Nadja Sophia Bekkelund Kühn

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Radlick, Rebecca Lynn & Trondal, Jarle (2025). Crisis and Bureaucratic Discretion: How Bureaucratic Scandals Shape Discretionary Attention Among Government Officials. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy (RHCPP). 16(3). doi: 10.1002/rhc3.70014. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study examines the distribution of discretionary attention among government officials facing contexts characterized by urgency and ambiguity. Specifically, researching discretionary distribution among government officials 4 years after a severe crisis, the paper offers novel knowledge of postcrisis effects. The study identifies five conceptual dimensions of discretionary distribution and applies meso-level theorizing to account for observed variations. The research context is the Norwegian Welfare and Labor Administration that faced an administrative scandal in 2019 due to successive governments' misinterpretation and mishandling of European Union regulations, resulting in the illegal imprisonment of welfare beneficiaries. Benefiting from novel survey data (N = 466), the study demonstrates that this scandal left postcrisis effects on the discretionary distribution among agency officials, and that these effects were meditated by the organizational design of the administrative apparatus.

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Radlick, Rebecca Lynn (2024). Mellom autonomi og europeiske forpliktelser: Om handlingsrommet i den norske velferdsforvaltningen. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0801-1745. 40(1), p. 26–42. doi: 10.18261/nst.40.1.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne artikkelen argumenterer vi for at politisering av velferdssektoren har medført at man i større grad utfordrer det nasjonale handlingsrommet. Vi bygger vårt teoretiske argument rundt betydningen av politisering av politikken. Datagrunnlaget består av to deler: Den første delen er en gjennomgang av sentrale velferdspolitiske styringsdokumenter supplert med medieoppslag. Gjennom dette viser vi hvordan velferdspolitikken i økende grad ble utsatt for politisk press frem til 2019 da «Trygdesaken» sprakk. Den andre delen består av kvalitative forskningsintervju gjennomført med byråkrater i velferdsforvaltningen i januar og februar 2023 (N = 13). Studien viser at det er en sammenheng mellom politisering av velferdspolitikken og forståelsen av handlingsrom. Dette manifesterer seg først og fremst gjennom en sterkere tendens til at velferdsbyråkrater vektlegger nasjonale føringer på bekostning av de europeiske.

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Trondal, Jarle (2024). Caught in the Balance: Consequences of Associated Membership over Time. In Fromage, Diane (Eds.), Redefining EU Membership: Differentiation In and Outside the European Union. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780191948145. p. 185–209. Full text in Research Archive
• Horverak, May Olaug; Langeland, Gerd Martina; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Hellang, Øyvind & Helmersen, Migle (2024). Health promotion principles and practices in school. International Journal of e-Healthcare Information Systems (IJe-HIS). Full text in Research Archive
• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Vasstrøm, Mikaela Lise Modalen (2024). A public administration perspective on wind power development: decision-making logic of local government officials. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. ISSN 1523-908X. 26(2), p. 205–217. doi: 10.1080/1523908X.2024.2321186. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Onshore wind power has experienced decades of controversies and conflicts between national policies and ambitions for development and local government and community opposition. This discrepancy has spurred extensive studies on economic, socio-cultural and environmental variables of (lack of) social acceptance. To understand controversies surrounding wind power development there is a need to investigate how decision-making is shaped by various factors in local governments affected by wind power. This paper develops a public administration perspective related to key assumptions of social acceptance theory and examines how different factors interact and mutually affect each other in local decision-making logic. We suggest an integrated analytical model that delineates three types of decision-making logic among local government officials: a logic of consequences, a logic of trajectory and a logic of appropriateness. As such we highlight the importance of public administration decision-making as a pivotal component of wind power development. This study is informed by interviews with municipal political and administrative leaders in Norway. The analysis shows that local decision-making logic is shaped by a reciprocation between considerations of socio-economic benefits (consequences), by past procedural experiences with energy development (trajectory) and by linkages to community, place and nature (appropriateness).

