It is important for public administration to make qualified guesses about the future. The public administration does therefore conduct evaluations of their own activities, which later can be a basis for political decision-making. To be able to scrutinize & value results from these evaluations it is important to focus on how evaluations arc made in public administration. One neglected field of research is how evaluators in public administration justify the desirable in self-evaluations & what values the justification is built on. In order to do empirical studies of how the desirable is justified a model of analysis is necessary. The model presented in this article is based on the division between intuition & explanation, where the latter is further divided into deontological, teleological & character-based explanations. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.
Improved global healthcare rises the production and consumption of human pharmaceuticals. Insufficient wastewater treatment systems and unregulated downstream impacts causes pharmaceutical contamination of surface waters with trace residues in countries covering all continents. Earlier studies of aquatic systems have shown that pharmaceutical exposure influences fish physiology and causes behavioural responses at both individual and ecosystem level. Here, I evaluated how social status in juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta) influenced behaviour after exposure to an anxiolytic drug (the benzodiazepine, oxazepam). For this project, the fish were exposed to one of three oxazepam treatments: one low, environmentally relevant dose, one high, human therapeutic relevant dose, and one control dose without oxazepam. I expected decreased aggressive behaviour and mitigated relations between dominant and subordinate individuals. Contrary to the prediction and to earlier documentation of fish behavioural responses to oxazepam exposure, neither of the treatments in this project resulted in altered social hierarchies. Moreover, there were no significant differences in brown trout aggression between the treatment groups. The interspecies variations and the relatively unexplored effects of pharmaceutical exposure on social behaviour motivates further studies, preferability over longer time periods with environmentally realistic contexts. This information should be used to improve pharmaceutical regulations and legislation for ecological risk assessments. ; Sjukvården förbättras globalt vilket innebär en ökad produktion och konsumtion av läkemedel. I dagsläget är reningsverkens filtrering av avloppsvatten otillräckliga och spår av läkemedel har hittats i vattendrag över hela världen. Studier av akvatiska miljöer som kontaminerats av läkemedel har påvisat beteendeförändringar hos fiskar och andra vattenlevande organismer med konsekvenser på både individ- och ekosystemnivå. Under det här projektet utvärderade jag hur öringens (Salmo ...
This mainly deductive study examines what factors explain the variation of e-democracy and if, why a causal pathway exists. The deductive feature is carried out through examining the predictions of the modernization theory, testing hypotheses concerning the link between economic development and wealth in relation to e-democracy. Deriving from a theoretical point of departure where e-democracy is conceptualized with the help of democratic theory, this phenomenon is studied in three different but linked empirical parts. A cross-sectional global study did establish a relationship between some of the indicators derived from the theory; however, the magnitude of the explanatory power was lower at the level of e-democracy than at the level of democracy. A cross-sectional national study of all Sweden's municipalities did show that especially high levels of education were clearly related to high levels of e-democracy. Approaching the questions of causal mechanisms and deviations from the found pattern, case studies did emphasize that the linkage between the structural conditions and actor's-orientated explanations largely could verify what is deducted from theory. However, the importance of economic possibilities and internal prioritizations inside the political organization was essential for the development of e-democracy and was found through more inductive approaches. The main contribution of this thesis is the results that, both on an aggregated and a micro level, verify the theory but also add other important explanations. Another important conclusion is the creation of a model for e-democracy where a complete e-democracy is linked to democratic theory and not only maintains information, discussion, and decision-making processes through information and communication technology but also does this while strengthening political participation and political equality. ; PECOI
In 1999, the Swedish Parliament decided to launch an experiment to test the idea of replacing, at the compulsory educational level, the national time schedule with localized control of schedules. This was in keeping with strategies of deregulation, decentralisation and increased local autonomy that had dominated Swedish education policy, particularly since the 1990s. The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse the initiation, decision, implementation and consequences of this experiment The analytical framework combines several different approaches and theories from the literature on public policy and policy analysis. The framework encompasses four dimensions, which cover the experiment's origins, local application in the classroom setting and consequences. On the empirical level, findings are based on interviews with 32 municipal school directors, and head teachers, teachers and pupils in three schools participating in the experiment, as well as written sources from schools, municipalities, and the national level. The thesis shows that the policy problem the experiment was intended to resolve was represented in an inconsistent manner: On the one hand, the experiment was perceived as a driving force for change; on the other hand, it was seen as legitimising a change that had already taken place. Furthermore, the experiment was formulated in vague terms, which accorded far-reaching discretionary space to the schools. The program's causal theory expressed by the policy makers was complex, containing a multifaceted chain of presumptions on a range of activities and processes through which the experiment ultimately would lead to improved opportunities for pupils to reach the educational objectives. Empirically, this prediction proved to be invalid as student achievement did not increase. The degree of implementation at the local level varied according to the comprehension, capability and willingness of those involved to carry out the experiment. The courses of action taken by the schools frequently could have been undertaken within the existing legislative framework, as they mostly concerned new ways of working and organising staff and pupils. An assessment of the objectives attained showed that, even if elements of developmental work corresponding to the direction stated in the policy documents were observed, the experiment did not emerge as the primary explanatory factor for this result Thus, the net impact of the experiment can be questioned. If judged against the criterion of adaptiveness, the results are more successful than if the experiment is assessed according to goal-attainment and the validity of the program theory. The experiment was found to integrate, alter and accommodate itself readily to local needs. The thesis illustrates the complexity of formulating and implementing policy in a decentralised context and points to important aspects in the historical background of the programme, which often tend to be overlooked when policy is analysed and discussed. At the same time, the study sheds light on the significant role played by street-level implementation actors in the educational context.
