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Johansson, Karl MagnusORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-3804-5020
Publications (10 of 113) Show all publications
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2023). Government Communication in Finland and Sweden. Baltic Rim Economies (3), 7-7
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Government Communication in Finland and Sweden
2023 (English)In: Baltic Rim Economies, ISSN 1459-9759, no 3, p. 7-7Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.)) Published
Abstract [en]

Communications is one of the most pressing challenges facing government day by day. Government communication – defined broadly as the structures, practices and processes of the executive in its communication aspects – is required to handle those challenges. In this article, we outline the main elements of government communication in Finland and Sweden and then contrast the two countries. Our analysis covers both broader, over time developments as well as communication during the crises of the early 2020s.  

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Turku: Centrum Balticum, 2023
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52591 (URN)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 19/2013
Available from: 2023-10-31 Created: 2023-10-31 Last updated: 2023-11-01Bibliographically approved
Johansson, E. & Johansson, K. M. (2022). Along the government–media frontier: Press secretaries offline/online. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(S1), Article ID e2759.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Along the government–media frontier: Press secretaries offline/online
2022 (English)In: Journal of Public Affairs, ISSN 1472-3891, E-ISSN 1479-1854, Vol. 22, no S1, article id e2759Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

While the position of press secretaries to ministers has become routinized, we still know little about their everyday life in the political executive. This article, based on in-depth interviews with press secretaries and an inventory of social media use conducted among ministers and press secretaries in Sweden, explores what press secretaries do and the roles and functions they fill. It addresses the overarching question of what it is really like to be government press secretary. It engages with this question through a combination of methods, mapping, and explaining patterns of behavior across related fields and strategic spaces. We argue that existing research and role typologies, while still useful, must be developed by accounting more for how press secretary work changes through new techniques and digitalization. We conclude that press secretaries fill a mix of roles and these are quite stable, but social media impacts on the daily routine of the press secretary and are a part of the work that is difficult or impossible to control. In addition, this study of Swedish press secretaries helps to redress a geographical imbalance in political communication (system) research where the focus usually is on Anglo-American-based scholarship and systems.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2022
Keywords
digital, executive, function, press secretary, role, social media, spin, Sweden
National Category
Media and Communications Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46393 (URN)10.1002/pa.2759 (DOI)000695269600001 ()2-s2.0-85114740612 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 19/2013
Available from: 2021-09-14 Created: 2021-09-14 Last updated: 2022-12-23Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2022). Shaping the EU’s Future?: Europarties, European Parliament’s Political Groups and the Conference on the Future of Europe. In: Petra Ahrens; Anna Elomäki; Johanna Kantola (Ed.), European Parliament’s Political Groups in Turbulent Times: (pp. 173-197). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Shaping the EU’s Future?: Europarties, European Parliament’s Political Groups and the Conference on the Future of Europe
2022 (English)In: European Parliament’s Political Groups in Turbulent Times / [ed] Petra Ahrens; Anna Elomäki; Johanna Kantola, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, p. 173-197Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Europarties and the European Parliament (EP) political groups have decades of experience from constitutional reform processes. These partisan actors have influenced EU Treaty amendments while also proving inventive in designing new practices that have over time found their way into the Treaties. Drawing on interviews and parliamentary and party documents, this chapter explores the different avenues and strategies the three largest Europarties—European People’s Party, Party of European Socialists, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe—and their EP groups utilised for shaping the agenda of the Conference on the Future of Europe. It examines the distribution of power between Europarties and the EP groups and pays particular attention to dynamics inside the EP political groups, arguing that the agenda-setting stage of the Conference was strongly influenced by group leaders and other more senior, individual MEPs, many of whom are seasoned veterans of inter-institutional bargaining and EU constitutional development.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022
Series
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics, ISSN 2662-5873, E-ISSN 2662-5881
Keywords
Conference on the Future of Europe, Europarties, Political groups, Influence, Balance of power
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-49542 (URN)10.1007/978-3-030-94012-6_8 (DOI)2-s2.0-85134190425 (Scopus ID)978-3-030-94011-9 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-07-09 Created: 2022-07-09 Last updated: 2022-08-01Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2022). The partisan dimension of the Conference on the Future of Europe: Agenda-setting, objectives and influence. Stockholm: Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The partisan dimension of the Conference on the Future of Europe: Agenda-setting, objectives and influence
2022 (English)Report (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a unique deliberative continent-wide experiment, bringing together citizens across the European Union (EU) to discuss its future. At the same time, the Conference is chaired by EU institutions, with the European Parliament (EP), in particular, considerably more supportive of it than most national governments. While designed as a bottom-up forum for listening to citizens, the Conference thus offers an opportunity for Europarties and their EP groups to both engage with their activists and to shape the agenda and debates of the Conference.

