bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional Hypotheses of Party Decline: The Case of the Scandinavian Social Democratic Parties*
Authors: Sainsbury Diane
Published: October 2007

Functional hypotheses of party decline define parties as fulfilling specific functions in the political system and relate party decay to the inability or diminished capacity of parties to perform these functions. This article examines two major hypotheses of this sort by assessing their relevance in the case of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Social Democratic parties. First, it deals with the thesis of the declining functionality of the mass membership party. Second, it discusses the rival structure hypothesis which argues that rival forms of political organization pose a threat to parties by encroaching upon their functions. These arguments are confronted with available empirical data. In several instances, the empirical evidence points to inadequacies in the hypotheses, or directly confutes them. These weaknesses of the hypotheses are discussed, and alternative interpretations are offered.
Political Participation in the Social‐Democratic State A Normative‐Empirical Framework for the Analysis of Decision‐Making Involvement in Norway*
Authors: Lafferty William M.
Published: October 2007

The purpose of the paper is to develop an integrated normative‐empirical approach for an analysis of decision‐making involvement in Norway. The analysis will be based on a national sample survey carried out in early 1981 (N = 1,650). After briefly defending the choice of ‘the social‐democratic state’ as a context‐specifying term, the discussion turns to problematizations of two central concepts: the political and participation. The result of this exercise is an ‘operational typology of decision‐making involvement’ which stipulates eight zdifferent modes of involvement in terms of survey‐operational measures. It is argued that the typology covers the entire spectrum of decision‐making involvement in Norway; that it is unique in doing so; and that the conceptual differences involved have important normative empirical consequences. These latter are then developed in relation to three dominant perspectives in participation research; the expressivist, the instrumentalist, and the developmentalist points of view. Each of these perspectives is illustrated by a specific research strategy, and concluding remarks are made on the necessary integration of all three for a fuller comprehension of decision‐making involvement in the social‐democratic state.
Mass Political Support in Sweden: Retesting a Political‐Economic Model
Authors: Sigelman Lee
Published: October 2007

This paper tests a model of mass political support for Sweden, 1967–1974. The model is composed of two economic variables (the Consumer Price Index and assessments of the short‐run employment situation) and two non‐economic variables (media criticism of government and media pessimism). The model performs very well, accounting for approximately two‐thirds of the variance in the popularity of the governing party, the Social Democrats. The most impressive showing is made by the unemployment variable, but the Consumer Price Index and media criticism also make important contributions. Concluding discussion centers on the implications of these findings for our understanding of Swedish politics and for the validity of political‐economic models of mass political support.
Pluralism, Corporatism and the Distributive Conflict in Developed Capitalist Countries
Authors: Paloheimo Heikki
Published: October 2007

In the 1970s the level of the distributive conflict increased in most developed capitalist countries. But at the same time it was found that the level of the distributive conflict remained on an unchanged level or even declined in some countries. In this article the role of interest organizations is analysed in explaining both cross‐national differences in the level of the distributive conflict and the resurgence of the distributive conflict in the 1970s. Using Mancur Olson's new theory of interest organizations, the author shows on a theoretical level that a pluralist mode of interest intermediation is conducive to a high level of the distributive conflict and that a corporatist mode of interest intermediation is conducive to a low level of the distributive conflict. Empirical analyses in 18 developed capitalist countries are then carried on to test this theory. Empirical analyses strongly support the theory.
The Importance and Limits of Party Government: Problems of Governance in Denmark*
Authors: Damgaard Erik
Published: October 2007

Pluralist democracies face the dilemma of reconciling representation of interests and government control. The tension between representation and governance is a problem for political parties in particular and has presumably become more important in recent years, at least in Denmark. Using data from questionnaire surveys of Danish political elites it is shown that interest organizations and bureaucrats indeed pose problems for party government. Some institutional changes might lighten the tasks of parties, but there is no way of avoiding the basic democratic dilemma.
Pluralistic Corporatisms and Corporate Pluralism*
Authors: Jordan Grant
Published: October 2007

This discussion acknowledges that interest group ‐ governmental relations deserve further study, but argues that the corporatist literature of the last decade has failed to give useful guidance to the research. One major complaint concerns the hostility in many of the sources to pluralist analysis. As critiques, these attacks have been too shallow to be defended as constructive debate and in dismissing pluralist writings important insights into group‐Governmental relations have been neglected.

