In the 1932 essay The Concept of the Political, German legal philosopher Carl Schmitt (1888– 1985) raises the question: what is the modern state? In his answer Schmitt indivisibly links state and politics by stating that the concept of the state presupposes the concept of the political. The modern state is subsequently characterised as the political unity of a people. In the following thesis, I investigate the meaning of this designation by examining Schmitt’s state theory. Firstly, I set out to analyse his understanding of the political as a realm of conflict (chapter 2). On that basis, I scrutinise his views on the nature of the state as a political form of organisation (chapter 3). The thesis argues that given Schmitt’s understanding of the political as basically antagonistic, the raison d’être of the state is to relativise domestic tensions and conflicts in such a way as to facilitate the maintenance of order, peace and stability in a territorially enclosed configuration. Furthermore, the thesis contends that the ultimate purpose of the state, according to Schmitt, is to ensure a strong sense of political unity within the population and to promote the common goods a flourishing political community requires. In light of this, the thesis concludes that Schmitt’s state theory is essentially teleological in the sense that the political unity constituting the state is not merely an empirical phenomenon but rather a standard every real state should endeavour to realise.

Underlying institutional forms are normative orders which give meaning to rules, norms, practices and customs. It is only recently that scholars have seriously considered the role of normative orders in institutional dynamics. Two meta-theories of institutionalism offer competing visions of how these normative orders are invoked. The Institutional Logics Perspective calls normative orders “institutional logics” and suggest that they are invoked in a consistent stable fashion. The Pragmatist Institutionalism approach calls normative orders “anchoring concepts” and suggests that they are used in less predictable ways to produce meaning. This study introduces the concept of fidelity to capture the difference between these two approaches and test which approach may offer a more accurate account of how normative orders are invoked in practice. The study uses the case of the USCG response to melting Arctic ice to study this issue by focusing on the two most dominant normative orders of American government. The study relies on interviews conducted with USCG personnel dealing with the agency’s response to melting Artic Ice. The data is then analyzed through a narrative analysis framework. The study finds that normative orders are invoked, in this case, in a manner more closely aligned with Pragmatist Institutionalism. This finding has implications for how administrative judgement is understood especially with respect to public agencies. / Ph. D. / Rules, norms, practices and customs are all types of institutional forms which derive meaning from something called normative orders. Normative orders help individuals make determinations on things such as whether rules are “good”/“bad” or when those rules are appropriate to apply. While these normative orders are understood to be important, they are not yet well understood. Two recent approaches which attempt to better define normative orders offer competing visions. The Institutional Logics Perspective calls normative orders “institutional logics” and suggest that they are invoked in a consistent stable fashion. The Pragmatist Institutionalism approach calls normative orders “anchoring concepts” and suggests that they are used in less predictable ways to produce meaning. This study introduces the concept of fidelity to capture the difference between these two approaches and test which approach may offer a more accurate account of how normative orders are invoked in practice. The study uses the case of the USCG response to melting Arctic ice to study this issue by focusing on the two most dominant normative orders of American government. The study relies on interviews conducted with USCG personnel dealing with the agency’s response to melting Artic Ice. The data is then analyzed through a narrative analysis framework. The study finds that normative orders are invoked, in this case, in a manner more closely aligned with Pragmatist Institutionalism. This finding has implications for how administrative judgement is understood especially with respect to public agencies.

This study is a case study that observes the development of equality strategies in the European Union. After the former strategy for equality ended in 2015 there has been expectations that the European Commission would present a new strategy for equality. Therefore, the new strategy for equality was a disappointment for several actors and institutions of the European Union. The new strategy for equality is a work document and has a lower status in comparison with former strategies for equality in the EU. As a result, several actors and institutions are worried about the development of equality without a complete strategy.   To examine the development of strategies for equality in the EU historical institutionalism and a process called historic process tracing is used in this case study. The current strategy for equality 2016-2019 is going to be compared to the former strategies for 2006-2010 and 2010-2015. Are there any indications that the new work document represents a critical juncture or is it the result of path dependency and the way that EU equality strategies follows? To observe this case Hall and Taylors´ four distinct features of historical institutionalism has been the theoretical vantage point in this study.   To summarize the results of this study there has not been many substantial changes between the different equality strategies. However, changes has been identified through the way the commission presents their strategies. The new strategy for equality has also been criticised for the way the Commission has presented the document.  There are signs of a conflict in the union where different institutions rely on different patterns and structures. While the Commission presents a work document other actors and institutions in the EU are currently debating for a concise and formal strategy.

