Fiscal policy approach: some further results concerning political mechanism
In: Proceedings of the University of Vaasa
In: Discussion papers 255
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In: Proceedings of the University of Vaasa
In: Discussion papers 255
In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, Band 112, Heft 3, S. 301-305
ISSN: 0039-0747
Tutkimuksen kohteena on kokonaisturvallisuus julkisena toimintapolitiikkana, ja sitä tarkastellaan sekä monimutkaisena ja yhteenkietoutuneena ilmiönä että turvallisuuspoliittisena strategiana. Kokonaisturvallisuus on laajaan turvallisuuskäsitteeseen perustuva, aiemmasta kokonaismaanpuolustuksen käsitteistöstä ja strategiasta kehitetty toimintapolitiikka, jolla tavoitellaan kokonaisvaltaista yhteiskunnallisen turvallisuuden hallinnan mallia. Tutkimuksen päämääränä on analysoida kokonaisturvallisuutta systeeminä, arvioida sen kelpoisuutta, toteutettavuutta ja edellytyksiä vastata turvallisuusympäristön muutoksiin. Tutkimus on metodologisesti laadullinen. Aineistona ovat suomalaiset kokonaisturvallisuuden alaan liittyvät erilaiset ja eritasoiset strategiat, ohjelmat ja muut dokumentit, ja toimintaympäristöön ja sen muutokseen liittyvät Euroopan unionin strategiat ja ohjelmat. Teoriaviitekehys perustuu Niklas Luhmannin systeemiajatteluun, jossa systeemin perusrakenteita ovat kommunikaatio, tieto ja merkitykset, ja joka korostaa valintoja kompleksisuuden hallinnan välineinä. Ajattelussa korostuu myös huiputon ja keskukseton yhteiskunta. Prosessimaisen otteensa vuoksi tutkimus kiinnittää huomiota yksittäisten osatekijöiden tai toimijoiden sijaan prosessiin ja kokonaisuuden systeemisyyteen, mikä korreloi sekä kokonaisturvallisuuden tavoitteiden että kompleksisuuden vaatimusten suhteen. Kokonaisturvallisuuden analyysi sekä tunnistaa tutkimuksessa sen kehittämiseen liittyneen merkityskamppailun, että tuo esiin käsitteen epäselvyyden, epäanalyyttisyyden ja "jaetun merkityksen" puuttumisen, mikä heijastuu strategian ohjaavaan vaikutukseen sekä siihen, miten politiikkaideaa on kehitetty. Kokonaisturvallisuuden politiikkaidea on sinällään laajasti hyväksyttävä ja sillä on positiivista valenssia. Yhteistyön ja koordinoinnin korostamisella uskotaan olevan kokonaisuuden hallintaa kehittävä vaikutus. Turvallisuuden kokonaisuuden koordinointitarve onkin jo pelkästään uhkien keskinäisriippuvuuden vuoksi ilmeinen. Poliittista kelpoisuutta haittaavat kokonaisuuden strategisen ohjauksen ohuus ja hajanaisuus, mikä näkyy erityisesti yhteensovittavan tehtävän vaikeutena. Monet systeemin rakenteellisista peruselementeistä ovat jääneet kokonaisturvallisuuden kehittämisessä vähälle huomiolle. Tutkimuksen mukaan tämä vaikeuttaa sen toteutettavuutta. Kokonaisturvallisuuden hallinnassa olennaista on keskinäisriippuvuuksien ja systeemisyyden tunnistaminen ja hallinta. Tutkimuksen tulosten avulla kokonaisturvallisuutta systeemisenä turvallisuuden hallinnan mallina voidaan kehittää ja edistää. Tutkimus päätyy suositukseen kokonaisturvallisuuden kehittämisen ratkaisumallista (ns. älykkään adaptiivisen kompleksisen turvallisuussysteemin idean avulla). Tutkimus tarjoaa eväitä myös uusien kokonaisturvallisuutta koskevien poliittisten linjausten ja politiikkatoimien muotoilulle. ; The main objectives of this study are to clarify and deepen the understanding of the phenomena of comprehensive security and to analyze and evaluate the political viability and administrative operability. Furthermore, the study aims to analyze comprehensive security as a political process and a complex system. In addition, the research deals with changing security environment, emerging security threats. Originally, the concept of comprehensive security derived from the previous concept of comprehensive defense and preparedness in Finland, but it also has roots in the Nordic states' cooperation processes of civil security since 2009. At policy and doctrinal levels, the 2000s saw a converging trend in Nordic states to-wards the definition of societal or comprehensive security concepts that might co-exist with military-led planning for war-time, but within which the softer aspects of security were paramount. The "societal" approach defines the protection of society as a whole – with its own complex mechanisms, values and culture – as its goal, rather than physical boundaries or the isolated and abstract individual. It also rec-ognizes the capacity of non-state actors within society, from businesses to social organizations and individuals, to play a large role themselves in warding against, coping with, and recovering from disasters. The research questions are: 1. What is comprehensive security like as a policy or meta-strategy, political process and complex system? 2. Is the comprehensive security policy or meta-strategy politically viable and administratively feasible? What kind of conditions the strategies (policies) provide for the administrative operability and the development of capabilities? The theory framework is based on Niklas Luhmann's systems and complexity thinking. Luhmann perceives society as centerless and topless system in which communication, information and meanings are considered as the basic elements. The aim of communication is to cause action in systems and formulate new system levels by creating new chains of communication. The empirical part of the research is established on the methodology of concept analysis, content analysis and policy-analysis. The policy-analysis was conducted by the method of political reading. Political reading can be characterized as 'de-mapping', which refers to opening up new aspects of contingency and thus ex-panding of the presence of the political therein (Palonen 