Bachelor thesis in political science by Malin Bergkvist, autumn 12.
Title:Political governance for increased digital inclusion.
Subtitle: Aspects of "governance" and "government".
Supervisor: Joachim Åström.
While digital inclusion is a hot topic in both academia and in policy circles, little research is done when it comes to governance issues. To help filling this gap, this essay asks which mode of governance is dominant in the field of digital inclusion. What aspects of governance "governance" or "government" is the dominant in the field of digital inclusion, and is it possible to see any difference in how the state governance is described by the government and perceived by other actors? To answer this overarching question, two sub queries are formulated and analyzed. First, what aspect of "governance" or "government" dominate when state governance of the area are examined based on how the government describes it? Second, what aspect of "governance" or "government” dominate when state governance are studied based on how the perceived by other actors and stakeholders active in the field. The government’s policy document "IT i människans tjänst - en digital agenda för Sverige" as well as a series of interviews are analyzed with help of ideal typical descriptions of governance and government. The delimitation of the relevant documents would be natural since it is the latest document in the field and a comprehensive approach is presented. Equally natural is not the selection of actors, but these are either prominent in the area or outside to a large extent. The results show that governance is dominant both in the official policy documents and statements, and in stakeholders perceptions of the field. However, there are interesting differences between the government and stakeholder views. Judging by the stakeholders views, authoritative and hierarchical processes within the state are more prominent than official statements might suggest. Possibility of further research is to study the EU's policy or regional digital agendas.