Explaining the ending of Sweden's nuclear phase-out policy: a new approach by referring to the advocacy coalition framework theory

Sweden has been a role model for many European countries as regards the phasing-out of nuclear power. Nuclear power policy became a strong political issue in 1976, much earlier than in other countries. Sweden was the first country in the world to decide to phase out nuclear energy. A non-binding referendum on this subject was held in 1980. As a result, parliament decided to ban nuclear power after 2010. The main aim of the paper is to understand the complex process of policy change throughout various periods in the Swedish phase-out policy by applying the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) theory. The ACF was designed in 1988 by Sabatier and Jenkins Smith to explain, for example, coalition structure and behavior, belief and policy change in controversial/debatable policy subsystems. In February 2009, the Swedish center-right alliance announced a position paper regarding plans to overturn a 30-year ban on new atomic plants, as a part of a new impulse to increase energy security and fight global warming. Based on a decision taken in the Swedish Parliament in June 2010, when a small majority approved these two aims, Sweden reversed its nuclear power phase-out. This paper will analyze the most relevant factors that led to such a radical policy change.     

Building democratic public spheres? Transnational advocacy networks and the social forum process

What, if anything, can transnational advocacy networks (TANs) contribute to the democratization of public spheres outside Westphalian frameworks? On the one hand, TANs excel at turning international public campaigns into political influence – connecting people and power across borders. On the other hand, the increasingly policy‐orientated nature of TANs raises questions about their legitimacy in speaking on behalf of multiple publics. In this article, I suggest that a TAN's success in ensuring the political efficacy of public spheres, while at the same time undermining their normative legitimacy, reflects two sides of the same coin. This is a consequence of the recent internal professionalization of advocacy networks. Framing professionalization as a particular form of communicative distortion within TAN decision‐making, I suggest that networks should incorporate internal deliberative mechanisms, adapted from international social forums, to enhance the normative legitimacy of democratic public spheres.     

An Analysis of the Political Activities of NASW State Chapters

Abstract

NASW state chapters provide a mechanism through which members can become involved in formal political and community advocacy practice. However, there is little understanding of the strategies and processes undertaken by NASW to affect legislative and electoral outcomes. Through a mailed survey to state NASW chapters, this paper describes the scope of chapters' political practices, their policy goals and priorities, and their perceived effectiveness in advocacy work.     

Organizational theory in political sociology

Organizational theory and research has been enormously generative for political sociologists, if not always as fully centered as it might be, relative to broader notions of political power, economic resources, culture, and their interplay. This review both calls attention to the ways that organizational theory continues to inform political sociology and sets an agenda for how this interchange can be productively extended in various ways in scholarship on states, political parties, advocacy organizations, and business influences in politics. I highlight the genealogy of the new institutionalism and its variants (World Polity and institutional logics), population ecology (and the growing interest in both categories and audiences, alongside studies of the “ecology of ideology”), and research that follows in the broad tradition of resource dependence theory (and the link to more management-oriented approaches such as “non-market strategy” and stakeholder theories of organizational political activities). I also emphasize how novel theories of social movements and fields have offered innovative insights that incorporate organizational and political processes. I conclude by elaborating an agenda for how political sociologists can go further in maintaining and extending their highly productive and rewarding engagements with organizational theory.     

Communicating corporate LGBTQ advocacy: A computational comparison of the global CSR discourse

Corporations are increasingly engaging with political and social issues through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, in new areas such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) advocacy. Informed by institutional theory and stakeholder theory, this article systematically, comparatively, and computationally examines the intersection of LGBTQ advocacy and CSR communication. In particular, it contributes to the literature by (1) examining the global LGBTQ CSR discourse constructed by Fortune Global 500 companies (136,820 words) with semantic network analysis and structural topic modeling; (2) surveying non-profit organizations’ guidelines and comparing corporate values with them; and (3) exploring how stakeholder expectations and institutional factors influence CSR communication. Results indicate 6 corporate topics and 9 non-profit topics, which were explicated by referencing organizations’ original writing. It is further shown that stakeholder expectations and institutional factors not only affect whether or not corporations report LGBTQ efforts, but also affect what topics they highlight in CSR reports. Corporations in democratic countries with substantial stakeholder expectations emphasize areas that need high investment and exceed legal obligations.     

