Papers by Patrik Öhberg
West European Politics, 2016
Public Administration, 2016
There is limited empirical research on the extent to which politicized recruitment of ministerial... more There is limited empirical research on the extent to which politicized recruitment of ministerial advisers affects the quality of the policy process. In this article we take a novel step by looking at two possible consequences of increased political recruitment for the policy process: administrative politicization and contestability. We deploy a Most Similar Systems comparison of Denmark and Sweden and include survey answers from 657 civil servants in managerial positions. We find that political recruitment of top civil servants, such as Swedish state secretaries, restricts the access of the civil service to the minister, but it does not substantially politicize the policy process. Danish civil servants perceive themselves as more contested by the relatively few Danish political advisers than their Swedish colleagues. Our results imply that the organization of political advice is a crucial factor for politicization and contestability
Democratizing Candidate Selection, 2018
Previous works have argued that candidate selection is an important determinant of party cohesion... more Previous works have argued that candidate selection is an important determinant of party cohesion in parliamentary groups. Candidates selected by party elites tend to form more disciplined parliamentary groups than those selected following more participative processes. This idea has usually been tested by measuring voting blocs (as a proxy of party discipline) and party rules (as indicators of the formal mechanisms of candidate selection). Both indicators have problems since they do not take into account that there are a number of factors leading to party cohesion, leaving the informal mechanisms behind candidate selection. Furthermore, the (scarce) research on this issue involves case studies, which typically ignores the contextual elements behind this relation. In this paper, we use data from a survey of candidates to eight parliamentary democracies to study if and how candidate selection impacts their perception of party loyalty. We demonstrate that exclusive candidate selection promotes more vertical methods of decision making, while participative mechanisms of candidate selection generate less loyal MPs, without eroding the internal cohesion of parliamentary groups. By studying candidate selection and how that relates to party loyalty, we are able to better understand the mechanism at play when party unity is discussed.
The purpose of this working paper is to introduce the work of the Laboratory of Opinion Research ... more The purpose of this working paper is to introduce the work of the Laboratory of Opinion Research (LORe). The paper is structured as follows: We begin with a short summarizing presentation of the laboratory and of the most important part of the data collection performed within LORe, ie the electronic citizen panels. We also present MOD (the Multidisciplinary Opinion and Democracy Research Group), which is the research group responsible for initiating LORe. The rest of the document is a concrete description of the “dos and don'ts” ...
Political elites and Parliaments by Patrik Öhberg
The normal functioning of democracies depends in large part on party representatives voting in ac... more The normal functioning of democracies depends in large part on party representatives voting in accordance with the joint party position. A Member of Parliament (MP) needs to be able to balance the interest of her constituents not only to her own views, but also-or even mainly-to the views of her party. It seems reasonable that representatives interpret their mandate to act differently depending on who supported them as candidates to begin with. Or put differently, the party whip should be more useful (or maybe not even necessary) on candidates who feel grateful towards party leadership, while candidates who are selected in broader membership votes should be less loyal towards the party leadership. Can party loyalty be enhanced through candidate selection procedures? In this paper we theorize and empirically show that exclusiveness of the selectorate affects candidates' assessments of the importance of party loyalty. We go beyond existing work in that we focus on candidates' outspoken views of the importance of party loyalty. So far, the research on how candidate selection impacts candidates' party loyalty has measured voting blocs as proxies of party discipline
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Papers by Patrik Öhberg
Political elites and Parliaments by Patrik Öhberg