The thesis examines the Children’s Centre Programme in England and develops an understanding of its development at national and local level by using Kingdon’s (1995) streams model. Central to the thesis is a case study of the Children’s Centre Programme which looks at influential factors in the development at national level and implementation of the programme in one local authority. Traditionally Kingdon’s (1995) model has been used to understand the way that a wide range of factors interact to enable policy change at national level but a small number of authors have also used the model at local level showing that the range of factors that impact on the local implementation of a policy are also many and varied. One of the most well know aspects of Kingdon’s model is in showing how the problem, policy and politics streams come together to create a window of opportunity which allows or drives policy change and or enactment. This thesis will use the model in a broader sense showing that although this window of opportunity is important the interaction of the three streams is ongoing and not only does it lead to significant policy change but it also informs debates and policy development on an ongoing basis.

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Les recherches en relations industrielles portent rarement sur les politiques publiques du marché du travail. Lorsqu’elles existent, ces recherches s’intéressent généralement à l’efficacité de ces politiques. Or, cette thèse illustre l’importance de comprendre comment se forment les lois et les règlements. Afin de mieux comprendre le processus d’élaboration des politiques publiques, une étude de cas a été réalisée dans le domaine des retraites au Québec et au Canada entre 2003 et 2008. Les retraites ont été ciblées en raison des bouleversements socio-économiques que connaissait le Canada à l’époque, notamment le vieillissement de la population et les fluctuations des rendements des fonds de retraite. Ce sujet a également été retenu car il s’agit d’une compétence partagée entre les paliers gouvernementaux fédéral et provinciaux ainsi que partagée entre le secteur public et privé.Afin d’étudier la question, des théories en relations industrielles et en sciences économiques ont été considérées. C’est toutefois la théorie des courants multiples du politologue américain John Kingdon qui a été retenu comme fondement théorique de cette thèse. Cette théorie, qui postulait que les acteurs voulant influencer les politiques publiques devaient attirer l’attention sur des problèmes, contrôler le débat sur les politiques considérées et se faire des appuis, a été confirmée. La contribution majeure de cette thèse a été d’identifier les différents types d’acteurs impliqués dans le processus d’élaboration de politiques publiques de retraite, les stratégies qu’ils ont employées pour y parvenir et les résultats de leurs efforts. / Research in Industrial Relations rarely focuses on labour market policies. When they do exist, these studies generally focus on the effectiveness of these policies. This thesis illustrates the importance of understanding how these public policies come about. A case study was conducted on pension laws and by-laws in Quebec and Canada between 2003 and 2008 to better understand the process of policymaking. Pensions were targeted because of the dramatic socio-economic changes taking place in Canada at the time, the aging population and changes in pension fund returns for example. This issue was also chosen because it is a responsibility shared between the federal and provincial governments and between the public and private sectors. To study the issue, Industrial Relations and Economics theories were considered. However, John Kingdon’s Multiple Stream theory was chosen as the theoretical basis of this thesis. Kingdon is an American political scientist. His theory, which postulates that political entrepreneurs need to attract attention on problems, control the debate on considered policies and gain support for their views if they want to influence public policy. The results of the case study confirm Kingdon’s theory. The major contribution of this thesis was to identify the different types of actors involved in the pension policymaking process, the strategies these actors have used to achieve their goals and the results of their efforts.

Les recherches en relations industrielles portent rarement sur les politiques publiques du marché du travail. Lorsqu’elles existent, ces recherches s’intéressent généralement à l’efficacité de ces politiques. Or, cette thèse illustre l’importance de comprendre comment se forment les lois et les règlements. Afin de mieux comprendre le processus d’élaboration des politiques publiques, une étude de cas a été réalisée dans le domaine des retraites au Québec et au Canada entre 2003 et 2008. Les retraites ont été ciblées en raison des bouleversements socio-économiques que connaissait le Canada à l’époque, notamment le vieillissement de la population et les fluctuations des rendements des fonds de retraite. Ce sujet a également été retenu car il s’agit d’une compétence partagée entre les paliers gouvernementaux fédéral et provinciaux ainsi que partagée entre le secteur public et privé.Afin d’étudier la question, des théories en relations industrielles et en sciences économiques ont été considérées. C’est toutefois la théorie des courants multiples du politologue américain John Kingdon qui a été retenu comme fondement théorique de cette thèse. Cette théorie, qui postulait que les acteurs voulant influencer les politiques publiques devaient attirer l’attention sur des problèmes, contrôler le débat sur les politiques considérées et se faire des appuis, a été confirmée. La contribution majeure de cette thèse a été d’identifier les différents types d’acteurs impliqués dans le processus d’élaboration de politiques publiques de retraite, les stratégies qu’ils ont employées pour y parvenir et les résultats de leurs efforts. / Research in Industrial Relations rarely focuses on labour market policies. When they do exist, these studies generally focus on the effectiveness of these policies. This thesis illustrates the importance of understanding how these public policies come about. A case study was conducted on pension laws and by-laws in Quebec and Canada between 2003 and 2008 to better understand the process of policymaking. Pensions were targeted because of the dramatic socio-economic changes taking place in Canada at the time, the aging population and changes in pension fund returns for example. This issue was also chosen because it is a responsibility shared between the federal and provincial governments and between the public and private sectors. To study the issue, Industrial Relations and Economics theories were considered. However, John Kingdon’s Multiple Stream theory was chosen as the theoretical basis of this thesis. Kingdon is an American political scientist. His theory, which postulates that political entrepreneurs need to attract attention on problems, control the debate on considered policies and gain support for their views if they want to influence public policy. The results of the case study confirm Kingdon’s theory. The major contribution of this thesis was to identify the different types of actors involved in the pension policymaking process, the strategies these actors have used to achieve their goals and the results of their efforts.

