Stine Hesstvedt

• Haugsgjerd, Atle; Hesstvedt, Stine & Karlsen, Rune (2021). Increased media choice and political knowledge gaps: A comparative longitudinal study of 18 established democracies 1995-2015. Political Communication.  s 1- 20 . doi: 10.1080/10584609.2020.1868633 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  We investigate the often-stated, but disputed claim in the political science and political communication literature that increasing media choice widens inequalities in political knowledge. The assumption is that in a high-choice media environment, the politically interested will consume more news while the uninterested will avoid such content, leading, in turn, to widening differences in political knowledge. Although previous studies show that high media choice increases political knowledge gaps in the United States, comparative longitudinal evidence is currently lacking. To fill this gap, we draw on data from four rounds of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Overall, we do not find general support for the high-choice knowledge gap thesis. In most countries, there is no indication that inequality in political knowledge has increased over time. Building on recent insights from political communication research, we question key assumptions of the high choice knowledge gap thesis.

• Hesstvedt, Stine & Christensen, Johan (2021). Political and administrative control of expert groups—A mixed‐methods study. Governance. An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions. . doi: 10.1111/gove.12599 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Governments face a fundamental dilemma when asking expert groups for advice. Experts possess knowledge that can help governments design effective and legitimate policies. However, they can also propose different policies than those preferred by government. How do governments solve this conundrum? Through a mixed‐methods study, the article examines politico‐administrative control with expert advisory commissions in Norway. Arguing that both politicians and bureaucrats can take interest in limiting the gap between political/administrative policy preferences and expert group output, the article examines by what means they seek to control expert groups and how control varies across policy portfolios. It finds that while politicians rely on control by design, bureaucrats use both design and interventions. Moreover, political and bureaucratic controls are stronger in the area of financial/economic policy than elsewhere. The article makes a novel contribution to scholarship at the intersection of public administration and knowledge and policymaking.

• Hesstvedt, Stine & Christiansen, Peter Munk (2021). The politics of policy inquiry commissions: Denmark and Norway, 1971-2017. Western European Politics.  s 1- 25 . doi: 10.1080/01402382.2020.1858597 Show summary

  Policy inquiry commissions are widely used in policy-preparation processes across Europe and beyond. While previous research has primarily focused on commissions as expert bodies and corporatist arrangements, this study investigates whether political factors affect a political incumbent's decision to establish commissions. The hypothesis is that incumbent parties are more likely to appoint commissions under certain political conditions – i.e. depending on parliamentary strength, government colour and government composition – and when certain policy issues are salient on the policy agenda of the government and the opposition. The study uses a novel dataset that combines more than 2000 commission appointments in Norway and Denmark between 1971 and 2017 with party manifesto and electoral study data to test the expectations. The agenda perspective is partly sustained, and the study shows that minority governments, left-leaning governments, and coalition governments appoint commissions more extensively than their counterparts, although the results differ slightly in the two countries.

• Finseraas, Henning & Hesstvedt, Stine (2020). Sosial ulikhet i valgdeltakelse før og nå, I: Johannes Bergh; Atle Haugsgjerd & Rune Karlsen (red.),  Valg og politikk siden 1945. Velgere, institusjoner og kritiske hendelser i norsk politisk historie.  Cappelen Damm Akademisk.  ISBN 978-82-02-66460-2.  Kapittel 6.  s 110 - 123
• Christensen, Johan & Hesstvedt, Stine (2019). Expertisation or greater representation? Evidence from Norwegian advisory commissions., In Eva Krick & Cathrine Holst (ed.),  Experts and Democratic Legitimacy. Tracing the Social Ties of Expert Bodies in Europe.  Routledge.  ISBN 9780367427535.  Chapter 6.
• Christensen, Johan & Hesstvedt, Stine (2018). Expertisation or greater representation? Evidence from Norwegian advisory commissions. European Politics and Society. . doi: 10.1080/23745118.2018.1515861 Full text in Research Archive.
• Hesstvedt, Stine (2018). 'Ekspertifisering' av offentlige utvalg? En studie av akademikeres deltakelse i NOU-utvalg fra 1972 og til i dag.. Norsk sosiologisk tidsskrift.  2(5), s 381- 400 . doi: 10.18261/issn.2535-2512-2018-05-03 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Denne artikkelen ser nærmere på forskeres deltakelse i politikkutforming ved å ta utgangspunkt i en sentral del av den norske politikkutformingsprosessen: NOU-utvalgene (Norges Offentlige Utredninger). Den undersøker hvorvidt «ekspertifisering» kjennetegner utviklingen i utvalgssystemet over tid, ved hjelp av et datasett med informasjon om alle offentlige utvalg nedsatt mellom 1972 og 2016. To hovedspørsmål stilles: Deltar forskere oftere som medlemmer, ledere og sekretærer av offentlige utvalg over tid? Hvilke disipliner er representert, og hvordan har dette endret seg? Funnene viser at andelen forskermedlemmer i NOU-utvalg har vært sterkt økende siden 1970-tallet, og at forskere innenfor samfunnsøkonomi og øvrige samfunnsvitenskaper står for en stor del av denne økningen. Til sammenlikning er naturvitenskapene, medisin og teknologi- og ingeniørfag relativt mindre representert i utvalg i dag enn for førti år siden.

