”Barnkonventionen på agendan” - En studie av Sveriges förslag att inkorporera FN:s Barnkonvention i nationell lagstiftning

Sammanfattning: This essay is a study of the debate surrounding the proposal of total incorporation of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish law, examining official documents and articles from the past 26 years regarding the Swedish strategy for implementing the convention. We will argue that the current political effort to incorporate the convention in its entirety as Swedish law can be understood through theories of political symbolism and as a policy window. The analysis has shown that there are significant symbolic bases for decision-making, which often overshadow the existing instrumental bases. The principle of children’s rights is a commonly used argument for the importance of an incorporation of the convention into Swedish law. The incorporation is also used by the government to express an intention to strengthen Sweden’s international reputation as a role model and an advocate for children’s rights. The proposal can also be understood as a result of a new government’s attempt to signalize their new priorities.