In our study, Kneeling between the lines. A quantitative content analysis of how Swedish press portrays begging, we aim to investigate how Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet, two Swedish national newspapers, with different ideological orientations, portray begging during the last year. Also, we intend to discuss the relationship between the newspapers' production of begging and the view of the Swedish welfare state.The purpose of this study is broken down into three questions: How are beggars portrayed in the two examined newspapers? Who/whom influence the discussion about begging in the two examined newspapers? How is the phenomenon explained in the two examined newspapers? – who/whom is responsible and what solutions are discussed? The method of the study is a quantitative content analysis, inspired by qualitative elements. We have analyzed 118 articles in total.Based on statistical generalizations, articles from both newspapers portray beggars in an inferior position. Also, it is unusual for those who personalize the phenomenon to influence the news reports. In Svenska Dagbladet, beggars are described in a more destructive and threatening position in comparison to Aftonbladet. In Aftonbladet, the cause of begging is commonly described as a problem of poverty or discrimination while in Svenska Dagbladet it is also portrayed as a consequence of drug abuse and human trafficking. The advocated solutions differbetween the papers. Aftonbladet proposes humanitarian actions while Svenska Dagbladet more often suggests juridical solutions such as a national ban. Based on a more socialist perspective on the welfare state, it is possible to concluded that Aftonbladet tends to have a more altruistic view of the phenomenon. This means that the Swedish state should support third parties without necessarily counting on something in return. Svenska Dagbladet, a newspaper which is more on the right in the ideological scale, appears to primarily advocate Swedish welfare to Swedish citizens.

This thesis aimed to describe how the ideological dividing line concerning the welfare state has changed between the two largest governmental parties in Sweden, the Social Democrats and the Moderaterna, during 1990 to 2010. The scientist Mark Blyth points out that ideas are important instruments for structural and institutional change by identifying ideas as weapons, blueprints and cognitive locks, which were being used in the theoretical framework. The empirical data was made by a qualitative analysis of the parliamentary speeches and debates from both parties held every year. The results shows that the budgetary law passed in 1997 became a new institutional blueprint, which changed the political conditions for the Social Democrats. Furthermore, the results point to a change in the Moderaterna’s rhetoric concerning the welfare state to a more pragmatic view.

