Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Wei-Na Lee. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

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The arrival of the modern matron into the NHS acute setting in 2001 was in response to increased public and political concern regarding standards of nursing care and the quality of patient care. As a politically motivated initiative, the modern matron role and its relationship with the concept of the traditional matron has been extensively debated. The aims of this study were to explore: 1. How far the modern matron represents continuity between the traditional matrons of the mid 20th century and the present day. 2. What socio-political forces led to the development and establishment of the modern matron? 3. From the perspective of health professionals, what impact has the modern matron had on the quality of patient care? Adopting a case study design underpinned by realistic evaluation, the study involved interviewing patients and a carer, a focus group and interviews with staff and national policy leads. Documentary analysis was undertaken on a set of traditional matron archives. A number of key themes emerged from the research, including: the importance of uniform and visibility, patient expectations, the impact of policy processes and the political rationale for national policy change. Conflict between ensuring nursing quality and operational demands, which acts as a barrier to the modern matron role, was also found. Long-held assumptions about the functions and the positioning of the traditional matron are explored, with continuity and divergence between the traditional and modern matron roles revealed. Using a realistic evaluation approach, the findings were framed whilst considering the structural and generative elements, which resulted in social interplay or visible phenomena and provided an explanation for the predicament of the modern matron. The key conclusions were that national policy decisions appeared to be diluted once locally implemented. Modern matrons in part did positively impact on care quality. The introduction of modern matrons and the quality agenda may have been the start of a national discussion about how to continually improve patient care in an arena where intermittent care quality challenges which give concern. The effect of previous national policies that impacted on senior nurses may have diverted them away from their core purpose – patient care. The modern matron guidance may have been limited before publication by the inference within it about limiting the authority of the new post-holders. There was limited evidence of the modern matrons’ visibility to patients and this was reflected by the traditional matron’s accounts. The expectation of modern matrons’ physical presence may have been drawn from assumptions embedded in nostalgia and media portrayal of the traditional matron. The thesis concludes with implications for strategic nurse leaders and national policy leads to consider how the organisational arrangements for secondary care can best support and secure the ultimate aim of consistent provision of good quality nursing care.

<p>The objective for this study is to examine whether it is possible to use the method of reflective equilibrium in order to enhance the usefulness of public debates as a support for political decision-making. Since public debates from political quarters are seen as an important tool for policy-making, the need for a rational assessment of the views put forward in such debates are important. And since reflective equilibrium aims for coherence between judgments on different levels – intuitions, principles and theories, which all are put forward in public debates – the point of departure for this theses is that this method could be useful for the matter of bringing some kind of structure to public debates.</p><p>The analysis in this study shows that there actually are similarities between the method of reflective equilibrium and the course of public debates, since they both are characterized by the fact that viewpoints are mutually scrutinized in the light of one another. Further, it is argued that a more systematic applying of the method of reflective equilibrium would further the justification force of the outcome of public debates, since the method stresses the need of rationality and the importance of taking all relevant opinions into consideration. Therefore, the conclusion is that applying reflective equilibrium to public debates could make the political decision-making more democratic.</p>

