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This thesis discusses an alternative to the conventional policy diffusion approach, i.e. the social constructivist translation perspective. Within the translation perspective, policy diffusion is defined as a process where meaning is constructed by temporally and spatially disembedding policy ideas from their previous context and using them as models for policy change in a new context. This brings attention to the importance of a deepened problematization of the policy concept, the actor-dependent character of translation, and to the fact that translation processes are always tied to a local context. Translation should be seen as open, continuous processes that never take place independently of the societal distribution of power. In the thesis a distinction is made between political and practical translation. Political translation processes takes place at field level in connection with authoritative decision-making, and are a question of how policy ideas are adapted to the given local political context. This discussion is followed by the creation of an analytical framework for the study of political translation. The framework combines concepts from Kingdon's version of the garbage-can model with concepts from neo-institutional theories. The functioning of the political translation framework is empirically illustrated by way of two case studies. The first study traces the Swedish methadone issue, from the introduction of the methadone maintenance treatment in 1966 to the end of 1980s when this form of treatment gained wider acceptance. The second study covers the Swedish family doctor issue, from the launch of the proposal by the Swedish Liberal Party in the election campaign of 1976 to the abolition of the Family Doctor Act in 1995.

During the 1960s & 1970s, when women were needed to a great extent in the labor market, critics argued that women were employed as a labor force reserve. Since women have composed a substantial part of the Swedish labor force during recent decades, the thesis of women as a labor force reserve has been contested. In this article, I argue that women are to some extent used as a buffer labor force. Taking public child care as an example, I show how political decisions have resulted in situations where family day carers & nursery nurses are treated as a labor force reserve, not in relation to male workers but in relation to preschool teachers, ie, another female-dominated occupational group. I also argue that some political decisions about public child care imply a paradox concerning the Swedish policy for sexual equality in the labor market. 40 References. Adapted from the source document.