksamhet och företag. Syftet med denna undersökning är att ta reda på hur man arbetar i

offentlig verksamhet och företag kring intern kontra extern chefsrekrytering. Dessutom

belyses om chefsnivå påverkar ifall kandidaterna hämtas internt eller externt till olika

chefsbefattningar. Avslutningsvis redogörs en diskussionsdel, som återkopplar till uppsatsens

syfte samt belyser skillnader och likheter mellan offentlig verksamhet och företag. I resultaten

kan man se att organisationerna är positiva till att rekrytera chefer internt, dock går det att

tyda skillnader i förhållandesättet till chefsrekrytering mellan offentliga verksamheter och

företag. Arbetssättet vid chefsrekrytering tycks vara av likartad karaktär vid samtliga av de

undersökta organisationerna, då respondenterna förstår vikten av att lägga ned tid på ett

ordentligt förarbete inför en chefstillsättning. Hur de undersökta organisationerna hanterar

chefsförsörjningen varierar från fall till fall. Vi kan dock se en skiljelinje mellan offentlig

verksamhet och företag, då företagen betonar att intern chefsförsörjning är en fråga om behov.

De offentliga verksamheterna betonar vikten för dem att använda sig utav program för

chefsförsörjning, då de annars upplever det svårt att tillsätta kompetenta chefer inom

organisationen. I fråga om chefsnivåns betydelse för om en chef rekryteras internt eller

externt har vi kunnat ta del av information från en av respondenterna. Vid detta fall tycktes

det som att högre chefsbefattningar, i större utsträckning än till lägre chefspositioner, snarare

tillsattes genom externa kandidater. Gemensamt för samtliga respondenter är att de menar att

det krävs ett mer omfattande rekryteringsarbete vid tillsättandet av högre chefsnivåer.

Sweden's public administration underwent a large number of changes during the 1980s, which can be summarized in part under the concept of New Public Management (NPM). NPM has many influences from how private companies and businesses govern their organizations. Within the Swedish Armed Forces, in the beging of the twentiefirst century, two major changes in organization and working methods lead to a changed work situation for officers. Eliot Freidson (2001) describes in his book Professionalism the Third Logic how a profession is influenced by modern governance like NPM. He believes that the management of the profession risks being shifted from professionalism to bureaucracy and market. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the daily work of officers is influenced by NPM, in order to test Freidson's theory. The questions answered in the study are: Which ideal type is the dominant norm for the Swedish Armed Force's publication Vår militära profession, and what type of logic is dominant in everyday life for officers at Skaraborgs Regemente.Theories about NPM and professions are used as the theoretical frame of reference in the study. To answer the research questions, a qualitative approach is used and six semistructured informant interviews have been conducted in combination with a text analysis of the publication Vår militära profession. The result of the study indicates a difference between norm and everyday life. This difference can be partly explained by mechanisms from NPM. The mechanisms of NPM, which have the most influence at Skaraborg's Regemente are cost awareness, decentralization, efficiency and performance measurement. The everyday life for a officer seems to be characterized by a large amount of administration that is not directly linked to what the Swedish Armed Forces defines as core business. As a result, officers find that they no longer have the same opportunity to support and lead subordinates in the core business.

Förnyelse och förändring är honnörsord i landets kommuner och har så varit under de senaste decennierna. Den nationella politiken förändras, medborgarna förändras, nya idéer om statlig och politisk styrning formuleras. Det är också på grund av dessa ständiga förändringar som denna fjärde och omarbetade upplaga av Moderna kommuner nu föreligger.

Bokens ambition är att beskriva hur kommuner och landsting/ regioner är inplacerade i det svenska statsskicket, hur kommunerna formellt styrs, vilka verksamheter som förekommer och hur idéer och praktik formar den kommunala politiken, men också att tillhandahålla begrepp och teoretiska perspektiv som kan användas för att förstå kommunernas verksamhet, utveckling och utmaningar.

Public services, particularly in sparsely populated areas, are increasingly required to demonstrate their value-especially in terms of the public benefits they provide to local communities. In Scandinavia, local civil society organizations have long been overlooked as key partners in creating public value together with municipalities. Since 2010, Sweden has been experimenting with collaborative co-creation models that involve both municipal and third sector service providers. This article explores the specifics and reception of such models in rural areas of Finland and identifies the key lessons learned. It delves into the impact of legal frameworks and entrenched public sector norms on the success of these initiatives. The aim is to enhance the understanding of the prerequisites for applying this model among public and civil society actors. The article explores the spread of an innovative model for state-third sector partnerships used in Sweden among local governments in Finland. The study employed action-based research to generate and analyse data from four self-selected municipalities. The study reveals major facilitators and obstacles in spreading and adopting collaborative cross-sector models as they go beyond simple methodological or legal issues and require a shift in public sector logics and identities. The results suggest that resistance is more 'in the heads' of municipal managers and politicians and engrained in administrative traditions than in legal paragraphs or financial shortages.

