Research Profile

This research group aims to propel and strengthen research on the relationship between democracy, organization and political regime. Empirically, this research will be directed towards a number of areas of society and political sectors. Theoretically, the group will include a variety of approaches and traditions: Democracy Theory, state and regime theory, institutional and organizational theory, innovation and profession theory. One of the characteristic of the research group is that many of its members make use of both historical and contemporary data.

Characteristic for the group is that the majority of its members for a number of years have conducted research, and published nationally and internationally, within the sub-areas of the group's total research fields. Themes that will be central in the group's research is democracy and power, public and political communities as a condition for democracy, development of a citizen role and the relationship between citizen and consumer, the relationship between modernization, expertise, authority and comprehension of a persons' self, the relationship between the public "central policy" and minority's struggle for recognition and participation, the relationship between national, international, transnational and global regulation and governance regimes, the relationship between political regimes and innovation systems and also the relationship between the public policy organization, and its content. The group's research will be comparatively oriented in time and space.

The research group presupposes the assumption that the individual researcher's personal interests and motivation are crucial factors in order to strengthen research within the field. However, it will also be emphasized that research is a collective responsibility and that the group will be an active research collective.