Helena Stensota
University of Gothenburg, Political Science, Faculty Member
The seminal work of Herbert Kaufman claims that homogenous organizational cultures are crucial for goal achievement throughout organizations with a central-peripheral structure and a task-handling process which cannot be fully regulated... more
The seminal work of Herbert Kaufman claims that homogenous organizational cultures are crucial for goal achievement throughout organizations with a central-peripheral structure and a task-handling process which cannot be fully regulated through formal rules. In that vein, this article examines if fragmented organizational cultures can account for illegitimate variations in outcome in these types of organizations. The analysis draws on data from a unique questionnaire study; of the whole population of public employees handling sick-leave benefits in the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA). Sweden represents an interesting case as its welfare system has a decentralized structure and its general and generous coverage needs high revenues and therefore relies on legitimacy from larger sets of the population. The article shows that fragmented organizational culture does account for a considerable amount of regional variations in outcome. The main result is that employees with non-socia...
The seminal work of Herbert Kaufman claims that homogenous organizational cultures are crucial for goal achievement throughout organizations with a central-peripheral structure and a task-handling process which cannot be fully regulated... more
The seminal work of Herbert Kaufman claims that homogenous organizational cultures are crucial for goal achievement throughout organizations with a central-peripheral structure and a task-handling process which cannot be fully regulated through formal rules. In that vein, this article examines if fragmented organizational cultures can account for illegitimate variations in outcome in these types of organizations. The analysis draws on data from a unique questionnaire study; of the whole population of public employees handling sick-leave benefits in the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA). Sweden represents an interesting case as its welfare system has a decentralized structure and its general and generous coverage needs high revenues and therefore relies on legitimacy from larger sets of the population. The article shows that fragmented organizational culture does account for a considerable amount of regional variations in outcome. The main result is that employees with non-socia...
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The Empathetic State – Impacts of Gender Equality on Kindergarten and Law Enforcement Policies in Sweden 1950 – 2000.”
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Does political orientation of Public Administration affect policy outcome? The problem of regional variations in implementation.”
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Scholarly discussions on the political power of care and care ethics have considered democratic notions such as how care recipients can make their voices heard, but the problem has recently been expanded to include how care needs can be... more
Scholarly discussions on the political power of care and care ethics have considered democratic notions such as how care recipients can make their voices heard, but the problem has recently been expanded to include how care needs can be met in a manner consistent with democratic commitments to justice, equality and freedom for all, which addresses equal access to care. Assessing the possibilities to meet this requirement shows different trade-offs in civil society, the market and publicly funded solutions. It seems that the ideals of care ethics, such as democratic access to care, sit more comfortably with publicly funded care.
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Varfor ar manniskor mer sjuka i Sveriges norra delar? Detta hittills oforklarade problem utgar pa flera satt ett av de storata hoten mot den generella svenska valfardsstaten. Boken undersoker om re ...
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During last decades, gender differences in representative bodies have diminished in a variety of areas, descriptively but also substantially. For example, in Sweden, social issues are still a typical female issue among older... more
During last decades, gender differences in representative bodies have diminished in a variety of areas, descriptively but also substantially. For example, in Sweden, social issues are still a typical female issue among older representatives, although this is no longer the case among younger representatives. A similar trend can be noticed internationally, although Sweden appears to be at the forefront, which defends choosing the case. The project aims at explaining these diminishing substantial gender differences among parliamentarians, thereby paying attention both to intra-parliamentarian and extra-parliamentarian causes. With intra-parliamentarian causes we refer to party strategies, professionalization of parties and the cyclical life of policy issues. With extra-parliamentarian causes we refer to changing living patterns including changing models for care-services (New Public Mangagement), which might have led to a stronger involvement of men in care responsibilities. If causal ...
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A central argument in theories on women's political interests has been that the sexual division of labor, inter alia, gives women greater experience of responsibility for the care of others, especially children, which in turn... more
A central argument in theories on women's political interests has been that the sexual division of labor, inter alia, gives women greater experience of responsibility for the care of others, especially children, which in turn influences their political attitudes. However, the specifics of this claim have not been sufficiently examined in prior literature. By applying unique data on Swedish legislators’ subjective policy preferences and use of their parental leave over time, this article explores empirically whether the personal roles of members of parliament (MPs) in reproduction affect their political preferences, regardless of their sex. The analysis reveals that men's interest in social policy tends to increase after being on parental leave while in office, whereas women's interest in social and family policy remains strong, regardless. This finding might indicate a care experience mechanism at work, pertinent also to men, but with a possibly shallower content. The an...
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Abstract will be provided by author.
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ABSTRACT Abstract will be provided by author.
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This paper addresses two important challenges to current public administration and suggests that the concept a public ethics of care (PEC) can be useful for handling them. The first challenge is that service provision have become a... more
This paper addresses two important challenges to current public administration and suggests that the concept a public ethics of care (PEC) can be useful for handling them. The first challenge is that service provision have become a dominant part of the state’s tasks in many welfare states, which makes the issue of how these tasks can be implemented in a legitimate way, increasingly important. Second, the discussion on multiculturalism and the increasing migration streams across the world, increases diversity which affects both the composition of clients and of the public staff and there through how democratic public governance can be pursued.The public ethics of care (PEC) builds on notions of an ethics of care as a political and institutional concept, and tied to citizenship. The PEC is applicable to a range of policy fields, not only to care oriented tasks, but everywhere where relations are central, between citizens, between public employee and citizens or between citizens and th...
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SwePub titelinformation: Låt staten betala sänkt arbetstid för föräldrar.
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... level bureaucracy as a separate research field is the notion of discretion (Lipsky 1980), which refers to the latitude that frontline bureaucrats possess to interpret rules when implementing programs, making them de facto bureaucratic... more
... level bureaucracy as a separate research field is the notion of discretion (Lipsky 1980), which refers to the latitude that frontline bureaucrats possess to interpret rules when implementing programs, making them de facto bureaucratic policymakers (Meyers and Vorsanger 2003). ...
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... level bureaucracy as a separate research field is the notion of discretion (Lipsky 1980), which refers to the latitude that frontline bureaucrats possess to interpret rules when implementing programs, making them de facto bureaucratic... more
... level bureaucracy as a separate research field is the notion of discretion (Lipsky 1980), which refers to the latitude that frontline bureaucrats possess to interpret rules when implementing programs, making them de facto bureaucratic policymakers (Meyers and Vorsanger 2003). ...