The research analyses stability and change in the English/British elite sport policy landscape in the period 2005 to early 2014. In the context of a recession and change of government, the policy environment could be described as turbulent and cuts to public funding and commitment to deregulation have been key features of the overarching policy landscape. There was an assumption that elite sport would not be immune from the policy turbulence. The policy landscape is described as consisting of three elements: organisations, public funding and political salience. The original contribution of the thesis is threefold: first, in relation to the empirical study of the relative impact of the political and economic turbulence on the elite sport system; second, in the application of institutional theory and punctuated equilibrium theory to the analysis of elite sport policy; and third, the application of theory to explain the extent of stability uncovered through the empirical research. The research used a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 senior officials from sport in England/the UK from both sport-specific NGBs and organisations with wider, national remits for elite sport and incorporating both government and non-government organisations. Due to the sample of interviewees, the nuances of elite interviewing were an important consideration for the researcher. A document analysis study was also carried out. Through the existing literature and the data gathered, three cases emerged and were examined in depth: youth talent search and development; nurturing and transferring talent; and sustaining world class athletes. Thematic analysis was used to examine the data. The data revealed that the policy landscape was, for the most part, stable in the period studied. There were changes to the intensity of financial and political support and refinements of policy objectives, especially due to the hosting of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the overall policy aims remained consistent. The reasons identified for this stability were as follows: the absence of an alternative, critical lobby; strong leadership in the sector; and the hosting of the London 2012 Games. The long-term impact of Labour s Modernisation agenda was found to have contributed to the stable governance of elite sport, which includes a structure for decision-making and accountability around funding of NGBs by UK Sport. Historical Institutionalism was found to offer the most useful meso-level framework for analysis of the data and clear critical junctures and path formation phases could be identified.

The HIV and AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa calls a great national and global response in order to face the challenges associated with the illness for the individual, households, community and future of nations. The disease has led to an increased number of orphans and other vulnerable children in Botswana where the non-governmental organizations stand for social service delivery to these children. However, this is not without challenges and pressure for adaption from other organizations. The NGO staff members carry out their work within this organizational context between a variety of influences and relations that are reflected in terms of challenges they define. A wide range of strategies are used by the actors and organizations to deal with these barriers. Therefore, it is of importance to explore the NGO staff member’s experiences of their work in relation to an institutional perspective, which this study intends to do. The focus of the analysis was on separating the material into categories that answer the research aim by using influences from the coding process of grounded theory. The results demonstrated that the NGOs work within local and global tensions in their organizational fields including the ability to preserve traditional practices and adapt to international changes. This for the organizations to be able to gain legitimacy, receive funds and continue to provide their services to orphans and other vulnerable children in the country. / HIV och AIDS-epidemin i subsahariska Afrika kräver en omfattande nationell och global respons för att möta de utmaningar som är förknippade med sjukdomen för individen, hushåll, samhället och nationers framtid. Sjukdomen har lett till ett ökat antal föräldralösa och andra utsatta barn i Botswana där icke-statliga organisationer står för utförande av sociala tjänster och vård till dessa barn. Detta är dock inte utan utmaningar och påtryckningar om anpassning från andra organisationer. De icke-statliga organisationernas personal utför sitt arbete inom detta organisatoriska sammanhang mellan en mängd olika influenser och relationer som återspeglas i utmaningar vilka de definierar. Ett brett utbud av strategier används av de aktörer och organisationer för att ta itu med dessa hinder. Därför är det av vikt att utforska icke-statliga organisationer och specifikt personalens erfarenheter av sitt arbete i förhållande till ett institutionellt perspektiv, vilket denna studie avser att göra. Fokus för analysen var att separera materialet i kategorier som svarar på syftet genom att använda influenser från kodningsprocessen av ”grundad teori”. Resultatet visade att organisationerna arbetar inom lokala och globala spänningar i deras organisatoriska fält, inkluderande en vilja att bevara traditionella sedvänjor men samtidigt anpassa sig till internationella förändringar. Detta för att de icke-statliga organisationerna ska kunna uppnå legitimitet, få finansiering och fortsätta att tillhandahålla sina tjänster till föräldralösa och utsatta barn i landet.