The new Welfare Reform in Norway consists of the establishment of a new welfare office; NAV office. The NAV office will open in all municipalities within 2010 as local partnerships between the state and the municipals as equal partners. The central government will keep responsibility for the national services and the local governments will keep responsibility for the locally provided welfare services. As such the NAV office will consist of two separate public servcelines, with the accountabilities for their individual services intact. The Government wished to keep the separation between the national and local governmental services but needed to ensure the provision of a more holistic, integrated and effective service delivery, more in tune with the public need. The aim was to provide a more joined-up welfare service and to put more effect behind the efforts to achieve the reform goals: increased work participation, more user-friendly services and more effective public administration. The NAV office as such becomes a local one-stop-shop.

The challenge of this partnership is that two separate, traditionally hierarchic public structures embark on a partnership venture where the more relational and both vertical and horizontal communicational skills are required, true to the spirit of the joined-up government model. Our aim with this study was to investigate how a few early onset NAV offices cope with this partnership stunt. We particularly wished to examine how the partners establish and use the important vertical and horizontal dimensions, and how the partnership manager operate to facilitate the partnership activities.

We mean that the focus of 4 partnership actors rather than two governmental partners is more correct with respect to depicting the situation in the local NAV partnerships and how the central partnership managerial duties are shared. We have developed a new model of how they divide the partnership responsibilities between them and the operations of an emergent essential partnership driving force. We have also due to the nature of the NAV partnership actors and the way they operate in the partnership, developed a new partnership model. This dialogue model is a more accurate picture of the NAV partnership than the original partnership model.

The early attempts to provide integrated services has not reached the potential we have hoped for, partially due to the allowance of the two partners to continue service production in the old way while the reform structure and following administrative challenges are ironed out. We believe that an understanding of the particularities of partnership management and the adherence of the relational qualities to the partnership structure is a prerequisite in successfully managing the NAV partnership and thus the reform goals. This needs to be the imminent focus of the reform participants.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to investigate how the Swedish Armed Forces’ leadership model functions in telework. The global trend of increased teleworking, reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, has made telework a hot topic. Officers are trained in military leadership based on the requirements of war. Due to the tasks of the Armed Forces, it is not until at staff level conditions for telework are found. And even there, the conditions are restricted by security demands and present technical solutions. This study focuses on possibilities and challenges when military leadership is applied on telework.

Method: Data was collected through seven semi-structured interviews, limited to naval fleet and marine officers, excluding army, air force and joint forces. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the data collected.

Results: In order to practice the Swedish Armed Forces’ leadership model, leaders will perform better if they are physically in the same place as their subordinates. Full time telework would not be possible. However part of time it would be, provided an interpersonal relationship has been established prior to starting. For teleworking, greater clarity is required in communication regarding tasks and leadership compared to working under normal circumstances.

Discussion: Remote access to IT-systems and developed methods would enable teleworking for career officers and reserve officers while performing staff duties. But, in order for leadership to function, officers need training in leading telework, and such training is not being done at present. The Armed Forces’ core tasks and culture has resulted in teleworking scarcely being used. At the same time, other research on leadership for telework suggests that the conditions in place with the Swedish Armed Forces’ leadership model are well suited for teleworking.

Covid-19 meant that infection prevention measures needed to be taken. Many businesses around the country had to make rapid digital changes, with telework as an important tool. Approaches and prerequisites for digital solutions may have been different for society's many actors and businesses.

A qualitative study, in relation to physical planning, has been carried out in Karlstad municipality, to explore the effects of telework in public administration and municipal processes. The question is what challenges arose in community planning during Covid-19, but also how community planning may have been affected by Covid-19.

Community planning is dependent on cooperation and good relations between officials and citizens, and several parts of the planning process require physical meetings. In the municipality of Karlstad, the digital dialogue affected the conditions for "the good relationship between officials and residents". Telework made internal collaboration difficult and ultimately also affected the quality of the work.

The rapid conversion to digital solutions also brought lessons learned and insights that improvements can be made, as it has been shown that the employee can deliver good results even from home. Digital solutions have also had positive effects on collaboration outside the organization, when long journeys are no longer a must, both time and resources can be saved.

In the municipality of Karlstad, the digital transition took place quickly, how it would happen and how the process would be adapted was not clear. Digital solutions were not applicable at all stages, but the community planner created own approaches and learned to work based on prevailing conditions.

Denna fallbeskrivning kan tjäna som underlag för att diskutera och lära om stora förändringsprocesser i offentlig sektor. 

Under tre och ett halvt år följdes den investering i folkbokföringen som Skatteverket inledde år 2017. 

Vad som avhandlas är bland annat beslutsprocesser för stora IT-investeringar, relationen mellan planering och handling samt juridikens roll i utvecklingsarbete. 

Att folkbokföringen accentuerats politiskt under perioden ger även möjlighet att syna relationen mellan politik och förvaltning. 

Texten är ett resultat av följeforskning som finansierats av Skatteverket och utförts vid Centrum för tjänsteforskning vid Karlstads universitet.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to examine advantages and barriers that can appear when the municipal employment service and daily activity center work together in close collaboration. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with managers and employees in three municipalities in Värmland. The questions were:

 How does the municipal employment service and the daily activity center work together?