The article broadly distinguishes two types of pluralism. There is the version which dwells on open competition between groups; there is also, however, a tradition of writing about and discussing closed group‐departmental relations and sectorized policy‐making. It is clearly this second strain that overlaps considerably with contemporary corporatist interest. It is suggested that it is worth reserving the term corporate pluralism for this model of segmented policymaking. This model is more descriptive than explanatory and is less ordered and systematised than corporatism appears to be in current theoretical use.

It is further argued that in use many writers impute to corporatism little more than corporate pluralism suggests — and that advocates of corporatism now use the term in a less ambitious (an empirical) manner.
The Application of Game‐Theory in the Study of Hierarchical Decision‐Making*
Authors: Sørensen Rune J.
Published: October 2007

The article discusses hierarchical decision‐making within a rational‐choice framework. The interaction between Superior and Subordinate is assumed to be influenced by three types of uncertainty regarding preferences, choice and ‘what happened’.

A game‐theoretical analysis indicates that the Control Game may represent the decision situation of the superior and the subordinate actors, particularly when modelled as a one‐shot game with simultaneous moves. As this game has no Nash‐equilibrium, it is difficult to predict an outcome.

A rather tentative empirical testing is performed. Using data from the budgetary process in the city of Oslo, it seems that the agencies do not exploit strategic opportunities to increase spending. This supports the theoretical presumption that it is rational bureaucratic self‐interest to comply with superior preferences, even under a non‐controlled decision situation.
Voluntary Organisations and Community Politics: Norwegian and British Comparisons
Authors: Hansen Tore , Newton K.
Published: October 2007

The study reported in this article compares local political activity of voluntary organizations in a Norwegian and an English city — Tromsø and Birmingham. The two cities display rather striking structural similarities with respect to the relative number of organizations as well as to organizational membership. The relative distribution of major types of organizations is also rather similar, although there is a greater degree of organizational specialization in the English city.

With respect to political activity of the organizations the two cities are, however, quite different. While two thirds of the organizations in Tromsø have been active in local political matters, this holds true for less than 30 per cent of the organizations in Birmingham.

This difference is attributed to the finding that in the Norwegian case local government assists organizations with goods and services, while in the English case organizations have to depend on their own internal resources. An additional factor is that Norwegian organizations, when compared to their English counterparts, have greater access to political decision‐making bodies.
Conflict Management in Plural Societies: The Consociational Democracy Formula*
Authors: Butenschøn Nils A.
Published: October 2007

The article discusses the validity of consociational theory, an influential trend in political science research in the 1970's. The theory, as formulated by Arend Lijphart, both seeks to explain the conditions for political stability in fragmented societies, and to present a model for democratic government in such societies. The first part of the article gives an interpretation of the theory. The second part presents the main critics of the consociational paradigm. The article concludes that the theoretical arguments against consociationalism carry considerable weight, but the normative challenge of consociational theory remains when confronted with the quest for conflict management in deeply divided societies.
Research Note:Is the Lipset‐Rokkan Hypothesis Testable?*
Authors: Lybeck Johan A.
Published: October 2007

This study discusses some of the test that have been performed on the hypothesis originally advanced by Lipset and Rokkan in 1967 that the modern party systems were frozen along the cleavage lines of the 1920's. It is found that most if not all of the studies of trend/variability character are fraught with problems of both methodology and measurement and hence cannot be used as evidence either for or against the theory. Indeed, it is the final conclusion of the article that Lipset and Rokkan have framed their hypothesis in such a way that it is inherently untestable.
Public Deficiencies: Comments on the Theory of Nonmarket Failure*
Authors: Berg Ole
Published: October 2007

A theory of public policy cannot be based solely on the theory of market failure. It also requires a theory of nonmarket (or government) failure, argues the American economist Charles Wolf, Jr. In an important article from 1979 Wolf presents the outlines of such a theory of nonmarket failure. The present article critically discusses Wolfs theory and tries to demonstrate that even his theory is not sufficiently adequate. One point made is that nonmarkets cannot be directly compared to markets since they do not represent one elemental decision process, as markets do. A nonmarket is a composite decision system. Another point that is advanced is that there are more decision systems than markets and nonmarkets, and that a complete theory of public policy must reflect this fact. Here two such additional systems are suggested: cultures and networks.
Managing the Welfare State: Lessons from Gustav Möller*
Authors: Rothstein Bo
Published: October 2007

