The aim of this study is to through six interviews, with six experienced, social workers?, in three cities, understand how the child?s position in the Swedish child protective services? enquiries has change, and the factors behind it. The aim is also to compare if the social workers? view of the child?s position in the enquire has change accordingly to Socialstyrelsens intentions of BBIC. The theoretical approaches that was used is the new Institutionalism, the Shier?s pathways to participation and the term discretion.

In 1992, the European Union began institutionalizing the cooperation against terrorism within the EU structure. Since then, this cooperation has gone through a number of changes. From a historical institutionalistic point of departure we explain these changes by identifying sources of institutional resilience and institutional change. Based on these results, we were able to pose hypotheses of when and what category of change was most likely to take place.The results show that the cooperation against terrorism within the EU was most likely to remain stable because of strong sources of institutional resilience. If change would occur through an increase in the sources of institutional change, it was most likely to be of a less extensive category.

The purpose with this master thesis is to analyze how the Swedish County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen) acts in an environment that changes fast with more regional actors than ever before. There are also proposals regarding new public authorities and eventually a reduction of the Swedish County Administrative Board.By studying a report issued by the Board in December 2005 the aim is to find their intentions and actions for the future. By using three diverse theoretical concepts - the public organisation, the instrumental perspective and two separate perspectives from new Institutionalism - the expectation is that I will have the possibility to analyze the intentions of the organisation in many different ways.In this case study I also want to take into consideration the central discourses in the regional debate, shall we decentralize or shall we keep on having a strong state even in the future? What kind of regional policy does the Swedish County Administrative Board prefer?The result shows that the Swedish County Administrative Board struggles for a strong state even in the future, but it does not propose any huge changes. In many ways it seems like they act as they are supposed to - as an instrument for the government - but despite that it is obvious that the Swedish County Administrative Board tries to show that it has the traditions and knowledge.

AbstractIn this thesis we analyze how institutions describe the dichotomy between ?problem? and ?resource? when dealing with young adults. We also analyze the consequences of this dichotomy as it involves the younger generation's participation and group identity in today's society. Dichotomies and New Institutionalism Theory is the base for this case study completed in Malmö, Sweden. We have done eight qualitative interviews with politicians and employees in Malmö municipality and a quantitative content analysis of reference documents from both the Malmö and Swedish governments.

Klimatkonventionens ramverk, om att stabilisera graden av växthusgaser i atmosfären på en nivå som minskar människans påverkan på den globala uppvärmningen, fick i Kyoto 1997 ett protokoll som innebar bindande krav för ratificerande länder. Kyotoprotokollet trädde i kraft 2005 med resultatet att samtliga OECD-länder, exklusive USA och Australien, accepterade differentierade åtaganden om att sammantaget minska sina växthusgasutsläpp. Undersökningen utgår från detta faktum och med en jämförande studie mellan Sverige och Australien, genom teorin liberal Institutionalism, syftas till att frambringa ett svar på huruvida Kyotoprotokollet är ett effektivt internationellt samarbete ur implementeringssynpunkt. Det empiriska materialet är hämtat från lagtexter och policydokument. Resultat och analys visar att Kyotoprotokollet är effektivt i avseendet att det har bidragit till uppkomsten av en omfattande universell diskussion som har påverkat även ett icke-ratificerande land som Australien att mer aktivt minska sina växthusgasutsläpp.

The overarching goal of this paper is to explain the intensive occurrence of partnerships ? regarded as a specific organizational structure ? in the formulation and implementation of Regional Growth Programs.By using theoretical concepts from new Institutionalism, the paper tries to examine the explanatory capacity of this theory in the specific case of partnerships. The basis is a skeptical stance towards the conventional interpretation that views partnerships as rational organizational tools. Hence, the purpose of the paper is also to compare our own institutional explanation with the conventional.The paper finds that the occurrence of partnerships can be understood as the effect of an intensive institutional pressure. The government has, in what we regard as the institution for regional development, prescribed the partnership as a rational solution ? a rationalized myth - to the regional growth problem.

Klimatkonventionens ramverk, om att stabilisera graden av växthusgaser i atmosfären på en nivå som minskar människans påverkan på den globala uppvärmningen, fick i Kyoto 1997 ett protokoll som innebar bindande krav för ratificerande länder. Kyotoprotokollet trädde i kraft 2005 med resultatet att samtliga OECD-länder, exklusive USA och Australien, accepterade differentierade åtaganden om att sammantaget minska sina växthusgasutsläpp. Undersökningen utgår från detta faktum och med en jämförande studie mellan Sverige och Australien, genom teorin liberal Institutionalism, syftas till att frambringa ett svar på huruvida Kyotoprotokollet är ett effektivt internationellt samarbete ur implementeringssynpunkt. Det empiriska materialet är hämtat från lagtexter och policydokument. Resultat och analys visar att Kyotoprotokollet är effektivt i avseendet att det har bidragit till uppkomsten av en omfattande universell diskussion som har påverkat även ett icke-ratificerande land som Australien att mer aktivt minska sina växthusgasutsläpp.