1993: 13-15). Through the analysis of the political process the struggle of meanings was iden-tified. As a concept, comprehensive security is ambiguous, unanalytical and unclear. There is a lack of shared meanings, which reflects on how difficult it is to steer the comprehensive security. By emphasizing its cooperative and coordinative nature, is believed to promote better governance of security. However, the lack of steering hampers the political viability which the difficulties of the coordination clearly indi-cate. Many of the basic elements of a system (information/knowledge, communica-tion and meanings) have been ignored in the development of comprehensive secu-rity. This hampers its administrative operability. The study emphasizes that systemic instruments, systems intelligence, identified interdependence and systemic nature of threats and security environment are essential components of comprehensive security governance. The research produced also 10 normative conclusions, by which the compre-hensive security can be developed further with. In addition, it gives the recommen-dation for the development of a model, according to the idea of intelligent adaptive complex system. It also offers information for new political aligning and policy formulations. Due to the process approach of the research, it pays attention to societal security system as a whole, not to single functions or actors. This fits to-gether with the goals set for comprehensive security and the requirements the se-curity environment and complexity imposes.
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In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, Band 112, Heft 5, S. 242-258
ISSN: 0039-0747
In: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-30901
En hållbar utveckling innebär att samhällets begränsade resurser används på ett effektivt sätt med hänsyn tagen till sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga konsekvenser. För att uppnå önskade samhällsmål på ett effektivt sätt behöver olika aspekter vägas in vid utformning av styrmedel. Inom EU föregås beslut om regleringar av en så kallad Regleringskonsekvensbeskrivning (Regulatory Impact Assessment) där samhällsekonomisk analys ingår. Forskning och olika utredningar har visat att Sverige saknar en etablerad praxis för att genomföra denna typ av konsekvensanalyser på miljö, men även energi- och transportområdet. I detta projekt är syftet att undersöka hur Sverige arbetar med de analyser av detta slag som genomförs inom EU inför förhandlingar men också att studera orsaker till att de används eller inte används. Fokus ligger på förutsättningar inom en myndighet, men även vilken betydelse som tjänstemän har för vilka underlag som tas fram inför beslut om utformning av regleringar/styrmedel. Den övergripande slutsats som kan dras av de tre delstudierna som ingått i projektet, samt diskussionen på avslutningsseminariet, är att detta inte är ett etablerat arbetssätt i det svenska förvaltningssystemet. Detta kan förklaras av brist på kompetens, en etablerad misstro, målstyrning samt avsaknad av ett institutionellt ramverk för när och hur denna typ av bredare konsekvensanalyser ska genomföras. Vid avslutningsseminariet framkom att Naturvårdsverket nu arbetar med en vägledning för att hjälpa tjänstemän att i ett tidigt skede analysera om det finns behov av regleringar från samhällets sida, att inleda arbetet med att ställa frågan "Vad är problemet?". Vi bedömer att detta är ett steg i rätt riktning men ser också att de nationalekonomer som arbetar ute på myndigheter ofta är ensamma eller väldigt få och därmed kan behöva olika former av stöd för att kunna utveckla arbetet med denna typ av, ofta komplexa, analyser på sin myndighet. ; Sustainable development implies that society's limited resources should be used efficiently, taking into account the various impacts on society – social, economic and environmental. To achieve established societal goals efficiently, various aspects have to be accounted for in the design of policy measures. Within the EU a Regulatory Impact Assessment, where a cost-benefit analysis is included, needs to accompany all major regulatory initiatives. According to research and different policy assessment, Sweden lacks an established praxis regarding this type of analysis in the area of environmental policy but also in the field of energy and transport. The purpose of this project is to investigate how Sweden uses this type of information in the negotiations that take place within the EU regarding policy proposals but also investigate the reasons for use or non-use. The focus is on what role the organization and the bureaucrats play for the collection of this type of information. The overall conclusion that can be drawn from the three sub-studies included in the project, as well as the discussion at the closing seminar, is that this is not an established way of working in the Swedish government system. This can be explained by lack of competence, an established mistrust, management by objectives and lack of an institutional framework for when and how this type of broader impact assessment is to be conducted. At the closing seminar, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency presented that it is now working on a guide to help officials to analyze at an early stage whether there is a need for regulation by society, to initiate the work by asking the question "What is the problem?". We think that this is a step in the right direction, but we also see that the economists working out in government are often alone or very few and may therefore need different forms of support to develop the work on this kind of, often complex, analysis.
