MSc thesis defence David Alexanderson: Policy: Advocacy Coalitions and The Grazing Requirement for Swedish Dairy Cows

Supervisor: Siera Vercillo 
Examiner: Daniel Polman

Date & Time:August 21st, 13:00 p.m. 
Location:Online via MS Teams

Abstract
In 1988, Sweden became a pioneer in animal welfare legislation, creating the “Beteskravet” policy which grants dairy cows annual access to pasture. In recent years, this policy has become the object of the largest Swedish agri-food policy conflict in recent memory. This study investigates how policy actors employ strategies and resources, and whether they are aware of themselves and others as engaging in advocacy coalitions. By using the Beteskravet policy conflict as a case study and utilizing semi-structured interviews and texts such as public testimonials, news coverage and opinion articles, this study aims to contribute to this research agenda. This study finds that policy actors in the Beteskravet policy subsystem engage in and are aware of advocacy coalitions, resort to several strategies and resources identified in AFC literature, and adapt strategy and resource use based on their awareness of the opposing coalition. Several recommendations are made for future studies, including using a more extensive operationalization of key concepts such as “policy entrepreneur” and “joint strategies/resource use”.