Till Örebro universitet

Governance networks (GNs) are theorized as institutions for state–civil society interaction with important merits as well as shortcomings for effective and democratic governance. Here we compare GNs with a far less researched type of state–civil society interaction, the Swedish governmental commission (GC), critically discussing them in terms of organizational and functional features, the role of the state and democratic anchorage. Drawing on lessons from the institutional design of GCs, we contest the notion that well-functioning GNs require a low level of formal institutionalization and discuss how democratic problems with GNs could be addressed through a formal institutional framework that provides pre-established and generally applied ground rules, ensures elected politicians the final say on policy, and values broad participation and consultation. Recognizing that GNs are not a self-evident form for state–civil society interactions, traditional institutional designs should be more fully considered in the discussion and theorization of the democratic anchorage of GNs.

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.

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.

During the last decade, the EU has had an explicit strategy to include civil society organizations (CSOs) in European public policy. However, the extent to which domestic CSOs are oriented towards the EU in their policy interests and strategies is influenced by various factors. This article examines to what extent and in what ways CSOs acknowledge the impact of the EU on their substantive policy agenda and under what conditions they would prioritise EU-level contacts and/or lobbying in their strategies. We are particularly interested in finding out which institutional linkages – if any – determine the extent to which domestic CSOs direct their policy activity towards the EU level. The article is based on a survey of 880 Swedish CSO’s as well as qualitative interviews with 17 CSOs within the policy areas of anti-discrimination, immigration and asylum in Sweden, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The results show that although CSOs recognise the importance of the EU-level and also try to influence EU policy, their priorities and orientation are primarily directed towards the domestic level. From our empirical findings, we argue that in order to understand the limited Europeanization of CSOs, national dependency on financial support and to some extent formal embedding in national welfare systems are key factors. The findings indicate some differences between the organizations’ approaches, which to some extent can be attributed to policy area and organizational character. Policy areas with strong EU legislation implemented at national levels such as anti-discrimination seemingly underpins stronger linkages to local and national governments and thus less EU orientation.

To what extent does the government selection process practised in public consultations promote or hinder pluralism in the policy-making process? This article addresses this question by exploring and analysing the characteristics of voluntary organizations invited to public consultations. Evidence is drawn from the formerly corporatist Scandinavian country of Sweden and the policy-making process referred to as the ‘remiss procedure’. The article shows that the government selection process encourages a multitude of organizations to participate. Consistent with recent studies on Scandinavian corporatism, this study provides weak support of corporatist practices in the Swedish policy process. However, and without challenging the seemingly pluralistic nature of the remiss procedure, voluntary organizations with ‘insider status’ in the policy process are more frequently invited to formal decision-making arenas such as the remiss procedure. It is argued that the policy network literature and the theory of political opportunity structures may further the understanding of the government selection process practised in public consultations.

Trots positiva tendenser i medlemsutvecklingen inomvissa partier finns det knappast något hopp för att depolitiska partierna återigen skall bli de stora folkrörelsersom de var fram till 1980-talet, skriver Martin Karlssonoch Erik Lundberg som är doktorander i statskunskap.

Från år 1979 fram till idag har de politiska partierna sammanlagt förlorat mer än 80 procent av sina medlemmar. Den här uppsatsen undersöker de svenska partiorganisationernas strategier och agerande i skuggan av de senaste decenniernas sjunkande medlemstal. Detta görs genom att undersöka: 1) Hur ledande partiföreträdare förhåller sig till partiernas medlemsutveckling; 2) På vilket sätt och i vilken utsträckning ledande partiföreträdare anser att partierna har anpassats för att hantera rekryteringsfunktionen respektive aggregeringsfunktionen i en situation med minskande medlemsorganisationer samt 3) Om det finns det några skillnader när det gäller hur ledande partiföreträdare förhåller sig till medlemsminskningen och hur dessa i sådana fall kan förstås. Uppsatsen visar att medlemsrekrytering inte tycks vara någon särskilt prioriterad fråga för något av partierna. Partiföreträdarena menar att medlemsutvecklingen inte har föranlett några stora och mer genomgripande förändringar av partiernas organisation i syfte att stärka eller utveckla partiernas aggregeringskanaler. Analysen visar vidare att det finns en insikt bland alla partiföreträdare om svårigheten när det gäller hur partierna ska klara försörjningen av framtidens förtroendevalda men att några mer genomgripande förändringar i partiorganisationerna inte går att se. Slutligen påvisar uppsatsen också att partiföreträdare från de folkrörelsebaserade partierna är mer medlemsorienterade och ger uttryck för att partierna i första hand söker lösningar som finns inbyggt i dess struktur, tradition och identitet som folkrörelse. Partiföreträdare från de icke-folkrörelsebaserade partierna ger uttryck för att dessa partier är mindre bundna till idealet om många medlemmar och också mer benägen att utveckla fler och alternativa aggregeringskanaler och rekryteringskanaler än de folkrörelsebaserade partierna.

This article focuses on the changing level of participation of voluntary organisations in the policy process between 1964 and 2009 and its implication for the role played by voluntary organisations to the state. Drawing on data from the remiss procedure – one of the most understudied parts of the Swedish policy-making process – the results implicate a reduced role for voluntary organisations in formal arenas for policy making. While the number of participating voluntary organisations has remained stable, the relative share of participating organisations has declined and an increasing proportion of organisations have abstained from participating. In addition, the shares of conflict-oriented and member-benefit-oriented organisations have decreased while consensus-oriented and public-benefit-oriented organisations appear to have increased slightly. These findings are discussed in the context of changes in the coordination and implementation of public policies, implying that over time the role of voluntary organisations as arenas for deliberation and mediators of individual interests tend to have gradually lost ground in relation to the state while the share of organisations taking direct welfare responsibility has slightly increased. Although it may be premature to speak about a shifting role of voluntary organisations from input to output in the political system, the result suggest an emerging trend in that direction. Further research is needed to clarify whether this changing pattern of participation is evident in other arenas for policy making in Sweden or is an isolated feature explained from the outset of the remiss procedure.

This article investigates how the participation of voluntary organisations in the remiss-procedure has changed between 1964 and 2009 and how to interpret this. Drawing on evidence from 33 remiss-directories in nine different policy fields, the results conclude that the proportional level of voluntary organisations has declined and more organisations have chosen to abstain from participating in the remissprocedure. In addition, the number of conflict-oriented organisations has declined while the number of consensus-oriented organisations active in the output side of the political system has increased. It is argued that the result can be understood in relation to the changing mode of governance, new challenges presented by the welfare state and the rise of transnational organisations that seek influence in less formal arenas for policy making.