Det politiska målets motstridigheter – Utformning och innebörd av Malmö stads mål ”fler män till förskolan”

Sammanfattning: The following thesis studies the underlying assumptions and interpretations of policy objectives – assumptions and approaches that characterize the policy process. The aim is to determine which expressions and concepts that are being used in order to make the political work understandable. By specifically studying how politicians from the city council and officials from the city office describe the policy objective “more men to preschool”, I provide an understanding of the formal and informal conditions affecting the content of the policy process. Through interviews with key persons involved in the formulation or implementation of the objective I reach the conclusion that interpretations and descriptions are plural, and often conflicting. This complicates the specific implementation of the objective but also impacts on other political dimensions. By using comprehensive and nuanced theoretical perspectives the complexity of the policy formulation process is explained while also discussing how this policy formulation legitimizes organizational behaviour.