Transitioning to a low-carbon energy system includes deploying renewables such as wind power, which has been installed in Sweden since the 1980s. After a 20 to 25-year lifetime, a wind turbine´s end-of-life options come into play, therefore many of the turbines deployed in Sweden prior to 2011 will reach this mark by 2035. To utilize a site´s wind resource in the best possible way, full repowering is considered in an assessment of seven case studies in Swedish municipalities with the highest deployed pre-2011 wind power capacity. Each case study uses various turbine models to evaluate full repowering scenarios. The most profitable scenarios are estimated through the investment over production (I/P) value and the break-even electricity price. The identified municipalities’ comprehensive plans are reviewed in terms of repowering strategies and wind power deployment guidelines. Only three out of seven investigated municipalities consider repowering in comprehensive plans, with Gotland being best prepared in terms of repowering strategies. Strömsund and Eslöv mention repowering in their comprehensive plans with no specific guidelines. Restrictive policies were identified in the municipality of Laholm, where the maximum total height of turbines is 150m, decreasing the potential annual energy production of an analyzed case study by 64%. The municipalities of Falkenberg, Laholm, Piteå, and Åsele do not include repowering in their comprehensive plans. All the simulated repowering scenarios increased the annual energy production of the identified sites by up to 73%, lowered the number of turbines by up to 70%, decreased the wake losses by up to 77%, and decreased the noise level by 10% while increasing the potential shadow flicker by 19%. The results of the study indicate a possible divide between the intention of the municipalities of Eslöv, Strömsund, and Åsele to maximize energy production from wind power at each exploited site on the one hand and the business cases that developers face on the other. The results suggest the turbines which increase energy production the most at already developed sites, are not necessarily the ones with the lowest investment over production (I/P) value or the lowest break-even electricity price.

This thesis identifies the effect of traditional political coalitions on the left-right spectrum in Swedish municipal politics on economic outcomes such as Municipal Revenues, Expenditures, Net-expenditures, Municipal Tax-rates, Unemployment, and the share of Municipal Employment. To do so, varying time spans of Swedish municipal data from 1994-2017 are used in a regression discontinuity design, basing its identification on quasi-random variation created by close municipal elections. The results indicate that the left-leaning Red-Green coalition has no isolated impact on economic variables when considering the entire sample, but seems to have a significant impact on some economic variables compared to others when the sample is restricted to decrease the number of mixed coalitions in the sample. These results indicate that the increase in mixed governing coalitions in recent years could have watered down the clear left-right dimension in Swedish politics found in previous research.

This thesis aims to study the role, function, and responsibility of municipalities in the Swedish total defence during periods of heightened preparedness. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative text analysis, and the material consists of public documents from state actors. The research question formulated is as follows: What role, function, and responsibility are municipalities expected to have within the future total defence during periods of heightened preparedness? To answer the research question, resilience has been used as a theoretical framework. The results show that municipalities are expected to take on a proactive role by working with anticipation and identification, as well as by preventing, mitigating, and preparing for crises. Additionally, municipalities are expected to have an adaptive capability and act reactively by implementing measures and restoring society to normalcy. Furthermore, although the concept of resilience is not explicitly mentioned in the analyzed documents, it is evident that municipalities are expected to have a role, function, and responsibility characterized by resilience within the framework of future total defence. By contributing new knowledge and insights in this area, the study aims to fill the knowledge gaps that previous research has not addressed, while also aspiring to provide ideas for further research and development in the field of total defence and municipal resilience.

Environmental degradation is a coining issue of our time. Hardly any place in the world is spared from its repercussions. Governments on all administrative levels have begun to take action. It has been acknowledged that local governments are playing a key role in combating the sources and adverse effects of environmental degradation. However, there is considerable variation in the extent to which local governments adopt environmental policies and activities. This paper investigates the determinants of local government involvement in the Local Nature Conservation Program (LONA), a nature protection initiative in Sweden, by analyzing a panel data set covering all 290 Swedishmunicipalities from 2010 to 2019. The study aims to contribute to the longstanding debate in the field whether economic or political variables matter more for explaining local differences in environmental policy adoption. For that purpose, four hypotheses have been derived from four competing theories of urban politics - capacity theory; the economic imperatives model; pluralist theory; and regime theory. The hypotheses are tested by building four statistical models using Poisson fixed effects estimation techniques and including functional form transformations and interaction effects. The results found cultural diversity in the local polity, political interest in the constituency, and socioeconomic characteristics of the residents to be the strongest predictors of municipal LONA-involvement. Contrary to previous research findings, municipal administrative capacity and population size are found to have no effect. The influences of fiscal capacity and political orientation of the governing coalition are ambivalent. Hence, whether economic or political variables are more important for LONAinvolvement is inconclusive. Findings suggest that both matter but that their explanatory power seems more pronounced when considering their joint effects. It appears that fiscal characteristics function as opportunity constraints but that the way local governments manage these circumstances is causing the differences between municipal LONAapplication outcomes. Moreover, it seems that LONA has been successful in engaging smaller and fiscally strapped municipalities by helping them overcome the barriers usually associated with these constraints.

