Dynamics of Regulatory Policymaking in Sweden: The Role of Media Advocacy and Public Opinion

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dynamics of Regulatory Policymaking in Sweden: The Role of Media Advocacy and Public Opinion

AU - Rasmussen, Anne

AU - Romeijn, Jeroen

AU - Toshkov, Dimiter

PY - 2018/3

Y1 - 2018/3

N2 - While extensive literatures study the responsiveness of policy to public opinion and the influence of interest groups, few studies look at both factors simultaneously. This article offers an analysis of the influence of media advocacy and public opinion on political attention and policy change for four regulatory issues over a relatively long period of time in Sweden. The data pools together measures of public support for specific policies with new data on attention to the policy issues in the Swedish parliament, policy developments over time and detailed coding of the claims of interest advocates in two major Swedish newspapers. Analyzing this data, a complex picture without a general tendency for either public opinion or media advocacy to act as dominant forces in producing policy change is revealed, although some evidence is found that the public is successful in stimulating political attention when it supports policy proposals aimed at changing the status quo.

AB - While extensive literatures study the responsiveness of policy to public opinion and the influence of interest groups, few studies look at both factors simultaneously. This article offers an analysis of the influence of media advocacy and public opinion on political attention and policy change for four regulatory issues over a relatively long period of time in Sweden. The data pools together measures of public support for specific policies with new data on attention to the policy issues in the Swedish parliament, policy developments over time and detailed coding of the claims of interest advocates in two major Swedish newspapers. Analyzing this data, a complex picture without a general tendency for either public opinion or media advocacy to act as dominant forces in producing policy change is revealed, although some evidence is found that the public is successful in stimulating political attention when it supports policy proposals aimed at changing the status quo.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

U2 - 10.1111/1467-9477.12108

DO - 10.1111/1467-9477.12108

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0080-6757

VL - 41

SP - 49

EP - 74

JO - Scandinavian Political Studies

JF - Scandinavian Political Studies

IS - 1

ER -