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Trondal, Jarle (2023). Access, capacity and influence. Comparative European Politics. ISSN 1472-4790. 22(4), p. 409–432. doi: 10.1057/s41295-023-00366-0. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Different forms of integration into the European Union (EU) call for studies of the consequences of multilevel access structures. Similar to EU member-states, government officials from associated states interact closely with EU-level administrative institutions, notably the European Commission (Commission) and EU agencies. Benefiting from a large-N survey, this study demonstrates that bureaucrats from “third-countries”, such as Norway, may exert sectoral policy influence in the EU, and that organizational features of the public administration may systematically shape such patterns. The study offers two distinct contributions to the extant literature: First, it presents original survey data on how domestic agency officials perceive their influence vis-à-vis the EUs executive branch. Secondly, it probes the effects of two distinct drivers of policy influence—bureaucrats’ access to secondary structures and requisite administrative capacities.

• Jacobsen, Dag Ingvar; Baldersheim, Harald & Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2021). Faglig uavhengighet eller politisk lojalitet? Norske kommunedirektørers balanse mellom fag og politikk. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0801-1745. 37(4), p. 210–225. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2936-2021-04-04. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Den nye kommuneloven fra 2020 har som en eksplisitt intensjon å klargjøre skillet mellom politikk og administrasjon, i praksis skillet mellom øverste administrative leder – Kommunedirektør – og ordfører. Denne studien tar for seg hvordan skillet mellom politikk og administrasjon i kommunene faktisk fortoner seg for norske kommunedirektører. Den empiriske studien er en survey sendt samtlige kommunedirektører i Norge høsten 2020 (354) med en svarprosent på 58 (n=206). Spørreskjemaet besto av fire vignetter med beskrivelser av reelle valgsituasjoner, standardiserte valgalternativer, samt åpne kommentarer til vignettene. Resultatene indikerer at forholdet mellom politikk og administrasjon i enkelte saker oppleves som en relativt klar linje som i liten grad krysses, mens det i andre typer saker legges opp til en utstrakt dialog mellom politikk og administrasjon for å finne en felles løsning. Mest overraskende er det at kommunedirektørene i sine åpne kommentarer viser seg å ta betydelige hensyn til politiske signaler også i saker som kunne anses som rent administrative. Dette kan tolkes som en type «dyp politisering» der politiske hensyn er noe som kommunedirektøren legger inn i sitt beslutningsgrunnlag også i saker som etter loven klart er tillagt den administrative lederen.

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2021). Institutional Overlaps and Agency Autonomy: Examining Ministerial Influence on National Agencies’ EU Affairs. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration (SPJA). ISSN 2001-7405. 25(1), p. 3–22. doi: 10.58235/sjpa.v25i1.7123. Full text in Research Archive
• Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2021). Institutional Overlaps and Agency Autonomy: Examining Ministerial Influence on National Agencies' EU affairs. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration (SPJA). ISSN 2001-7405. 25(1), p. 3–22. Full text in Research Archive
• Trondal, Jarle; Haslerud, Gjermund & Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2020). The Robustness of National Agency Governance in Integrated Administrative Systems: Evidence from a large-scale study. Public Administration Review. ISSN 0033-3352. doi: 10.1111/puar.13309. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines government agencies facing choice architectures that are multiple, overlapping, ambiguous, and sometimes incompatible—in short: turbulent. It makes two contributions: First, two conceptual images of agency governance are outlined that derive distinct predictions on how agencies are likely to maneuver when embedded in integrated multilevel administrative orders. Secondly, benefitting from a large‐N dataset on agency officials (N = 1,963) from 47 government agencies, the study suggests that government agencies are primarily biased towards a pragmatist compound dynamic. Additionally, the analysis probes the robustness of these conceptual images by entering moderator variables into the analysis. Multiplicative interaction model analysis suggests that the compound dynamic of agency governance is robust because no moderator variables fundamentally transform relationships from one governance type to another.

