This contribution shares Ulrich Brand's reliance on critical theories of the state and hegemony. Based on three points of criti-cism, the author argues for a better elaboration of the context of policy making. First, he proposes to consider a broader range of theoretical currents than the interpretive accounts introduced by Brand: (1) A strategic-relational interpretation of historical institutionalism will be introduced, (2) featuring the concept of "periodisation" for a systematic understanding of historically evolving structures. In addition to the introduction of a broader range of theoretical currents, (3) Brand's proposed concept of "selectivities" will be further refined and specified to be better able to grasp the workings of the "institutional condensation of the correlation of forces" in the policy cycle. The proposed conceptualisation of historical-materialist policy analysis will be exemplified by a short stylised example of research on equalityoriented policies in South Africa. (author's abstract)

The concept of co-optation offers vocabulary to discuss how concerns and demands of feminist movements are transformed on their way to, and within, mainstream organizations and policymaking. However, applications of this concept can have problematic implications, failing to grasp the complexity of social change efforts and contributing to divisions, rather than alliances, between different groups that work and fight for gender equality. This article argues that conceptual tools from organizational institutionalism can help to avoid these pitfalls by capturing the ambivalence of organizational change initiatives, and allowing us to identify not only counterintentional effects, but also subtle and unexpected opportunities of organizational gender equality work. I illustrate my arguments with empirical examples from research on gender equality work in Austrian universities.

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Makt är förmågan att förändra och styra, både för Hobbes och för Dahl, om det så är att styra andra eller sin egen tillvaro. Även om deras definitioner i vissa avseenden skiljer sig är den grunden klar. För institutionella ansatser inom statsvetenskaper agerar och verkar människor inom system av formella och informella regler, dessa regler utgörs delvis av formella lagar och normer. Det är i ljuset av detta, institutionernas effekter som kontroll av människor, de kommer att studeras i denna uppsats, specifikt det ögonblick då en förändring av institutionen sker. De för uppsatsen centrala teorierna historisk institutionalism och institutionell RTC ger i viss mån olika bilder och verktyg till analysen. I denna uppsats har två lagförändringar som syftat till att påverka invånarnas beteende på specifika sätt studerats. Avsikten är att på så vis kunna analysera effektiviteten med vilken de genomförts, kunna se vilka krafter som har verkat och vilket utfallet har blivit. Studien har genomförts som en textanalys av det material som varit grunden för besluten och även visst material från berörda myndigheter, från uppföljning av resultatet. Därutöver har en enkel jämförelse gjorts mellan det förväntade resultatet, utifrån regeringens bild, mot faktiska data för att på så viss kunna utröna i fall lagändringarna har haft en inverkan på människors beteende. Resultatet visar att regeringen i båda fallen förändrat rationella incitament. I det ena fallet genom att förändra ekonomiska incitament och i det andra genom att ökat risken att åka fast för missbruk av systemet. Regeringen har i dessa fall inte förmått förändra aktörernas beteende såsom de önskade och förväntade sig.

This is a case study of how old institutionalism tenets of values, and goals shaped Antioch College, the College's Board of Trustees, administrators, faculty and alumni influence the transformational expansion process that changed Antioch from a liberal arts college to a national university. The case study also examines how the pressures of new institutionalism forces of legitimacy and homogeneity directed and influenced Antioch's organizational structuring. Institutional theory is the framework for this study. Selznick's (1949, 1957) old institutional theory, new institutionalism, beginning with Meyer (1977), and the reconciliation of old and new institutionalism (Greenwood & Hinings, 1996) provide the theoretical lens through which the analysis of Antioch College's expansion is studied. Contributions from this study include a better understanding of how institutional theory affects the decisions, and the outcomes, made by key institutional stakeholders in organizational expansion and restructuring. It also demonstrates the advantages of using old and new institutional theories jointly when analyzing organizational motives that include expansion. Finally, this study provides institutional leaders at colleges and universities who are considering organizational expansion items to consider prior to making the decision to expand their institution.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att förstå hur Sveriges feministiska utrikespolitik är tänkt att förändra rådande maktförhållanden. Framförallt hur arbetet med de tre förhållningssätten resurser, rättigheter och representation ska bidra till kvinnors stärkta egenmakt. Studien är en policyanalys av den feministiska utrikespolitiken och det analytiska ramverket är baserat på feministisk institutionalism. Undersökningen utgick från en modifierad version av Naila Kabeers modell av processen för stärkt egenmakt. Där förstås stärkt egenmakt som en förändringsprocess som inträffar samtidigt på individuell, institutionell och strukturell nivå, samt inom dimensionerna resurser, aktörskap och åstadkommanden. Undersökningen visade att den feministiska utrikespolitiken förstår stärkt egenmakt som en självförstärkande process som inträffar inom flera nivåer och dimensioner. De föreslagna åtgärderna berör samtliga nivåer men är koncentrerade till förändringar på institutionell nivå och syftar framförallt till att minska spelutrymmet för informella institutioner. Det är dock inte alltid klart hur detta konkret ska ske. Även om åtgärderna berör samtliga av analysmodellens dimensioner, så förblir det oklart hur den feministiska utrikespolitiken ser på kopplingarna mellan dimensionerna. Eventuellt skulle det kunna innebära att åtgärderna ökar kvinnors tillgång till, och möjlighet att utnyttja, enskilda dimensioner utan att deras egenmakt nödvändigtvis stärks.