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En hållbar utveckling innebär att samhällets begränsade resurser används på ett effektivt sätt med hänsyn tagen till sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga konsekvenser. För att uppnå önskade samhällsmål på ett effektivt sätt behöver olika aspekter vägas in vid utformning av styrmedel. Inom EU föregås beslut om regleringar av en så kallad Regleringskonsekvensbeskrivning (Regulatory Impact Assessment) där samhällsekonomisk analys ingår. Forskning och olika utredningar har visat att Sverige saknar en etablerad praxis för att genomföra denna typ av konsekvensanalyser på miljö, men även energi- och transportområdet. I detta projekt är syftet att undersöka hur Sverige arbetar med de analyser av detta slag som genomförs inom EU inför förhandlingar men också att studera orsaker till att de används eller inte används. Fokus ligger på förutsättningar inom en myndighet, men även vilken betydelse som tjänstemän har för vilka underlag som tas fram inför beslut om utformning av regleringar/styrmedel. Den övergripande slutsats som kan dras av de tre delstudierna som ingått i projektet, samt diskussionen på avslutningsseminariet, är att detta inte är ett etablerat arbetssätt i det svenska förvaltningssystemet. Detta kan förklaras av brist på kompetens, en etablerad misstro, målstyrning samt avsaknad av ett institutionellt ramverk för när och hur denna typ av bredare konsekvensanalyser ska genomföras. Vid avslutningsseminariet framkom att Naturvårdsverket nu arbetar med en vägledning för att hjälpa tjänstemän att i ett tidigt skede analysera om det finns behov av regleringar från samhällets sida, att inleda arbetet med att ställa frågan "Vad är problemet?". Vi bedömer att detta är ett steg i rätt riktning men ser också att de nationalekonomer som arbetar ute på myndigheter ofta är ensamma eller väldigt få och därmed kan behöva olika former av stöd för att kunna utveckla arbetet med denna typ av, ofta komplexa, analyser på sin myndighet. ; Sustainable development implies that society's limited resources should be used efficiently, taking into account the various impacts on society – social, economic and environmental. To achieve established societal goals efficiently, various aspects have to be accounted for in the design of policy measures. Within the EU a Regulatory Impact Assessment, where a cost-benefit analysis is included, needs to accompany all major regulatory initiatives. According to research and different policy assessment, Sweden lacks an established praxis regarding this type of analysis in the area of environmental policy but also in the field of energy and transport. The purpose of this project is to investigate how Sweden uses this type of information in the negotiations that take place within the EU regarding policy proposals but also investigate the reasons for use or non-use. The focus is on what role the organization and the bureaucrats play for the collection of this type of information. The overall conclusion that can be drawn from the three sub-studies included in the project, as well as the discussion at the closing seminar, is that this is not an established way of working in the Swedish government system. This can be explained by lack of competence, an established mistrust, management by objectives and lack of an institutional framework for when and how this type of broader impact assessment is to be conducted. At the closing seminar, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency presented that it is now working on a guide to help officials to analyze at an early stage whether there is a need for regulation by society, to initiate the work by asking the question "What is the problem?". We think that this is a step in the right direction, but we also see that the economists working out in government are often alone or very few and may therefore need different forms of support to develop the work on this kind of, often complex, analysis.
