Indispensable,yet Invisible: Drinking water management as a local political issue in Swedish municipalities

ABSTRACT

Local policy-makers’ incentives to address an issue is conditioned by how they perceive public attention. Our study focuses on drinking water management at the municipal level in Sweden. Provisioning and management of drinking water is a responsibility of the local governments. Interviews with local politicians and public administrators in seven municipalities reveal that local policy-makers think that citizens view provisioning of drinking water as a taken for granted service, and also lack knowledge of and interest in drinking water issues. Public attention is further seen as a double-edged sword since engagement in water issues often is a result of problems with water provision. The findings are discussed from a theoretical perspective of the role of agenda-setting in public policy. It is argued that the view of policy-makers of citizens as unengaged negatively affects the incentives to bring drinking water to a prominent place on the local policy agenda.     

On Being Black,Muslim, and a Refugee: Stories of Somalis in Chicago

Abstract

Somali refugees are considered one of the largest African refugee populations in the United States and the fourth largest refugee population globally. Yet, there is limited scholarship on their overall migration paths and the ways in which their intersectional identities may impact their resettlement and integration in the United States. Study findings are from a qualitative study on the migration and integration experiences of 15 Somali Americans in Chicago. Findings illustrate the complexities associated with the Somali refugee narrative and how this population is often positioned at the intersections of anti-Black, anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee racism and discrimination in the United States.     

Education for a culture of peace: the culture of peace news network as a case study

The Culture of Peace News Network, an internet news service, is analyzed in the framework of a general approach to education for a culture of peace. Its format reflects the eight program areas for a culture of peace as adopted by the UN General Assembly. Among its other operating principles are universality of news with all cultures and regions of the world given equal priority, requirement that reflection be accompanied by action and that news should be positive and open to debate, that ‘slow news’ is as important as ‘fast news,’ and that readers should participate by writing as well as reading. The Network has yet to achieve its goal of forcing commercial media to consider actions for a culture of peace as newsworthy, but it is suggested that this will depend on the growth of the global movement for a culture of peace which remains rather small at the present time.     

Fighting for the Soviet Union 2.0: Digital nostalgia and national belonging in the context of the Ukrainian crisis

This paper focuses on the use of Soviet-era symbols, myths, and narratives within groups on VKontakte social media site over the initial stage of the Ukraine crisis (2014–2015). The study is based on qualitative content analysis of online discussions, visual materials, and entries by group administrators and commentators. It also applies link-analysis in order to see how groups on social media are interrelated and positioned online. It reveals that these online groups are driven primarily by neo-Soviet myths and hopes for a new version of the USSR to emerge. Over time, the main memory work in these groups shifted from Soviet nostalgia and “pragmatic” discourse to the use of re-constructed World War II memories in order to justify Russian aggression and to undermine national belonging in Ukraine. Reliance on the wartime mythology allowed for the labelling of Euromaidan supporters as “fascists” that should be eliminated “once again.” This powerful swirl of re-created Soviet memories allowed effective mobilization on the ground and further escalation of the conflict from street protests to the armed struggle.     

Capable,splendorous and unequal: international media portrayals of Brazil during the 2014 World Cup

This article examines how Brazil was perceived internationally during the 2014 World Cup (2014WC), for which one of Brazil’s perceived objectives was to enhance its international image to play a more significant role on the world stage. Nine media outlets’ coverage of the 2014WC was analysed using the website Alexa. These outlets published 699 articles about diverse themes relating to Brazilian society. The outlets studied considered the event a success overall and emphasised Brazil’s natural beauty, but raised concerns about social problems such as inequality. We conclude that the 2014WC updated but did not fundamentally alter Brazil’s international image.     