Social Work,Politics, and Social Policy Education: Applying a Multidimensional Framework of Power

The call to promote social justice sets the social work profession in a political context. In an effort to enhance social workers’ preparedness to engage in political advocacy, this article calls on educators to integrate a broad theoretical understanding of power into social policy curricula. We suggest the use of a multidimensional conceptualization of power that emphasizes mechanisms of decision making, agenda control, and attitude formation. We then apply these mechanisms to demonstrate how two prominent features of contemporary politics—party polarization and racially biased attitudes—affect the ability of social workers to influence policy. Finally, we suggest content that social work educators can integrate to prepare future social workers to engage in strategic and effective social justice advocacy.     

How Children and Young People Influence Policy‐Makers: Lessons from Nicaragua

This article describes a participatory research project, which explored four case studies of children and young people's successful political advocacy in Nicaragua. The analysis combined a human rights‐based approach and a human development approach, and included concepts of multiple settings and levels, interrelated participation spaces, children and young people's citizenship, inclusion and exclusion, democracy, advocacy and empowerment. The main problems faced by children and young people seeking to influence policy‐makers were identified as adultism, dependency and lack of accountability. The research identified pre‐conditions, participation spaces and ways of organising for effective advocacy, and facilitation methods that had proved effective. It concludes that children and young people who achieve effective advocacy are generally self‐empowered, but can count on effective adult support and facilitation. They work through coordination with the authorities and not by clashing with them, but need to ensure effective follow up if they want politicians to keep their promises.     

Gendering (Trans)National Advocacy

Whether lauded or deplored, transnational organizing among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) generally, and women's NGOs specifically, is recognized as an active player in debates about international economic policy. In this article, I turn attention toward one consequence of women's transnational NGO organizing that has been under-analyzed: the impact that transnational activism has on domestic political organizations and opportunities. The recent increase in activism on gender and policies of free trade in the USA is the product of women's transnational political organizingover the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In the case of NAFTA, theoretical insights about the ways that gendered categories undergird the economy were made visible by and through the transnational advocacy in which feminists engaged.And, this article indicates, these transnational advocacy efforts have helped to shift the domestic political terrain of women's organizing in the United States. I argue that as women's rights advocates in the United States were confronted with the realization that the nexus between gender and trade policy was important to many women's rights and feminist activists around the world, they began to question why the gendered implication of trade policy did not hold a comparable place in the US feminist arena. Thus, changes in the domestic political landscape of non-governmentalactivismmay be one of the longest lasting (and most overlooked) consequences of transnational political engagement.     

The Good,the Bad and the Ugly: Discourse,Policy Controversies and the Role of Science in the Politics of Shrimp Farming Development

This article revisits through a policy analysis the ongoing debate on shrimp farming aquaculture. It describes the changes in policy orientations that have taken place in recent years, and tries to relate them to the advocacy strategies developed by different networks and policy communities. The analysis reveals in particular the crucial contribution of the ‘power of expertise’ and shows how it has been instrumentalised by certain advocacy networks to depoliticise the debate. While this has allowed a number of key stakeholders to refocus the debate on technical solutions, it has prevented other groups concerned with more intractable social and political issues from engaging successfully in the policy process, thus leaving the long‐term sustainability of aquaculture still a contentious issue.     

Addition and Subtraction

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the use of cost-benefit analysis as a teaching tool for addressing diversity content within social policy courses and advocacy work. Two case examples, the Rockefeller drug laws and the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, are provided to illustrate the methodology. Teaching strategies that utilize cost-benefit analysis to develop student understanding of current policies affecting diverse populations and its usefulness as an advocacy strategy are introduced. In addition, the potential for cost-benefit analysis to foster greater understanding of whose voices seem to be heard in social policy development and whose appear to be silent is discussed.     