<p>On the 13th of June 2005 the Minister of Defence, Leni Björklund, was subjected to a formal complaint addressed to the Committee on the Constitution concerning her handling of a specific co-operation project with France. The project concerned the development of a technology demonstrator for an UCAV called Neuron. The reason for the complaint was that the Minister of Defence had failed to present the project to the parliament and thus bypassed a parliamentary decision. Such negligence might be considered unlawful under the Swedish Constitution. The issue became public during an unscheduled meeting with the Committee on Defence, a meeting that was arranged at the request of the Minister of Defence. During that meeting the Minister announced that the Government in a couple of days planned to take the decision to “go ahead” with the Neuron project without a formal decision by the Parliament. The then estimated cost for the project was about 700 million SEK. The “verdict” from the Committee on the Constitution was “not guilty” according to the Constitution. The Committee on the Constitution limits its investigations to the relation between the Parliament and the Government, which is its main task. The purpose of my essay is to investigate the relation between  the Government and the Swedish Armed Forces. This investigation is conducted in order to find out what kind of role the Armed Forces as a Government Agency has played in the formulation of defence policy regarding the Neuron project. The foundation of a representative democratic system is based on the premise that the formulation of political objectives is the exclusive right of politicians. Only the elected politicians are supposed to have this power, since they are performing their duties on a mandate from the electorate, the people. The formulation of political objectives is, according to this foundation, not something that civil servants, in or out of uniform, should be doing. If and when that however happens we are facing what is normally called “a democratic black hole”.  </p><p>In order to fulfil the purpose of my essay I investigate the communication between the Government and the Armed Forces. The empirical study is performed on two kinds of documents from the Armed Forces. These documents are regularly used as basis for the Government’s decisions and propositions to the Parliament. The first kind is the Armed Force’s yearly reports concerning Long Term Planning, the second kind is documents that the Government needs for the yearly Budgetary Proposition. Both documents are wholly or partly prepared according to instructions from the Government.</p> / <p>Den 13 juni 2005 blir försvarsminister Leni Björklund KU - anmäld för sin sätt att hantera ett svenskt deltagande i projektet Neuron. Neuron-projektet handlar om försvarsmaterielsamarbete med Frankrike om att utveckla en demonstrator av en UCAV, obemannad beväpnad flygfarkost, som kallas Neuron. Anmälan handlar om att försvarsministern och därmed regeringen inte har givit riksdagen möjlighet att fatta beslut om Neuron-projektet. Regeringen hade inte med Neuron-projektet i någon proposition som riksdagen har kunnat ta ställning till, innan den 13 juni 2005. Hela frågan uppdagas när försvarsministern den 7 juni 2005 sammankallar riksdagens försvarsutskott. Vid detta möte informerar försvarsministern utskottets ledamöter om att regeringen har för avsikt att två dagar senare fatta beslut om att inleda samarbetet med Frankrike om Neuron-projektet som då ska kosta ca. 700 miljoner kronor. När KU har granskat frågan färdigt, våren 2006 blir försvarsministern trots allt inte fälld för ”brott” mot Regeringsformen. KU granskade enbart relationen mellan regeringen och riksdagen. Det jag gör i uppsatsen är att granska relationen mellan regeringen och Försvarsmakten. Detta görs för att pröva de tidigare leden i det som kallas den demokratiska styrkedjan och som beskriver hur makt och ansvar bör gå till i en folkstyrd demokrati. Den demokratiska styrkedjan består av: Folket, Riksdagen, Regeringen, Förvaltningen</p><p>Med förvaltningen menas myndigheterna. Styrningen, dvs. maktutövningen, förutsätts gå från vänster till höger, medan ansvarigheten skall gå i den motsatta riktningen. Om det uppstår brott i kedjan eller om den ’börjar gå baklänges’ uppstår något av en ’demokratins svarta hål’.  I Regeringsformen stadgas att regeringen styr riket och att myndigheterna, exempelvis Försvarsmakten, lyder under regeringen. Grundtanken vad gäller relationen mellan regering och myndigheter är att politikerna styr genom att formulera mål och riktlinjer för myndigheterna, medan myndigheterna genomför de politiska målen. Kedjan går baklänges om det istället skulle vara så att myndigheterna börjar formulera målen.</p><p>Efter KU:s granskning stod det klart att det inte fanns något formellt problem mellan riksdagen och regeringen när det gäller hur makt och ansvar hanterades. KU granskade inte, som nämnts ovan, relationen mellan regeringen och Försvarsmakten vilket är det jag gör i uppsatsen. I uppsatsen undersöker jag de underlag Försvarsmakten överlämnar till regeringen. Dessa är årliga budgetunderlag och PerP-rapporter. Budgetunderlagen utarbetas helt efter regeringens anvisningar medan PerP-rapporterna har en dubbelroll. De är både Försvarsmaktens egen perspektivplanering och i delar utarbetade efter regeringens anvisningar.</p>

The objective for this study is to examine whether it is possible to use the method of reflective equilibrium in order to enhance the usefulness of public debates as a support for political decision-making. Since public debates from political quarters are seen as an important tool for policy-making, the need for a rational assessment of the views put forward in such debates are important. And since reflective equilibrium aims for coherence between judgments on different levels – intuitions, principles and theories, which all are put forward in public debates – the point of departure for this theses is that this method could be useful for the matter of bringing some kind of structure to public debates. The analysis in this study shows that there actually are similarities between the method of reflective equilibrium and the course of public debates, since they both are characterized by the fact that viewpoints are mutually scrutinized in the light of one another. Further, it is argued that a more systematic applying of the method of reflective equilibrium would further the justification force of the outcome of public debates, since the method stresses the need of rationality and the importance of taking all relevant opinions into consideration. Therefore, the conclusion is that applying reflective equilibrium to public debates could make the political decision-making more democratic.