This report examines how successful the three largest political families or Europarties – the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the centre-left Party of European Socialists (PES), the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and their EP party groups – have been in shaping the agenda and debates of the Conference. The report addresses three main research questions. First, it explores the avenues and strategies through which the Europarties and EP groups have sought to influence the Conference: coalition-building in the Parliament, and links with the Commission, national member parties, and European political foundations that are linked to the Europarties. Second, it analyses the division of labour or balance of power between and within Europarties and their EP groups relating to the Conference. Third, it assesses the priorities of these partisan actors in the Conference. And, more normatively, it discusses whether ‘political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union’, as outlined in the EU Treaties, through investigating whether the Europarties ‘reached out’ to the citizens or at least to their own individual members before and during the Conference.

The theoretical framework of the report focuses on the importance of agenda-setting in EU politics and on the strategies of Europarties and the EP groups in previous rounds of constitutional reform. The empirical analysis, drawing on interviews and documents, is divided into three parts. The first examines the inter-institutional bargaining in the run-up to the Conference, the second the actions and strategies of the Europarties and the EP groups before and during the Conference, while the third analyses the positions of the supranational partisan actors in the Conference. 

The results show how the Conference, like the EU in general, has an important transnational partisan dimension. Europarties, and particularly the well-resourced EP groups, benefiting from decades of experience of Treaty reforms and inter-institutional bargaining, managed to shape the agenda and also the debates of the Conference. These supranational partisan actors clearly prioritized items related to EU democracy and institutions but displayed less effort in reaching out to the citizens. Inside the Parliament the party groups built large coalitions behind resolutions, with group chairs strongly present in the process. Europarties played a much smaller role, while the political foundations were highly active through organising events and producing background material. Content analysis reveals considerable similarity between the institutional objectives, although differences were also found – for example, regarding transnational lists for EP elections. The concluding section summarises the findings and discusses how our study contributes to an understanding of EU democracy and the role of Europarties and EP groups in shaping the future of Europe.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, 2022. p. 62
Series
Rapport, ISSN 1651-8942 ; 2022:2
Keywords
Agenda-setting, Conference on the Future of Europe, Europarties, European Parliament, European Union, partisan, political families, political groups, transnational
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-48636 (URN)978-91-89498-01-3 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-03-22 Created: 2022-03-22 Last updated: 2022-03-23Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. (2022). The Prime Minister–Media Nexus: Centralization Logic and Application (1ed.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Prime Minister–Media Nexus: Centralization Logic and Application
2022 (English)Book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

