Frank Anechiarico, Ph.D. is the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law at Hamilton College where he studies constitutional law and public administration. He is currently a visiting professor at The Swedish Program and teaches the courses “Criminal Justice in Sweden” and “The Public Policy Process in Sweden.”
One of the real joys of my scholarly career has been collaborating with a number of remarkable researchers. I have been particularly fortunate to work with Staffan Andersson, who is professor of public administration at Linnaeus University in Växjö. We have written a number of articles and chapters in edited volumes together and just this summer published a book entitled, Corruption and Corruption Control: Democracy in the Balance, with Routledge. The book, as well as much of our earlier work, is comparative in scope, so we have had to grapple with the many difference between Swedish and American ideas about public integrity. Growing out of the book is a new project in cooperation with Prof. Lydia Segal at Suffolk University Business School on the way public and private organizations develop and enforce ethics rules and standards. In short, I have a vested interest in learning more about Sweden and Swedish governance systems.
I have been in Sweden frequently over the past decade for one reason or another. In 2015, I team taught an intensive four-week course on public integrity with Andersson at Linnaeus. I not only enjoyed working with our students, but very much liked living in Växjö and getting a feel for everyday life in Sweden. So, when Ken Wagner (The Swedish Program’s Founder and Executive Director) asked if I’d be interested in exchanging jobs with Jonas Brodin, the program’s public policy professor, it didn’t take too long for me to say yes.
Now that I have use of the Brodin-Shein’s very nice house in Sollentuna and their car, I have become a bus-taking, ICA-shopping, everything-recycling member of the community. Of course, Stockholm is a world capital and has a deep cultural tradition, which I have decided to exploit. I’m not sure I can keep up the pace of the last few weeks—sort of like overdoing it at the Grand Hotel smörgåsbord. But the opera, symphony and art museums in Stockholm are not be missed.
One of uses I’ve put the house to was class and dinner for both of my courses last week. The criminal justice seminar met before dinner, then we were joined by my public policy students for the meal and then the public policy class met after dinner. I really like both groups and getting to know them better outside our usual classroom was fun. The salmon, sausages and salads were promptly devoured, which may say less about my cooking than about the appetites of college students.
As the Hamilton College representative to The Swedish Program, I’ve been one of its most enthusiastic cheerleaders for some time. Being a visiting faculty member this term has added to my understanding of the Program’s value to the students who are lucky enough to be part of it.