Pussy Riot as agent provocateur: conspiracy theories and the media construction of nation in Putin's Russia

This article studies the impact of conspiracy theories on post-Soviet Russian nation-building through the analysis of how the Pussy Riot trial was constructed by the Russian media. Conspiracy theory as a phenomenon is defined as a populist tool for relocation of power among different political actors, which creates identities and boosts social cohesion. This interpretation of conspiracy theories helps investigate how the media constructed the image of Pussy Riot and their supporters as a conspiring subversive minority, which threatened the Russian nation. The ability of conspiracy theory for swift social mobilization helped the authorities to strengthen the public support of its policies and model the Russian nation as ethnically and religiously homogeneous.     

Between Russia and Estonia: narratives of place in a new borderland

The Russian–Estonian border has undergone radical changes in the past two decades – from an integrated borderland between two Soviet republics to a border between nation-states and the new EU external border. Until the present day, it is a discursive battlefield that reflects the difficult relations between Russia and Estonia after the restoration of Estonia's independence. While much research has concentrated on antagonistic projects of identity politics and state-building from a top-down perspective, this paper asks how people living in the borderland make sense of the place they live in and negotiate shifts in the symbolic landscapes. Based on life-story narratives of Russian-speakers, it analyzes different ways of narrating and framing place and argues for a consideration of the plurality and ambivalences of place-making projects on the ground. Furthermore, it argues for a more balanced account of continuity and discontinuity in memory narratives by taking into account how the socialist past continues to be meaningful in the present. As the interviews show, memories of the socialist past are used for constructing belonging in the present both by countering and by reproducing national narratives of boundedness.     

Media corruption and issues of journalistic and institutional integrity in post-communist countries: The case of Bulgaria

From a normative standpoint the media are usually seen as one of the pillars of a national integrity system, entrusted with the tasks of exposing and preventing acts of corruption and educating the public of the harm caused by corruption. Nevertheless, corruption continues to be one of the most significant challenges that Europe faces, undermining citizens' trust in democratic institutions and weakening the accountability of political leadership. Evidence suggests that in fragile EU democracies such as Bulgaria, despite more than eight years of full membership and numerous preventive measures, corruption is rife and the press is hardly capable of exposing abuses of power or authority. On the contrary - drawing on in-depth interviews with 35 Bulgarian journalists - this paper argues that since communism collapsed in the late 1980s the media in post-communist societies such as Bulgaria has gradually become an instrument to promote and defend private vested interests, and is plagued by corruption. Senior journalists and editors cast serious doubt over the ability of the post-communist free press and journalism to act as a watchdog for society.     

Domestic actors and liberalization: a case study of internal and external pressures in Moi's Kenya

The diffusion of political and economic liberalization to countries all across the world over the last 30 years has raised questions about the influence of domestic and international actors. Most scholars have given credit to international actors such as the USA, Western European countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank for the spread of liberalization or any political openness and/or market-oriented reform. Their external-actors-focused explanations have been almost exclusively at the expense of domestic actors. They have essentially viewed domestic actors as simply receivers of liberalizing change or incapable of initiating reform. As a result, international development policies and programs have tended to focus on what these external actors can do to force other countries to liberalize. While recognizing the influence of these external actors, this article reverses this emphasis and notes that the focus should be on internal actors and factors, primarily social movements/groups and opposition political polities that are agitating for reform. This article is a case study on Kenya that shows how domestic factors and actors pressured the Moi government to embrace reform starting in the 1980s.     

Justice in Siberia: a case study of a lower criminal court in the city of Krasnoyarsk

Empirical investigation of justice administration udertaken in post-Soviet Russia has been insignificant. Consequently, there is a dearth of knowledge about realities of justice administration ‘on the ground’, at the level of districts or towns. The author's research project, an in depth empirical investigation of the activity of a single criminal court located in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, represents a step toward filling this gap. This paper concludes that the rule of law has made rather limited inroads in the day-to-day operations of criminal courts in the Russian deep provinces. The correspondence between earnestly declared legal principles and the mundane reality of judicial practice is loose and at some junctions non-existent.     

