The role of the Swedish State in environmental politics

Résumé du document

The issue of this literature review is to study the role of a state in politics, and which needs the support and the involvement of the public sector as well as the private sector, of the social group interests and the market, and which has to be decided and implemented at the local and supranational level to be efficient. This problematic subject is part of a context of governance that Lundqvist in his 2001 article describes according to two points of view, the one of Rhodes (governing without government) and the other of Pierre and Peters (the state in a central position). Lundqvist concludes that the context of governance makes governments dependent on targets groups for information and implementation, but have still a central role due to the monopoly over legal force.

Extraits

[...] In his both articles, Lunqvist explains in detail the Swedish shift from traditional environmental politics towards ecological modernization. Actually, until the economic crisis in 1992, Sweden had one of the best environmental policy records in the world and its environmental policy was based on the traditional cooperation between ministries, the bureaucracy and group interests: the environment was seen as a “special sector”. For the first generation problems (large-scale industrial pollution) this policy of close cooperation in the initiative of the government was successful. [...]

[...] Ecological modernization implies changes in policy principles, instruments and organisation but the central point of the reform is to increase the intervention of the state at the economic level which is in the tradition of the Social Democrat's policy. For example Taxes are used to the ecological sustainability such as the competitiveness of Swedish firms and supports for eco-investment programs are envisaged. The role of science is very important, too: most research programs are redirected in a more ecological way. [...]

[...] So the MGs not selected for closer dialogue by the MENUET never received any reason for this refusal. Moreover the rules of the game were not clear at all : most of the 115 MGs making final applications affirmed that the advices and requests from the MENUET were “changing and contradictory”. And even more : one third of these 115 MGs doubted on the competence of the MENUET. For the central government the issue is often political rather than environmental. [...]

[...] The role of the Swedish State in environmental politics Introduction The Swedish state and the emergence of environmental politics as a national issue a. The formation of a national issue : from tradition towards ecological modernisation b. The ecological modernisation strategy of Persson's government : Jänicke's vs Hajer's explanation c. All sectors involved II- Environmental politics as an issue of power for the Swedish state in central and local levels : between cooperation and states' authority a. Intergovernmental relations in the central level b. [...]

[...] The government imposes his rules about municipal applications for LIP support. As a conclusion the central government controls the governance of the LIP program but is dependent on the MGs (Municipal Government) for the quality of the application. One obvious evidence of the political will of the government to remain the control is the limited role of expert agencies and Regional Agencies. A lot of critics force the government to make some changes in the second LIP round (1998- 1999) : a seminar in November 1998 organized by the Ministry thus clarifies the role of the expert agencies. [...]