Audun Gabriel Løvlie

Audun Gabriel Løvlie serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Care Research, West within Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), where he works on the "Early Intervention" project focused on "Legitimation in allocation of municipal health and care services".

He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism (DIPA) and the Department of Government at the University of Bergen, where his 2023 dissertation "The Fellowship of Acceptable State Interventions" analyzed Child Welfare Tribunal reasoning in care order cases involving suspected violence. His academic foundation includes a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Bergen's Department of Sociology.

Løvlie's research centers on knowledge application in public decision-making, with critical examinations of legitimacy and accountability in municipal, tribunal, and court contexts. He investigates street-level bureaucrats' navigation of ethical conflicts, rights frameworks, and competing norms during state-citizen encounters that profoundly impact lives. His methodological approach combines qualitative techniques (document analysis, interviews) with quantitative methods (surveys, vignettes, survey experiments) to address complex governance challenges.

His publication record reveals a cohesive trajectory examining Nordic child welfare systems through interdisciplinary lenses. Recent works analyze judicial decision-makers' perspectives on children's participation, paternalism-child-centeredness balances in population studies, and evidence utilization in violence cases. These contributions span law, social work, and political science, highlighting evolving trends toward participatory frameworks and evidentiary rigor in child protection systems across Scandinavia.

Prior to his current role, Løvlie researched children's participation rights at DIPA, focusing on decision-making processes in child welfare, tribunals, and courts where professional knowledge intersects with lay perspectives amid power asymmetries. His work consistently addresses democratic principles like equality within contexts where state interventions significantly alter citizens' lives.

While affiliated with the Centre for Care Research, West as his primary institutional base, the source documentation provides no details about specialized laboratories, student supervision activities, or specific research grant funding mechanisms supporting his projects.