On the 13th of June 2005 the Minister of Defence, Leni Björklund, was subjected to a formal complaint addressed to the Committee on the Constitution concerning her handling of a specific co-operation project with France. The project concerned the development of a technology demonstrator for an UCAV called Neuron. The reason for the complaint was that the Minister of Defence had failed to present the project to the parliament and thus bypassed a parliamentary decision. Such negligence might be considered unlawful under the Swedish Constitution. The issue became public during an unscheduled meeting with the Committee on Defence, a meeting that was arranged at the request of the Minister of Defence. During that meeting the Minister announced that the Government in a couple of days planned to take the decision to “go ahead” with the Neuron project without a formal decision by the Parliament. The then estimated cost for the project was about 700 million SEK. The “verdict” from the Committee on the Constitution was “not guilty” according to the Constitution. The Committee on the Constitution limits its investigations to the relation between the Parliament and the Government, which is its main task. The purpose of my essay is to investigate the relation between  the Government and the Swedish Armed Forces. This investigation is conducted in order to find out what kind of role the Armed Forces as a Government Agency has played in the formulation of defence policy regarding the Neuron project. The foundation of a representative democratic system is based on the premise that the formulation of political objectives is the exclusive right of politicians. Only the elected politicians are supposed to have this power, since they are performing their duties on a mandate from the electorate, the people. The formulation of political objectives is, according to this foundation, not something that civil servants, in or out of uniform, should be doing. If and when that however happens we are facing what is normally called “a democratic black hole”.   In order to fulfil the purpose of my essay I investigate the communication between the Government and the Armed Forces. The empirical study is performed on two kinds of documents from the Armed Forces. These documents are regularly used as basis for the Government’s decisions and propositions to the Parliament. The first kind is the Armed Force’s yearly reports concerning Long Term Planning, the second kind is documents that the Government needs for the yearly Budgetary Proposition. Both documents are wholly or partly prepared according to instructions from the Government. / Den 13 juni 2005 blir försvarsminister Leni Björklund KU - anmäld för sin sätt att hantera ett svenskt deltagande i projektet Neuron. Neuron-projektet handlar om försvarsmaterielsamarbete med Frankrike om att utveckla en demonstrator av en UCAV, obemannad beväpnad flygfarkost, som kallas Neuron. Anmälan handlar om att försvarsministern och därmed regeringen inte har givit riksdagen möjlighet att fatta beslut om Neuron-projektet. Regeringen hade inte med Neuron-projektet i någon proposition som riksdagen har kunnat ta ställning till, innan den 13 juni 2005. Hela frågan uppdagas när försvarsministern den 7 juni 2005 sammankallar riksdagens försvarsutskott. Vid detta möte informerar försvarsministern utskottets ledamöter om att regeringen har för avsikt att två dagar senare fatta beslut om att inleda samarbetet med Frankrike om Neuron-projektet som då ska kosta ca. 700 miljoner kronor. När KU har granskat frågan färdigt, våren 2006 blir försvarsministern trots allt inte fälld för ”brott” mot Regeringsformen. KU granskade enbart relationen mellan regeringen och riksdagen. Det jag gör i uppsatsen är att granska relationen mellan regeringen och Försvarsmakten. Detta görs för att pröva de tidigare leden i det som kallas den demokratiska styrkedjan och som beskriver hur makt och ansvar bör gå till i en folkstyrd demokrati. Den demokratiska styrkedjan består av: Folket, Riksdagen, Regeringen, Förvaltningen Med förvaltningen menas myndigheterna. Styrningen, dvs. maktutövningen, förutsätts gå från vänster till höger, medan ansvarigheten skall gå i den motsatta riktningen. Om det uppstår brott i kedjan eller om den ’börjar gå baklänges’ uppstår något av en ’demokratins svarta hål’.  I Regeringsformen stadgas att regeringen styr riket och att myndigheterna, exempelvis Försvarsmakten, lyder under regeringen. Grundtanken vad gäller relationen mellan regering och myndigheter är att politikerna styr genom att formulera mål och riktlinjer för myndigheterna, medan myndigheterna genomför de politiska målen. Kedjan går baklänges om det istället skulle vara så att myndigheterna börjar formulera målen. Efter KU:s granskning stod det klart att det inte fanns något formellt problem mellan riksdagen och regeringen när det gäller hur makt och ansvar hanterades. KU granskade inte, som nämnts ovan, relationen mellan regeringen och Försvarsmakten vilket är det jag gör i uppsatsen. I uppsatsen undersöker jag de underlag Försvarsmakten överlämnar till regeringen. Dessa är årliga budgetunderlag och PerP-rapporter. Budgetunderlagen utarbetas helt efter regeringens anvisningar medan PerP-rapporterna har en dubbelroll. De är både Försvarsmaktens egen perspektivplanering och i delar utarbetade efter regeringens anvisningar.