The third sector, user involvement and public service reform: a case study in the co-governance of health service provision

The ‘modernization’ of British public services seeks to broaden public sector governance networks, bringing the views of third sector organizations, the public and service users (among others) to the design, management and delivery of welfare. Building on previous analyses of the contradictions generated by these roles, this paper draws on longitudinal qualitative research to enunciate the challenges faced by one third-sector organization in facilitating service user influence in a UK National Health Service (NHS) pilot programme, alongside other roles in tension with this advocacy function. The analysis highlights limits in the extent to which lateral governance networks pluralize stakeholder involvement. The ‘framing’ of governance may mean that traditional concerns outweigh the views of new stakeholders such as the third sector and service users. Rather than prioritizing wider stakeholders' views in the design and delivery of public services, placing third sector organizations at the centre of governance networks may do more to co-opt these organizations in reproducing predominant priorities.     

Local climate governance and policy innovation in China: a case study of a piloting emission trading scheme in Guangdong province

This paper investigates how piloting programmes in China can promote local policy innovations. By using one of the piloting emission trading schemes (ETS) in Guangdong province as a case study, it is argued that the main features of the piloting experiments, particularly in the climate change domain, are largely different from previous local marketization experiments that dominate the reform period of China. Whereas previous experiments are often characterized as bottom-up or indigenous initiatives with strong patronage relations to the pro-reform politicians at central level, the current piloting programmes are often crafted in a top-down fashion that is often misaligned with local market or corporate interests. Hence, local policy innovations are designed, developed and brokered by the local state officers, in order to bridge this central–local interest gap. As a result, successful implementation of these policy innovations largely depends on local political traditions, bureaucratic culture and perceptions of distinctive development needs.     

Russian nationalists in the Komi Republic: a case study of the Frontier of the North

The article examines some generic traits of the “new” Russian ethnic nationalism, namely, de-ideologization of the nationalist milieu and its inclination for civic activism. It results from a case study of the Frontier of the North (FN – Syktyvkar), an ideologically ambivalent organization that combines dual Russian/Komi ethnic nationalism, anti-migration sentiments, white racism, and fragments of other ideologies. The article demonstrates that, unlike nationalists of the previous generation, FN is not hostile to public authorities and is ready to cooperate with them. FN’s grassroots activism, as well as sports and healthy recreational activities, attracts young people. The organization tackles the most acute social problems, often neglected by everyone else, and has become a working civil society institution. The authors argue that these tactics win the “new” nationalists sympathy among ordinary people and makes the groups politically stronger and more influential than the previous nationalist generation. However, state anti-extremist policy hampers the advancement of nationalists into mainstream politics.     

Privatization -- a major strategy of public service provision in china: a case study of urban housing policy and management

Challenged by its economic liberalization and financial constraints, the Chinese government has used privatization as its major strategy to manage service programs since China opened its door a decade and a half ago. Based on the commercial nature of housing, selling the national housing stock, vouchers and co-financing are the major ways for the government to withdraw from the provision of housing for urban Chinese. The government has been prudent about the process and has taken incremental steps. Privatization is a mixed blessing. It has brought some problems such as fraud, inequality in availability and price inflation. The Chinese government must build its institutional and managerial capacities to deal with these problems.     

Otherising Iran in American political discourse: case study of a post-JCPOA senate hearing on Iran sanctions

Using van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis, this paper attempts to analyse the ways in which the Islamic Republic of Iran is constructed as a security threat in US congressional hearings. The article is based on the case of the two-day congressional hearing on post-JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) held by the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, on 24–25 May 2016. The session was presumably held to examine ‘sanctions relief’ provided to Iran; however, the study reveals that through the use of discursive tools such as lexical style and argumentation, Iran is framed and evaluated as a security threat to (1) the US; (2) US allies, specifically Israel; and (3) the international community. This construction reflects the established political and ideological stereotypes and also orientalist clichés which have led to Otherisation and vilification of Iran. Therefore, by representing Iran as an ‘irrational’, ‘radical’ and ‘barbaric’ entity, the US discrimination against Iran through sanctions and other unilateral political decisions is legitimised and justified.     

