The impact of political attention on collaborative environmental governance among municipal street-level bureaucrats
Becker, Per LU
and Bodin, Örjan
(2026)
- Abstract
Does the level of attention that politicians direct toward complex environmental problems impact how frontline bureaucrats in municipal settings form relationships? The collaborative interactions among civil servants are a defining feature of environmental governance, drastically shaping how issues are addressed. In this article, the authors incorporate political attention, or the priority status that an issue receives on the political agenda, to analyze how fluctuating attention levels affect the ties created between street-level bureaucrats and the policy outcomes produced. These dynamics are explored within the issue context of flood risk mitigation across municipal civil servant networks in Southern Sweden. Three... (More)
Does the level of attention that politicians direct toward complex environmental problems impact how frontline bureaucrats in municipal settings form relationships? The collaborative interactions among civil servants are a defining feature of environmental governance, drastically shaping how issues are addressed. In this article, the authors incorporate political attention, or the priority status that an issue receives on the political agenda, to analyze how fluctuating attention levels affect the ties created between street-level bureaucrats and the policy outcomes produced. These dynamics are explored within the issue context of flood risk mitigation across municipal civil servant networks in Southern Sweden. Three actor types within municipal administration heavily involved in flood risk mitigation are examined: water & sewage, planning, and politicians and senior managers. By investigating the effects of political attention on collaborative environmental governance, the authors aim to illustrate how policy consequences and relationships at the municipal level are shaped by top-down influences.
(Less)
- author
- Becker, Per
LU
and Bodin, Örjan
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-06-03
- type
- Other contribution
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- collaborative governance, political attention, street-level bureaucrat
- publisher
- PSJ Blog
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0f114836-5466-4bfa-b45a-9fbd8b49d3dd
- alternative location
- https://psjblog.net/2026/06/03/the-impact-of-political-attention-on-collaborative-environmental-governance-among-municipal-street-level-bureaucrats/
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-03 16:25:04
- date last changed
- 2026-06-08 10:16:48
@misc{0f114836-5466-4bfa-b45a-9fbd8b49d3dd,
abstract = {{<p class="MsoNormal">Does the level of attention that politicians direct toward complex environmental problems impact how frontline bureaucrats in municipal settings form relationships? The collaborative interactions among civil servants are a defining feature of environmental governance, drastically shaping how issues are addressed. In this article, the authors incorporate political attention, or the priority status that an issue receives on the political agenda, to analyze how fluctuating attention levels affect the ties created between street-level bureaucrats and the policy outcomes produced. These dynamics are explored within the issue context of flood risk mitigation across municipal civil servant networks in Southern Sweden. Three actor types within municipal administration heavily involved in flood risk mitigation are examined: <em style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: Poppins, sans-serif;">water & sewage</em>, <em style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: Poppins, sans-serif;">planning</em>, and <em style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: rgb(5, 5, 5); font-family: Poppins, sans-serif;">politicians and senior managers</em>. By investigating the effects of political attention on collaborative environmental governance, the authors aim to illustrate how policy consequences and relationships at the municipal level are shaped by top-down influences.</p>}},
author = {{Becker, Per and Bodin, Örjan}},
keywords = {{collaborative governance; political attention; street-level bureaucrat}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
publisher = {{PSJ Blog}},
title = {{The impact of political attention on collaborative environmental governance among municipal street-level bureaucrats}},
url = {{https://psjblog.net/2026/06/03/the-impact-of-political-attention-on-collaborative-environmental-governance-among-municipal-street-level-bureaucrats/}},
year = {{2026}},
}