• Gänzle, Stefan; Trondal, Jarle & Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2019). ‘Not So Different After All.’ Governance and Behavioral Dynamics in the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Journal of International Organization Studies. ISSN 2191-2556. IX(1). Full text in Research Archive
• Trondal, Jarle & Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2019). Governing European Affairs: Lessons from Norwegian Ministries. World Political Science. 15(1), p. 1–23. doi: 10.1515/wps-2019-0001. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The aim of this article is to examine the role of ministerial officials in an integrated European multilevel administrative order. This study argues that organizational variables at the national level constitute a decisive filtering factor regarding how decision premises emanating from European Union (EU)-level institutions are received by domestic government institutions and officials. The study contributes to the literature in two main ways: Empirically it provides a comprehensive study of the role of Norwegian ministerial officials in the EU multilevel administrative order over a time period of 20 years (n = 3562). Secondly, it applies an organization theory approach to explain variation in actual decision-making behavior. The article discusses factors of general relevance to political science applicable beyond the case at hand. The study shows that ministerial officials are deeply involved with the EU multilevel administration. Moreover, it confirms the pivotal role of organizational factors in public governance processes.

• Trondal, Jarle & Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2019). Governing a ´post-Brexit´ Europe and the case of Norway: integration without membership in an affiliated state. In Gänzle, Stefan; Leruth, Benjamin & Trondal, Jarle (Ed.), Differentiated Integration and Disintegration in a Post-Brexit Era. Routledge. ISSN 9780367135300. p. 164–181. doi: 10.4324/9780429026959-10. Full text in Research Archive
• Gänzle, Stefan; Trondal, Jarle & Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2019). The ECOWAS Commission and the making of regional order in West Africa: Intersecting logics in international public administration. In Coleman, Katharina; Kornprobst, Markus & Seebers, Annette (Ed.), Diplomacy and Borderlands. African Agency at the Intersection of Orders. Routledge. ISSN 9780367273323. p. 130–152. doi: 10.4324/9780429296147-7. Full text in Research Archive
• Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Trondal, Jarle (2018). European integration and the administrative state. A longitudinal study on self-reinforcing administrative bias. Journal of European Public Policy. ISSN 1350-1763. 26(9), p. 1–23. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2018.1520913. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study demonstrates how the EU contributes to a self-reinforcing administrative bias due to domestic-level organizational factors. Strong European integration without membership reinforces a politico-administrative gap and this gap expands over time. The paper applies an extreme case of high integration without formal EU membership represented by Norway. The findings suggest that the EU contributes to reinforce the administrative state through strong unintended assimilation effects. Thefindings are probed by a novel and comprehensive longitudinal data-set consisting of a large-N single case (N= 3562) questionnaire study among government officials at three points in the Norwegian central administration: 1996, 2006 and 2016. Theoretically, the paper examines the role of organizational factors in administrative integration and how the impact of the EU is mediated by organizational variables at the national level.

• Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Trondal, Jarle (2018). Norsk Europaforvaltning. Et organisasjonsteoretisk perspektiv på departementenes EU-arbeid. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift. ISSN 0801-1745. 34, p. 46–64. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2936-2018-02-03-01. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Formålet med denne studien er å belyse departementsansattes rolle i europeisk flernivåforvaltning i tidsperioden 1996 til 2016. Studien argumenterer for at organisatoriske variabler på nasjonalt nivå er avgjørende for hvordan premisser fra EU-institusjonene blir fanget opp og innlemmet i norsk sentralforvaltning, og i siste instans i offentlig politikk. Artikkelen gir to viktige bidrag. For det første presenteres unike data fra norske departementsansattes rolle i europeisk flernivåstyring over en tidsperiode på 20 år (N=3562). For det andre bidrar studien med et organisasjonsteoretisk perspektiv for å forklare faktisk atferd blant «eurokrater» i norske departementer. Artikkelen belyser generelle organisasjonsteoretiske sammenhenger som kan anvendes utover denne studien. Artikkelen viser at departementsansatte er tett koplet til EUs flernivåforvaltning. Videre bekrefter studien betydningen av organisasjonsvariabler innen offentlig styring, også med hensyn til beslutningsprosesser i sentralforvaltningen som strekker seg over flere administrative nivå.