The administrative problems of the present Welfare State have come into focus in recent research. The basic question being raised is whether an elected government can control the bureaucracies that handle the social programmes, i.e., whether the intentions of the parliamentary majority really can be translated into action when they reach the point of administrative implementation. The central subject of this study is the legendary architect of the Swedish Welfare State, Gustav Möller, who was Minister of Social Affairs 1924‐26 and 1932‐51. It is argued that many of the problems highlighted in present theories of public administration were already apparent to Möller. As the minister responsible for the administrative construction of the Swedish Welfare State, he developed several strategies to cope with the problems of bureaucracy. Having lost the battle over the Social Democratic party leadership in 1946, Gustav Möller left the government in 1951. Subsequently many of his original anti‐bureaucratic administrative strategies were reversed.
The Electoral Effectiveness of Party Organization: Norway, 1945–1977*
Authors: Wellhofer E. Spencer
Published: October 2007

Latent Variable Partial Least Squares analysis has been used to model the impact of political party organization on stable and changing patterns of party vote in Norway from 1945 to 1977. For the Norwegian Labor Party, the elaboration of a strategy of organizational encapsulation is at least as important as the economic base for maintaining the stability of the party's electoral support; it also depresses support for the opposition parties. Short‐run fluctuations around the long‐run stability, however, are more influence by economic changes than party organizational strategies, with the exception of the divisive 1973 election, when party organization was important for maintaining the party vote. For the non‐Labor parties, party organization is less important than economic variables.
Decision‐Making Involvement and Socioeconomic Resources in Norway: A Normative‐Empirical Analysis*
Authors: Lafferty William M.
Published: October 2007

The relationship between socioeconomic resources and political participation has been the subject of considerable normative‐empirical debate. The present article addresses the problem on the basis of Norwegian survey data (N = 1,170) with the intent of testing both the resource‐involvement relationship and the possible consequences of value over‐representation among the most active citizens. The analysis of resource‐involvement dependency in relation to Robert Dahl's norm‐set for ‘non‐cumulative resource distributions' shows only two resources to be of potential difficulty for pluralist expectations: education and gender. Other expectations as to resource‐involvement inequality prove to be nonfounded for Norway. A further test of the consequences of pedagarchal and patriarchal over‐representation shows the former to imply a general ‘progressive’ bias in political values, while the latter has no clear‐cut ideological implications.
Demassified Mass Parties or Overloaded Cadre Parties? The Impact of Parties on Electoral Outcome in Finland*
Authors: Sundberg Jan
Published: October 2007

This article examines the frequently cited hypothesis of the changes in modern party organizations towards the catch‐all model, and of the attempt of political parties to counter threats of electoral failure by intensifying membership support. The results indicate that in Finland former mass parties have been demassified and cadre parties have been overloaded. However, there are differences in party alignments and in the internal organizational structure of the parties that make a strict application of the catch‐all concept problematic The findings also give evidence of a threat of declining electoral success that has implications for the membership support in the parties in very special situations. The threat from other parties seems to have only little or no effect on the membership figures. But when this threat is combined with a steady erosion in the traditional social bases of the parties, then the party response can be strong for the purpose of widening the electoral market by personal influence, as was the case with the rural Center party in Finland.
Rise and Decline of Nations: Sweden
Authors: Gustafsson Agne
Published: October 2007

The development of the Swedish political economy is interesting in the perspective of the Mancur Olson theory about the rise and decline of nations. It is shown that the general argument of RADON is not in agreement with facts about the growth of the affluent society in Sweden between 1870 and 1970. The strong growth in the overall economic output took place in a society where a number of distributional coalitions were strongly organized. Also the special argument in RADON about the reversed consequences of broad interest organizations meets with little support. Whatever is meant by an encompassing interest organisation, what was crucial in the Swedish case was the strong position of party government and the broad participatory nature of the political process. Directly contradicting the RADON argument is the fact that the structure of distributional coalitions has in general become even more encompassing since 1970. yet the economic situation of Sweden has deteriorated considerably. The predicament of party government mest be emphasized, as the period since 1970 has witnessed a decline in the capacity of political leadership to govern the country.
Dissolution of Governments in Scandinavia: A Critical Events Perspective*
Authors: Browne Eric C. , Frendreis John P. , Gleiber Dennis W.
Published: October 2007

For many years, scholars have sought to discover why governments in Western European parliamentary democracies frequently dissolve before the time constitutionally mandated for the holding of elections. Recent research has suggested the potential importance of unpredictable changes in the political environment for bringing about governmental dissolutions. Although not specifically described. the importance of ‘critical events‘ is suggested by both aggregate patterns of dissolutions and anecdotal accounts of particular governments.

