Tord Skogedal Lindén

The Shark Jaw and the Elevator: Arguing the Case for the Necessity, Harmlessness and Fairness of the Norwegian Pension Reform

Based on the retrenchment literature, Norway is an unlikely candidate for comprehensive pension reform because of its unique economic situation, with a steadily growing petroleum fund and substantial tax revenues flowing into the public coffers. Thus, politicians should encounter difficulty convincing the electorate and strong interest groups of the need for reform. Nevertheless, reform did occur in Norway, and reform justifications faced surprisingly brief and light opposition. This article investigates the policy discourses applied and argues that two images of justification in the Norwegian pension reform process partially explain how resistance to the reform was overcome. The first image is a type of crisis scenario that is neatly cached in the ‘shark jaw’ image. The shark jaw can be visualised in a graphic illustration in which projected future petroleum revenues and pension expenses are displayed simultaneously. The lines for the two indicators extend in opposite directions, forming an image resembling a jaw. The second image frames the actual reform as an improvement; this view illustrates how the reform allows one to enter an ‘elevator’ that moves one upwards, presenting a stark contrast to the substance of retrenchment. The article is informed by Schmidts discursive-institutionalism perspective and her distinction between coordinative and communicative discourses. Empirically, the article relies on a comprehensive collection of materials, including document analysis, parliamentary debates, interviews, media searches and opinion surveys.

Social Accountability in Immigration Regulation: The Inclusion of Social Actors in the Asylum Appeals Process

This article discusses how a reform allowing humanitarian organizations to suggest laypersons as participants in appeals processes influences social accountability in the Norwegian immigration sector. This article argues that this formal participation does not qualify as a full social accountability mechanism. The article also examines whether actors connected to humanitarian organizations act independently and finds few signs of biased behavior. The analysis focuses on the Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers, the leading humanitarian organization on asylum, and relies on documents and interviews with key actors in the field.

Does the Type of Service Provider Affect User Satisfaction? Public, For-Profit and Nonprofit Kindergartens, Schools and Nursing Homes in Norway

Does the type of service provider affect user satisfaction? This chapter compares public, for-profit and nonprofit kindergartens, schools and nursing homes in Norway based on recent survey data. Our data allow us to identify respondents with actual experience with specific services and to distinguish between different welfare providers. We found that user satisfaction with private schools and kindergartens is higher than with corresponding public providers. Similarly, for-profit kindergartens enjoy slightly higher levels of user satisfaction than nonprofit providers. In sum, however, differences in user satisfaction are small, and given an overall high level of satisfaction, one should be careful placing too much emphasis on variations between different providers of welfare services in Norway.