How to blame and make a difference

Perceived responsibility and policy consequences in two Swedish pro-migrant campaigns

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10354587
AutoresLena Johannesson (0000-0001-6582-2011, Stockholm University, autor correspondente), Noomi Weinryb (0000-0003-1477-2493, Södertörn University)
Ano2020
Volume54
Fascículo1
Páginas41-62
Data de publicação2020-10-08
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPolicy Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0032-2687 • E-ISSN: 1573-0891
EditoraSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11077-020-09407-x
OpenAlexW3092398995
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas35

In this paper, we explore the assumption that blame-attribution can be an effective rhetorical strategy for non-elite interest groups who want power holders to be attentive to their demands. Through a qualitative analysis of two pro-migrant campaigns led by grassroot activists in Sweden, one taking place in 2005 and the other in 2017, we offer a nuanced empirical examination of non-elite initiated blame-games. We show how perceived responsibility influences these blame-games, and explore which policy consequences might emanate from them. We demonstrate that blame-making, under certain conditions, can be a successful strategy to gain policy influence, but that this strategy is conditioned by the complexity and transparency of the institutional arrangements of accountability within the policy sector. The focus on non-elite blame-making in order to change policies enables us to contribute to the theoretical discussion on the relationship between anticipatory and reactive forms of blame-avoidance behaviours, and to discuss the democratic implications of blame-games in both shorter and longer time perspectives. One implication of this study is that successful non-elite blame-making at one point in time actually can lower the chances of successful blame-making in the future

Accountability · Attribution · Blame · Democracy · Dominance (genetics · Elite · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Transparency (behavior · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology