Suchergebnisse

The overarching purpose with this study is to contribute to the discussion on realignment along political cleavages in Swedish politics. Civil society organizations, active in the wolf debate in Sweden, are investigated to unfold their strategic interest in mobilizing along the cleavages Urban-rural or Centre-periphery. Interviews have been conducted with persons active in hunter's and environmentalist organizations. The results show that the cleavage Centre-periphery has a mobilizing potential, while the cleavage Urban-rural has a more limited potential. Adapted from the source document.

For democracy to be something more than an empty shell and the work of a modern society, citizens have the opportunity to attend meetings where decisions are emerging. This means that there must be arenas in which citizens and elites are able to converse among themselves and with each other. Civil society can, under certain circumstances play a critical role in facilitating such conversations. The talks at these venues should also be based on relevant experience and skills that participants reflect on together. Adapted from the source document.

In addition to traditional established types of entities i.e., government, the marketplace, and civil society there has been a growing trend in recent years toward partnerships between organizations in the public and private spheres. Organizations can form partnerships but at the same time remain separate, autonomous entities. The manner in which such partnerships are organized and regulated is examined. For data-gathering purposes, plans are underway to conduct comprehensive interviews of private and public actors. Adapted from the source document.

This article raises the issue of 'industrial relations' in the public sector, ie, how employer-employee relations are conceptualized in liberal democratic political theory. The historical & theoretical legacy of this conceptual apparatus can help explain why the welfare workers (employed in publicly financed health care, social service, education, elderly care, & day care for children) are hardly mentioned in the liberal democratic scheme. The liberal democratic state traditionally focuses on political subjects as if they all were citizens/cohabitants (in the civil society), when in fact roughly 20% of the Swedish electorate at the same time are citizens/co-workers (in the local welfare state). The issue of rights & duties in direct & indirect relations between the local state & the citizenry is therefore heavily biased in favor of the citizen-as-cohabitant/consumer. If both these roles of the citizenry were adequately handled in political theory, this would possibly cast a new light on New Public Management as well as the current Swedish focus on freedom of choice ('exit rights') for welfare consumers. It is argued that there is nothing inherent in liberal democratic political theory that could block the application of the idea of a neutral & benevolent state to the citizen-as-coworker. A coherent application of the Marshallian scheme of civil, political, & social rights therefore means the inclusion of social rights to citizens-as-co-workers. 55 References. Adapted from the source document.