Collaborative governance in times of political shifts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37062/sf.63.28468Nyckelord:
civil society, collaborative governance, democracy, migration, welfareAbstract
This paper explores how a case of collaborative governance between public authorities and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Sweden was affected by political changes and reforms (2014-2024) that eventually contributed to the closing down of the project. The case addresses state-civil society relations in Sweden and how political shifts affect collaborative policy implementation. The collaborative project was carried out over a decade at a regional level and addressed migrant integration through involvement in activities run by CSOs. The project’s development is analysed in relation to different ideological and political understandings of the role of civil society in liberal democracy and welfare, as well as the development of state-civil society relations in Sweden. Political changes related to welfare state retrenchment, privatisation of services, and restrictive migration policies impacted the public authorities, negatively influencing the preconditions for collaboration. Due to asymmetric power relations between the public sector and civil society, CSOs tended to adapt to these changes to uphold collaboration. In the article, the collaborative governance framework is used for understanding the preconditions for state-civil society collaboration.
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