Shifting sands that threaten policy advocacy for vulnerable children and youth: A case study

Recent changes in the institutional and political environment, including the rise of a neoliberal logic that favors private solutions to social problems and increasing political partisanship, have created new challenges for statewide legislative advocacy. Yet, there is a lacuna in the study of the sector’s response to new and contradictory environmental pressures. Using the lens of institutional and resource dependence theories on organizations, this qualitative case study targets this gap by examining how a nonprofit statewide legislative advocacy organization for vulnerable children has responded to shifting political and institutional conditions that have transpired since its founding in the early 1990s. It examines 1) how the organization has made sense of these emerging challenges and demands, 2) how these shifts have reshaped its advocacy practices, and 3) how they have influenced the viability of the organization. Adaptive responses of the organization included a shift in emphasis from direct legislative advocacy to advocacy directed at the implementation of policy and grassroots advocacy. Implications for the future of statewide legislative advocacy for vulnerable children are discussed.     

Organizational structure and strength and transnational campaign outcomes: a comparison of two transnational advocacy networks

In this article I address the question of why some transnational advocacy networks (TANs) are better able to influence policy outcomes than others. How do we explain the variation in the political impact of TAN campaigns? Drawing on some of the theoretical formulations developed by social movement and international relations scholars, I argue that organizational structure and organizational strength can help us understand this variation. A comparison of a highly influential and successful TAN, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, with a less successful TAN, the International Action Network on Small Arms, demonstrates that such networks can mobilize a large number of diverse civil society groups. However, a coherent and well‐coordinated campaign with a clear political message provides the major explanation as to why some TANs are more likely to shape the global policy process than others.     

Political Advocacy in the Context of “Show Me Your Papers”: How Do Human Service Administrators Respond to Policy Upheaval?

This study focuses on the political advocacy of human service administrators following implementation of a highly restrictive state immigration law. It tests hypotheses to assess whether factors associated with the political advocacy of human service administrators generally are also associated with advocacy at a time of policy crisis. Findings suggest that few human service administrators engaged in immigration-related advocacy, and that those who did advocate were those most likely to perceive organizational benefit for doing so. The findings raise questions about the conditions under which human service administrators will advocate for social benefit in an organizational or individual role.     

The democratic deficit of transnational environmental activism: a case study of e‐waste governance in India

The literature on transnational activism often associates environmental NGOs with democratic legitimacy, grassroots representation and environmental justice. Authors employ case studies to demonstrate how engaging in transnational networks increases the political agency of environmental NGOs. Yet, there is a tendency mostly to select successful cases. In this article, I investigate the political activities of the environmental NGO, Toxics Link, surrounding the recycling of electronic waste in India. Based on qualitative research, this study shows how the political incorporation of Toxics Link in transnational advocacy networks and domestic governance networks constrains their political agency. The structural exclusion of e‐waste labourers from Indian policy negotiations negates the discursive claims of legitimacy, representation and justice. These incorporation processes create a democratic deficit. I use the insights gained from this case study to provide a critical assessment of theories of transnational environmental activism.     

Advocacy Tactics and Policy Outcomes of Sex Offender Rights Organizations

Social movement organizations for sex offender rights work to reduce harm to registrants and their family members by influencing sex offender registration and community notification policies. This study draws on two theories of social movement organizations—organizational emergence and political opportunities—to investigate the capacity (i.e., structure, resources, knowledge and skills) of these organizations to bring about policy changes. Data were gathered using in-depth, telephone interviews with 19 leaders of state-level advocacy organizations in the United States. Two types of strategies emerged, distinguishing organizations as proactive or reactive in their approach to policy change. Proactive organizations contribute to policy amendment, development or adoption, whereas reactive organizations focus on blocking policy. These two types of organizations have similar tactical repertoires; however, more proactive organizations report the use of networking and coalition building and media stories, and more reactive organizations report the use of legislative testimony and research and policy analysis tactics. This study informs social work policy and practice by highlighting effective and ineffective tactics used by highly stigmatized advocacy organizations.     

