Research group The KROV research group focuses on how public activities are run, governed, challenged, and changed at different levels of government. Analyses are based on various theoretical and methodological approaches and encompass conditions in Sweden, as well as comparisons with other countries.
ImageMostphotos/Tommy Alvén
The research within KROV is based on several current themes in Swedish, Nordic, and international research on local government. The first theme concerns territorial aspects, such as the relationship between centre and periphery within and between municipalities and the location of services. A second theme concerns local democracy, focusing on issues such as constitutional policy, gender equality, elected representatives and political parties, participatory democracy, and user influence. A third theme concerns municipal and regional activities, where particular attention is paid to schools, urban planning, safety and security, care for the elderly, and healthcare. This also includes studies on governance and the relationship between different levels of the political system, the role of civil society in the welfare state, marketization, and other trends in public administration. A fourth theme concerns comparative research on local government. The researchers in KROV have long had an ambition not only to study municipalities and regions in Sweden, but also to place the Swedish case in an international context. This is done, among other things, through collaborations within the framework of Nordic and European research networks.
See publications from our researchers.
Niklas Eklund, Professor in Political Science