BASE
In: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-76242
En hållbar utveckling innebär att samhällets begränsade resurser används på ett effektivt sätt med hänsyn tagen till sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga konsekvenser. För att uppnå önskade samhällsmål på ett effektivt sätt behöver olika aspekter vägas in vid utformning av styrmedel. Inom EU föregås beslut om regleringar av en så kallad Regleringskonsekvensbeskrivning (Regulatory Impact Assessment) där samhällsekonomisk analys ingår. Forskning och olika utredningar har visat att Sverige saknar en etablerad praxis för att genomföra denna typ av konsekvensanalyser på miljö, men även energi- och transportområdet. I detta projekt är syftet att undersöka hur Sverige arbetar med de analyser av detta slag som genomförs inom EU inför förhandlingar men också att studera orsaker till att de används eller inte används. Fokus ligger på förutsättningar inom en myndighet, men även vilken betydelse som tjänstemän har för vilka underlag som tas fram inför beslut om utformning av regleringar/styrmedel. Den övergripande slutsats som kan dras av de tre delstudierna som ingått i projektet, samt diskussionen på avslutningsseminariet, är att detta inte är ett etablerat arbetssätt i det svenska förvaltningssystemet. Detta kan förklaras av brist på kompetens, en etablerad misstro, målstyrning samt avsaknad av ett institutionellt ramverk för när och hur denna typ av bredare konsekvensanalyser ska genomföras. Vid avslutningsseminariet framkom att Naturvårdsverket nu arbetar med en vägledning för att hjälpa tjänstemän att i ett tidigt skede analysera om det finns behov av regleringar från samhällets sida, att inleda arbetet med att ställa frågan "Vad är problemet?". Vi bedömer att detta är ett steg i rätt riktning men ser också att de nationalekonomer som arbetar ute på myndigheter ofta är ensamma eller väldigt få och därmed kan behöva olika former av stöd för att kunna utveckla arbetet med denna typ av, ofta komplexa, analyser på sin myndighet. ; Sustainable development implies that society's limited resources should be used efficiently, taking into account the various impacts on society – social, economic and environmental. To achieve established societal goals efficiently, various aspects have to be accounted for in the design of policy measures. Within the EU a Regulatory Impact Assessment, where a cost-benefit analysis is included, needs to accompany all major regulatory initiatives. According to research and different policy assessment, Sweden lacks an established praxis regarding this type of analysis in the area of environmental policy but also in the field of energy and transport. The purpose of this project is to investigate how Sweden uses this type of information in the negotiations that take place within the EU regarding policy proposals but also investigate the reasons for use or non-use. The focus is on what role the organization and the bureaucrats play for the collection of this type of information. The overall conclusion that can be drawn from the three sub-studies included in the project, as well as the discussion at the closing seminar, is that this is not an established way of working in the Swedish government system. This can be explained by lack of competence, an established mistrust, management by objectives and lack of an institutional framework for when and how this type of broader impact assessment is to be conducted. At the closing seminar, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency presented that it is now working on a guide to help officials to analyze at an early stage whether there is a need for regulation by society, to initiate the work by asking the question "What is the problem?". We think that this is a step in the right direction, but we also see that the economists working out in government are often alone or very few and may therefore need different forms of support to develop the work on this kind of, often complex, analysis.
BASE
In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, Band 113, Heft 4, S. 393-398
ISSN: 0039-0747
The purpose of this document is the following investigation: Political scientists who study environmental issues face major challenges. One is that much future research needs to be developed -- for example, that we may help to better determine and predict the conditions for developing countries and future generations for living a decent life -- in close collaboration with other natural sciences. The thesis postulates that such cross-faculty interdisciplinary research is challenging and will shift our methodological and epistemological bounds. One consequence of this may be that some of our discipline's more well-rehearsed truths about what constitutes good science -- for example, questions about a scientific problem is, whether to research results that can serve as a guide for policy makers, the explanations of historical processes are preferable to forward-looking issues and that we would be better to work with well-defined cases and data than try to give us the and explore large systems (theories) -- can be questioned. Adapted from the source document.
In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, Band 112, Heft 5, S. 230-241
ISSN: 0039-0747
This thesis investigates the role of ideas in policy processes. It does so using three theories as a starting point, selected for being alike yet unique in their description of how ideas may "get stuck" in the organization's production and reproduction of policy. The theories are Discourse Coalition Framework, Advocacy Coalition Framework, and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory. These theories have very different emphases but share constructivist traits and an interest in how social processes of meaning making take form in a rather "traditional" organizational setting, thus paying attention to, if not reducing the study to, the institutions of representative democracy. Two theoretical problems are identified within these theories. They concern 1) the mechanism and 2) the object of analysis. The theoretical question addressed in part I is: How are we to understand the proposition that ideas may cause stability in policy processes? What is the underlying mechanism? It is argued that the cognitive mechanism which the theories use should be substituted with a social psychological one. The assumption that stability is created when political actors conform to the ideas of others when they are confronted with apparent unanimity among policy makers, rather than that they internalize these ideas, makes both greater stability and instability in policy processes more plausible. Part II poses the question; if we are to investigate policy stability and instability using the discussed theoretical perspective, what unit of analysis should we use? In other words, what is a policy? It is argued that if ideological stability is seen as an effect of how policy formulation is organized (as is argued in part I), then close attention must be paid to processual factors when it is decided what unit of policy, on what level, might be explained. It is furthermore argued that although we may theoretically form an idea about substantially coherent patterns of policy recognizable as a policy, which should result from stable organizational patterns of communication in the policy process, it remains an empirical question if and where these patterns can actually be found. An analysis of Swedish environmental policy is performed to allow for observations of the degree to which empirical evidence is consistent with the policy patterns predicted by the theoretical assumptions outlined in part one.