• Hesstvedt, Stine (2018). Redistributing Knowledge? How Institutions Affect Citizens’ Political Knowledge Levels: The Scandinavian Case Compared, In Fredrik Engelstad; Cathrine Holst & Gunnar C. Aakvaag (ed.),  Democratic State and Democratic Society.  De Gruyter Open.  ISBN 978-3-11-063407-5.  5.  s 94 - 117

View all works in Cristin

• Hesstvedt, Stine (2020). The Politics of Expert Advice. A Study of Government's Use of Policy Advisory Commissions in Norway, 1972-2018. Doctoral thesis.
• Hesstvedt, Stine & Karlsen, Rune (2017). Stortingskandidater : rapport fra stortingskandidatundersøkelsen 2013. Rapport – Institutt for samfunnsforskning. 2017:05. Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Denne rapporten gir en beskrivelse av kandidater som stiller til norske stortingsvalg med utgangspunkt i stortingskandidatundersøkelsen 2013. Rapporten beskriver kandidatene langs fire hovedakser: bakgrunn, valgkamp, representasjon, og politisk avstand. Hvem er stortingskandidatene? Hvordan driver de valgkamp? Hvem eller hva mener de selv de skal representere? Hvilke partier mener de står nærmest deres eget parti? Resultatene viser at norske stortingskandidater litt oftere er menn enn kvinner, er 45 år i gjennomsnitt, og har høy utdanning og mye partipolitisk erfaring. I valgkampen er fokuset på partiet. Sosiale medier har blitt en viktig kommunikasjonskanal for kandidatene, men lokalaviser er viktigst. Norske stortingskandidater mener at en stortingsrepresentant først og fremst bør representere partiet, men kandidatene har et sammensatt representasjonsfokus, og velgere i valgkretsen er også et viktig fokus. I tillegg er det godt samsvar mellom de ulike partienes kandidater og velgere på sentrale politikkområder.

• Hesstvedt, Stine (2016). Ideology, Knowledge and Context. A multilevel study of "Political Sophistication" across 21 countries. Master thesis.
• Kleven, Øyvin; Aardal, Bernt; Bergh, Johannes; Hesstvedt, Stine & Hindenes, Ådne (2015). Valgundersøkelsen 2013. Dokumentasjons- og tabellrapport.

View all works in Cristin

• Hesstvedt, Stine (2020). Populistene inn i embetsverket?. Stat og styring.  30(1)
• Hesstvedt, Stine (2019). Politicization of expert advice? Tracing political control with academic experts on policy inquiry commissions in Norway, 1973-2017. Conference paper.
• Hesstvedt, Stine & Christiansen, Peter Munk (2019). The Politics of Technocratic Policy-Making. Conference paper.
• Hesstvedt, Stine (2018). Controlling the Experts? A Study of Norwegian Public Advisory Commissions 1972-2016. Conference paper.
• Hesstvedt, Stine (2018). Controlling the Experts? A Study of Norwegian Public Inquiry Commissions 1972-2016 (ECPR). Show summary

  Policymakers do not merely have problem solving and knowledge-production in mind when they invite experts to participate in expert groups, inquiry commissions and other policy-advisory bodies. Rather, a growing literature on experts’ role in policymaking suggests that politicians are likely to seek advice that fulfills governmental and partisan aims and ambitions. However, this paper argues that present scholarship does not explicitly theorize how experts involved in policymaking can be subject to political control. It asks: How do political-administrative actors retain control over policy formulation when it involves external experts? Theoretically, it suggests that insights from the ‘politics of delegation’ literature within public administration scholarship can help us to understand and conceptualize the question of political control. Empirically, it attempts to identify control patterns by studying Norwegian public advisory commissions and applying a dataset on commissions appointed between 1972 and 2017.

• Hesstvedt, Stine (2017). Expertization of Policy Advice: A Cross-Sectoral Analysis..
• Aardal, Bernt; Bergh, Johannes & Hesstvedt, Stine (2015). Vinner man valget hvis man vinner flytvelgerne?. Dagsavisen.

View all works in Cristin