Att inte påverka är också att påverka : En jämförelse kring hanteringen avmedborgardialogen mellan medborgarna iBottnaryd och Jönköpings kommun

Sammanfattning: Purpose: In today's society, several municipalities in Sweden are working towards theintegration of their citizens in order to include them in the future planning of the citiesand regions. Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting (SKL), conducted a survey calledMedborgarundersökning, in which they examined the citizens’ view on the civildialogue which takes place between the municipalities and their citizens. This survey demonstrated a lack of positive attitude towards the dialogue. Jönköping municipalityhad a need to gather information about the function of the citizen dialogue, since theypublished new guidelines in the summer of 2016, and to gather knowledge about thefuture configuration of the dialogue. The study strived towards uncovering how the municipality of Jönköping take advantage of the dialogue today and what the dialogueis lacking of as well as what improvement can be done between the municipality andits citizens. The study also included how well the dialogue were perceived by thecitizens and their perception about the possibility to affect any decisions that weremade. The study performs a comparison between the municipality of Jönköping and themunicipality of Gnosjö, since the latter had a well-functioned citizen dialogue. Method: The study itself depended upon both qualitative and quantitative methods forgathering of data, such as interviews and surveys. The interviews aimed primarilytowards employees in the municipalities and the surveys aimed towards the residents of Bottnaryd. Findings: This study provides with an increased understanding as to how the citizendialogue functions in practice and provides suggestions as to how the dialogue can beimproved and developed. Among other things, it highlights what the dialogue currentlylacks and what improvements could be implemented to make up for that. Implications: Other possibilities of participation needs to be created in order to be ableto include more citizens and the different layers of society. Furthermore, all partieslacks a greater commitment towards the dialogue, as well as the citizens are able toparticipate too late in the process. Limitations: In this study, officials and other parties, who were not deemed experts inthe field or affected in any way, were consciously excluded. The results of this studyare foremost able to be implemented in the municipality of Jönköping, as this was thecenter of focus. However, this study may be used as a comparison in similar, futurestudies and the proposals of improvements may be useful elsewhere.