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Ympäristökysymys ja aseveliakseli on tutkimus suomalaisen kaupunkiympäristön politisoitumisesta. Väitöskirja vastaa kysymykseen miten ympäristöstä tuli politiikkaa? piirtämällä tarkan kuvan neljästä ympäristön politisoitumisen vuosikymmenestä 1960-luvulta lähtien, kasvukonsensuksesta ympäristökiistoihin. Tamperelaisia ympäristökiistoja ja paikallista politiikkaa käytetään teoksessa laboratoriona, jossa tiivistyy laajempia suomalaisen lähihistorian muutostrendejä. Paikallisten ympäristöongelmien synty kietoutuu muuttuvan yhteiskunnan arvostuksiin ja puhetapoihin sekä sukupolvien välisiin jännitteisiin. Erityisesti teos analysoi jännitteitä, joita voimistuva ympäristöliikehdintä synnytti haastaessaan Tampereella pitkään vaikuttaneen valtakoalition, ns. aseveliakselin, paikallisen hallintatavan. Ympäristökysymys ja aseveliakseli sukeltaa ympäristön politisoitumiseen viiden tamperelaisen tapauksen kautta: 1. Pyynikin moottoritiehanke (1959 - 1974) 2. Näsijärven saastuminen ja vedenoton siirtäminen Roineeseen (1960 - 1972) 3. Kauppahallin virastotalon purkamiseen liittynyt kiista (1972 - 1983) 4. Epilän kivihiilivoimalahankkeeseen liittynyt kiista (1981 - 1984) 5. Tampellan alueen kaavoituskiista (1989 - 1995) Tapaukset kertovat ympäristöongelmien yhteiskunnallisesta muotoutumisesta ja oman aikansa toiveista, tavoitteista ja ristiriidoista. Ympäristön pilaantumisen ja -suojelun nousu yhteiskunnalliseksi kysymykseksi liittyy kiinteästi Suomen ja Tampereen sodanjälkeiseen kehitykseen ja vaurastumiseen, jonka kääntöpuolena ympäristöhaittoja voidaan pitää. Useamman paikallisen tapaustutkimuksen yhdistäminen paikallisen hallintatavan analyysiin tuo uuden näkökulman ympäristöongelmien ja paikallisen poliittisen kulttuurin historiallisen rakentumiseen. Ympäristöongelmia käsitellään yhteiskunnallisina ongelmina, joille toimijoiden väliset jännitteet ja määrittelykamppailut sekä erilaisten vaatimusten esittäminen ovat ominaisia. Politisoitumisen analyysissä tukeudutaan sosiologi Pierre Bourdieun ja politiikantutkija Kari Palosen käsitteisiin. Politisoitumisen käsitteellä ei viitata puoluepolitiikkaan, vaan pikemminkin vakiintuneiden ajatus- ja toimintamallien kyseenalaistumiseen. Tutkimus etenee teoreettisten ja metodologisten lähtökohtien kautta tapaustutkimuksiin, joiden lomassa taustoitetaan ympäristöliikehdinnän historiaa paikallisella tasolla. Tapausten jälkeen käsitellään paikallisen hallintatavan teoreettista näkökulmaa ja paikallisen hallinnan historiallisia muotoja Tampereella. Ympäristön politisoituminen tapahtui Tampereella vaiheittain. Ensimmäiset ympäristöliikehdinnän merkit näkyivät Tampereella ns. ympäristöherätyksen myötä 1960- ja 70-luvun taitteessa. Ympäristöliikkeen jakautuminen oikeisto-vasemmisto -ulottuvuudella kuitenkin jarrutti ympäristöjärjestöjen kasvua 1970-luvun puolivälissä. Vuosikymmenen lopulta lähtien alkoi uusi ympäristöprotestien vaihe. Jännite suoraviivaisen johtajakeskeisen hallintavan ja uusien, rauhan aikana kasvaneiden sukupolvien edustajien kuten vihreän liikkeen välillä kävi ilmeiseksi paikallisissa ympäristökiistoissa 1980-luvun alusta alkaen. Tämä jännite huipentui tutkimuksen viimeisessä tapauksessa, Tampellan kiistassa 1980- ja 90-lukujen taitteessa. Sosiaalidemokraattien ja Kokoomuksen muodostaman kunnallispolitiikan valtakoalition, aseveliakselin, näkökulmasta ympäristöprotestit näyttäytyivät vastustuksena, ei uutena yhteiskunnallisena kysymyksenä. Väitämme, että tämä johtui sekä aseveliakselin historiallisesti muodostuneista arvostuksista ja suhtautumistavoista että tamperelaisen politiikan kentän jakautumisesta aseveliakselikoalition ja sen vastustajien välillä. Nämä tekijät vaikeuttivat ympäristökysymysten nostamista paikallisen päätöksenteon piiriin ja supistivat ympäristöliikehdinnän toimintatilaa. Ympäristön politisoituminen ilmeni Tampereella useammalla ulottuvuudella, joista ensimmäisenä voi pitää ympäristöherätyksen synnyttämää uutta tulkintakehystä. Se antoi kaikupohjaa paikallisille ympäristön muuttamista politisoiville vaatimuksille. Luonto politisoitui ympäristöksi ja ympäristö politisoitui yhteiskunnalliseksi protestiksi ja kritiikiksi, joka ilmeni vaatimuksina paikallisissa ympäristökiistoissa. Toiseksi politisoiminen liittyi yksittäisten ympäristön muutoksia koskevien suunnitelmien kyseenalaistamiseen. Tätä tapahtui Tampereella 1970-luvulta alkaen ja selvemmin 1980-luvun ympäristökiistoissa. Määrittelykamppailut koskivat esim. Kauppahallin virastotalon tapauksessa paitsi talon purkusuunnitelmia, myös talon esteettistä arvoa kaupunkimaisemassa. Tampereen kasvoja voimakkaasti muuttanut modernisaatiokehitys ei enää näyttänytkään väistämättömältä. Samalla voidaan puhua myös laajemmasta kaupunkimaiseman muutosten kyseenalaistumisesta. Ympäristöherätys ja yksittäiset tapahtumat kuten Verkatehtaan purkaminen 1970-luvun lopulla muuttivat tamperelaisten tapaa katsoa kaupunkiaan. Kolmanneksi kiistoissa nousi esiin tiedon ja asiantuntemuksen politiikka. Tiedon politiikka ilmeni selvästi 1980-luvun kiistoissa, joissa (tieteellisen) tiedon ja asiantuntijuuden rooli kyseenalaistui. Kauppahallin virastotalon kiistassa kyseenalaistettiin rakennusten huonokuntoisuuden