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This thesis is foremost dealing with the process and the consequences of the restoration of the Latvian republic after 1991. It was examined what liberal and ethnic democracy can tell about the assessment of citizenship in general and about the restoration of Latvia in particular. Further, it was analysed how the Latvian legislation defines the citizenry and if preference to a certain ethnic group is given. The change over time of the relevant legal documents was subject to this study as well. It was evaluated, which impact the exclusive approach to citizenship (initially purely based on state-continuity) that in 1991 disfranchised 30% of the population, had for the rights of these people. The method of ideational analysis was used to scrutinise the law texts. In order to gain information on the effects for the population in question, the method of effect analysis was used. This was enriched with interviews conducted by the author on two occasions with governmental representatives, researchers and members of NGO´s in Riga 2008. The legal documents here, encompass the Latvian Constitution (1922), the Resolution on Restoration (1991), the Law on Citizenship (1994, 1995, 1998) and the Law of the Republic of Latvia on the status of former USSR citizens who have neither the Latvian nor another state’s citizenship (1995). The literature read for the purpose of this study spans generally from 1992 to 2006. The conclusion drawn here is that the strict application of the state-continuity thesis and the denying of state responsibility for the changes of population in 50 years time are inconsistent with liberal democracy. Rather this citizenship policy resembles features of an ethnic democracy. The changes in the Law on Citizenship of 1995, where ethnic Latvians and Livs were given the possibility to come to Latvia and receive citizenship automatically (even if they were not citizens of interwar Latvia), while children born to non-citizen (all of them non-ethnic Latvians) after 1991, were not automatically conferred citizenship, made the preferential treatment for one ethnic group obvious. Due to the fact that large parts of the minority population were disenfranchised, they were not able to contest important governmental decisions. As a result, laws directed against the interest of the minority population were introduction. As a whole, a marginalisation of the minority population took place.

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No description available.

Because of its importance for indigenous biodiversity and the local Sami culture, the Laponian area, in the north of Sweden, was declared a World Heritage Site Area by the UN organization UNESCO in 1996. Most of the area is protected because it encompasses national parks and nature reserves and is state owned, and, thus, managed by the County Administrative Board. Local stakeholders who want to participate and influence both the policy-making process as well as management activities have recently questioned this top- down arrangement. The issue is complex with stakeholders on different levels, overlapping jurisdictions and pending questions of indigenous rights. In this thesis, different problems are identified that have to be solved in order to promote and maintain a sustainable development of Laponia. The thesis aims to analyze if the adoption of multi-stakeholder co- management of Laponia is a possible solution to above-mentioned problems. A key question is how to understand the concept of co-management in this specific issue. Yet another question is, if and how, decision-making can be delegated to a local management organization. With the basis in common-pool resource theory, it is discussed whether or not, self-organization and self- governance of the area is a probable solution. It is concluded that one way of dealing with this problematic issue could be to create a co-management system for the Laponian area. / I december 1996 utsåg FN-organet Unesco Laponiaområdet i Norrbottens län till världsarv på grund av dess unika natur- och kulturvärden. Världsarvet Laponia är 9.400 km² stort och uppbyggt kring fyra nationalparker och två naturreservat. Det är också det empiriska fall som behandlas i denna uppsats. Den svenska naturvården har under lång tid varit formad med ett ovanifrånperspektiv, det vill säga den har varit hierarkiskt och statligt styrd. Under senare år har dock i flera delar av landet, allt tydligare krav ställts från lokal nivå, om delaktighet i förvaltningen av naturresurserna. Laponia är ett sådant område där de kommuner, inom vilket området ligger, och dess samebyar har uttryckt att de vill ha ett inflytande. Till en början verkade dessa intressenter ha likartade önskemål, men situationen förändrades genom att frågan om självbestämmande blev viktigare än frågan om lokal förvaltning. En av de grundläggande frågorna i denna uppsats är: Hur ska världsarvet Laponia kunna förvaltas hållbart och på ett sätt som accepteras av lokala, regionala och nationella intressen? Studien söker utifrån teoribildning inom CPR-området ("common-pool resource") identifiera de principiellt viktiga frågor som kräver lösning om Laponia ska få en långsiktigt hållbar förvaltning. Vilka är förutsättningarna för att någon grupp nyttjare ska organisera sig för att själv förvalta Laponia? I uppsatsen konstateras, med utgångspunkt från resursens och nyttjarnas attribut, att renskötarna är den enda grupp som verkar tänkbar i fråga om självorganisering och självförvaltning. Samisk självorganisering och självstyre möter dock på flera sätt problem att nå hållbar utveckling, framför allt på grund av dess svårighet att få legitimitet från övriga nyttjare. Om inte självförvaltning och självstyre är troligt, vilka är då alternativen? Ett tänkbart sådant är en förvaltningsform som under senare tid har fått ökad uppmärksamhet inom internationella organisationer, nämligen samförvaltning ("co-management"). I uppsatsen tydliggörs vad "co-management" innebär. För att kunna hantera samförvaltningsbegreppet och lösa problem i en komplicerad gemensam resurspool av Laponias karaktär, föreslås i uppsatsen att det skapas ett system för samförvaltning. Detta samförvaltningssystem kan innehålla olika institutionella arrangemang för förvaltning på olika nivåer - operativ nivå, kollektiv samt konstitutionell nivå. / <p>Godkänd; 2002; 20070222 (ysko)</p>