With background in the acknowledgement of the current period of major change in the characteristics of traditional Swedish foreign policy, considering the membership in the European Union, as well as the new contextual scenarios that Sweden has been situated in after the end of the cold war, this thesis aims at scrutinizing the Swedish Foreign Policy from 1991 to 2010. The purpose of the thesis is further to localize continuity and change in the ideas which Sweden has explicitly stated in its foreign policy. Based on the theory of Institutionalism, the thesis also aims to bring forward plausible explanations built on the main empirical findings. This has been done by identifying different types of goals and means within realism and liberalism as well as categorizing each theory within three ideal types.The chosen research method has been a qualitative text analysis with focus on an ideational analysis. The material on which the descriptive analysis is based upon is constituted by the annual statements of government policy in parliamentary debates on foreign affairs.The results of the thesis show that the ideas that are related to solidarity, consensus and active foreign policy are constant through the period of examination.

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the phenomenon that there are so many young people placed in institutions in Sweden despite the valuable knowledge regarding the problems and risks of doing so. The questions that follow in the essay were what guided the social workers to choose institutional placement for youngsters. It went on to also ask if this knowledge could contribute to an increased understanding of why there were so many young people placed in institutions despite the criticism from scientists. To accomplish the goal of the essay, former science in the subject was reported and six social workers within social services were interviewed. The material of the interviews was analyzed with help from the theory of human service organizations, street-level bureaucrats work situation and the new Institutionalism.The result of the investigation showed that the social workers choices to place young people in institutions is guided by specific work and organizational factors connected with a belief in the helping function of the surroundings.

The aim of this paper is to examine the youth library PUNKTmedis' work methods to adapt itself to the youth. Improved communication with this user group is the starting point for the new work methods. We have chosen to view the increased cooperation between the library and the youth as an adjustment to market demands. We have noticed the possible existence of an antagonism between on the one hand the traditional role of the public library of adult education and on the other hand an adjustment to the market demands. Adult education and the adjustment to market demands is seen as contributing to the image of PUNKTmedis.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the European Union (EU) is one of the oldest fields of cooperation within the European Union. During the past decades the different Commissioners have made several proposals about changes in the CAP and many of them have not been passed but renegotiated. The present Commission has however published a report in 2011, which emphasizes that the CAP has three alternative ways to go in the future. This study aims to predict which one of these three alternative ways it is most likely that the CAP will take according to the historical institutionalist theory. When to be able to predict this text analysis is used.

Syfte: Syftet är att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur offentliga verksamheter i mindre kommuner uppfattar och hanterar utmaningarna vid chefsrekrytering samt vad som ligger till grund för hur de hanterar det. Metodik: En tvärsnittsstudie på offentlig sektor i Kalmar Län har använts som forskningsstrategi med en induktiv ansats. Genom en kvalitativ metod med åtta semi-strukturerade intervjuer har vi producerat fram data. Slutsats: Studien har visat att offentliga verksamheter i mindre kommuner upplever ett problem i att finna lämpliga kandidater till chefstjänster, men ser inte det som krisartat. För att hantera rekryteringssvårigheterna utnyttjar offentliga verksamheter i mindre kommuner både operativa och strategiska åtgärderna.

The aim of this study is to try to explain the process using both an actor driven perspective as well as a structural perspective examining the reasons why the County Council of Värmland wants to merge with Region Västra Götaland. The answers to the following research questions are sought to shed light on the problem: What constrained the discretion of  the political actors in the choice of region to merge with? Which role did  different political actors play? Does the study provide Game Theory, from Rational Choice theory,  and Path Dependency, from Historic Institutionalism, a new perspective and strength especially  when bringing them together? The study is limited to two policy areas, health care and regional development policy. The structural background is drawn upon the Annual Report 2008 of the County Council Värmland, the Regional Development Program and Regional Transport Infrastructure Plan 2010-2021 by Region Värmland. The chronological order of decisions and events is drawn upon protocols from various regional political organs all linked to the municipal of Värmland and the correspondence between the officials of Värmland?s municipal and the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency of the State.

On three occasions, in 1973, 1993 and 2005, Swedish parliament and government has resolved to integrate the, previously independent, foreign offices beloning to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the Swedish embassies. The implemenation of the integrationreform has however been a lengthy process. This thesis adresses two main issues: how has the integrationreform been able to remain a viable recipe for organizational change over time and why has the integrationprocess taken so long? Lastly I assess the possibility for effective implementation following the decision 2005.Based on New Institutionalism I conducted an historical analysis of the integrationprocess to explore the conditions for reform. My results indicate that the integrationreform primarly suited the interests of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, making the Foreign Serivce more effective and clarifying the Ministry's responsibilty for Swedish development cooperation policy.

The focus of this thesis is a specific part of Swedish library policy called library plans. A library plan is a political document created with the purpose of constituting a platform for co-operation between different library systems within a municipality, e.g. through determining and analysing the needs for library activities within municipalities in Sweden.This thesis´ aim is to investigate whether library plans are, or can be used as, a tool for change and thereby increase legitimacy for public libraries in Sweden.We have examined aspects of library plans using theories from change management to determine whether these plans include tools focusing on conditions in organisations that could result in an improved and stronger position in the society for public library. Through the use of theories from new Institutionalism we opted for an understanding of the interaction between the libraries and the context in which they are part of.Upon examining 23 library plans, we discovered similarities as well as diversities among them. From our study we have drawn the conclusion that it is important to analyse the specific needs of each different municipality and to consider these individual conditions and needs when developing and composing the library plan.