The core value of any democracy is the right to freedom of expression and thought. In a system of representative democracy, the citizens vote in regular elections to choose a representative to best govern their interests. Of importance is a chance for citizens to have insight into how the public authorities exercise the power given to them. The principle of public access to information is a fundamental principle in Sweden’s form of government and is supposed to ensure transparency regarding public sector activities. One way to achieve transparency is with the possibility for officials to report alleged illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices directly to the organization, an act known as whistleblowing. The question of possible corruption in Swedish municipalities has become a topic of discussion. A concern for an extensive silence within the public sector from numerous actors such as media and labor organizations has also arisen.  The contribution of this study is to analyze and evaluate the possibilities provided by Swedish municipalities to encourage internal whistleblowing, as previous research stresses its value for the organizational integrity and ethical climate. Applying a qualitative method, the aim of this thesis is to empirically study policies and documents for implemented whistleblowing systems in Swedish municipalities. The results show that the ways vary in which it is made possible for public employees to blow the whistle within their organization. Most of the reporting channels are managed within the municipality. Possibilities for external reporting, which could strengthen review of reported wrongdoings, are limited. The used definition in Swedish municipalities mainly refers to corruption as a behavior that violates the law. The definition is problematic as it might fail to detect other forms of corruption such as nepotism, cronyism, or discrimination. Implemented whistleblowing systems do not guarantee a high sense of protection for a reporting person. A fear of retaliation could therefore have the effect of employees not reporting. The results of this thesis are of great importance as it shows that Swedish municipalities might not gain information of potential wrongdoings and unethical practices.

I början av 2020 drabbar covid-19-pandemin världens befolkning. Den livsfarliga smittan sprids snabbt världen över och forskare och läkemedelsbolag börjar arbeta intensivt för att utveckla ett vaccin som kan stoppa sjukdomens framfart. Knappt ett år senare godkänns världens första vaccin mot covid-19 och massvaccinering inleds. Världens politiker, forskare, epidemiologer och läkare påtalar otaliga gånger att vaccinet är lösningen på pandemin och vikten av att alla som kan ska tacka ja till erbjudandet om att vaccinera sig. Vaccinationsviljan världen över är generellt sett god, men det är också många människor som väljer att inte ta vaccinet och vaccinationsgraden varierar på internationell-, nationell- och lokal nivå. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka om det finns lokala förhållanden som påverkar vacci­nat­ions­graden mot covid-19 i Sveriges kommuner under pandemin och om kommunernas verkliga vacci­nationsgrad avviker från vad som kan förväntas utifrån de lokala förhållandena. Baserat på tidigare studier och teori skapas och testas hypoteser genom att använda linjär regression för att skapa modeller som beskriver förväntad vaccinationsgrad. Studien undersöker sambandet mellan vaccinat­ions­grad och variabler som beskriver könsfördelningen i kommunerna, andel utrikesfödda, befolk­ningens ålder, utbildnings-, inkomst-, och hälsonivå, andel arbetslöshet, valdeltagande och befolk­ningens partisym­pa­tier.  De viktigaste resultaten är att faktorerna andel kvinnor, utrikesfödda, arbetslöshet och hälsonivå korre­lerar negativt med vaccinationsgrad, och faktorerna ålder, utbildningsnivå och valdeltagande korrelerar positivt. I univariat analys förklarar variabeln utrikesfödda 78 procent av skillnaden i vaccinationsgrad mellan kommunerna och valdeltagande förklarar 57 procent av skillnaden. Resultatet i riksdagsvalet 2018 på kommunnivå kan delvis förklara skillnaden i vaccinationsgrad mellan Sveriges kommuner. Utmärkande vid undersökningen av befolkningens partisympatier är att univariat analys med Center­partiet som oberoende variabel enskilt förklarar över 20 procent av skillnaden i vaccinationsgrad.  Baserat på regressionsmodeller beräknas varje kommuns förväntade vaccinationsgrad, vilken jämförs med den verkliga vaccinationsgraden. Haparanda och Ljungby kommun avviker mest positivt respek­tive negativt från sitt förväntade värde (+10,42 procent och -6,10 procent). En möjlig förklaring till kommunernas stora avvikelser är deras geografiska läge och dess påverkan på befolkningens behov av att resa till utlandet. Alla kommuner i Uppsala län har en högre vaccinationsgrad än förväntat, medan alla kommuner i Blekinge län har en lägre vaccinationsgrad än förväntat. En möjlig förklaring är att det beror på länens olika vaccinationsstrategier. / In early 2020, the covid-19 pandemic hit the world. The deadly infection spread rapidly, and researchers and pharmaceutical companies worked intensively to develop a vaccine which could stop the progres­sion of the disease. Barely a year later, the world’s first vaccine against covid-19 is approved and mass vaccination begins. The world’s politicians, researchers, epidemiologists, and medical personnel point out countless times that the vaccine is the solution to the pandemic and the importance of getting vac­cinated. In general, the willingness to get vaccinated is high, but there are also many people who choose not to take the vaccine and the degree of vaccination varies at international, national, and local level. This study aims to investigate whether local conditions affect the vaccination rate against covid-19 in Swedish municipalities during the pandemic, and whether municipalities’ actual vaccination rate devi­ates from what can be expected based on these local conditions. Based on previous studies and theory, hypotheses are created and tested by using linear regression to create models that describe the expected degree of vaccination. The study examines the relationship between vaccination rate and variables that describe gender distribution in the municipalities, proportion of foreign-born, age of population, level of education, income and health, proportion of unemployment, turnout, and the population’s party sym­pathies. The main findings are that the factors proportion of women, foreign-born, unemployment and health level negatively correlate with vaccination rate, and the factors age, level of education and turnout cor­relate positively. In univariate analysis, the variable foreign-born explains 78 percent of the differ­ence in vaccination rate among the municipalities, and turnout explains 57 percent of the difference. The result of the 2018 parliamentary elections at municipal level can partly explain the difference in vac­cination rate between Sweden’s municipalities. Notable when examining the population’s party sym­pathies is that univariate analysis with Centerpartiet as an independent variable individually explains over 20 percent of the difference in vaccination rate. Each municipality’s expected vaccination rate is calculated and compared to the actual vaccination rate based on regression models. The municipalities of Haparanda and Ljungby deviate most from their expected value (+10.42 percent and -6.10 percent). A possible explanation for the municipalities’ large deviations is their geographical location and its impact on the population’s need to travel abroad. All municipalities of Uppsala County have a higher vaccination rate than expected, while all municipalities of Blekinge County have a lower vaccination rate than expected. One possible explanation is that it depends on the counties’ different vaccination strategies.