Market reforms have quite notably been used as a solution to increase the quality of public services and efficiency since the 1990s. Sweden has also introduced marketisation in the field of elderly care since 1992 to cope with increasing care needs while maintaining costs at a reasonable level. Yet, the introduction of a market mechanism in the welfare state is subject to increasing political and public debates. Many are sceptical about the purported benefits of a market, such as increased quality and reduced costs, as proposed by New Public Management. There have also been increasing critiques of the profit-making in care services in recent years. After two decades of marketisation, it is worthwhile to map out local politicians’ attitude patterns, namely, how they perceive the use of a market or quasi-market in a welfare state, where the market mechanism might challenge traditional principles such as universalism, solidarity, and equality. Complementary to studies on attitudes of public welfare, this research uses a unique survey dataset from 2014 to expand current understandings of politicians’ perspectives of marketisation. To be more specific, this study analyses three different aspects of marketisation: production, regulation, and financing. The results show that attitudinal differences between left- and right-wing politicians on private for-profit providers remain distinct. Political orientations of individuals, political majority in municipalities, and the privatisation level already achieved locally are identified as important factors in explaining local politicians’ willingness to privatise further. The preference differences continue to exist between the two blocs, and political ideology plays a major role in explaining these differences, more so than individual factors such as age, gender, or working position. Self-reported answers reveal that political ideology influences attitude formation. To a large extent, left- and right-wing politicians agree on welfare principles such as universalism, and they both recognise potential impacts that the market could have on society, such as inequality. It seems plausible that welfare state pluralism is the direction of the future. This case study serves as a solid example for examining the market development of public welfare in advanced welfare states and also contributes to the discussion of the potential role of political ideology in post-austerity welfare reforms. / Marknadsreformer har i ökande grad använts som en lösning för att öka effektiviteten och kvaliteten på offentliga tjänster sedan 1990-talet. I Sverige har också en gradvis marknadsanpassning ägt rum från tidigt 1990-tal med syfte att klara av ökade vårdbehov och för att upprätthålla kostnaderna på en rimlig nivå. Införandet av marknadsmekanismer i välfärdsstaten har blivit föremål för en livlig offentlig debatt. Många debattörer har varit klart skeptiska till de påstådda fördelarna med en marknadsanpassning, såsom förbättrad kvalitet och reducerade kostnader, som bland annat hävdats av New Public Managementskolans anhängare. Samtidigt har också skett en växande kritik av vinstuttagen och vinsttillväxten inom offentligfinansierad vård och omsorg de senaste åren. Efter två årtionden av marknadsanpassning är det motiverat att kartlägga lokalpolitikernas attityder, avseende hur de ser på den ökande marknadsanpassningen av den traditionella välfärdsstaten, där marknadsmekanismen kan utmana principer som universalism, solidaritet och jämställdhet. Förutom tidigare analyser av attityder beträffande offentlig välfärd är denna studie baserad på en unik enkätundersökning riktad till svenska kommunpolitiker genomförd 2014 i syfte att undersöka politikernas syn på de ökade marknadsinslagen inom offentlig äldreomsorg. Studien analyserar tre olika aspekter av marknadsanpassningen: produktion, reglering och finansiering. Resultatet visar att skillnaderna i attityder mellan vänster - och högerpolitiker avseende inslaget av privata vinstdrivande tjänsteleverantörer är mycket tydligt. Individernas politiska tillhörighet, politisk majoritet i kommunerna och privatiseringsnivån identifieras som viktiga faktorer för att förklara lokala politikernas villighet att öka privatiseringsgraden ytterligare. Det finns tydliga preferensskillnader mellan de två blocken och den politiska ideologin spelar en övergripande roll, medan individuella faktorer som ålder, kön eller politisk position spelar en klart mindre roll. Att ideologin är viktig konfirmeras även av politikernas självskattning avseende vilken betydelse olika faktorer har haft för deras attityder. I hög grad finns en samstämmighet mellan vänster- och högerpolitiker avseende välfärdsprinciper som universalism, och både blocken anser att marknaden kan bidra till ökad ojämlikhet i samhället. Det verkar troligt att välfärdsstatspluralismen är riktningen för framtiden. Denna fallstudie kan utgöra ett exempel för studier av marknadsanpassning i offentlig välfärd i avancerade välfärdsstater. Studien kan också bidra till diskussioner om den politiska ideologins potentiella roll för reformer av välfärdsstaten.

Uppsatsen handlar om hur välfärdsstaten förändrats sedan slutet av nittiotalet. Arbetet fokuserar på frågor om arbetsmarknad, arbetslöshet och arbets- marknadspolitik men även på hur sociala investeringar kan förstås som ett nytt sätt att se på sociala insatser. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av Jürgen Habermas arbeten om det senkapitalistiska samhällets framväxt, välfärdsstatens förutsättningar och begreppen legitimitet och legitimitetskriser. Uppsatsens syfte är att visa hur man med hjälp av Habermas teorier om det senkapitalistiska samhällets utveckling, legitimitet och legitimitetskriser kan förstå en välfärdsstat under press och framväxten av en aktiveringspolitik. Som en del av detta undersöks i arbetet sociala investeringar som ett socialt fenomen. Arbetet är en litteraturstudie med en teoretisk inriktning och inspiration har tagits från ett kritiskt, undersökande arbetssätt. Den viktigaste slutsatsen är att sociala investeringar kan förstås som en legitimerande insats och som en reaktion för att hantera minskad tilltro till välfärdsstaten.