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• Horverak, May Olaug; Langeland, Gerd Martina; Helmersen, Migle; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Sari, Emre [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Health promotion in school – what does it mean, and how can the effect of health promoting efforts be evaluated? Population Medicine. 8(Supplement1). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  INTRODUCTION: Increased mental health issues among children and young people have led to the implementation of health promoting initiatives in Norwegian schools. Finding the right tools to evaluate these measures has been a challenge. The Norwegian Public Health Institute has pointed out that...

• Horverak, May Olaug; Langeland, Gerd Martina; Helmersen, Migle; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Sari, Emre [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Health promotion in school – what does it mean, and how can the effect of health promoting efforts be evaluated? Full text in Research Archive
• Horverak, May Olaug; Langeland, Gerd Martina; Helmersen, Migle; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Sari, Emre [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Helsefremmende praksis i skolen: Hva innebærer det og hvordan kan det evalueres. Full text in Research Archive
• Horverak, May Olaug; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Helmersen, Migle; Langeland, Gerd Martina & Haugen, Tommy (2025). Developing an Instrument to Measure Health Promotion in a Youth Environment: A Pilot Study From a Norwegian Context. doi: 10.22492/issn.2187-4743.2025.4. Full text in Research Archive
• Horverak, May Olaug; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Helmersen, Migle; Langeland, Gerd Martina & Haugen, Tommy (2025). Developing an instrument to measure health promotion in a youth environment - A pilot study from a Norwegian context. Full text in Research Archive
• Horverak, May Olaug; Langeland, Gerd Martina; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Hellang, Øyvind & Helmersen, Migle (2024). Developing tools for proffesional learning communities in schools to work on health promotion competence and practice. Full text in Research Archive
• Poulsen, Gro Anita Kåsa; Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Horverak, May Olaug (2025). CVidere: SAMMen for sysselsetting. NORCE Research AS. ISSN 9788284083902. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne rapporten viser funn og erfaringer fra samarbeidsprosjektet «CVidere: SAMMen for sysselsetting» finansiert av Sørlandets Kompetansefond med prosjektperiode 2021 til 2024. Rapporten oppsummerer forsknings- og utviklingsarbeidet som er gjort i samarbeid mellom Blå Kors Kristiansand og NORCE. Prosjektet er gjennomført i konteksten av et annet prosjekt kalt «CVidere», og det vil her gjøres rede for koblingen mellom de to prosjektene, og hvilke resultater som kom ut av dette FoU-arbeidet.

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Radlick, Rebecca Lynn (2023). En "europeisert" norsk velferdsforvaltning? Kartlegging av rutiner og praksis knyttet til EØS-forpliktelsene om trygdekoordinering. NORCE Research AS. ISSN 9788284083117. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Formålet med dette prosjektet har vært å undersøke hvordan arbeids- og velferdsforvaltningen forholder seg til forpliktelser som følger av EØS-regelverket. Prosjektet er avgrenset til saksområder som omfatter trygdekoordinering. Studien finner at det er økt bevissthet rundt EØS-regelverket, men at det knytter seg betydelig usikkerhet til hvordan regelverket skal omsettes i praksis. Dette skyldes kompleksiteten i regelverket, der nasjonal politikkutvikling blant annet betinges av rettsavgjørelser fra EU- og EFTA-domstolen. Studien finner også at det er økt behov for informasjon, samt kapasitets- og kompetansebygging, særlig i de operative delene.

• Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund & Vasstrøm, Mikaela (2022). Perspektiver på landbasert vindkraft i Agder. NORCE Research AS. ISSN 9788284082707. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Det har skjedd betydelige endringer i nasjonal vindkraftpolitikk de siste årene. Disse endringene har som mål å bedre rammevilkårene for vertskommuner gjennom å sikre økt verdiskapning og bedre lokal forankring. På bakgrunn av dette, har prosjektets overordnede formål vært å fremskaffe et oppdatert kunnskapsgrunnlag om holdninger og perspektiver i berørte kommuner. Prosjektets bygger i hovedsak på 11 forskningsintervju gjennomført med administrativ og politisk ledelse i et utvalg berørte kommuner i Agder. Studien viser at kommunene har behov for langsiktige og forutsigbare løsninger, både når det gjelder prosessen rundt utbygging og når det gjelder økonomisk kompensasjon. Til tross for at endringene i vindkraftpolitikken oppfattes som positive, påpekes det også utfordringer knyttet til disse.

• Hellang, Øyvind; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Horverak, May Olaug & Helmersen, Migle (2022). Effekter av folkehelsetiltak for helsefremmende skoler. NORCE Research AS. ISSN 9788284082530. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Forprosjektet har resultert i et instrument for å måle effekten av folkehelsetiltak på helsefremmende skoler, gjennom et spørreskjema som viser helsefremmende kompetanse og praksis blant ansatte. Spørreskjemaet ble utviklet i samarbeid med lærere og skoleledere ved en ungdomsskole og en videregående skole, gjennom gruppeintervjuer og individuelle intervjuer.

• Jacobsen, Dag Ingvar; Baldersheim, Harald; Hye, Linda; Kühn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund; Duy, Iris Nguyen & Elgueta, Nichole Makarena Silva [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Styrket lederskap i kommunal sektor - gjeldende rett, roller og rolleforståelse mellom folkevalgte og kommunedirektør. Universitetet i Agder. Full text in Research Archive
• Kuhn, Nadja Sophia Bekkelund (2020). Ever closer administrative institutions? Impacts of the European Union on national decision-making processes. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788271179892. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Faced with a variety of unprecedented societal challenges such as terrorism, climate change, and pandemics, the traditional epicentre of decision-making - the nation-state - is increasingly reliant on its bureaucratic supplement, the administrative state, to ensure viable, long-term solutions. Concomitantly, as the world grows closer, so do national administrative institutions by frequently engaging in policy-making both within and across levels of government. Consequently, public policy is initiated, shaped, and implemented at the intersection of national and international levels of government. National administrations, particularly national agencies, serve as administrative bridges between international and national politics and contribute to coordinate policy agendas and outcomes. At the abstract level, this has been conveyed as the emergence of common political orders and has given rise to a (re-) new(ed) set of questions: how can we conceptualize and explain political orders? What are the mechanisms and consequences of integration of states and their administrations? To what extent do new patterns of multilevel cooperation supplement or challenge the nation-state? This Ph.D. thesis confronts these questions by addressing the impact of organizational factors in the public governance process. The theoretical point of departure examines the explanatory power of organizational characteristics to account for how integration impacts public governance and political orders more generally. The study thus aims to contribute to organizational scholarship more broadly by testing and building on established causal relationships. The empirical impetus for this project lies in the institutional interconnectedness that characterizes public administrations. Specifically, the study investigates how the supranational locus for policy-making integrates into domestic structures. The study thus follows in the footsteps of established scholarly approaches focusing on the national-supranational nexus and adopts two classical questions: (i) how do organizational factors affect governance processes generally, and (ii) how do supranational institutions influence decision-making processes within domestic public administration particularly? Methodologically, the study is quantitatively driven (large-N questionnaire data) supplemented with qualitative data (semistructured interviews).

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