Ransomware-attacker har blivit ett allt större hot i och med samhällets ständigt pågående digitalisering. Denna studie undersöker vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att förhindra ransomware-attacker mot mindre svenska kommuner. För att åstadkomma detta genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex olika respondenter. De som intervjuades arbetade alla i mindre svenska kommuner och hade god insyn och kunskap kring kommunens IT- och informationssäkerhetsarbete. Materialet analyserades sedan utifrån Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Studien diskuterar både kommunernas attityd till informationssäkerhet samt konstaterar vilka säkerhetsåtgärder som utmärker sig som viktigast. Dessa var skyddade säkerhetskopior, utbildning samt kontinuitetsplaner kopplade till just IT-attacker. / Ransomware attacks have become an increasing threat with the ongoing digitalization of society. This study investigates what factors are important to prevent ransomware attacks against smaller Swedish municipalities. To accomplish this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six different respondents. The interviewees all worked in smaller Swedish municipalities and had good insight and knowledge of the municipality's IT and information security work. The material was then analyzed using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The study discusses both the municipalities' attitude to information security and notes which security measures stand out as most important. These were protected backups, education and continuity plans linked to IT attacks. The paper then concludes with suggestions for further research.

Over the past few decades, the Swedish welfare system has undergone a process of marketization, characterized by the implementation of choice reforms. In order for citizens to be able to utilize their freedom of choice, a set of requirements have to be met. However, while it is argued in the literature that the conditions for choice reforms are worse in rural areas compared to urban areas, there is a lack of empirical studies examining these requirements in a rural Swedish context. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the market diversity requirement and the overproduction requirement in rural Swedish municipalities that have set up a system of choice for home care services in accordance with The Act on Systems of Choice (LOV). The results show that out of the sixteen municipalities included in the study, both requirements for functioning freedom of choice were fulfilled in four rural municipalities. Most commonly, the market diversity requirement was violated because of the absence of multiple established home care service providers. In some municipalities, the same requirement was also violated because providers failed to offer a variety of services. Further, the study shows that because some providers have restricted their operations to certain geographical areas within some municipalities, the ability for rural citizens to utilize their freedom of choice can differ within a municipality. All providers were able to accept new elderly clients, meaning that the overproduction requirement was fulfilled in all sixteen rural municipalities.