The purpose of the study is to understand whether, and if so why, the Swedish medical profession's position on the availability and shortage of doctors during the 1950s and 1960s could be interpreted as an expression of an overall common mentality within the medical profession. The start and end points of the study (1950 and 1970) cover the emergence of the Swedish welfare state. The emergence of the welfare state is the contextual background to this study and how that influenced the medical profession's social status and perception of the future role of their own profession. The source material for the study is mainly from the Swedish medical journal (Svenska Läkartidningen) and meeting minutes from various Swedish medical organisations, primarily the Swedish Medical Association (Sveriges Läkarförbund). Government public inquiries, government bills and the daily press have also been analysed. The analysis is based on three central proposals for action from the government to secure the future supply of doctors and stem the shortage of doctors. The proposals were the transfer of foreign doctors to Sweden, the expansion of education of doctors and the reorganisation of the Swedish health care system. The study shows that the argumentation from the Swedish medical profession against all proposals from the government consisted of several different rhetorical manoeuvres to exercise social closure. Another conclusion is that until the mid-1960s, both the Swedish Association of Young Doctors and the Swedish Medical Association acted mainly as professional associations, rather than as traditional trade unions regarding the expansion of the medical profession. From the mid-1960s, there are tendencies indicating that the association more began to resemble a traditional trade union. However, professional issues such as improvement in the profession, demands for exclusivity, social status and issues of legitimisation appear to have been more important throughout the period than more traditional trade union issues such as pay, employment conditions and the working environment. The professions' opposition to increasing the number of doctors, regardless of the method proposed by the government and responsible authorities, was characterised by a clear guild spirit. The study shows that the medical organisation arguments against the various proposals were driven by union strategies, attitudes, and norms and in some cases ideology. The mentality of medical professional representatives and individual doctors was influenced by the professional status of the medical profession with inherent norms and attitudes based on the doctors' self-perceived expertise and scientifically anchored professional identity. A central conclusion from the study is that the main rhetorical line of the professional representatives was that more doctors were neither desirable nor needed in the medical profession and therefore most of the arguments against an expanded medical profession were based on some form of protectionism. This was justified by the profession by using historical analogies and by conducting their own 'objective and scientific' investigations. A right-wing based criticism of society at the time and a fundamentally conservative view of the economy, the tax system and the expansion of the welfare state also served as rhetorical tools from the medical profession in the debate on the shortage of doctors.

The refugeecrisis was a turning point in Swedish exceptionalism a discursive shift has somehowoccurred within the Swedish policy debate and mainstream media whereby the '(im)migrant' isconstructed as a potential security threat. To achieve the goal of the 'security' concerns of thisthesis, a theoretical framework of the social constructivist perspective is to assess howsecuritization is discursively constructed within discursive power relations among differentsocietal actors an d to understand identifying conditions that potentially have enabled this shift.Herein, this research synthesizes media content and political opinion to analyze the shaping andchang ing of the discourse on securitizing migration between 2014 and 2017 by blending qualitativecontent analysis with critical discourse analysis. One of the conclusions reached is the analysishighlights discourses once propagated and shifted gradually in the political sphere and in a sensea certain group of immigrants is constructed as an existential threat within it.

Denna studie har undersökt advokaters uppfattning och erfarenheter av straffrabattens avskaffande för unga lagöverträdare mellan 18-20 år. Studiens syfte var att undersöka på vilket sätt advokater upplever att avskaffandet av straffrabatten har medfört några konsekvenser samt hur lagändringen fungerat i praktiken och hur lagändringen framställs av advokaterna. Studiens undersökningsmetod var semistrukturerade intervjuer, och resultatet analyserades med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultatet visade att advokaterna beskrev konsekvenser på flera nivåer och tre teman utvecklades ur materialet: konsekvenser för de unga lagöverträdarna, konsekvenser för advokater samt konsekvenser för samhället. Studiens slutsats är att advokaterna ställer sig kritiska till lagändringen, något som kan förklaras både utifrån ett instrumentellt perspektiv och ett rättighetsperspektiv. / This study has examined lawyers' perceptions and experiences of the abolition of the penalty discount for young offenders aged 18-20 years. The purpose of the study was to investigate how lawyers perceive the abolition of the penalty discount to have brought about any consequences, as well as how the legal amendment operates in practice and how it is portrayed by the lawyers. The study’s research method was semi-structured interviews, and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the lawyers described consequences on multiple levels and three themes developed from the material: consequences for young offenders, consequences for lawyers, and consequences for society. The study's conclusion is that lawyers are critical of the legal amendment, which can be explained from both an instrumental perspective and a perspective of human rights.

This essay explores if and how welfare attitudes in Sweden and in the United Kingdom have changed since the 1990s. Due to an increase in privatization and globalisation during the last 20-30 years, Sweden has become more economically liberal or right wing, aligning more with countries like the United Kingdom. The question therefore is to see if Sweden’s welfare attitudes have changed to become more like the welfare attitudes in the United Kingdom. There is a lack of research on how welfare attitudes change over time, as earlier research has focused more on comparison between countries or between groups. This essay uses empirical data from The International Social Survey Programme, in which three surveys from the years of 1996, 2006 and 2016 has been selected. In these surveys respondent have been asked how much responsibility they think the government should have for its citizens. The results show that the development in welfare attitudes in Sweden and United Kingdom are remarkably similar to each other. The analysis of the empirical data showed no differences between Sweden and the United Kingdom in welfare attitudes across all time periods. Compared to 1996, most groups in these countries wanted less state intervention in welfare generosities which is meant to aid poorer and more economically vulnerable people in their own society.