Föreliggande avhandling studerar kommunala policyprocesser i en fråga där ett flertal olika policyområden ingår: övergången till alternativa drivmedel i kollektivtrafiken. Genom att undersöka hur och varför sådana policyer utvecklats i två kommuner bidrar studien dels till att förklara hur policy utvecklas på kommunal nivå; dels till att skapa förståelse för policyskapande där olika policyområden ingår. Genom fallstudier har policyprocesserna vid övergången till biogas i stadsbusstrafiken i Linköpings och Helsingborgs kommuner undersökts. Studien är processorienterad och fokuserar huvudsakligen på hur och varför aktörer, utifrån sina resurser, intressen, problemdefinitioner och lösningar, kan påverka policy. Resultaten visar hur policyprocesserna vid övergången till biogas präglats av traditionella policyområden där aktörer, intressen och resurser skilt sig åt beroende på sektor. Samtidigt visar avhandlingen att en sammankoppling mellan policyområdena för energi, miljö och transport varit väsentligt för att aktörer skulle kunna driva igenom sina förslag. För att göra detta har gränsgångare – policyentreprenörer som gått över gränserna för de tre policyområdena – varit centrala genom att initiera breda samarbeten där aktörer företrädande energi, miljö och kollektivtrafik identifierat och eftersträvat ett gemensamt mål. / This thesis studies municipal policy processes where several policy sectors are involved: the transition to alternative fuels in public transport. Examining how and why those policies have developed in two municipalities, the study will contribute to explain how policy are shaped on a municipal level and also contribute to further knowledge of policy processes where different sectors are involved. Through case studies, the policy processes concerning the introduction of biogas in city buses in the municipalities of Linköping and Helsingborg have been studied. The study is process oriented and mainly focuses on how and why actors with their resources, interests, problem definitions and solutions, can influence policy. The results show that the processes consisted of traditional policy sectors where actors, interests and resources differed between the sectors. In addition, the thesis shows that a connection between the energy, environment and transport policy sectors has been essential for policy development. Boundary walkers – that is, policy entrepreneurs that crossed the boundaries between the three sectors – have been central to initiate broad collaborations where actors representing energy, environment and public transport identified and strived to a common goal.

The goal of this thesis is to explain the current dynamical development of the energy policy of the EU with the focus on the gas sector. Furthermore, this work examines what role in that process plays the European Commission. Lastly, it seeks to ascertain whether the EU's energy policy has a real impact on the development of the gas markets of Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Lithuania. The first two questions are answered with the aid of John W. Kingdon's Multiple stream theory. The conclusion has it that the key role in the creation of the EU's energy policy was taken up by the European Commission, which can be described as the Kingdon's policy entrepreneur. As a true entrepreneur the Commission attempted to build the way for the creation of the single EU gas market, which would be based on sufficient cross-border infrastructure and diversified gas imports. Such a conclusion is supported by the Commission's activities leading to the adoption of important energy legislation, as the third energy package, and essential funds as were European Energy Programme for Recovery and the Connecting Europe Facility. Latter, this work looks into the third research question. On the case studies of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Lithuania it proves, that the outputs of the entrepreneur activities of the Commission...

Advisory Bodies and Expertise in the Czech Politics - Epistemic Communities and the Influence on the Reforms of Higher Education and Pension System Master thesis Bc. Kateřina Merklová The Master thesis Advisory Bodies and Expertise in the Czech Politics - Epistemic Communities and the Influence on the Reforms of Higher Education and Pension System concerns with the relation between politics and expertise. So-called epistemic community represents the knowledge interpreter that we consider an independent actor in the political process. In the theoretical part of the text, we have explained the original definition of the concept as well as its critics and case studies that cover various contexts. Following most of the authors, we have applied a looser definition of the concept and deconstructed its rigid criteria. The empirical part of the thesis presents a case study (N=4) based on comparative methods that analyzes variable influence of four particular epistemic communities (the authors of the White Paper on Tertiary Education, Bezdek's Committee, Bezdek's Committee II, and the National Economic Council) on policy-making process and its sources. Regarding our intention and research questions, we have chosen two qualitative methods - in-depth interviews and content analysis of relevant texts. We have...