Mid Sweden University

This study investigates the experiences of a minority group regarding the fulfilment and implementation of their minority rights within a local context. It explores the impact of this implementation on the affected minority group's trust in the political institution responsible for its execution. The research specifically focuses on examining the minority rights of Swede-Finns residing in Örebro municipality, which is an administrative area with extended minority rights for this group. The study employed qualitative interviews conducted with Swede-Finns living in Örebro municipality, followed by transcription and thematic text analysis of the interview data. In terms of theoretical perspectives, an institutional micro-perspective was adopted to interpret and analyze the results related to trust. Lipsky's theory of street-level bureaucracy and Lundqvist's theory of implementation were utilized to interpret and analyze the minority group's experiences with implementation. The findings reveal significant deficiencies in the implementation of minority rights across various areas as perceived by the minority group. Furthermore, the results suggest that the group's trust in the political institution responsible for implementation has been undermined due to the perceived long-standing failure to deliver and the perception that minority rights are not taken seriously within the local context.