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This article investigates the influence of Swedish drug users on Swedish drug policy during the period 1965-2004. The main focus is on public policy, ie, the policy-making of parliament, government, & key government departments & agencies. Both the users' processual influence, that is the degree & the way in which users participate in the decision-making process, as well as the users' substantial influence, or the degree to which the drug policy produces results that are in the interest of the users, are studied. The processual influence was studied by reviewing user influence within the framework for public drug policy inquiries conducted during this period. The substantial influence was studied by evaluating the development of the Swedish drug policy, using a catalogue of key user issues (based on an international comparison of various user organizations) as a yard stick. The results indicate that user influence over public drug policy generally speaking has been extremely limited. Furthermore, as far as can be judged, this influence seems to have diminished over time, a development which has been similar for processual & substantial influence skills. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

Comparative research emphasize Social Democratic parties as leading political forces when universal welfare states are reformed in accordance with market-oriented principles. Considering the traditional portrayal of universal welfare states as an institutional feature of Nordic political economics, which tends to favor the Social Democrats in the political power struggle, this is a highly surprising conclusion. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, that Social Democratic market reforms are caused by economic constraints, this article postulate reforms to be conducted for political & strategic purposes. The theoretical argument goes like this: Social Democrat governments decide upon reforms when the parry-elite perceive policy problems as potential threats to the legitimacy of the universal welfare state. Hence, market-oriented reforms are expected to re-invigorate the legitimacy of the universal welfare institutions. For political institutions to be efficient power resources they are requited to be deemed legitimate by a democratic constituency. Otherwise they can work counterproductive in the ongoing power-struggle. The theory is tested empirically in a structured comparison of Swedish & Danish school policy in the 1990s, & is confirmed with some slight modifications. References. Adapted from the source document.

Herbert Tingsten's program for the critical analysis of ideologies promised to make political science more useful for understanding current political developments. However, in this article it is argued that these promises cannot be sustained unless normative political analysis is included as well. A point elaborated, is that there is a close analogy between normative political analysis and public policy evaluation. In both cases, the aim is mainly to illuminate the implications and consequences of certain values and ideals -- not to prove them. In this sense, the usefulness of normative research is evident in that it enlarges and deepens our understanding of the values and principles to which we are committed. References.

In the public and academic debate, the liberalization of Swedish school policy is often equated with privatization and -- to a lesser degree -- differentiation. The first is associated with the rapid growth of a semi-private free school sector, driven by slogans such as freedom of choice, cost-efficiency, parental influence and market competition. The second is associated with the decentralization of power and goal- oriented governance, aiming to achieve a variegated and flexible school system that is better equipped to meet individual needs, interests and preferences. The article examines this widespread conception of the liberalization of Swedish school policy. More precisely, the objective is to position central school policy developments over the last two decades in the liberal field through a tripartite typology. I argue that the mainstream conception exaggerates the privatization type of liberalization, while neglecting another, less visible but very influential type -- namely universalization. Adapted from the source document.

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.

This article reports a study on the role of the media in democratic governance. Interestingly, this issue has not been given much attention by researchers, neither by media scholars with little interest in governance, nor by governance scholars with little knowledge about how the media works. Yet, as this study substantiates, the media is a key actor in governance. Theoretically, the paper aims at providing a cross-fertilization of perspectives on the role of the media in governance by drawing on governance research as well as on research on political communication & the public sphere. The empirical aim of the paper is to analyze how policy makers assess the importance of the media in governance. A key question addressed is the significance of fostering good media relations in order to be successful in governance in different policy areas. In addition, the paper analyzes the media strategies of policy makers' in terms of the intensity of the media contacts & of whether or not the policy makers themselves initiate the contacts. The study draws on a unique dataset, comprising questionnaire responses from the corporate, political, cultural & administrative elites (policymakers within the central government office) in Sweden. Adapted from the source document.