It is our purpose in this paper to develop further this critical evenrs perspective and evaluate empirically actual governmental histories in light of these developments. Two specific goals are pursued. First, we delineate categories of critical events, thereby grounding the concept of a critical event within existing knowledge of governmental stability. Second, we apply this categorical schema of events to the dissolution of Scandinavian governments during the years 1945–1980. In so doing, we seek not only to assess the adequacy of our conceptualization of events, but also to provide a theoretically and substantively accurate account of the death of modern Scandinavian governments.
Stability, Crisis and Breakdown: Some Notes on the Concept of Crisis in Political Analysis*
Authors: Svensson Palle
Published: October 2007

The argument of the paper is that political science would benefit from clarification of the concept ‘crisis’. and that this clarification should be related to neighbouring concepts such as ‘stability’ and ‘breakdown’. It is suggested that the stability of a political regime is demonstrated by its ability to avoid transformation as well as breakdown at times of crisis when the continuity of the regime's identifying characteristics is threatened.
The Scandinavian Democratic Model
Authors: Einhorn Eric S. , Logue John A.
Published: October 2007

Given the continuing importance of democracy as an analytic concept. this article seeks to compare Scandinavian practice with accepted general definitions and theories. Definitions that recognize contemporary political democracy as consensual and procedural seem most appropriate to the Scandinavian cases. Although remaining dynamic. political democracy has not been a contested principle for more than 50 years.

Efforts since 1945 to extend democracy to social and economic spheres have been more controversial, however. Welfare state measures enjoy broad support, not least for functional reasons. For many, however, such policies seek a broader social democracy instead of merely a humane ‘safety net’. Economic democracy remains the most contested dimension. Seeking to transcend corporatism and rational collective bargaining, economic democracy seeks simultaneously to promote greater economic equality and participation while maintaining an efficient productive system.

The dynamic and expanded democratic model has engendered much domestic debate about means and ends. This has been, on balance, a source of reinvigoration.
‘Ideal Types' of Referendum Behaviour
Authors: Nilson Sten Sparre , Bjørklund Tor
Published: October 2007

Referendums represent a special variant of political elections. Although it must be assumed that the behaviour of voting in referendums is determined by a range of factors identical to those that are operative in other contests, it can be asked to what extent referendum voting behaviour is sensitive to active campaigning on the part of political parties and organized groups. It may add to our understanding of referendums, therefore, to analyze them in terms of three ‘ideal types’: party‐structured, group‐structured, and unstructured contests. Illustrations taken from certain recent referendums support the argument that it is useful to consider the extent to which these ideal types are in evidence ‐ alone or in combination ‐ when explaining referendum voting behaviour.
Tax Structure and Public Spending ‐ Or How the Electorate Is Deceived into Paying for Bigger Public Spending than It Really Wants
Authors: Kristensen Ole P.
Published: October 2007

It is a classical proposition that tax structure may influence public spending. Two such propositions concerning the visibility and the elasticity of the tax system are tested. Visibility is not important while highly elastic tax systems are correlated with big public spending in times of economic boom. In times of economic decline and recession, high spending countries turn to deficit financing. In both cases big spenders seem to rely more upon a dose of fiscal illusion than moderate spenders.
Binary Games as Models of Public Goods Provision*
Authors: Hovi Jon
Published: October 2007

Problems of public goods provision are categorized according to attributes of the good to be provided, and properties of the group of potential beneficiaries. It is argued that not all such problems are Prisoner's Dilemmas. Other games of interest include Chicken, the Volunteer's Dilemma, a variant of the Assurance Came and several others. Which particular model is relevant in a given context depends critically on the specific characteristics of the situation under consideration.
The Local Politician: Loyal to the Party or Responsive to the Local Constituency?
Authors: Mouritzen Poul Erik
Published: October 2007

The community equilibrium model of local fiscal policy‐making perceives of political leaders as ‘invisible hands’ or as anonymous, reactive figures who automatically adapt to the preferences of the citizenry. The party model, in contrast, views political leaders as willful representatives of certain interests in society who will pursue policies that are in accordance with the preferences of the party and its followers. In a context which is clearly biased in favor of the latter, the two models are tested. Under these extreme circumstances the community equilibrium model comes out as the most fruitful with respect to prediction of the fiscal behavior of local political leaders.
Reputation Pays: Game Theory as a Tool for Analyzing Political Profit from Credibility*
Authors: Salonen Hannu , Wiberg Matti
Published: October 2007

The article provides a general account of information problems in politics and games, and an analytical exploration of reputation effects in politics in terms of game theory. It is shown. by three game theoretical examples, that reputation effects may in some circumstances lie of essential importance in determining optimal choices.
Sketches for a Democratic Utopia
Authors: Dahl Robert A.
Published: October 2007

I want to sketch the general shape of several new structures that would in my view provide stronger support for democracy than is provided by any existing society. I call these sketches for a democratic Utopia not because I would expect these structures to inaugurate a perfect democracy, whatever that might be, nor because they are beyond human reach. On the contrary the institutions I want to suggest are well within human reach. I call them Utopian only because I am not able to point with confidence to the historical forces that are likely to bring them about.

