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The aim of this study was to reveal if there is literature about who's still playing Pokémon Go two years after game launch, and whether players report the AR-aspect as part of the reason they're still engaging in the game. Investigating the phenomenon covered widely by news and social media from this angle could be of interest of public health workers with the ambition to replicate the success. We ran a systematic search resulting in 22 articles included, published between 2016-2018. The results revealed that the main part of the included studies were conducted just around game launch (July 2016) and within the first six months Pokémon Go was out "in the wild". AR was in general not questioned about, and there exists different and vague understandings of what augmented reality actually is. We were not able to identify the typical long-term player engaging with the game, and to what extent AR was a part of the prolonged success. The search also revealed a lack of longitudinal studies (with larger, more representative participant groups) about general social and mental health implications of playing the game. The studies imply a successful combination of several game aspects - whether playing for the adventure and discovering new places, family bonding, general game flexibility, "to pass time", a bit of nostalgia – or just for fun. Further studies are needed to understand of which importance it is to implement an AR- or location-based-feature, the importance of branding, what app/game mechanics appeal to the general and how deeply immersive experiences through a mobile screen are able to affect us, dragging us into an augmented world – and keeping us there. ; M-FOL

Lectures on Arthaśāstra of Kauṭalya, work on ancient Hindu polity and statecraft

Part II of this thesis is not available in Munin: Historien fremstilt i bilder. Knut Ljøgodt. Oslo, Pax Forlag, 2011, ISBN 9788253033211. ; Avhandlingen Historiemaleriet i Norge omhandler historiemaleri – eller nærmere bestemt historisk-mytologiske fremstillinger – med vekt på norsk kunst fra 1800-tallet, sett i sammenheng med spesielt skandinavisk og generelt vestlig kunsthistorie. Avhandlingen består av ialt fem tekster. Del 1, Introduksjon, gjør rede for avhandlingens tema, omfang og formål og knytter sammen de forskjellige tekstene. Introduksjonen redegjør for eksisterende forskning, samt for tilnærmingsmåter og mål med avhandlingen. Videre gis en oversikt over forståelsen av historiemaleriet gjennom tidene ,og det gjøres rede for ettertidens behandling av historiemaleriet og dermed genrens status i tidligere kunsthistorieskrivning. Del 2, boken Historien fremstilt i bilder, er den mest omfattende av tekstene og er å betrakte som avhandlingens kjerne. Dette utgjør den første større studien om fenomenet her til lands. Boken gir en oversikt over norsk historiemaleri på 1800-tallet, sett på bakgrunn av skandinaviske og europeiske strømninger. I boken vektlegges det videre å gå nærmere inn på valg av motivkretser, samt å se disse i forskjellige samtidige sammenhenger. I tillegg består avhandlingen tre artikler. Den første av disse er «Knud Baade als Historienmaler». Her får man et eksempel på én norsk kunstner på 1800-tallet som søkte å spesialisere seg som historiemaler. Deretter følger «'… nordiske Marmorguder'». Artikkelen tar for seg utsmykninger og planlagte, men ikke gjennomførte, utsmykninger ved Universitetet i Oslo på 1800-tallet og frem til Munchs aulamalerier. Hovedinteressen i de prosjekterte utsmykningene lå på historisk-mytologiske motiver. Artikkelen gir dermed et innblikk i hvilke muligheter som forelå, men også hvilke hindre som lå i veien for å utviklet et norsk historiemaleri. Den femte og siste av tekstene er «'Northern Gods in Marble'», som handler om 1800-tallets anvendelse av emner fra norrøn mytologi – og gir således muligheten for en mer fokusert studie av én sentral motivgruppe. Historiemaleriet i Norge gir således den første, brede oversikt over norsk historiemaleri på 1800-tallet. Tilnærmingen er empirisk idet avhandlingen for en stor del er basert på grunnforskning. Samtidig benyttes en ikonografisk tilnærmingsmåte for å se nærmere på motivgruppene. Videre benyttes en resepsjonshistorisk tilnærming for å se hvordan genren er blitt mottatt. Generelt søkes det å sette historiemaleriet inn i en større idéhistorisk og politisk-historisk sammenheng. Avhandlingen demonstrerer at historiemaleriet som genre var adskillig mer utbredt i norsk kunst på 1800-tallet enn tidligere antatt, og at en rekke sentrale kunstnere befattet seg med det. Videre demonstreres det at norsk historiemaleri må sees på bakgrunn av datidens politisk-historiske situasjon og at motivene for en stor del velges utfra nasjonale idealer. Som det kommer frem, dominerer motiver fra norrøn historie og mytologi. Avhandlingen stiller også spørsmål ved genrens marginaliserte posisjon i norsk og vestlig kunsthistorie og knytter således an til en revisjonistisk kunsthistorieskrivning.