Why are migrant campaigns different from homeland campaigns? Understanding belonging in context among UK‐Sudanese activists

Migrant communities' homeland‐oriented political campaigns are always related to, but often different from, the activism in which local people engage in their homeland setting. In seeking to understand the observed disparities between migrant campaigns and homeland activism, several studies have demonstrated the influence of contextual factors like political opportunity structures on homeland‐oriented migrant politics. Complementing these studies are works that focus on changes to identity and belonging associated with migration and resettlement. In this article, I build on these debates by offering a combined analysis of the intersections between, and interplay of, contextual and identity‐based factors. I use this analytical approach to examine the case of Sudanese political activists resident in the UK. I demonstrate how forms of belonging emerge here as part of – and not in isolation from – the strategic navigations of multiple political contexts and opportunities. In doing so, I contribute to our understanding of how belonging can be contextualized to serve as an analytical lens for understanding homeland‐oriented migrant activism.     

Common Agency in Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations

Most theories of nonprofit organizations and nonprofit leadership recognize the multitude of stakeholders—including board members, donors and volunteers, funders, the media, and policy makers—that organizational leaders must contend with in doing their work. For nonprofits engaged in advocacy, demands from stakeholders may be even more challenging to meet. Although stakeholder theory recognizes the effect of various groups on an organization, it does not explain how leaders manage the preferences of their often‐competing stakeholders while they make choices for the organization. This study develops a common agency framework, evaluating the roles of three groups crucial to nonprofit advocacy organizations: the organization's board of directors, elected officials, and donors/members. The common agency framework is then illustrated with interviews with leaders of nonprofit advocacy organizations in California. Findings suggest that the leaders of these groups have a significant amount of discretion in guiding their organizations’ activities and operations.     

Issue Conclusion: Sociology,Political Inequality,and Democracy Beyond 2020

The articles in this special issue all contribute to a broader and richer understanding of racial and gender politics. They help reveal how racialized and gendered barriers to political participation reflect and reproduce intersecting racialized and gendered systems of domination. In doing so, they provide insights that can be applied to uncover political processes, cultivate political praxis, and draw our awareness to empowering modes of social and political transformation. Given all this, I propose a renewed sociology of political inequality that focuses on advancing democracy. This agenda includes (1) emphasizing the state of democracy over the state of political party competition, (2) highlighting how democratizing social change happens at various levels, (3) developing and practicing empirically grounded public advocacy, (4) seeing social and political structures are interconnected, and (5) employing sociology in the service of democracy.     

Preschool Policymaking by Stealth: Application of an Alternative Framework for the Policy Process

This study uses the design and passage of universal preschool in two states, Oklahoma and West Virginia, to present an alternative framework for understanding the policy process, Policymaking by Stealth, and demonstrate its usefulness both in expanding the understanding of the politics of public preschool and as a tool for social work policy practice. An overview of the current state of preschool policy in the United States and the political history of federal preschool policy is presented first to provide context to the analysis, followed by an introduction to the analytic framework, and then a formal analysis of the policy passage processes in the two states via the lens of Policymaking by Stealth. The contributions of this new framework to the study of the policy process in general and the practice of policymaking in complex political contexts are discussed.     

New Agendas and New Patterns of International NGO Political Action

International advocacy strategies devised for the political environment in which World Bank policy is decided are often not suitable for advocacy on broader financial policy and trade issues. Advocacy in these new agendas challenges prevailing models, which depict NGOs as mobilizing powerful governments and international organizations to influence a government's behavior. The patterns of international NGO political activity are diverse, sometimes restraining the power of international rules and authorities over individual governments, and require a new or broader model