The structures I have in mind are designed to strengthen freedom and equality among citizens of democratic orders.
Corporatism and the Microeconomic Foundations of Swedish Social Democracy: The Swedish Model Revisited*
Authors: Milner Henry
Published: October 2007

The aim of this paper is to advance the research into the workings of ‘corporatist’ societies by adding a microeconomic dimension and outlining how such a revised model is applicable to recent Swedish experience. Sweden is often regarded as a corporatist society., that is, one in which policy is the outcome of a ‘social partnership’ between encompassing groups coordinated by government. This corporatist approach, resting on the existence of a macro‐economic social contract between peak organizations, is complemented here by an analysis of the micro‐level incentives and mechanisms conducive to operating within the corporatist cooperative framework.

These characteristics are seen as together constituting what I term the solidaristic market economy, a system of economic relations different in fundamental respects from the two with which we are familiar. While Swedish reality docs not correspond exactly to the economic model set out, the case is made that it is as reasonable to extrapolate from Swedish experience to the solidaristic market economy (and vice versa) as to learn from U.S. experience about the competitive market economy and from the Soviet Union about the command economy.

Complemented by these micro‐characteristics, corporatist analysis of economic relations under social‐democratic regimes is thus seen as explaining the resilience of the ‘Swedish model’. Rather than in constant peril as critics suggest, the encompassing interest organizations and the patterns of relations among them are characterized by continued solidity in keeping with the operating principles of the solidaristic market economy.
Comments and Reviews
Authors: Thomsen Søren Risbjerg
Published: October 2007

Ecological inference has a long‐standing tradition in political science. It addresses itself to the same substantive questions that provide the rationale for one election survey after another: estimating the floating vote and the party preferences of the social classes without the benefit of individual level data. The transition propensities and the party preferences are estimated or inferred from the aggregate‐level ecological data provided by the official statistical production.
Control ‐ An Attempt at Forming a Theory
Authors: Jørgensen Torben Beck
Published: October 2007

Control is usually seen as hierarchical, centralized inspection. Without control, chaos is thought to prevail. This tendency can be illustrated by the way the public sector seems to solve most social problems: by legislation and bureaucracy. In this article five control forms are developed: bureaucracy, market, democracy, collective, and knowledge. Their similarities and differences are outlined, and the principles behind their use and internal dynamics are analysed. Finally, the development of control forms in modern societies is discussed.
An Agenda for Comparative Government*
Authors: Blondel Jean
Published: October 2007

The study of comparative government is in a state of relatively limited development. Questions are still being raised about the specificity of the subject matter and of the methodology; the enthusiasm with which comparative political scientists went into grand models in the 1960s and early 1970s has been followed by a degree of scepticism This scepticism is not justified It was imprudent to move so quickly towards grand models, while what was critical for the development of comparative government was and continues to be twofold First, there has to be a substantial improvement in our knowledge of political life all over the world: this has begun to occur, but empirical studies must be pursued more systematically and in a true comparative manner Second, the major theoretical thrust has to relate to the understanding of structures, which arc the key elements in the life of political systems; this means in particular that we have to understand systematically and dynamically such questions as institutionalization, integration, legitimacy, as well as the relationship between values and structures. If this were to occur, as it can and if empirical studies develop at a rapid pace in parallel, there is no reason to be despondent about the future of comparative government.
Restraining the Governors: The Nordic Experience with Limiting the Strong State
Authors: Logue John , Einhorn Eric S.
Published: October 2007