 Are the respondents experiencing any barriers in the collaboration processes between the municipal employment service and daily activity center?

 Are the respondents experiencing any advantages when the municipal employment service and daily activity center work close together? If so, are the advantages primarily economical, professional or individual?

 Does the collaboration processes in the three municipalities reflect the factors that supports as well as impedes collaboration that Danemark and Kullberg´s identified in their report (1999)?

The results are analyzed from the new-institutional theory by Grapes (2006) and the factors that support and impede collaboration by Danemark & Kullberg (1999). The study shows three completely different ways of collaboration. In Hagfors the two sectors collaborate primarily in daily job tasks, in Grums there are no collaboration at all and in Kristinehamn they collaborate at some extent regarding external work training sites.

Furthermore, the results show some of the barriers the municipalities experience such as inadequate information, differences in knowledge as well as economy. The respondents could see great advantages for the individual in enhanced quality, teamwork among staff and in work performance. The summary that compiles factors who supports and impedes collaboration shows that in comparison, Hagfors is best prepared when it comes to collaboration between the two sectors and Grums is least equipped for working together.

Abstract

Citizen dialogue as a method is used in municipalities to allow citizens to speak. In additionto method, citizen dialogue can also be defined as a previous project to involve citizen to be apart of decision making. The project was created by Sweden's municipalities and regions inorder to strengthen civic participation and deliberation. In this essay, policy documents areanalyzed to see how grassroots bureaucrats in Västerås have room for maneuver from adeliberative democracy perspective. To see to what extent it meets the participatorydemocratic values such as participation, influence and roles and relationships. This is donethrough analysis of action plans and policy documents. To see how grassroots bureaucrats,based on their room for maneuver, are expressed in deliberative democracy. Based on threefactors such as: Forms of participation, influence and roles and relationships. To see how it istaken in is expressed in the city of Västerås based on the material that has been collected.This should be investigated under these research questions

- How do action plans and policy documents in the city of Västerås take into account theparticipation of grassroots bureaucrats from an implementation process perspective?

- How do action plans and policy documents in the city of Västerås take into account theinfluence of grassroots bureaucrats from an implementation process perspective?

- How do action plans and policy documents in the city of Västerås take into account theroles and relationships of grassroots bureaucrats from an implementation processperspective?

The conclusion of this essay clearly shows that citizen dialogue can be seen as deliberativeprocesses as grassroots bureaucrats within their scope of action based on theory and withpolicy documents as a basis. With the shortcomings that exist in representative democracy,grassroots bureaucrats can be seen as an important component for deliberative elements inVästerås.

Keywords: grassroots bureaucrats, citizen dialogue, participatory democracy, deliberativedemocracy, participation, influence, roles and relationships

Uppsatsen syftar till att analysera och söka efter inslag av styrnings- och förvaltningsteorin New Public Management (NPM) i Arvika kommun. Detta görs framförallt genom framtagandet av tre indikatorer av NPM. Enligt den av uppsatsen använda teoretiska förståelsen tenderar dessa att vara närvarande i förvaltningsorganisationer influerade av NPM.

Uppsatsen finner genom en analys av kommunens vision, strategiska plan samt specifika verksamhetsplaner att Arvika kommun har en i stora drag centraliserad politisk organisation (första indikatorn). Det finns även ett visst inslag av en beställare- och utförarmodell (andra indikatorn) men den är framförallt begränsad till verksamhetsplanen för vård och omsorg. Analysen finner även att den tredje indikatorn, en mål- och resultatutformad verksamhet, är framträdande i alla de av uppsatsen analyserade handlingarna.

Konsekvensen för Arvika kommun är att man tangerar den idealtyp av kommun vilken kallas marknadskommun till nackdel för den i Sverige traditionellt framträdande statsintegrerade kommunen.

Medvetet eller omedvetet har Arvika kommun antagit verksamhetsformer vilka är vanliga inom NPM. De mest framträdande i denna uppsats är den centraliserade politiska organisationen samt struktureringen av en mål- och resultatutformad verksamhet.

The Swedish response to the pandemic at the national level has attracted considerable international attention, but little focus has been placed on the way municipalities dealt with the crisis. Using Hay's dimensions of politicization, namely the capacity for human agency, deliberation in the public domain, and social context, we analyze the politicization of the municipal response to the pandemic in Sweden. We do this based on the analysis of the decision making process to activate (or not) an extraordinary crisis management committee. We find inter alia, that (i) only a quarter of the municipalities activated the committee while a majority of them had an alternate special organization in place; (ii) support to the existing organizational structure was more salient than creating an extraordinary organization, and (iii) a robust municipal structure was deemed to be one able to withstand shocks without resorting to extraordinary governance arrangements. We find a 'conditioned politicization' of the response, privileging administration over politics.

De Staatscommissie Parlementair Stelsel wil democratie, parlement en rechtsstaat verbeteren. De afkeer tegen méér democratie in de reactie van Jan Schinkelshoek op het rapport van de staatscommissie is echter niet terecht.

Nederland verliest na een brexit een belangrijke bondgenoot in Brussel. Dat heeft gevolgen voor de besluitvorming, betoogt dr. Klaas Staal.