Immigrant integration in Austria and Sweden: a patchwork of multilevel governance and fragmented responsibilities

This chapter discusses the governance perspective of integration service provision for Austria and Sweden during the last decade. In the wake of New Public Management (NPM) inspired policies responsibility for integration programmes has shifted from national to local actors and from society to the market and individuals. The findings suggest that NPM governance has increased the complexity and fragmentation of a multistakeholder policy environment and made the coordination of related policy areas - that is, multidimensional governance - much more challenging. Regrettably, it is possible to observe ‘decoupling’ processes, leading to a decreasing integration of third country nationals (TCNs) as policy implementation becomes ineffective. Behind the rhetoric of economic efficiency, language teachers and public officials are transformed into consultants, and TCNs have become consumers and clients. It is more important to do things correctly than to do the right things.