The combination of a tradition of arbitrary royal government and popular intolerance, with the existence of extensive, unitary and highly centralized institutions of government, and with the dominance of government by a single, reformist party for more than a half century would seem a potent recipe for governmental abuse of individual and minority group rights. That is especially true in the absence of the formal constitutional safeguards used to preserve rights elsewhere Yet the Nordic democracies have in fact proved exemplary in protecting civil liberties Why? This article challenges the view that Nordic political societies are consensual historically or by nature, and it describes the limited traditional institutional checks on abuse of individual and minority rights by government Instead it finds the basis for the Nordic democracies' excellent record in civil liberties in the combination of (1) the development of new, non‐traditional institutional checks on government. (2) the use of direct democracy as a check on parliamentary majorities. (3) the pervasive use of corporatist channels encompassing the major oppositional interest groups to draft and implement legislation, and (4) the effective constraints placed on decisions by parliamentary majorities by the pattern of fierce partisanship in the finely balanced parliamentary party constellation These protections for individual and minority liberties arise primarily from the assumption that basic conflicts of interest are a fact of political life and that they should be institutionalized.
The 1987 Eduskunta Election in Finland*
Authors: Berglund Sten
Published: October 2007

The election to the Finnish Eduskunta which was held on 15–16 March 1987 may go down as something of a turning‐point in Finnish postwar politics. It marked an end to the long‐standing practice of excluding the Conservative Party from the list of potential government parties. Social Democratic Party leader Kalevi Sorsa elaborated on this topic in several campaign speeches and in such terms that there was little doubt he was more favorably disposed towards the Conservative Party than towards the Center Party In a speech which he delivered when visiting one of the local party organizations in Helsinki in late 1986. the Social Democratic Prime Minister even suggested that the Center and Conservative parties had changed places on the Finnish left/right continuum. As a consequence there did not seem to be much hope left for the kind of red/green government coalitions to which the Social Democrats had been committed ever since the mid sixties.
The Negotiated Economy: Ideal and History*
Authors: Nielsen Klaus , Pedersen Ove K.
Published: October 2007

In the negotiated economy an essential part of the allocation of resources is by definition conducted through institutionalized negotiations between independent decisionmaking centres in state, organizations and corporations. Institutionalized creation of consensus via campaign institutions and forced compromise via negotiating procedures and decisions are central characteristics of the negotiated economy. The article includes evidence to the fact that the present Danish economy is a negotiated economy. During a long historical process, a multi‐centred and pluralist political structure has been formed and simultaneously the discursive and institutional basis for co‐ordination of decisions made in autonomous organizations has been created. It is shown how today's wages policy, labour market policy, public expenditures policy and industrial policy are characterized by negotiation‐based economic processes. It is argued that this historical development has far‐reaching theoretical consequences. The institutional conditions presupposed in traditional economic theory for the ideal of optimal allocation of resources is enshrined in the constitutional interpretation of the distinction between the authority of the sovereign state and civil society. As a result of the evolvement of the negotiated economy these institutional conditions no longer exist. This development has made a myth of the ideal of optimal allocation of resources and challenges the interpretation of rationality in traditional economic theory.
Internationalization and Parliamentary Decision‐making: The Case of Sweden 1970–1985
Authors: Jerneck Magnus , Sannerstedt Anders , Sjölin Mats
Published: October 2007

In this essay we discuss effects of growing interdependence and internationalization upon national political institutions. More exactly we address the question of how these processes are reflected in matters handled by the Standing Committees of the Swedish Parliament. Generally speaking, the proportion of international issues has increased continuously during the 1970s and the early 1980s. The internationalization of parliamentary work has mainly taken place outside the area of ‘traditional’ foreign policy. Even though internationalization is a general phenomenon in the Swedish parliament, the enhancement of international issues is particularly evident in subject areas linked to economic life in general, but issues concerning environmental policy, communications and energy policy also bear the stamp of internationalization. In spite of this internationalization of domestic politics the pattern of relations with actors on the international scene seems to be rather stable. The picture is dominated by international organizations in the Scandinavian region and Western Europe. Traditionally, the principle of consensus has governed Swedish security and defence policy. Our data support this notion. However, international issues outside the area of ‘traditional’ foreign policy do not bear the hallmark of consensus. The level of conflict is considerably higher and has risen, especially during the 1980s. Generally speaking, patterns of conflict in international issues do not deviate from those in ‘pure’ domestic policy. Thus, internationalization has also involved domestication regarding the level of conflict.
Does Sex Matter to Democracy?
Authors: Jónasdóttir Anna G.
Published: October 2007