The central undertaking in this thesis is to explore the explanatory power of the concept of policy networks. The main question is whether there is a relation between the structural features of policy networks and their performance? Does network structure matter for network performance, and in that case, in what sense? In order to investigate the relationship between structure and performance, five implementation networks, engaged in inter-organizational collaboration with the task to create multidisciplinary units, at Luleå University of Technology (LTU), are studied. Each network is analyzed regarding both structural properties and performances. First, network performance is measured by the level of effectiveness and innovation. Next, the structural features of the implementation networks are measured. Drawing upon previous work of Burt, the structural analysis is based on the examination of two specific network mechanisms, namely network closure and global structural holes. Basically, while the former refers to the degree of interconnectedness, the latter considers the extent to which the actors span global structural holes, meaning that they have contacts reaching outside the network in focus. A positive relation between the two above mentioned mechanisms and performance is proposed. The empirical analysis confirms the assumption that there is a relation between structure and performance. While the existence of global structural holes is a necessity for innovative networks to form, their level of effectiveness is positively related to the degree of network closure. Following this, an innovative network is a network in which the actors are tightly connected and, at the same time, have many connections to other actors, engaged in other network constellations. Further, on the basis of the empirical findings, two new hypotheses, specifying the relationship between structure and performance, are suggested. Firstly, it is proposed that the function of prioritizing, so vital for the process of organizing, is facilitated within centrally integrated networks. Secondly, the function of mobilization of resources is facilitated within networks that span a large amount of global structural holes. Accordingly, network structure does matter for the effectiveness of innovative policy networks. To conclude, there is certainly a lot of explanatory power in the concept of policy networks and the formal analytical approach, offered by social network analysis (SNA), is one way to explore its possibilities. / <p>Godkänd; 2004; 20070128 (ysko)</p>

During the last few decades sustainable development has become a frequent topic among policy makers. In order to achieve this goal, the local level in the society has been regarded as one of the levels where changes towards a more sustainable development must come about. To this end, the Swedish state has used different instruments of control to influence its municipalities to start these changes. One example is the Local Investment Programme (LIP) which supported many different local investment programmes in Swedish municipalities between 1998-2002. The municipality of Luleå, where changes of the public transportation system were on the political agenda, received in 2000 financial support for a project called Public transportation in change. The aim of the project was to create a more attractive public transportation system, i.e. bus system, in order to get more people to choose the bus for their daily travels. Policy processes are however not always as rational as policy makers might think. Instead, they can sometimes be characterized as an incremental process with sudden changes. In order to conceptualize such processes, especially agenda- setting and decision making, John Kingdon has developed the multiple- streams framework (MS). According to this framework the policy process is separated into three streams; problem, policy and politics. When a window of opportunity opens, a policy entrepreneur with the right skills and institutional position might couple the streams thereby creating a policy change. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the policy process underpinning the public transportation in Luleå kommun and explain why the process developed the way it did. The purpose is thereby to contribute to the understanding of the problems that are associated with local policy making regarding public transportation and sustainable development. Another aim is to test whether MS is applicable in a local context. The empirical material is made up of documents, interviews with policy makers, material from the local newspapers and a survey to the public. It is concluded that the 2002 election to the municipality council was the window of opportunity that finally brought about the introduction of a new bus system. The LIP programme mainly affected the local process in a positive way. It might even have been another reason that the new bus system was realized at this point. There were some problems concerning the institutional arrangement around the LIP programme, which seems to have caused a minor delay in the project. The study also indicates that sustainable development at the local level is associated with many problems. Rhetorically sustainable development is regarded as an important goal, but in reality there are differences about how to view and realize the concept. Sustainable development has been described as ecological, economical and social sustainability in cooperation or that they can be ranked. It is concluded that economical constraints seem to set the conditions in reality. Finally, MS has been found useful in a local context as well. MS have weaknesses concerning how it addresses value based conflicts and institutional arrangements. While this study deals with those problems, it is suggested that more studies should be conducted. / <p>Godkänd; 2006; 20070109 (haneit)</p>

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No description available.

The purpose of this study is to examine the experience that secondary school teachers in Swedenhave of the charter school reform (friskolereformen). The reform meant that charter schools couldcompete on equal terms with municipal schools, the idea being that competition would cut costs andimprove the overall quality of all schools. The main objective of the study is to investigate how thishas affected teachers working for municipal schools, who's main objective remains to cater to thepublic good. Through interviews with several teachers from municipals schools in Uppsala, it'sclear that the reform has had a clear impact on their profession. The municipality's will to reducecosts seem to have increased the workload for the teachers. A lot of new administrative tasks, notregarded as essential educational tasks, have been added. Meanwhile the reputation and salary ofteachers have dropped along with a decreasing collegiality, attributed to lack of time. It appears thatthe teachers are overall dissatisfied with the implementation of the reform but agree thatcompetition can have positive and diversifying effects on the education system. The teachers areabove all sceptical to private companies making profit of students, claiming that it promotes a faultycompetition that tries to attract student not by promising a lot of lessons but rather few lessons andeasy grades. The conclusion is that even teachers in municipal schools have felt the effect of NPMreforms.The teachers feel that their autonomy has decreased and that their profession has sufferedas a consequence of the charter school reform. The bureaucratic and professional logic that hasguided teachers has had to make way for a new market logic.