kriteerit. Epilän voimalakiistassa politisoitui asiantuntijoiden tuottama tieto voimalavaihtoehtojen edullisuudesta. Tampellan kiistassa kriisiytyi kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden asiantuntemus ja rooli yleisen edun vaalijoina. Neljäs politisoitumisen ulottuvuus koskee yksittäisten kysymysten toimintavaihtoehtojen kyseenalaistamisen laajenemista koskemaan koko paikallista hallintatapaa ja paikallista poliittista kulttuuria. Selvimmin yksittäiseksi hallintatavan kyseenalaistumisen tapaukseksi muodostui tutkimuksessamme Tampellan tapaus, jossa suuret rakentamissuunnitelmat ja paikallisten poliittisten eliittien toimintamallit joutuivat ennen näkemättömän kritiikin kohteeksi. Paikallinen hallintatapa ei kyseenalaistunut vain ympäristökysymysten vaikutuksesta, mutta ympäristökonfliktit näyttäytyvät kiinnostavina teollisuuskaupungin perinteiden rapautumista ilmentävinä tapahtumina. Viidenneksi ympäristön politisoituminen kosketti laajemmin kaupungin habitusta kaupunkimaiseman, paikallisen perinteen ja itseymmärryksen tasoilla. Kyse ei ole vain ympäristökohteista vaan laajemmin paikallisesta kulttuurista ja identiteetistä. Paikalliset ympäristöliikkeet toimivat kuten yhteiskunnallisilta kaupunkiliikkeiltä voidaan odottaa: ne synnyttivät konflikteja ja muuttivat osaltaan kaupungin merkityksiä. Kaupungin habituksen muutokseen liittyy selvästi perinteisen tamperelaisen ns. savupiipputeollisuuden hiipuminen. Jälkiteollistuvan kaupungin ympäristökonfliktit olivat sekä tämän yhteiskunnallisen murroksen indikaattoreita että sen katalysaattoreita. Teollisuuskaupungin traditioiden kyseenalaistuminen voidaan nähdä osana laajempaa yksinkertaisen modernin projektin kritiikkiä. Tutkimus perustuu laajaan asiakirja- ja lehtiaineistoon sekä ympäristökiistojen ytimessä vaikuttaneiden kansalaisaktivistien ja paikallisten päättäjien haastatteluihin. Paikallisen historian kuvauksessa on käytetty sekundaarilähteitä ja haastatteluja, tapaustutkimukset perustuvat pääasiassa lehti -ja asiakirja-aineistoihin ja haastatteluihin. Tapausten käännekohtia on lisäksi analysoitu määrällisellä sisällönerittelyllä sekä diskurssi -ja argumentaatioanalyysin keinoin. ; ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND THE "BROTHERS IN ARMS AXIS" POLITICISATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN TAMPERE FROM 1959 TO 1995 This study examines the politicisation of the environment in the context of one Finnish locality, Tampere. It is a study on the politics of the environment, i.e. the historical developments and contestations that preceded the institutionalisation of environmental policy. The politics of the environment is examined at the local level in the context of the tension between the rise of environmentalism and the traditions of local politics and governance. The locality of Tampere, thus provides a laboratory for understanding how environmentalism took place and what kind of tensions it caused. Theoretically the study draws on both sociology and political science. The theoretical frame is set by combining Kari Palonen s terminology of politics and Pierre Bourdieu s theory of action. Politicisation is a central notion in the study. It is understood as a process of questioning the rules of the game, i.e. claiming something to be playable and contingent. In Bourdieu s terms this implies a process of questioning the givenness of the doxa and provoking orthodox arguments from the political elite. Politicisation may take place at different scales, from the local disputes to broader patterns of governance and political culture. The central research question was the following: ·How has the environment become politicised at the local level? This question was divided into the following questions: ·What events have contributed to the politicisation of the environment? ·What kinds of disputes and actor coalitions emerged in these events? ·How did the patterns of local governance influence the definition of environmental problems? And, vice versa, how did the environmental problems effect local governance? ·What was the role of environmental movements in the politicisation of the environment? The research was carried out in the form of five case studies, all in the same locality, touching on different aspects of environmental issues, and covering the temporal scope of the study, from the 1960s to the 1990s. The cases studied were the following: 1. The Pyynikki highway construction plan (1959-1974) 2. The pollution of lake Näsijärvi by a local pulp plant and the moving the municipal water intake to lake Roine (1960-1972) 3. The dispute over the planned demolition of the old Jugendstil Office block in the city center (1972-1983) 4. The dispute over the plan to build a coal power plant in Epilä (1981-1984) 5. The conflict over the planning of the Tampella industrial area in the city center (1989-1995) The cases cover the time from the pre-history of environmentalism, i.e. when the environment was still a non-issue, through the rise of environmentalism (the so called environmental awakening ) to the institutionalisation of environmental issues in the 1990s. The research data comprised sources on local history including archives and official documents, newspaper