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Elections are cornerstones for societies transitioning from civil war to democracy. The success or failure of these elections is shaped by the strategies former rebels employ to mobilize voters. Of those strategies, clientelism is particularly important as it represents improved voter-elite relations over dysfunctional wartime politics, but, if pervasive, also risks undermining long-term democratic consolidation. We argue that the organizational legacies of rebellion shape the way how rebels engage in electoral clientelism. We expect that former rebels target pre-electoral benefits to areas of wartime support; rely on wartime military networks to deliver those benefits; and exploit discretionary control over peace dividends when allocating electoral benefits. We combine original geospatial data on the timing and location of over 2,000 tsunami aid projects with village-level surveys in post-civil war Aceh, Indonesia, to test these hypotheses. Results from difference-in-differences models and detailed tests of causal mechanisms are consistent with our theoretical expectations.

Although China and the EU differ vastly in their preconditions for environmental governance and investment, both have expanded their capacity for wind-power generation greatly over the past decade. The EU member-states have generally been regarded as modern and prosperous, with high and stable energy consumption and large, high-tech wind industries. China, in contrast, is an emerging economy under authoritarian rule, with rapidly-increasing energy consumption and comparatively little domestic R&D in wind turbine technology. What can explain the fast development of wind-power production capacity in the EU and in China, despite the very different political systems and basic preconditions? Applying the method of 'most-different systems design', this paper shows how, in both regions, large-scale investment in wind power has come about through a specific set of political motivations. These include strong governmental support policies based on similar main aims, like security of energy supply, creating future-oriented industries and employment, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution. Combined these three factors together, broadly perceived might also explain political motivations driving rapid investment in new renewable energy sources elsewhere.

To achieve the needed 95% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, almost all energy consumed globally will have to stem from low-carbon sources, not least from renewable energy. Sweden and Norway have long sought to become world environmental leaders, institutionalizing policies on environmental and climate issues as well as taking ambitious positions in the global climate negotiations. They are comparably well placed to become carbonneutral societies, with large renewable energy resources and substantial financial and institutional capacity to invest in reaching this target. Focusing on the production of new renewable energy in their energy system transformations from 1960 until the present, this paper investigates why the two countries have pursued such different paths, and what might be learned. The method used is the 'most similar systems design'; data sources are public documents and 16 interviews with key persons in Sweden and Norway. The results show that politics and public policies have had profound impacts on which renewable energy sources have been developed, when and how. Sweden, lacking access to new cheap hydropower after 1970, has generally implemented more ambitious and comprehensive policies, leading to much higher production of new renewable energy than in Norway. Differences might thus be explained by differences in resource endowments, long-term research and innovation efforts, combined with creation of markets and predictable policies. Enhanced new renewables production has boosted energy security and stabilized the energy systems in both countries. The Swedish-Norwegian green certificate market has mainly contributed to expansion of already cost-competitive or nearly cost-competitive technologies: small-scale hydropower in Norway and biopower and wind power in Sweden.

Norway is the world's largest producer of farmed salmon. Aquaculture is the country's second largest export industry and thus vital for employment in coastal areas of Norway. The industry is dependent on public acceptance and good standing in local communities in order to gain access to new sites and to be able to sell its product. Public opinion (and assumptions about public opinion) on aquaculture may influence the industry's framework conditions and policy. Being located in coastal and rural areas, the industry must rely on the media to spread information to the public about the industry. Therefore, the media are an important source of information about farmed salmon, and the way the media present aquaculture issues has an impact on public opinion as well as authorities. This article examines how the aquaculture industry is portrayed in Norwegian newspapers and discusses how media topics and media framing may influence public opinion. The analysis shows that the most frequent topics covered in Norwegian newspapers are connected to the environment, aquaculture industry, and politics, where the concerns about the environment are dominant within the risk frame. The negative images portrayed by the media have a strong agenda-setting force and may skew public opinion to a narrow focus on environmental risks, influencing both the debate's content and the regulators' increased emphasis on environmental risks. This is strengthened further by the focus on sustainability, where the focus is solely on the dimension of environment, making other sustainability dimensions less prominent in the media coverage. ; publishedVersion ; © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Fish farming has been a recurring topic of debate, not the least in the news media. The media is an important source of information about the aquaculture industry and its products to the public. However, the media is also an important debate arena, enabling representatives of the public, stakeholders, authorities, and the industry to engage in discussions as well as to influence policy and regulations. This paper focuses on the continuous debates in news media, the topics and storylines discussed, the various actors participating, and their arguments. Through a study of the content, positions, and producers of debate contributions in nine Norwegian newspapers, this paper sheds light on the public debate on aquaculture and the present controversies. Drawing on discourse theory, it is argued that the concept of discursive conflicts offers important insights into the controversies surrounding aquaculture. Discourse coalitions unite seemingly dissimilar and independent actors, and shared story lines provide political momentum, reduce complexity and reify the debate. However, such coalitions also contribute to maintaining the debate in a deadlock. ; publishedVersion ; © 2016 NTNU Samfunnsforskning. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Growth in the number of certification schemes in the aquaculture industry has been attributed to several factors. The schemes contribute to improved traceability of products, provide healthier stocks, and provide more information to customers' decision-making efforts. There is a wide range of certification schemes and standards available, addressing food safety, environmental impact, animal welfare, and worker conditions, to name a few. The abundance of certification schemes has resulted in concerns about consumers becoming confused with the number of labels and that certification schemes themselves may become a barrier to trade. This paper examines 5 major certification schemes in the aquaculture sector and categorizes them ac-cording to their purpose, proprietorship, and process. We investigate what has caused this wave of attention to be given to such a diverse range of issues, exploring how the diversity of these certifications is rooted in their inception and the areas they address. ; Swimming in a slurry of schemes: making sense of aquaculture standards and certification schemes ; publishedVersion ; © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Certification schemes are becoming increasingly important within aquaculture management, but the indicators that are used by these schemes are subject to considerable debate. Many have questioned their actual impact on improving the industry, and whether they effectively address the many externalities of aquaculture production. In this paper, we study the choice of indicators in eight major certification scheme standards for salmon aquaculture and examine to what degree they manage to address impacts beyond individual production sites. We find that, in accordance with the criticism, the majority of indicators pertain only to the site-level. However, indicators related to traceability, and to coordination and sharing of information among producers can elevate local concerns to a higher level of impact. We, therefore, argue that among all the certification scheme standards considered here, these types of indicators should be emphasized to a larger extent. ; Level up or game over: The implications of levels of impact in certification schemes for salmon aquaculture ; publishedVersion ; © 2019 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

