- The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics
- Acknowledgments
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: The Decline of Swedish Exceptionalism?
- Section 1 The Politics of the Welfare State
- Introduction: The Politics of the Welfare State
- Who Loves the Swedish Welfare State? Attitude Trends 1980–2010
- Political Partisanship and Policy Feedback: The Swedish Welfare State after Eight Years of Center-Right Government
- The Welfare State and Gender Equality
- The Moral, Economic, and Political Logic of the Swedish Welfare State
- Section 2 Constitutional Design
- Introduction: Constitutional Design
- Constitutional History
- The Election System
- The Parliamentary System
- The Public Sector and the Courts
- Section 3 The Party System
- Introduction: The Party System
- The Party System
- The Party Organizations
- Political Parties and Political Representation
- The Parties in Government Formation
- Section 4 Electoral Behavior
- Introduction: Electoral Behavior
- Voter Turnout
- The Never-Ending Story of Class Voting in Sweden
- Issue Voting Structured by Left–Right Ideology
- Swedish Election Campaigns
- Section 5 Public Administration
- Introduction: Public Administration
- The Swedish Administrative Model
- Administrative Reform
- The Public Servant
- Governing the State
- Section 6 Subnational Government
- Introduction: Subnational Government
- Municipalities, Regions, and County Councils: Actors and Institutions
- Subnational Government in a Multilevel Perspective
- Challenges and Reforms of Local and Regional Governments in Sweden
- Swedish Local and Regional Government in a European Context
- Section 7 Sweden’s International Relations
- Introduction: Sweden’s International Relations
- Swedish Foreign Policy: The Policy of Neutrality and Beyond
- Sweden and the Baltic Sea Region
- Swedish Internationalism and Development Aid
- “A Force for Good”?: Paradoxes of Swedish Military Activism
- Section 8 Sweden and the EU
- Introduction: Sweden and the EU
- Sweden in a Multigovernance Polity
- The Europeanization of the Swedish State
- The Europeanization of Swedish Foreign Policy and Beyond: On Multiple Roles in Swedish Post-Cold-War Foreign Policy
- Leading the European Union: Sweden’s EU Presidencies 2001 and 2009
- Section 9 The Political Economy of Swedish Governance
- Introduction: Sweden’s Political Economy
- A Model of Welfare Capitalism?: Perspectives on the Swedish Model, Then and Now
- One Hundred Years of Swedish Economic Policy
- The Swedish Macroeconomic Policy Framework
- The Swedish Model of Industrial Relations
- Section 10 Policy-Making in Sweden
- Introduction: Policy-Making in Sweden
- Policy Coordination under Minority and Majority Rule
- Rational Politics: Commissions of Inquiry and the Referral System in Sweden
- Interest Organizations in the Policy Process: Interest Advocacy and Policy Advice
- Parliamentary Committees: A Ground for Compromise and Conflict
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
Swedish politics can still be characterized as deliberative, rationalistic, open, and consensual but only if these four concepts are reinterpreted. Sweden has changed from a long-term “sounding-out” style of policy-making to a short-term and iterative trial-and-error method. Whereas commissions of inquiry in the 1960s were expected to carry out thoroughgoing investigations of policy alternatives and their possible consequences, since the 1980s they have been ordered to finish their assignments in less time and deliver shorter reports. Political decisions today are taken on a much less solid factual ground. The political process has moved from a consensus-seeking system based on selected access for a few major interests to a competitive and open-ended system.
Keywords: consensus, deliberation, legislation, planning, policy-making, neocorporatism, openness, rationalism
Olof Petersson is former Professor of Political Science at Uppsala University.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics
- Acknowledgments
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: The Decline of Swedish Exceptionalism?
- Section 1 The Politics of the Welfare State
- Introduction: The Politics of the Welfare State
- Who Loves the Swedish Welfare State? Attitude Trends 1980–2010
- Political Partisanship and Policy Feedback: The Swedish Welfare State after Eight Years of Center-Right Government
- The Welfare State and Gender Equality
- The Moral, Economic, and Political Logic of the Swedish Welfare State
- Section 2 Constitutional Design
- Introduction: Constitutional Design
- Constitutional History
- The Election System
- The Parliamentary System
- The Public Sector and the Courts
- Section 3 The Party System
- Introduction: The Party System
- The Party System
- The Party Organizations
- Political Parties and Political Representation
- The Parties in Government Formation
- Section 4 Electoral Behavior
- Introduction: Electoral Behavior
- Voter Turnout
- The Never-Ending Story of Class Voting in Sweden
- Issue Voting Structured by Left–Right Ideology
- Swedish Election Campaigns
- Section 5 Public Administration
- Introduction: Public Administration
- The Swedish Administrative Model
- Administrative Reform
- The Public Servant
- Governing the State
- Section 6 Subnational Government
- Introduction: Subnational Government
- Municipalities, Regions, and County Councils: Actors and Institutions
- Subnational Government in a Multilevel Perspective
- Challenges and Reforms of Local and Regional Governments in Sweden
- Swedish Local and Regional Government in a European Context
- Section 7 Sweden’s International Relations
- Introduction: Sweden’s International Relations
- Swedish Foreign Policy: The Policy of Neutrality and Beyond
- Sweden and the Baltic Sea Region
- Swedish Internationalism and Development Aid
- “A Force for Good”?: Paradoxes of Swedish Military Activism
- Section 8 Sweden and the EU
- Introduction: Sweden and the EU
- Sweden in a Multigovernance Polity
- The Europeanization of the Swedish State
- The Europeanization of Swedish Foreign Policy and Beyond: On Multiple Roles in Swedish Post-Cold-War Foreign Policy
- Leading the European Union: Sweden’s EU Presidencies 2001 and 2009
- Section 9 The Political Economy of Swedish Governance
- Introduction: Sweden’s Political Economy
- A Model of Welfare Capitalism?: Perspectives on the Swedish Model, Then and Now
- One Hundred Years of Swedish Economic Policy
- The Swedish Macroeconomic Policy Framework
- The Swedish Model of Industrial Relations
- Section 10 Policy-Making in Sweden
- Introduction: Policy-Making in Sweden
- Policy Coordination under Minority and Majority Rule
- Rational Politics: Commissions of Inquiry and the Referral System in Sweden
- Interest Organizations in the Policy Process: Interest Advocacy and Policy Advice
- Parliamentary Committees: A Ground for Compromise and Conflict
- Index