This paper aims to explain how the interplay between formal and informal institutions affects the potentially gendered outcomes of political reforms. The case of the Chilean parental leave reform of 2011 is used as an example of a political reform addressing gender equality. Within the framework of historical institutionalism analysis of formal and informal institutions are made separately to proceed to merge the two and discuss how they interact with each other and affect the outcomes of the reform. The formal institution is studied by analyzing the construction of the reform itself and the informal institutions are studied by analyzing interviews with parents making use of this reform.                       The results of this research show that both formal and informal institutions follow a historical pattern of social norms placing the responsibility of childcare on mothers. Formal institutions seems to follow a certain path dependency in the way they are created and informal institutions affect and counteract the small possibilities to change given by the formal institution. Possible indications of critical junctures challenging this path dependency were however found and show a potential period of significant adjustment in informal institutions and the reform might be seen as an example of change.

<p>In recent years evaluation has become a very important element in the public administration. The Swedish state administration to a significant extent both evaluates and is evaluated. This means that the evaluating state is at the same time the evaluated state. In this dissertation the institutionalization of evaluation is studied in a field within which this development has been particularly lively and interesting, namely the field of higher education. The dissertation focuses on evaluation activity that has been carried out in conjunction with central public authorities within higher education: the Office of the Chancellor of the Universities and Colleges in Sweden, the National Swedish Board of Universities and Colleges, and the Office of the University Chancellor, and encompasses the period 1964-1995.</p><p>A newly revived research tradition within political science – historical institutionalism – is used as a perspective and a methodology. Since the application of this tradition has not yet been fully tested, another purpose is to examine the practical utility of this analytical tool and the kind of knowledge that it produces. The dissertation thereby combines the fields of education policy, evaluation research and institutional theory.</p><p>The beginning of the institution has been dated to the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s. In the dissertation the forces behind the initiation of the institution are taken up. Events and developments in the field that have influenced the further development of the institution have been identified and analyzed. Developments reveal that the institution has been stable during the entire period of time under study, despite some changes.</p><p>The use of historical institutionalism as a perspective and methodology has proven satisfactory on a general level. However, special solutions have been required as problems and ambiguities have arisen. The dissertation concludes with reflections on the practical utility of historical institutionalism in political science research.</p>

Both feminist and mainstream political science has taken an institutional ‘turn’, opening up possibilities for dialogue between the two fields. Yet, despite sharing a number of common interests and preoccupations, there has been little interplay between mainstream new institutionalist scholars and feminist political scientists working on institutions. This thesis attempts to fill this gap and evaluates the potential for theoretical synthesis between feminist gender analysis and new institutional theory. It argues that there is potential for mutual benefit from a synthesis of these two approaches, and that a ‘feminist institutionalism’ offers a promising theoretical approach for the study of gender and institutions. The thesis evaluates the potential of a feminist institutionalist approach in the context of the comparative literature on gender and political recruitment. It critically evaluates the supply and demand model (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995), one of the only models that attempts to systematically integrate gender into the dynamics of the recruitment process. The thesis contends that a feminist institutionalist approach offers a way to take the supply and demand forward, developing the theoretical interconnections that are present implicitly in Pippa Norris and Joni Lovenduski’s work on political recruitment and reintegrating and reformulating the key features of the model into a feminist and institutionalist framework. The thesis develops this theory-building project through an illustrative case study – the institutions of political recruitment in post-devolution Scotland. Using a multi-method approach – including discourse analysis, process tracing, and political interviewing – the thesis combines a macro-level analysis of gendered patterns of selection and recruitment in Scottish political parties over time with a micro-level case study of a Scottish Labour Party constituency seat selection contest in the run-up to the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections. The case study finds some evidence of institutional innovation and reform in the candidate selection process, but also highlights underlying continuities in the institutions of political recruitment. The case study illustrates the specific and gendered difficulties of institutionalizing a ‘new’ more gender-balanced politics within a pre-existing institutional context. Findings from the case study suggest that the ‘success’ of institutional innovation in candidate selection is a complex and contingent question, and that elements of the ‘old’ continue to co-exist with elements of the ‘new’, constraining and shaping each other. The Scottish case, then, underscores the need to rethink conventional models of political recruitment, illustrating the difficulties of reforming and redesigning the institutions of political recruitment in the face of powerful institutional and gendered legacies. As such, the thesis generates new theoretical and empirical insights into the gendered dynamics of institutional power, continuity and change that contribute to the growing body of research on gender and institutions and inform the wider literature on both new institutional theory and feminist political science.

