Ratio Working Paper No. 247: EU:s Janusansikte - Ratio

PublikationWorking paper

Ratio Working Paper No. 247: EU:s Janusansikte

Sammanfattning

Dagens Europeiska Union (EU) framstår för många betraktare och väljare som motsägelsefullt och otydligt. Vissa inslag är positiva – andra mer negativa. Inte minst finns det en kritik mot EU:s ökade överstatlighet. Men främst uppfattas EU och EU:s roll och uppdrag som oklart. Konsekvensen är bristande legitimitet och populism. I denna artikel visas att EU kan sägas ha något av ett Janusansikte, en dubbelnatur, som det är nödvändigt att ta ställning till. Europasamarbetets tillkomst och fortsatta utveckling baseras på två olika grundläggande idéer om hur fred och ekonomisk utveckling kan säkras, vilka har olika konsekvenser för bl.a. synen på federalism, legitimitet och frågan om vilket EU vi vill ha. Den ena idén är pluralistisk, den andra centralistisk.

Karlson, N. (2014). EU:s Janusansikte. Ratio Working Paper No. 247.

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Working paper

Ratio Working Paper No. 390: Fighting Populism by Rethinking Welfare

Karlson, N.

Publiceringsår

2026

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Sammanfattning

Populism thrives on discontent. It could be anything from migration and xenophobia to globalization and welfare failures. Populists deliberately use such discontent to promote polarization by demonizing opponents and attacking media, established elites, courts etc. in the name of the “true people”. As a consequence, democracy, the rule of law, and sound social and economic policies are undermined, with long-term disastrous effects. In many cases, however, the original discontent is caused by real policy failures that have not been properly solved. A major strategy for fighting back at the populist threats therefore must be to improve policy. This paper focuses on the policy failures of welfare states, a major source of discontent in many democracies. I argue that the concept of welfare has been captured and misinterpreted into government assistance programs, a presumption that needs to be abandoned and replaced by interpreting welfare as human flourishing, something that primarily can be promoted within markets and civil society, supported by a small, limited, and decent state.

Artikel (med peer review)

Insider activism in the forest industry: An emerging phenomenon?

Grafström, J., & Karlson, N.

Publiceringsår

2026

Publicerat i

Forest Policy and Economics, 185, 103732

Sammanfattning

Insider activism refers to situations where public officials use administrative discretion to advance personal or ideological preferences. Although the concept has received increasing attention in organizational and political science research, empirical evidence remains limited. This research note examines whether insider activism may influence regulatory practice in the Swedish forestry sector and how perceived enforcement uncertainty affects forest owners’ behavior. A survey of forest owner representatives in southern Sweden indicates low trust in regulatory objectivity and weak perceptions of legal security. Many respondents report experiences of officials acting beyond their formal mandate. The findings suggest that perceived activism-driven uncertainty encourages defensive strategies among forest owners, including early harvesting and reduced willingness to report environmental values.

Artikel (med peer review)

Reviewing the EU policy nexus of energy efficiency and social policy

Nordensvard, J., Björklund, M., von Malmborg, F., La Fleur, L., Skogsmo, E., & Gamez, D. H. B.

Publiceringsår

2025

Publicerat i

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Sammanfattning

This paper aims to analyse how the European Union (EU) energy policy has merged social policy concepts with energy efficiency policy. Energy efficiency has increasingly become understood through social policy concepts such as energy poverty, energy inequality, and lack of cohesion. Previous research has shown how the social aspects of energy efficiency have been highlighted by the European Commission when discussing the multiple benefits of increased energy efficiency efforts, such as building renovations.

Using a mixed-method approach with material from the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament, we review energy policy from a social policy perspective. The analysis is conducted in two steps. First, we identify which EU institutions acted as agenda-setters in introducing the social aspects of energy efficiency. Second, we describe and analyse the framing process through which social concepts are merged with energy policy.

The study combines qualitative and quantitative analyses of EU policy documents. A set of key words is used in the quantitative analysis to explore the links between social policy and energy policy.

We conclude that social aspects were first connected to the energy policy field by the European Parliament. This connection was later reinforced by the European Commission through the inclusion of social policy elements, particularly in policies addressing the transition to energy efficiency and zero-carbon buildings, where concepts such as energy poverty have become central.

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Liknande innehåll

Working paper

Ratio Working Paper No. 390: Fighting Populism by Rethinking Welfare

Karlson, N.

Publiceringsår

2026

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Sammanfattning

Artikel (med peer review)

Insider activism in the forest industry: An emerging phenomenon?

Grafström, J., & Karlson, N.

Publiceringsår

2026

Publicerat i

Forest Policy and Economics, 185, 103732

Sammanfattning

Artikel (med peer review)

Reviewing the EU policy nexus of energy efficiency and social policy

Nordensvard, J., Björklund, M., von Malmborg, F., La Fleur, L., Skogsmo, E., & Gamez, D. H. B.

Publiceringsår

2025

Publicerat i

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Sammanfattning

The study combines qualitative and quantitative analyses of EU policy documents. A set of key words is used in the quantitative analysis to explore the links between social policy and energy policy.

Visa fler

Ratio Working Paper No. 247: EU:s Janusansikte

Sammanfattning

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Nils Karlson