This book offers a systematic inquiry into how, why, and with what consequences media affects governments and the standing of prime ministers. It aims at an understanding of how media has caused institutional effects in government, as well as at advancing a unified theory of government communication. The author develops a logic of centralization and applies it to one case, Sweden. Government communication has been institutionalized, tightened and centralized with the prime minister and has changed irreversibly. Analysis of how the government communication system has evolved, mainly in its institutional structures, suggests that the shift to centralization arose more out of necessity than choice. For prime ministers most of this is about finding ways to ensure that the entire government respond to media uniformly. As governments face a set of functional demands from media, different kinds of media, uniformity has been a paramount objective. Nevertheless, this development involves shifting dynamics of intra-executive relations and a shift of power away from ministries to the prime minister’s office; the apex of political power. The prime minister has been empowered at the expense of ministers through the concentration of power and resources to the executive centre. That is partly because of media, which reinforces political hierarchies. That and the centralized control of government news in turn raises further questions about democratic governance and the nature of modern-day governing. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. p. 103 Edition: 1
Series
Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership, ISSN 2947-5821, E-ISSN 2947-583X
Keywords
political communication, presidentialization of politics, prime minister, communication, politics and the media, personalization of prime ministers, prime minister, function, empowerment, institutional change, logic of centralization, media, presidentialization, adaptation, centralization, communication
National Category
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-50081 (URN)10.1007/978-3-031-12152-4 (DOI)978-3-031-12151-7 (ISBN)978-3-031-12152-4 (ISBN)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 19/2013
Available from: 2022-10-17 Created: 2022-10-17 Last updated: 2022-10-21Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. (2021). Europeiska unionen (4ed.). In: Jakob Gustavsson; Jonas Tallberg (Ed.), Internationella relationer: (pp. 547-567). Lund: Studentlitteratur AB
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Europeiska unionen
2021 (Swedish)In: Internationella relationer / [ed] Jakob Gustavsson; Jonas Tallberg, Lund: Studentlitteratur AB, 2021, 4, p. 547-567Chapter in book (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lund: Studentlitteratur AB, 2021 Edition: 4
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-46271 (URN)978-91-44-13946-3 (ISBN)
Available from: 2021-08-25 Created: 2021-08-25 Last updated: 2021-08-25Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2021). Political Parties in the European Union. In: Finn Laursen (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics: . New York: Oxford University Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Political Parties in the European Union
2021 (English)In: Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics / [ed] Finn Laursen, New York: Oxford University Press, 2021Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Media often portrays European Union (EU) decision-making as a battleground for national governments that defend the interests of their member states. Yet even the most powerful individuals, such as the German chancellor, the French president, or the Commission president, are party politicians. At the same time the consistent empowerment of the European Parliament (EP) means that the party groups of European-level “Europarties”—political parties at European level—are in a key position to shape EU legislation. The Parliament has also become more directly involved in the appointment of the Commission, with the results of EP elections thus influencing the composition of the Commission. Examining the “partyness” of European integration, this article argues that scholarly understanding of the role of parties in the EU political system has taken great strides forward since the turn of the millennium. This applies especially to the EP party groups, with research focusing particularly on voting patterns in the plenary. This body of work has become considerably more sophisticated and detailed over the years; it shows that the main EP groups do achieve even surprisingly high levels of cohesion and that the left–right dimension is the primary axis of contestation in the chamber. It nonetheless also emphasizes the continuing relevance of national parties that control candidate selection in EP elections. Considering that most votes in the Parliament are based on cooperation between the two largest groups, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the center-left Party of the European Socialists (PES), future research should analyze in more detail how these groups build compromises. Actual Europarties, however, remain relatively unexplored. Case studies of treaty reforms or particular policy sectors reveal how individual Europarties have often wielded decisive influence on key integration decisions or key appointments to EU institutions. The Europarty meetings held in conjunction with European Council summits are particularly important in this respect. The regular, day-to-day activities of Europarties deserve more attention, both regarding decision-making and vertical links between national parties and their Europarties. Overall, it is probably more accurate to characterize Europarties as networks of like-minded national parties or as loose federations of member parties, especially when compared with the often centralized and strongly disciplined parties found in the member states.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Oxford University Press, 2021
Keywords
Political parties, European Union, Europarties, ideology, party groups, European Union politics
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45700 (URN)9780190856427 (ISBN)
Available from: 2021-06-14 Created: 2021-06-14 Last updated: 2021-08-19Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. (2021). Stärker mediemakten regeringsmakten?. Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 123(1), 5-25
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Stärker mediemakten regeringsmakten?
2021 (Swedish)In: Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, ISSN 0039-0747, Vol. 123, no 1, p. 5-25Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article explores the question if media power strengthens governmental power. It engages with this question through a study of the Swedish case. The case study summarizes secondary evidence and presents new primary evidence drawn from interviews and documents. It builds on presidentialization theory to develop an argument about why prime ministers, in particular, should be expected to be empowered by media, among other factors. The article advances the argument that the drive for government-wide coherent communication perpetuates trends of centralization. This follows a functionalist logic and changes the balance between premiers and other cabinet ministers in favour of the former. Moreover, prime ministers are the natural foci of media attention. The article concludes that premiers are empowered by the media, but the scope for executive empowerment more broadly is conditional on the domestic political context. These findings have important implications for research on political communication and executives.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lund: Fahlbeckska Stiftelsen, 2021
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-44587 (URN)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 1296/3.1.1/2013
Available from: 2021-03-19 Created: 2021-03-19 Last updated: 2021-05-12Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. (2021). Sweden and the European Union. In: Finn Laursen (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics: . New York: Oxford University Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Sweden and the European Union
2021 (English)In: Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics / [ed] Finn Laursen, New York: Oxford University Press, 2021Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Membership in the European Union (EU) entails adjustments or changes in national democracies. Sweden joined the EU in 1995, and EU membership has given rise to controversies in the public debate as well as in the academic community. Four main scholarly and related themes are addressed here. First is the discursive construction of the question of democracy in relation to European integration. In an effort to legitimize membership in the public debate, the consequences in terms of sovereignty were summarized in the official Swedish discourse on EU membership as a loss in formal sovereignty but an increase in real sovereignty. The conclusions became known as the calculus of sovereignty. This conceptual innovation entailed a reinterpretation of popular sovereignty, as stipulated by the Swedish constitution, as well as of democracy, implying that efficiency or problem-solving capacity was emphasized more than procedural democracy. Increased economic and political interdependence had created a situation where independent political decisions were seen as ineffective. Second is the controversy surrounding the question of influence and the extent to which Sweden is exerting influence in the EU. This issue came to the fore in connection with the euro referendum in 2003. While some argued that remaining outside the euro would come with a political price—marginalization—others emphasized the lack of evidence for such effects. To some extent, this remains a moot point, not least as a result of the expansion and importance of the euro zone. Third is the question of whether or not there is political opposition, that is, conflict rather than consensus in EU affairs. Recent research claims that (allegedly almost nonexistent) previous research had underestimated the degree of political opposition or conflict, notably in parliament. Moreover, results suggest that there is variation in EU opposition across time and policy areas. However, the key question here should be whether or not there is effective opposition, making a difference to policy outcomes. Several reforms have been initiated to strengthen the involvement of the parliament in EU policymaking, but none has really sought to challenge the balance between parliamentary scrutiny and executive discretion. Fourth is the state and different interpretations of either decentering or centering effects. Whereas some claim that fragmentation or decentralization is the central feature of the Europeanization of the Swedish state, other researchers submit that the predominant tendency is rather centralization, as the demands of EU decision making—not least EU summitry—on national policy coordination have been a principal driving factor in this process. These are the main themes in the debate over the EU and EU membership in Sweden. Included here are a series of analytical narratives and counternarratives, as well as a discussion of important implications for the national democracy and for the distribution or redistribution of power among domestic political actors therein. In sum, any interpretation of modern-day politics must now take into account the significance of the EU, operating through Europeanizing impacts.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Oxford University Press, 2021
Keywords
consensus, coordination, democracy, European Union, influence, institution, opposition, sovereignty, state
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45702 (URN)9780190856427 (ISBN)
Available from: 2021-06-14 Created: 2021-06-14 Last updated: 2021-08-19Bibliographically approved
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2020). Centralizing Government Communication? Evidence from Finland and Sweden. Politics and Policy, 48(6), 1138-1160
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Centralizing Government Communication? Evidence from Finland and Sweden
2020 (English)In: Politics and Policy, E-ISSN 1747-1346, Vol. 48, no 6, p. 1138-1160Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