In order to isolate, theoretically, the vital mechanisms that constrain women as citizens in Western, democratic societies, it is necessary to go beyond explanations in terms of work, into sexuality However, it is not the practice of sexual coercion which, though a serious wrong, is fundamental in subordinating women in the formally free society; it is rather the freely given—and taken—love. Furthermore, if scrutinizing pre‐democratic, anti‐feminist arguments can help to reveal the situation today, it is the utilitarian view of women's sexual resources, rather than arguments about sexually differentiated—and inferior female—nature, which is crucial. Secondly, the concept of ‘difference’, now so popular among feminist writers, is important, especially when used empirically to avoid oversimplifying unity thinking about each of the sex/gender groups. But it is not tit for conceiving the power transactions going on in the socio‐sexual process Furthermore. I suppose that one of the most important tasks of feminism is to balance the weights of (different) individuality and collectivity to mutually developmental values. Thirdly, women want more than ‘equal chances’, something other than ‘equal results’, and the ‘different but equally valuable’ must, to be women‐worthy, be defined by women themselves. In a democratic society, if women are to be full and equal members, as leaders and led, then women and men have to be openly accepted as two fundamental, interested parties in society Finally, women should not claim this citizen status first and foremost as mothers, but simply as women. i e. as female, social ‘incarnate subjects’.
The Scandinavian Model and Women's Interests: The Issues of Universalism and Corporatism*
Authors: Sainsbury Diane
Published: October 2007

Theorizing about women and politics and discussions of women and the welfare state have often neglected contextual factors, such as institutional and country‐specific variables. By problematizing the following three concepts—the Scandinavian model, universalism, and corporatism—this article seeks to focus attention on system variations and their possible consequences for women.
No Values—New Values? Youth and Postmaterialism1
Authors: Reimer Bo
Published: October 2007

This article deals with the postmatenalist hypothesis, originally formulated by Ronald Inglehart The hypothesis, stating that new generations in Western societies are moving more and more towards postmatenalist value orientations, is questioned on the grounds that the materialisl / postmaterialist dichotomy may he too rigid to capture the complexity of people's value orientations, and that the value conceptualization may hold a rather limited relevance for young people in present‐day Western societies. A reconstruction of the materialist / postmaterialist value conceptualization is earned out and empirical results from two Swedish national studies, supporting the author's questioning of the original hypothesis, are presented.
The Level of Democratization Related to Socioeconomic Variables in 147 States in 1980‐85
Authors: Vanhanen Tatu
Published: October 2007

It is argued in this article that democratization is causally related to socioeconomic variables indicating the distribution of economic and intellectual power resources among competing groups. This assumption has been deduced from an evolutionary theory of politics, according to which politics is principally a struggle for scarce resources. Consequently, democracy is assumed to emerge in conditions in which power resources have become so widely distributed that no group is any longer able to suppress its competitors or to maintain its hegemony. Empirical variables were formulated to measure hypothetical concepts ‘democracy’ and ‘power resources’. The hypothesis is tested by empirical data covering 147 states of the period 1980–85. The results of correlation analysis show that the principal explanatory factor, the Index of Power Resources, statistically explains about 70 percent of the variation in the Index of Democratization. Regression analysis is used to disclose how well the general relationship applies to single countries and which countries deviate from the general pattern. High negative residuals are interpreted to mean that the level of democratization should be much higher than it actually is, and high positive residuals can be interpreted to mean that the level of democratization is much higher than expected on the basis of the country's social conditions.
Michels Revisited: Autonomous Cliques in a Small Political System: The Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy (IFA), 1949‐79
Authors: Andersen Svein S.
Published: October 2007

Elite autonomy is often discussed in relation to oligarchic tendencies within organizations. The article demonstrates how autonomy of elites may have a more stable basis if it rests on inter‐elite support. The focus is on the role of autonomous, tightly coupled, and exclusive elite networks characterized by jointly held perceptions and reciprocity – cliques – in a small political system, such as in Norway. The argument is based on a study of the Norwegian Institute of Atomic Energy and its political environment, 1949–79. The formation and survival of autonomous cliques are stimulated by properties of small and tightly knit political systems: (1) transciency, (2) scarcity of qualified personnel, (3) consensus on national goals, and (4) elites' need to protect themselves from judgements based on strong egalitarian norms. The existence of autonomous cliques in a policy area has important implications for: (1) political entrepreneurship, (2) organizational development, and (3) legitimacy in relation to the environment. The management and control via informal clique organization have received little attention. Thus, this study serves as a supplement to the literature on bureaucratic politics and organization theory.
Nordic Social Science Research and the American Nightmare
Authors: Schmidt Stephan
Published: October 2007

The purpose of the article is to review four major social science research projects currently under way in the Nordic countries, and to discuss the preconditions for, and the significance of, the manner in which the projects are organised. Four models for organising social science research are outlined, and applied to the projects. The main conclusion of the study, albeit of a tentative nature, is that whether a research project is organised according to one or other model is dependent upon the infrastructure of social science research, and the organisation of the wider society in the country concerned.
On Democracy1
Authors: Kimber Richard
Published: October 2007