materials and 35 interviews of local actors. Methodologically, the study was structured in relation to different levels: 1) in the context of local history (secondary sources on local history and interviews), 2) the case studies using thick description out of which, 3) detailed instances of discourse analysis, especially argumentation (or claims-making ) were extracted. Environmental problems were studied in a contextual constructivist frame as social problems constructed in processes of claims-making, involving argumentation and discursive struggle. Local environmental movements were studied as urban social movements whose activities affect the collective production of the city while being aimed at contesting and challenging the prevailing social order. The local movements in Tampere were key actors in politicising the environment, contributing to a change whereby previously undisputed environmental change and related social practices were no longer seen as inevitable or normal. Movements created new meanings not only for their participants, but for the larger community, also extending beyond the time frame of their most active presence. Since the late 1960s, the rise of environmentalism became manifest through locally based movements and organizations. The purely scientific orientations of local conservationist associations were challenged by more socially and politically oriented civic activities and associations. An important milestone was the founding of Pirkanmaa nature conservation association in 1969. Since 1970, environmentalism gathered momentum with rapidly growing membership figures and local initiatives. It soon suffered, however, from ideological divisions in the mid-1970s, as the radical left-wing students took over the nature conservation association. The divisions started to recede when the Koijärvi bird lake conflict (in Forssa) marked the rise of the Finnish green movement. This had its effect in Tampere as well: the ideological divisions between right- and leftwing environmentalists were reconciled in the early 1980s, which marked the beginning of an active period of environmental contestation. The emergence of the Finnish Green movement in the 1980s made such contestation increasingly visible at the local level. In Tampere, the first greens were elected in the local council in 1984. During the different disputes beginning from the 1970s, but especially in the 1980s, environmental protest challenged local political traditions and political culture, especially the traditions of the local governance. In Tampere, the scene of local politics in Tampere had virtually ever since the Second World War been dominated by a particular, unofficial institutional arrangement, which was commonly known as the brothers-in-arms axis. Adopted in the mid-1950s, the notion referred to the co-operation between the conservative National Coalition party and the Social Democrats in local politics and municipal government. This coalition was held together through a shared habitus based on wartime experiences and held a promise of welfare. The brothers-in-arms axis became an important player in local politics in the 1960s when the central figures of the coalition gained important position in city government. The study examines both the processes that enabled the stabilization of this co-operation into a local growth regime and those that have, especially since the 1980s, contributed to its weakening. The politicisation of the environment was a novelty in the modernist political landscape of Tampere. In the eyes of the governing coalition, however, environmental protest was perceived as mere opposition, not as a new issue on the agenda. We argue that this was due to the local traditions of an industrial city, divided between left and right and a political sphere divided between the brothers-in-arms coalition and the communists, which allowed little space for new social movements. Environmental protest, however, was not the only factor to challenge the regime. The regime was also weakened through the loosening of ideological division s between the left and the right, as the communists had gradually lost political ground. The politicisation of the environment gathered momentum in the late 1970s when the growth of Tampere had slowed down and when there was a growing discrepancy between the mode of governance and its increasingly postindustrial social environment. This tension, and the inertia of the closed style of governance, became visible in the Tampella dispute in 1989, the biggest local environmental conflict to date. The politicization of the environment took place at different levels. It happened both at the level of individual disputes as alternatives were demanded to the straightforward mode of local planning, but it also expanded into a broader critique of local governance. Furthermore, we argue that the politicisation of the environment was not only an agent-driven phenomenon, since it depended on the cultural resonance of claims presented in local disputes. The study allows us to indicate critical events in the politicization of the environment. These were events sine qua non, i.e. events that set the stage and sensitized local actors for future contestations. The demolition of the old broadcloth factory (Verkatehdas) in 1976 and the dispute over Tampella were critical events in this sense. The former was retained in the memory of then activists-to-be and the latter both signaled the crisis of the closed-style decision-making and served to stabilize the local greens as a credible political alternative. Finally, the contestations, together with the restructuration of the locality, resulted in altering the modern industrial habitus of the city.
