Rationalitet eller arv? Sveriges erkännande av Palestina

The purpose of this study is to explain the reasons behind the Swedish Social Democrat led government’s recognition of Palestine on the 30th of October 2014. By conducting a single case study, the recognition will be analysed according to two theories: The Rational Actor Model and the Organizational Behavior Model. The Rational Actor Model assumes that the purpose of the recognition was to value-maximize the government’s policies while the Organizational Behavior Model exams the legacy of the Social Democrats and the party’s close connections to Palestine. As an advantage of the recognition, the election of Sweden to the UN Security Council and the underlining of Sweden’s role as a strong and independent state can be seen. Organizational behavior is based on that the recognition was a result of the relations with Palestine and PLO created during the time of Olof Palme and Sten Andersson. The result of the study is a combination of the two theories. What was rational during Palme’s and Andersson’s time has become organizational behavior over the years. However, it turns out that the main reason for the recognition of Palestine was to value-maximize the Social Democrats’ politics