Ing. Petr Kotlas Reflexe skupinových zájmů v procesu politického rozhodování: institucionální přístup Disertační práce Praha 2012 Annotation PhD thesis "Reflection of group interests in political decision-making processes: an institutional approach" deals with the role of group interests reflected into the specific decision-making actions, on various stages of the political discourse. The thesis offers a methodological contribution, consisting in an interconnecting of the analysis of interest groups with a new institutional paradigm, utilizing its fundamental concepts, particularly transaction costs, formal and informal institutions, and various types of 5 institutional setting, its equilibrium and change. Among the problems of pluralist democracy there are underlined the processes of cleavage and cohesion, shaping group diversity under the condition of multi-actor democracy. The characteristic of political decision-making involves beyond general framework also problems of group decisionmaking. Two alternative approaches to the policy-making analysis are explored: first, an arena approach, focused on the relations among actors, arenas, and agendas; second, an approach focused on the different networks of policy-making. There is the phenomenon of lobbying analyzed in detail, including the controversial...

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The concept of sustainable development is a challenge that demands cooperation from all levels of society for it to be successful. The focus for this thesis is how politicians within the local councils understand the concept of sustainable development and how they implement it in political decision-making. The basis for the study is a questionnaire that was distributed to 303 local politicians in three municipalities of varying size in Southern Sweden. The study concentrates on departments within the local councils that are directly connected to the Swedish environmental law and the Swedish planning and construction law. One of the primary goals with the aforementioned laws is the achievement of sustainable development within one generation. The outcome of the study was that over half of the local politicians could correctly define sustainable development according to the World Commission on Environment and Development’s (WCED) definition. Two thirds of them prioritised the concept and were motivated to take it into serious consideration when making political decisions. With regard to the local councils documentation for decision-making, the respondents were not in agreement as to whether clear associations to sustainable development and the Swedish environmental objectives were present. The study also revealed both statistical differences and correlations in relation to several statements regarding aspects of sustainable development. Further education within sustainable development and clearly defined connections to documentation from the local councils can conceivably increase its acceptance and integration amongst local politicians. / Begreppet hållbar utveckling är en utmaning som kräver samarbete från alla nivåer i samhället för att det ska lyckas. Det innebär tre olika dimensioner som ska samstämmigt och ömsesidigt stödja varandra. Hänsyn måste tas till ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala dimensioner för att främja en hållbar utveckling. Många av de slutgiltigt offentliga besluten gällande verksamheter som påverkar medborgarnas vardag ligger hos kommunerna. Dessa kommuner styrs av politiker vars påverkan, genom sina beslut, på samhället är mycket omfattande. Fokus på denna uppsats ligger på hur de kommunala politikerna uppfattar begreppet hållbar utveckling och hur de integrerar begreppet hållbar utveckling i sitt politiska beslutsfattande. Utgångspunkten för studien är en enkät som delades ut till 303 lokala politiker i tre kommuner av varierande storlek i södra Sverige. Studien koncentrerar sig på avdelningar inom kommuner som är direkt kopplade till Miljöbalken (SFS 1998:808) och Plan- och bygglagen (SFS 2010:900). Ett av de primära målen med de ovan nämnda lagar är att uppnå en hållbar utveckling inom en generation. Resultatet av studien visade att över hälften av de undersökta förtroendevalda kunde definiera hållbar utveckling på ett korrekt sätt och enligt världskommissionen för miljö och utvecklings (WCED) definition. Två tredjedels av respondenterna prioriterade begreppet högt och integrerade det i sitt beslutsfattande. När det gäller beslutsunderlagen, framtagna av kommunala tjänstemän, ansåg större delen av respondenterna att tydliga kopplingar till hållbar utveckling eller de nationella miljömålen inte fanns. Vidare visade det sig även att en signifikant statistisk skillnad förekom i hur de olika åldersgrupperna upplevde kopplingar till de ovannämnda aspekterna. Ytterligare statistiskt säkerställda skillnader och samband uppkom i förhållande till påståenden gällande olika dimensioner av hållbar utveckling. Vidareutbildning inom hållbar utveckling och tydligt definierade kopplingar till hållbar utveckling, de nationella miljömålen och kommunala handlingsplaner kan möjligtvis öka begreppens integration och uppfattning bland de förtroendevalda.