This chapter introduces Complexity and Adaptive Peacebuilding and considers how it contributes to the contemporary hybridity debate. Following a brief introduction to Complexity theory, this chapter explores the utility of a complex systems perspective to expand our understanding of hybrid peacebuilding. Adaptive peacebuilding is then introduced as an approach that can help hybrid peacebuilding cope with the uncer- tainty dilemma that is a characteristic of complex social systems, as well as manage the relational dimension of hybrid peacebuilding through a collaborative approach. ; publishedVersion

Organisational perspectives propose that structural arrangements affect policy outcomes. Drawing on these perspectives, it is worthwhile to find out whether and how disagreements among public authorities create barriers to public sector adaptation and preparedness. As the literature on weather vulnerabilities and climate adaptation recommends increased public sector coordination, exploring the possibilities of governance can contribute to the improvement of lifeline conditions. Insights from a Norwegian case study suggest that the different mandates of responsible public authorities sometimes clash. Such clashes limit the abilities to sustain welfare and business conditions when avalanches and blizzards cause highway outages. The findings also show that governance might only partly improve public sector peril response measures, as there is rarely sufficient flexibility to consider specific interests or preferences, for example, to keep a highway open until a school bus or a freight delivery has passed. ; Silos as barriers to public sector climate adaptation and preparedness: insights from road closures in Norway ; publishedVersion

By studying the change from the alderman model to parliamentary rule in Norwegian cities and regions, this article analyses how and why reorganisation of political institutions influences support for the institutions reformed. We adopt a mixed methods approach consisting of a survey of politicians in all seven reformed Norwegian local governments, combined with a case study of reorganised governments with high and low levels of support for parliamentary rule. We find that support for the institutional model in the reformed local governments depends on the reform's effect on different political positions. Politicians in power are more positive towards parliamentary rule than members in opposition are, and politicians from the big parties are more positive compared to representatives from smaller ones. Institutional change affects the interests of these groups in different ways. In turn, the effects that reform has on different interests influence their support for the reformed institutions. System support is also affected by how the change process is implemented. An inclusive political leadership that builds oversized coalitions and allocates positions such as committee chairs to the opposition results in stronger support for parliamentary rule. The overall finding is that both "pure" institutional effects and contextual factors influence support for parliamentary rule. Support increases when there is a high level of readiness and capacity for change. The reform must also include relevant actors in a way meeting demands for procedural fairness. The practical implication for reformers is that they must communicate why the organisation needs reform, arrange for sufficient implementation capacity and include relevant participants in decision-making and change processes. ; publishedVersion

What share has been assigned to user participation in the modernization of social welfare administration in Norway? Arguments in favor of user participation draw partly on established conceptualizations of democracy, but also on recent ideas about the adaptation of public services to customer demands. This article presents the results of a study of organizational reform in child welfare protection agencies. The study shows that while these reforms include elements characteristic of New Public Management, they cannot be said to exhibit a comprehensive modernization effort. The article particularly discusses reforms that affect participation and utility for users. A tentative conclusion is that the current drive for increased user participation originates from childcare professionals rather than from superior levels of the organization. ; Hvilken plass har brukermedvirkning i moderniseringen av norsk forvaltning? Argumenter for økt brukerinnflytelse bygger både på innarbeidede forestillinger om demokratisering, men også på nyere ideer om tilpassing av offentlige tjenester til kundenes behov. Denne artikkelen tar for seg resultatene av en undersøkelse av organisasjonsmessige endringer i barnevernet. Undersøkelsen viser at endringene kan identifiseres med elementer som inngår i vanlige definisjoner av New Public Management, selv om de samlet vanskelig kan sies å være uttrykk for en helhetlig administrativ reformpolitikk. Artikkelen tar særlig for seg reformer som har betydning for brukernes medvirkning og nytte av tjenestene. En foreløpig konklusjon går ut på at impulsen til styrket brukermedvirkning synes å komme fra de profesjonsansatte selv snarere enn fra overordnete instanser. ; The research has been partly financed by the Norwegian Research Council. ; publishedVersion