Operational codes,institutional learning and the optimistic model of post-Communist social change: Conceptual criticism and empirical challenges from a Romanian case study

This paper discusses the conceptual model behind the widespread belief that in post Communist societies, once the democratic and market institutions are introduced, the emerging values and beliefs engendered by those very institutions will create the conditions for the consolidation and reproduction of democracy and market economy. The model is subjected to a double assessment: a critical theoretical review followed by an empirical test conducted through a case study. Both raise questions regarding the realism of the model and show that the direct relationship between institutional structures, institutional learning and the emerging values and beliefs (defined in this study as ‘operational codes’), a key relationship on which the model is based, is difficult to establish and substantiate. The paper concludes by pointing out the necessity to further elaborate the initial model in order to accommodate problems such as the emergence of institutional rigidities and learning blockages, and the emergence of dysfunctional values (values and beliefs that do not support and reproduce but undermine the institutional structures that shaped them initially), and to incorporate a theory of institutional change in which the evolution and change of beliefs, ideas and values play a much more preeminent place.     

Demonized,domesticated, virtualized: fortification buildings as a case of Prussian heritage in present-day Kaliningrad

The article explores ways in which the nineteenth-century Prussian military architecture has been used and promoted as a part of the local heritage in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Accommodation of the old fortification buildings to tourism and museum work has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000s, but neither local nor federal authorities have proposed a plan to adapt them to non-military purposes. As a result, these structures, which are protected by federal heritage laws and uniformly built of characteristic red bricks, have become an arena for various initiatives, experiments, and games with the past. Strategies of virtualization discussed in the paper reveal a lack of open public discussion about dark episodes of Russian and Soviet history. Consequently, it is important to learn more about how and why contemporary Kaliningraders appropriate the local German legacies, use globally accepted strategies of heritage construction, and develop cooperation with the EU countries, while remaining receptive to official historical narratives promulgated by the national center.     

Political linkages between CSOs and parliament in Indonesia: a case study of political linkages in drafting the Aceh Governance Law