<p>Gender politics in Sweden is considered unique because gender policies (jämställdhet) are integrated into national politics and politicised both in the public and the private sphere. The Swedish case is therefore considered a role model by many feminist scholars.</p><p>This view has been criticised by both post modern feminists and public administration scholars. Critics imply that the increased immigration and more heterogeneous population have led to a new challenge for state institutions. The Swedish model, with its universal welfare solutions, lacks the ability to recognise differences within groups. Universal solutions that treat everyone the same is no longer the most just way to treat people.</p><p>The growing use of goal orientation in Swedish public administration has increased the civil servants discretion in the implementation process, and thereby the space for differentiated treatment. This thesis aims to study the civil servants that implement gender policies in every day practice. It is focused on their interpretations of gender and gender equality and how this affects their exercise of authority. The thesis is a case study of two authorities in a heterogeneous area – the northern part of Botkyrka.</p><p>By using a two-fold theoretical approach and combine two perspectives, feminism and a policy analysis, the study analyses how the front-line bureaucrats handle the tension between the universal welfare politics and the demands of the immigrants. The first theoretical approach presents two different feminist perspectives: one that values economic redistribution and one that find it more fair to recognise differences between women. The second approach introduces theories on implementation that makes it possible to study how interpretations have an impact on the exercise of authority in front-line bureaucracies.</p><p>The main result of the study is that the front-line bureaucrats’ interpretations differ from the national gender politics. They have a more differentiated view of women than the universal Swedish gender politics. The study also shows that front-line bureaucrats tend to attribute negative cultural factors to immigrants. These prejudices find their way through the bureaucracy, into the public administration and the exercise of authority.</p>

This thesis has analysed the relations among the women’s movement, the state and the labour market policy during and shortly after the Second World War and to what extent this period can be characterised as a formative phase as regards gender relations. The aim has been to study women’s strategic actions in order to influence the Swedish Government’s labour market policy in the period from 1939 to 1947. The thesis shows the conflicts of interest that manifested themselves between Statens arbetsmarknadskommission (SAK, ‘the National Swedish Labour Market Commission’) and its advisory women’s group, experts on women’s issues, concerning the planning and utilisation of female labour. SAK thought that the work of the experts on female issues should only focus on the short-term labour problems caused by the national crisis situation, while the experts on women’s issues were of the opinion that they should also work with long-term labour-market issues for women. These different ways of thinking and understanding the problem originated in different views on women’s work. The experts on women’s issues wanted to strengthen women’s position on the labour market by abolishing the wage differences between the genders, breaking the gender segregation in education, and broadening the occupational choices of girls. They had three strategies for achieving this: a strategy of professionalisation, a strategy of change, and a strategy of state feminism. The strategy of professionalisation was aimed at raising the value of traditional female work, in terms of both status and wages. The strategy of change was aimed at creating new opportunities for women to leave typical low-wage jobs and gain access to better paid jobs in male-dominated areas. The strategy of state feminism was aimed at paving the way for women in new and expanding occupational areas beside the traditional male occupations. Can the period during and shortly after the war be characterised as a formative phase of the issue of gender relations? It is evident that this period did not involve a revolution of the societal gender order. The idea of women as reserve labour did not disappear. The post-war planners considered that, in the transition to peace, the women who had replaced men who were called up should be redeployed or retrained for employment in household work, in hotels, restaurants and cafés, in shops and in health care. In spite of the great shortage of labour in the post-war period, leading politicians and economists stuck to old ways of thinking. A clear indication on the part of the Government was that the women’s movement’s demand for long-term planning in order to utilise female labour was turned down. One important difference from the First World War was that the Government produced peace plans for women’s work during the Second World War. The period also led to ideological and institutional consequences that could be the beginning of a change of the societal gender order. From her central position in Kommissionen för ekonomisk efterkrigsplanering (‘the Commission for economic post-war planning’), Karin Kock could see to it that women’s demands for greater occupational mobility and a loosening up of the gender division of labour had an impact on the post-war planning of the war years. The experiences of women in male industries in the Second World War, both in Sweden and abroad, showed to some extent that it was possible to change the gender division of labour. The modern welfare state also came to correspond to a great extent to the state feminist strategy of the experts on women’s issues. With the historical formation of the welfare state a new type of occupational groups developed, the so-called welfare state professionals.