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Describes the Swedish political economy during the postwar period to outline the main characteristics of its industrial policy & governance. Patterns of governance are observed in the restructuring of the Swedish steel industry. The crisis involved in the decline in the Swedish steel sector was precipitated by a combination of factors, for the most part, beyond the control of individual companies, the sector, or the government. Appropriate forms & strategies of governance contributed significantly to a successful restructuring. Restructuring under state auspices neutralized owner-union friction, brought financial support to cushion factory closings, & brought strategies for new industrial ventures. The restructuring of the steel sector involved the self-governance of key players in the sector with the government & as an assistant. SSAB is internationally competitive & has a global network of facilities; however, political consequences are more ambiguous. The outcomes of this process demonstrate successes & failures in managing decline in a corporatist welfare state. L. A. Hoffman

Local governments in Western Europe have become increasingly involved in network building with the local business community. The author suggests that governance processes are not value neutral but reflect and sustain political values beyond partisan conflict. Comparing managerial, corporatist, progrowth, and welfare governance models of urban governance, the author argues that nation-state factors play an important role in shaping urban governance. Different sectors in urban politics display different models of governance and local political choice matters. Also, cities within the same national context differ significantly with regard to the degree of inclusion of organized interests in urban governance, which, in turn, is reflected in urban policy outcomes.

Depoliticised, Repoliticised or Simply Political ? The Case of Sweden.
It is hard to measure the degree of politicisation of the Swedish civil service. On the one hand, like any civil service, it is, due to its very role in society, political. On the other hand, the existence of political tendencies in civil servants in no way constitutes proof of politicisation one way or another to be measured from an individual and institutional point of view. The Swedish institutional system seems to be a defence against general politicisation and probably contributes towards checking the influence of the new public management.

Examines conflicts between industrial/labor market priorities and policies to encourage regional economic balance, and analyzes the effect on regional development. Partially based on a questionnaire, 1990; some discussion of the long-term effects of competition among regions on national economic development.

Administrative Reform in Sweden : The Decline of Executive Capacity ?
In a country like Sweden, which possesses the largest public sector in the Western world and which is often referred to as the model of the welfare State, administrative reform takes on a very particular significance. The renovation of the public sector took place during two successive periods : from 1982 to 1988, and from 1988 to 1995. This modernization policy culminated in a decrease in public services provided by the welfare State, and in a reinforcement of local authorities' autonomy. However, these reforms did not significantly increase administrative efficiency, and the process of granting private interests access to the public sector has made it necessary to define new management models.

Public administration in Sweden has been the chief vehicle for the rapid postwar development toward an extensive welfare state. However, during the 1980s, as a result of increasing criticism about inertia and bureaucratization, several major reforms were initiated to "renew" the public sector. These reforms included a wide range of different measures, including deregulation, privatization, and "liberalization" experiments at the local level. This paper argues that these reforms, along with increased overall efficiency of the public sector, fulfilled a number of political and admin istrative functions. They were aimed at enhancing the overall legitimacy of the public administration and also at displacing conflicts triggered by fiscal problems to the local political level. As a result, the 1980s witnessed local governments becoming increasingly important suppliers of public services. At the same time, state public administration agencies adopted a more subtle and observant role than they had previously played.

Many analyses of urban political economy tend to overlook the significance of local business organizations and public-private committees in the urban political process. This article analyzes local business organizations and joint committees in Swedish municipalities. Political stability seems more important than ideological orientation of the local political elite for the creation of joint committees. Business influence on local politics is contingent on the institutionalized forms of public-private interaction. Business demands on local politics cover almost all urban service sectors, and local authorities have largely responded to these demands.