This research explores how political linkages between civil society organizations (CSOs) and Parliament are established, formed, and operated, using the drafting of the Aceh Governance Law as a case study. It finds that the initiative of establishing political linkages between CSOs and Parliament was taken by the CSOs joined in the Aceh Democracy Network (JDA, Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh). It confirms Lawson’s finding that parties are not the only linkage providers; however, the establishment of non-party linkages are not indicators of parties’ failure to provide linkage. This article shows how what Lawson terms ‘typology’—participatory linkage, policy-responsive linkage, linkage by reward, directive or coercive linkage—is manifested more as different ‘dimensions’ of linkages. Participatory linkage involves a bottom-up model, unlike directive or coercive linkage, which are top-down. Likewise, the motives behind responsive linkages—for aspirations, demands, and views to be heard—tend to be from the bottom, while the motives of linkage by reward is more frequently from the top.Abbreviations: ACSTF: Aceh Civil Society Task Force; ADF: Aceh Development Fund. Independent non-profit organization that works to mobilize funds and other resources to be channelled to CSOs are characterized by changes in the framework of poverty alleviation and strengthening of democracy, with the scope of the working area of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam; AJMI: Aceh Judicial Monitoring Institute. Aceh-based nongovernmental organization which advocates for victims of state violence; Cetro: Centre for Electoral Reform. Non-profit organization that aim to strengthen and promote fair elections through electoral system reformation; Demos: Lembaga Kajian Demokrasi dan Hak Asasi (democracy and human rights think tank); ELSAM: Lembaga Studi dan Advokasi Masyarakat (Institute for Societal Study and Advocacy); Flower: Aceh-based civil society organization concerned with gender, empowerment and strengthening grassroots women in urban and rural areas; FORBES: Forum bersama politisi asal Aceh (Joint Forum of Politicians from Aceh); Forum: LSM Aceh Forum Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat (Aceh Nongovernment Organization Forum); GAM: Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement); Golkar: Golongan Karya (Functional Groups). Party formed under the New Order and represented as a governmental party at that time; ICW: Indonesia Corruption Watch. Nongovernmental organization founded in 1998 whose primary mission is to monitor and report to the public incidents of corruption in Indonesia; Imparsial: Indonesian Human Rights Monitor. Founded in 2002 to monitor and investigate human right violations; JDA: Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh (Aceh Democracy Network); JPUK: Jaringan Perempuan untuk Kebijakan (Women’s Policy Network); Kalyanamitra: Women’s advocacy organization, especially for women who work as labourers, farmers, fishers, informal sector workers. Kalyanamitra derives from Sanskrit ‘Good Friend’; Koalisi NGO HAM: Coalition of Human Right Nongovernment Organizations. Founded in 1998 by nongovernmental organizations whose concern is promoting human rights in Aceh; KontraS: Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence; KPMD: Komite Monitoring Perdamaian dan Demokrasi (Committee for Peace and Democracy). Founded in Aceh in 2002 to bring peace and justice for Acehnese people; MISPI: Mitra Sejati Perempuan Indonesia (True Partner of Indonesian Women). Aceh-based women’s organization that promotes women’s participation and encourages women to speak with their own voices; MPR: Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s Consultative Assembly); PAN: Partai Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party). Moderate Islamist political party that was founded by reformists, including Amien Rais, former chairman of the Muhammadiyah organization; PBR: Partai Bintang Reformasi (Star of Reform Party). Islamist political party founded in 2002 as a result of PPP conflict; PDIP: Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan (Indonesian Democrat Party-Struggle). Founded by Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of Soekarno, in 1999; PDRM: Pergerakan Demokratik Rakyat Miskin (Democratic Movement for the Poor); PKB: Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (National Awakening Party). Established in 1998, representing Nahdlatul Ulama organization (associations of ulamas formed in 1926 in East Java); PKS: Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (Prosperous Justice Party). New name of Partai Keadilan (Justice Party), which emerged from the Tarbiyah party movement; PPP: Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Development Party). Founded by the New Order in 1973 as part of the ‘rationalization of political life’; PSHK: Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan (Centre for Legal and Policy Studies). Established in 2008 by several scholars, advocates, and law students to drive efforts for legal reform after the 1998 reformation; WALHI: Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (Indonesian Environmental Forum). Founded in 1980, its scope is broader than just environmental concerns, but also works for social transformation, people’s sovereignty, and sustainability of life and livelihoods; YAPPIKA: Yayasan Penguatan Partisipasi Inisiatif dan Kemitraan Masyarakat (Foundation to Reinforce Public Participation, Initiative, and Partnership). Founded in 1991 to promote peacebuilding, development of democratic local governance, active citizenship, and claiming state responsibility to meet people’s basic needs     

Policy implementation in an international setting: a case study of China and the 1995 united nations conference on women

For successful implementation, policy goals should be clear, shared by affected parties, and linked to implementation efforts. Leadership, capable implementers, adequate resources, and an ability to control the external environment are also necessary for successful policy implementation. In the case of China hosting the 1995 Fourth United Nations Conference on Women, these factors were not present. This study describes the problems of implementation as they are illustrated by this case and makes suggestions on how policies can be carried out in an international setting. These suggestions include the recognition of cultural differences, the acceptance of the fact that politics shapes policy decisions and implementation, and the establishment of structures and processes to resolve any conflicts that arise.     

The European Union and transnational health policy networks: a case study of interaction with the Global Fund

This article examines the nature of the engagement between the European Union and the Global Fund created to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The authors reveal that in relations between the EU and the Fund, influence is reciprocal although asymmetrical with the EU commanding more leverage. They also contend that the EU considers its engagement with the Global Fund as successful to the extent that the success of this interaction is contingent on the Global Fund's capacity for implementation. They conclude that the relationship between the EU and the Fund will continue for the foreseeable future.