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This dissertation analyzes the changes in the way Swedish forest policy has been developed and implemented in the past few decades. Its primary focus is on the period from the adoption of new legislation governing forestry in 1993 to date, though the historical antecedents of the more recent developments are also discussed. The dissertation focuses primarily on the interplay between changes in the policy priorities enshrined in forest legislation and the changes in the steering and implementation means and resources available to achieve the aims of the recent forest policies. Various perspectives on public administration/public management are used to analyze the preconditions and opportunities available to state authorities to meet the environmental goals in forest policy. Furthermore, norm theory as developed within the sociology of law is applied to analyze how various categories of forest owners can be motivated to shoulder a greater responsibility for nature conservation and development and environmental activities. The tension between private forest owners? interests and public (both of the state and the public in general) interests, and possible ways around the tension also figure prominently in this study. Central to the opportunities for success in obtaining the more ambitious environmental goals in a ?regulatory? setting characterized by a levelling of the status between authorities and forest owners and decreased resources and coercive capacities on part of the authorities, is the prospects for ?soft regulation.? Here we see an emphasis on bringing new actors into the policy formulation, interpretation and implementation arena, the development of new networks, the role of information and advisement in producing ?enlightened self-interest? and common frames of understanding. Ultimately what is aimed at is ?smart regulation? via the use of various forms of flexible instruments in a context where a greater number of stakeholders are involved. Thus the role of ?regulatory? authorities moves towards becoming a facilitator, or a ?motor? that as a partner promotes collaborative structures and cooperation.
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Dealing with environmental problems has become one of the most challenging political issues of our time. Since the Brundtland report in 1987, environmental policy integration (EPI) that is, the mainstreaming of environmental issues in all policy sectors has emerged as a viable policy solution. This has meant that responsibility for implementing environmental policy rests to a large extent on local authorities where environmental problems with both local and global consequences are expected to be handled. However, there is still a disagreement on what EPI means in day-to-day decision making. With a theoretical framework drawing from theory on policy change, policy entrepreneurship and the neoinstitutional "logic of appropriateness" the aim of this dissertation is to analyze how the integration of environmental considerations manifests itself in local policy processes, highlighting what factors foster or hinder EPI. To reach this aim, I have followed two urban development processes in Kristianstad. This research offers insights on how EPI varies through the policy process and how focus is placed mainly on certain environmental issues and chiefly defined as of local importance. My study suggest that arenas for coordination are critical to overcoming the perceived "gap" between EPI on a strategic level and its implementation. This can help to clarify responsibility allocation among bureaucrats and their leeway for interpretation when new issues comes up continuously during the processes and affect the conditions for EPI. Furthermore, the dissertation gives insights on how acting "entrepreneurially" can enable an environmental issue to be included and given priority. This can also be a barrier if the ones acting entrepreneurially are not part of the entire process because the issue might receive less attention. In addition, if too much attention is given to one issue it might overshadow other environmental issues. Conversely, acting according to "the logic of appropriateness" can enable EPI by enhancing a more all-encompassing perspective on environmental considerations and also function as a cautious approach to radical change by preventing measures taken in absence of democratic legitimacy. By using the two theoretical perspectives, "entrepreneurial" and "appropriate" agency, this dissertation offers important insights into how different ways of acting interact and affect EPI and its outcome.
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