How governments manage their communication is one crucial indicator of the balance of power within the cabinet and inside the executive branch as a whole. Existing research offers few insights into the process by which governments come to choose one form of communication over another and about the factors driving centralization. This article addresses this gap through a comparison of two countries, Finland and Sweden, examining not only the organizational forms of government communication but also the causal mechanisms at work. Combining theoretical lessons from studies in political communication, political science, and public administration, it develops a centralization argument, focusing on the centripetal factors facilitating coordination and control. Drawing on over 40 interviews with journalists and political or media advisors in the two countries and on government documents, the article offers clear evidence of a trend toward centralization, particularly in Sweden. This trend should be understood as part of a broader process whereby prime ministers and their offices establish stronger control of the entire executive branch.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley-Blackwell, 2020
Keywords
Centralization, Government Communication, Media Advisors, Political Advisors, Press Secretaries, Prime Ministers, Finland, Sweden
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-41687 (URN)10.1111/polp.12370 (DOI)000559481300001 ()2-s2.0-85089391819 (Scopus ID)1296/3.1.1/2013 (Local ID)1296/3.1.1/2013 (Archive number)1296/3.1.1/2013 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 19/2013
Available from: 2020-08-17 Created: 2020-08-17 Last updated: 2021-01-28Bibliographically approved
Projects
Symbiotic leader-media relations? Exploring interaction between prime ministers and the media in Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden [19/2013_OSS]; Södertörn University; Publications
Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2023). Government Communication in Finland and Sweden. Baltic Rim Economies (3), 7-7Malling, M. (2023). Reconstructing the Informal and Invisible: Interactions Between Journalists and Political Sources in Two Countries. Journalism Practice, 17(4), 683-703Johansson, E. & Johansson, K. M. (2022). Along the government–media frontier: Press secretaries offline/online. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(S1), Article ID e2759. Johansson, K. M. (2022). The Prime Minister–Media Nexus: Centralization Logic and Application (1ed.). Cham: Palgrave MacmillanMalling, M. (2021). Sources that Trigger the News: Multiplexity of Social Ties in News Discovery. Journalism Studies, 22(10), 1298-1316Johansson, K. M. (2021). Stärker mediemakten regeringsmakten?. Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 123(1), 5-25Johansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2020). Centralizing Government Communication? Evidence from Finland and Sweden. Politics and Policy, 48(6), 1138-1160Johansson, K. M. & Nygren, G. (Eds.). (2019). Close and Distant: Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries (1ed.). Gothenburg: NordicomJohansson, K. M. & Raunio, T. (2019). Government communication in a comparative perspective. In: Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren (Ed.), Close and Distant: Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries (pp. 127-148). Gothenburg: NordicomBalčytienė, A. & Malling, M. (2019). Lithuania: Media-politics interaction shaped by benefits-oriented reasoning. In: Karl Magnus Johansson & Gunnar Nygren (Ed.), Close and Distant: Political Executive-Media Relations in Four Countries (pp. 5-74). Gothenburg: Nordicom
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ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-3804-5020

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