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Injured But Not Yet Dead: A Bottom-Up Perspective on the Swedish Governmental Commissions
Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0627-1245
2015 (English)In: International Journal of Public Administration, ISSN 0190-0692, E-ISSN 1532-4265, Vol. 38, no 5, p. 346-354Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article analyzes the recurrent “erosion thesis” in the governance literature, arguing that bureaucratic or procedural public-sector institutions have come to play a less significant role in public-policy formation. Evidence from the Swedish policy-making institutions referred to as “governmental commissions” and adoption of the perspective of interest organizations support the claim. Using various theories of institutional change, I show that increased government control has reduced the influence of governmental commissions on policy, but not eliminated the belief held by interest organizations that the commissions are legitimate institutions.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis , 2015. Vol. 38, no 5, p. 346-354
Keywords [en]
bureaucracy, governance, institutional change, interest organizations, policymaking, governmental commissions
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:esh:diva-5844DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2014.938818OAI: oai:DiVA.org:esh-5844DiVA, id: diva2:1081547
Note

Title in dissertation: Is Bureaucratic Policy-Making Eroding Institutions?: A Bottom-up Perspective on the Swedish Governmental Commissions

Publication status in dissertation: Accepted

Available from: 2017-03-14 Created: 2017-03-14 Last updated: 2022-01-03Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. A pluralist state?: civil society organizations’ access to the Swedish policy process 1964-2009
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A pluralist state?: civil society organizations’ access to the Swedish policy process 1964-2009
2014 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Including civil society organizations in the policy process is a distinctive trait of democratic governance. But, while being highly valuable from a democratic point of view, not all civil society organizations are represented in the policy process. This dissertation draws attention to the role of the government in shaping the representation of civil society organizations in the Swedish government consultation referred to as the ‘remiss procedure’. The overall aim is to increase empirical and theoretical understanding of civil society organizations’ access to the national Swedish policy process. Drawing on various empirical data sources, it analyzes how access has changed during the second half of the 20th century, the factors influencing access, and the significance of the access provided by the government.

The results are based on four empirical studies, and show that the government has encouraged an increasing number and more diverse types of civil society organizations to be represented in the remiss procedure. In addition, organizations with plenty of resources, such as labor and business organizations, are not overrepresented. However, access is slightly skewed in favor of civil society organizations with an insider position within other access points at national government level, which is consistent with a privileged pluralistic pattern of interest representation. In addition, civil society organizations seem to be invited into an arena for political influence of less relevance. Theoretically, the dissertation moves beyond the neo-corporatist perspective that dominated Swedish research during the second half of the 20th century by drawing attention to five different theoretical lenses: pluralism, neo-corporatism, political opportunity structures, policy network theory, and resource exchange theory. It concludes that a variety of theories are needed for access to be understood.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Örebro: Örebro universitet, 2014. p. 90
Series
Örebro Studies in Political Science, ISSN 1650-1632 ; 38
Keywords
Access, Interest representation, Civil society, Neo-corporatism, Pluralism, Political opportunity structures, Policy network, Resource exchange, Consultations, Governmental commissions, Remiss procedure, Sweden
National Category
Other Geographic Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:esh:diva-5851 (URN)978-91-7529-046-1 (ISBN)
Public defence
2014-11-07, Hörsal P2, Prismahuset, Fakultetsgatan 1, 10:15 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2017-03-14 Created: 2017-03-14 Last updated: 2025-05-08Bibliographically approved

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