Kommunal räddningstjänst i förändring? : Om samverkan, statlig styrning och självstyre i Östergötland

Sammanfattning

In this master’s thesis, the subject of the Swedish state enforcing a recentralization over themunicipalities and the public management through indirect means is studied through the lens ofpreparedness requirements of the municipal fire and rescue services in the county ofÖstergötland. Using an assortment of theories and concepts, namely Post New PublicManagement (“NPM”), Securitization and democratic legitimacy, to explain, analyze anddiscuss themes of municipal cooperation, centralization and municipal self-government, aqualitative interview study was conducted with municipal fire chiefs and chairmen of municipalboards, along with the equivalent positions in the municipal rescue service association (RTÖG).The study finds that several of those interviewed feel that the state’s influence over themunicipal fire and rescue services is growing, and that the increasingly demanding preparednessrequirements leads the municipalities to cooperate with each other in order to have a chance offulfilling the demands. With the focus on preparedness and civil defense having no end in sightin the near future, and the state keeps exercising their authority on the municipalities throughstringent demands, the worry becomes that the municipalities in the long run will struggle togovern on their own terms which could spell a new age for the Swedish management system.