In this thesis, we compare two organizational reforms within one policy area. How the "Modernization reform for development management" from 2002/03 and the "Reform for the organization of grant management" from 2018/19, affected the relationship between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norad - the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. Central is the political choice of the overall organizational model in the reforms, with two main alternatives: an integrated model in which the directorate becomes part of the ministry, and a delegated model that assigns the directorate additional tasks (enhanced vertical autonomy). In the thesis, we examine what led to the reform in 2003, and whether the newer reform can be regarded as a continuation of the 2003 reform. We have chosen to base our analysis on the theoretical framework for reforms by Pollitt and Bouckaert. The thesis is a comparative case study, and the analysis is based on three types of data sources: semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and media coverage. In the thesis, we find that several driving forces contributed to the initiation of reform in 2002/03, but that the Minister of Development's political ambitions must be regarded as a main reason to reform. The result of the reform was a mixed model, which can best be explained by the interaction - or tug-of-war - between two ministers, between foreign policy and development policy and the meeting between political desires and what was administratively feasible. Unresolved issues in the 2003 reform led to constant attempts to find an administrative balance in the years between the two reforms. In 2019, driving forces within the political system, especially party politics, became decisive for the choice of model, after the political party KrF (the Christian Democrats) entered the government. By studying the two reforms over time, we show in the thesis that ongoing discussions about the interface between politics and administration, as well as tensions between foreign policy and development policy interests, were central to the reform processes. This may help explain why reforms are repeated. The thesis is a contribution to understanding reforms in a context that also includes the time perspective. ; publishedVersion

The article analyses the results of a nationally representative survey on local democracy conducted in Ukraine in the autumn of 2017, offering insights into attitudes towards local authorities and ongoing decentralization reforms, as well as participation in local politics. The survey shows that people have very low trust in the authorities, but more trust in them than in national institutions. Respondents feel that they have little influence on local politics and that local authorities do not take their opinion into account. On the other hand, the majority report being active in various forms of local political activity. Further, there is considerable support of decentralization reforms; people have already noted certain local improvements since the decentralization reform was launched in 2015. Differences among the several geographical regions of Ukraine are small. Survey findings are explained through three analytical frameworks that emphasize the historical heritage, important economic and political conditions, and structural adjustment to European institutions. ; Artikkelen er skrevet med finansiering fra det norske Utenriksdepartementet (prosjekt UKR-14/0013) og Norges Forskningsråd (NORRUSS Pluss-programmet, prosjektnr. 287620). Norges forskningsråd 287620 Utenriksdepartementet UKR-14/0013 ; publishedVersion

Master's thesis Innovative governance and public management ME523 - University of Agder 2019 ; Developing schoolsexualityeducation policies is a complex matterdue to the controversial and politicized nature of sexuality. This thesisaims at understanding the development of institutional change in the presence of complex policy systems that involvemultiple actors in the policy process. To achieve this aim, itanalyses the actionsof an advocacy coalition that works to change sexuality education policies in Norway.The study adopts the Advocacy CoalitionFramework (ACF)for understanding the interconnections among the macro-level of the political and historicalcontext, the micro-level of the actor's motivationsand the meso-level ofcoalition's goals and strategies. Moreover, it supports the ACF with the Historical Institutionalism (HI) approach toexplain the struggle between the actors' effortsto achieve policy change and the persistence of cultural and political institutions.Through the conduction of interviews and the analysis of relevant policy documents, this study identified aclose interaction and co-dependence among differentelements of the political system. In implementing its strategy, the coalition encountered facilitating and hindering factors that determined the achievement of aslow incremental change. The advocacy coalition started and continuouslyinfluenced the change process through a strategy of knowledge production and sharingthat contributed inchangingattitudes and perception of policy participantson sexuality education.The active agency of the coalition's actors in creating arenas and channels of sharing and coordination facilitated the learning process. Nonetheless, fixed institutions and conflictsof interests hindered the achievement of a major policy change.Therefore, this thesis identifiesthe policy process as a complex interaction among different factors and elements that generate reciprocal influence and jointly determine the process' outcomes. Hence, the study concluded that the institutional setting is essential in determining rules and constraints for the actors.However,the active agency of policy participantscan strategically exploit the historicaland institutional setting for achieving the actors' goals.Keywords: Sexuality education, Norway, advocacy coalitions, institutional change, policy-learning, historical institutionalism

Master i styring og ledelse ; I denne masteroppgaven har jeg undersøkt hvorfor Haugesund og Karmøy har kommet frem til ulikt utfall i kommunereformen. Haugesund ønsker en storkommune på Haugalandet, mens det politiske flertallet i Karmøy, vil at Karmøy skal være egen kommune også i fremtiden. Kommunene er store i norsk sammenheng med rundt 40.000 innbyggere hver. De har en rekke likhetstrekk, likevel er de ulike på noen sentrale punkt. Haugesund er en sentralisert by, mens Karmøy er desentralisert, med tre byer og flere bygder. Reformen er initiert nasjonalt, mens gjennomføringen skjer lokalt. Regjeringens argumentasjon ligger hovedsakelig i reformens mål og virkemidler. Tidligere undersøkelser viser imidlertid at ulike lokale forhold også kan virke inn på sammenslåingsprosesser lokalt. Hensikten med undersøkelsen har vært å finne ut hvorfor kommunene har kommet frem til ulikt utfall i reformen, om Regjeringens argumentasjon har hatt ulik betydning i beslutningsprosessene, og hvilken betydning lokale forhold har hatt for utfallet. Undersøkelsen har vært gjennomført som en komparativ casestudie, med personlige intervjuer. Informasjonen fra intervjuene danner grunnlaget for analysen. Reformens målsettinger har vært vesentlige for begge kommunene. Særlig aktuell er målsettingen om en mer helhetlig og samordnet samfunnsutvikling. Kommunene er en del av det Regjeringen kaller flerkommunale byområder. Kommunegrensene samsvarer ikke med de funksjonelle samfunnsutviklingsområdene. Dette gir utfordringer i forhold til arealplanlegging. Haugesund er regionsenter med regionsenter-utfordringer, den mangler eksempelvis areal til videre vekst. Kommunen ser kommunesammenslåing som løsningen på mange av sine utfordringer. Det politiske flertallet i Karmøy, ser ikke at reformens målsettinger nås ved kommunesammenslåing. Karmøy er en stor, veldreven kommune. Den har lite å hente på å inngå i en storkommune. De interkommunale problemene løses gjennom interkommunalt samarbeid. Når det gjelder styringsvirkemidlene har disse hatt liten betydning for utfallet. De fleste informantene etterlyser hardere virkemiddelbruk for å lykkes med reformen. Alle informantene beskriver at lokale forhold har vært viktige i reformprosessen. Langvarige, historiske og kulturelle konflikter mellom kommunene har gjort sammenslåing vanskelig. Lokale forhold som ulik kommuneøkonomi, forholdet by-land, identitet og til dels tjenestelokasjon har bidratt til det negative utfallet i Karmøy. Til tross for at Karmøy er større enn Haugesund, ser det ut for at sentrum-periferi konflikten har vært viktig for utfallet i de to kommunene. ; In this study, I have tried to find out why Haugesund and Karmøy have reached different outcome in the local government reform. Haugesund wanted one large municipality in the region, while the political majority in Karmøy, wanted Karmøy to remain as one municipality, further on. The municipalities are big in a Norwegian scale, with approximately 40.000 citizens. They are very much alike, but differ at some points. Haugesund is a city with centralized structure, while Karmøy is decentralized, consisting of three villages and several rural centres. The reform is a national initiative from the government, but is carried out locally. The arguments from the government contain both political goals and -instruments. According to previous studies, several local conditions may influence on local merging- processes. The intention of the study is to find out why the two municipalities have reached different outcomes in the reform, whether political goals and instruments have different impact on the local decision making processes, and whether local conditions have influenced on the outcome. The study is a comparative case study using personal interviews. Information from the interviews is used in the analysis. According to the political goals, they seem to have been important to both municipalities. Most relevant is a more holistic and coordinated community development. The municipalities are a part of what the government calls multi-communal city areas. These are areas where the administrative boundaries no longer reflect people's daily-life areas. This gives certain challenges according to spatial planning. Haugesund is the center of the region with some typical city-problems. One is lack of space to further growth. Haugesund sees the reform as the solution to their problems. The political majority in Karmøy do not think that the reform will contribute to goal achievement. Karmøy is large, and does well. It will not have much to gain by joining a merged municipality. Inter-municipal cooperation solves regional problems. The political instruments of the reform, have been quite unimportant to the outcome in the municipalities. Most informants believe that the instruments should be harder, for the government to succeed. All informants report that local conditions have been important to the outcome. Longlasting historical and cultural conflicts have complicated the process. Differences in economy, the center-periphery relation, identity and partly location questions, have contributed to the negative outcome in Karmøy. Even though Karmøy is the largest of the two, it seems that the center-periphery conflict has been important in both municipalities. ; acceptedVersion