The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate if the municipal decision on wind power development can be explained by a model including socioeconomic variables and proxies for the natural environment, using a pooled cross-section data set for Swedish municipalities for the period 2010-2019. The study poses the question whether politicians' decisions-making can be explained by socioeconomic factors. In order to analyse the approving or denying of wind power development in Swedish municipalities, three models are used: the linear probability model, the probit and the logit model. The results show that the Green political party (positively affecting wind power development) and that the unemployment rate, income, population density, protected areas and the affiliations with the Sweden Democrats (negatively affecting the approval rate), has a statistical significant effect on the permissionprocess. Installed capacity of wind power plants seemingly have no impact. Our findings suggest that the municipal decision making is less random than the critics of the municipal veto proposes.

This case study focuses on wind power development in Norrköping using a multi-level governance approach. The aim is to examine the wind power decision-making process from the state to Norrköping municipality and to identify other factors that impact wind power development in the area. A textual analysis comparing national political party platforms and local parties' official stances and interviews has been used to achieve this study's goal. The study shows that the decision-making in vertical multi-level governance is both bottom-up and top-down. It also sheds light on a significant role the Swedish Armed Forces play in this process as an external actor. The study concludes that vertical multi-level governance, including municipal veto, although an important factor, needs to be complemented with external factors to see how it affects wind power development in Norrköping.