This paper attempts to provide a modern, universal, conceptualisation of democracy. J. D. May's ‘responsive rule’ approach is analysed. It is argued that his approach, although on the right lines, is not satisfactory as it stands. Democracy should be seen as referring to the principles which underlie the political process for a given regime, and is logically independent of the detailed institutional practices. Following Easton's analysis of a regime in terms of authority structure, values, and norms, democracy is analysed in terms of three principles of upward control, political equality, and norms defining acceptable polices. procedures, and behaviour. Democracy is not a dichotomous concept: given regimes differ in the extent to which they embody the principles of democracy in the operation of their institutions. In practice it will be hard, perhaps impossible, to find any regime anywhere which does not embody some elements of democracy to some degree. This vitiates the almost universal practice of using democracy and non‐democracy as underlying concepts in a system of categorisation of regimes. Such categories become wholly arbitrary. Because of the subtle ways in which the democratic principles may work in different contexts. and because measures of these various manifestations of democracy can only be combined on a purely arbitrary basis, statistical measures of ‘democracy’ also become arbitrary. It is concluded that, although facets of the political process may be investigated using statistical techniques. ultimately the main thrust of empirical studies of democracy must be qualitative rather than quantitative.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. (H. L. Mencken. Sententiae. A Book of Burlesquer, 1920)
Controlled Restructuring in Finland?
Authors: Anderson Jan Otto
Published: October 2007

Surveying the economic legislation and policies of the new Blue ‐ Red coalition government in Finland in six separate fields ‐ competition policies, industrial relations, income policies, the financial system, taxation and the public sector ‐ the question is asked whether the different measures can be seen as parts of an overall strategy to change the Finnish mode of regulation. Is it possible that we are witnessing the development of a two‐tiered form of corporatism, combining a more traditional social corporatism on the macro‐level and a new liberal corporatism on an intermediate level of production and innovation?
The Role of Government in Collective Bargaining: Scandinavia and the Low Countries
Authors: Michels Ank , Slomp Hans
Published: October 2007

This article compares the role of government in collective bargaining in five small West European countries. For the period until the second half of the 1970s, a distinction is made between countries in which government often interfered in wage bargaining, e. g. Denmark and The Netherlands, and countries in which government refrained from intervention, like Sweden. Belgium and, to a lesser degree, Norway. In all countries the tradition of (non)‐intervention had already started before the Second World War. The article reviews some explanatory variables: in Scandinavia centralization of labour relations is crucial, in the Low Countries the nature of political verzuiling. Recent developments show that government intervention has become a characteristic of labour relations in all but one country.
‘Environmentalism’, ‘New Politics’ and Industrialism: Some Theoretical Perspectives
Authors: Andersen Jørgen Goul
Published: October 2007

Various conceptions of ‘Environmentalism’ and ‘New Politics’ are surveyed and their logical inconsistencies are identified. It is argued that only a conception of the crisis of industrial society, not the least evident in Eastern Europe, enables a consistent understanding of ‘new politics’. From this conception, stressing the limits of man's mastery over nature on the one hand and the limits of the expansion of formal rationality on the other, the ambivalences in ‘New Politics’ between ‘pre‐industrial’ and ‘post‐industrial’ solutions are identified. The article sketches how the ‘post‐industrial’ position can be developed. Neoliberalism and ‘green’ politics are identified not only as adversaries but rather as competing responses to the crisis of industrialism and the compatibility of ‘green’ and social democratic politics is analysed.
Evolution of Environmental Attitudes in the European Community
Authors: ZEUS Jürgen Hofrichter , Reif Karlheinz
Published: October 2007

The environmental problem is a complex, global and basic one which serves as a catalyser for the formation of new political preferences and value orientations. The salience of the environmental issue has continuously increased during the 1980s after a decline at the end of the 1970s and on into the early 1980s. A huge gap between personal complaint about the local environmental situation and general concern about the national and global situation has existed throughout the 1980s. With respect to the development of attitudes towards nuclear energy, a clear‐cut and persistent effect of the Chernobyl accident can be identified in all countries. Environmental concern is generally above the European average in Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It is about average in Italy and mostly below the European average in Belgium, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as in the three southern countries Greece, Portugal and Spain. This article provides a descriptive overview of the evolution of environmental attitudes using indicators which are repeatedly included in the biannual Eurobarometer surveys in the member‐states of the European Community.