The research puzzle of the thesis is to investigate how policy discourse mediates domestic policy adjustment consequent on commitments entered into at the domestic level by the European Union. Conceptually, it adopts the discursive institutionalist framework as developed by Vivien Schmidt and Claudio Radaelli. Empirically, it chooses a single-case study approach to focus on the Greek old-age pension policy adjustment during 1990-2002. The thesis also appraises the process of Europeanization. It adopts the ‘bottom-up’ approach to Europeanization as developed by Claudio Radaelli. Under this scope it’s analysis does not start from EU policy commitments as an independent variable, but from a system of interaction at the domestic level. Conceptually, the thesis looks at policy discourse as a consensus and legitimacy building resource. It focuses on the discursive interactions of key policy actors and analyses how they use policy discourse in order to justify the necessity and the appropriateness of policy adjustment in a given institutional context. The thesis suggests that the discursive institutionalist argument of how policy discourse facilitates policy adjustment puts too much emphasis on the governmental discourse and that the input of the rest of key policy actors must be included in the analysis. It thus proposes the integration of certain elements of the Neo-Positivist Narrative Analysis framework to discursive institutionalism. The argument claims that policy actors’ discourse will take the form of policy narratives that either expand or contain the policy issue. The institutional context will determine the level at which the discursive interaction will take place. In simple polities like Greece, discourse will be thicker at the communicative level and thinner at the coordinative. The effectiveness of discourse will be determined by the level of trust between the government, the key policy actors and the public. The empirical analysis points to a number of domestic factors that restrict the effectiveness of policy discourse and the process of Europeanization, which fall outside the pension policy area and Greece. The thesis also contributes to the advancement of discursive institutionalism. Firstly, it incorporates narrative analysis to the study of discourse. Secondly, it highlights certain limitations, it suggests ways that discursive institutionalism could be improved and directions towards which it could be fruitfully developed.

This study aims at examine why the agricultural policy in Sweden and Finland has turned out different, despite the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The study is a compare case study where Sweden and Finland are used to draw general conclusions. The question asked to pursue the aim are; what kind of agricultural goals did Sweden and Finland negotiate for during the membership-process to the European Union (EU), what kind of agricultural goals did the both states negotiate for during the reform of CAP 2003 and 2015, are their differences in the national regulations that can explain the actual development and can the agricultural policy today be seen as a result from the goals during the membership-process? In this study an analytical model is created and used to analyze the aim, the model is based on the theory of historical institutionalism to describe the general development and it’s also applied in the empirical analysis. The empirical material consists of books, articles and primary document etc. One general conclusion asserts that the actual development in the agricultural policy can be traced back in the historic context. In Sweden’s case the process can be connected to the agricultural deregulation that took place before the membership. In Finland’s case the development can be associated with the overproduction during the 1960-1970 and its goals with a high level of self-sufficiency. Another conclusion affirms that the national regulation where Sweden and Finland has had the opportunity to shape their own regulations and structures is one of several explanations to the aim.