Haiti has long been characterized as a fragile state. Particularly since 2004, responses from the international community have focused on Haiti’s stabilization and reconstruction. Post-colonial critiques highlight the constraints imposed by these approaches, but fail to sufficiently explore forms of agency which, by resisting and redirecting external impositions, could promote political, social and economic transformation. The adoption of the National Policy for Equality between Women and Men in Haiti in 2014/15 seems to represent such potentially transformative agency. The primary aim of this research is to understand how national agency and international actors (sometimes neo-colonial) interacted, through particular institutions, to shape the adoption and initial implementation of the National Policy. The second aim is to draw on selected feminist theories (institutional and more critical) to explain these processes and assess the extent to which they represent the emergence of transformative alternatives in the Haitian context.

Members of the diaspora are conflict actors with an agency that is important to include in conflict theories and analysis of international relationships. Scholarship suggests its origins, and thereafter changes in the conflict cycle effect decision-making and mobilization in the diaspora, but the conditions and mechanisms that inform these processes are undertherorized. The Sri Lankan conflict and its Toronto based diasporas are used to explore processes of diasporization and mobilization in the context a changed political landscape. A series of semi-structured interviews and a short survey asks respondents to assess their motivations for mobilization. The comparative work is within and between ethnic groups. New Institutionalism underscores this project. Butler’s (2001) epistemology, Brinkerhoff’s (2005) identity-mobilization framework, the political process model and insights from the New Social Movement literature are used to situate politicized identities and political activism directed toward the homeland. Attention is paid to factor processes.

This thesis explores the capacity of a state feminist institution in a non-Western setting in implementing gender empowerment initiatives. This study adopts a cross-cutting approach using state feminism and a feminist institutional analytical lens especially the idea of formal and informal rules, to develop a dynamic analysis of the factors that shape the capacity of a state feminist institution in a post-colonial context. This research uses a holistic single case study to analyse the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development in Malaysia by examining four key determinants: 1) institutional structure, 2) resources, 3) relationship/network and 4) the WPA’s policies implementation (as shaped by the institutional structure, resources, and relationship) to assess the Ministry’s capacity. This research highlights the variance of capacity level of the Women’s Policy Agency in Malaysia has in the implementation of gender empowerment initiatives within its institutional environment. The WPA demonstrates competency in specific areas of gender empowerment programmes especially economic empowerment but is often constrained in their ability to navigate through a gendered state institution which is highly centralised and strongly hierarchical. Masculinised political culture and institutional socio-religious perspective on gender roles also play a part in weakening the Ministry’s capacity in pushing for gender empowerment initiatives that challenge the conservative outlook of gender roles in society. .This study explores the strengths and constraints of state feminism in Malaysia using feminist institutionalism analytical tools of formal and informal rules as the dynamic interaction between the formal and informal rules in a diverse, developing and semi-democratic context characterise the WPA’s capacity within its institutional setting. This thesis provides important insights on the conditions that shape the WPA’s capacity and alternative understanding of state feminism in a non-Western context, and thereby, provides guidance for gender policy advocates and future practices.

Competing narratives on the “rise and fall of multiculturalism” (Kymlicka 2010) confuse our understanding of the evolution of multiculturalism policy, particularly in the case of federations like Canada and Australia. Part of the issue is the sharp separation between stability and change and prevailing focus on national multiculturalism policies. This overlooks important and simultaneous developments in the constituent units of these two federations. We therefore ask how and why have multiculturalism policies changed in the constituent units of Australia and Canada? First, we argue that amid a noticeable decline in support for multiculturalism on the part of the central government in both countries, constituent unit governments have become a crucial source of multiculturalism policy development in Australia and Canada. Because many of the economic, labour, civil rights and social policy challenges involve state/provincial or shared responsibilities, multiculturalism policies are developed and implemented in large part by constituent units. Thus, we cannot comment on multiculturalism policies in federations without paying attention to the experiences and contributions of constituent units. Second, we argue this process of multiculturalism policy change can be conceptualized along four modes of gradual institutional change referred to as policy drift, layering, displacement, and conversion. These incremental modes of policy change are the result of a distinct combination of contextual, structural, and agency-based factors. More precisely, (1) a shift in the socio-political context marks the opening of a critical juncture as new ideas and demands for reform emerge; (2) institutional rules with separate compliance and enforcement standards structure reform pathways; and (3) the relationship between policy and political entrepreneurship activates the causal mechanisms that consolidate the separate modes of gradual institutional change. The dissertation therefore offers a more complete theoretical explanation of the processes of institutional change, their ideational influences and causal mechanisms through fresh empirical observation. Building on Mahoney and Thelen’s (2010) theory on gradual institutional change, the dissertation applies a process-tracing method over the period 1989 to 2019 to four case studies: Nova Scotia, South Australia, New South Wales, and British Columbia. In sum, generating inquiry that looks beyond national policies allows us to capture concurrent processes happening within and across State/provincial boundaries, which in turn shape their shared citizenship.