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Comparative research emphasize Social Democratic parties as leading political forces when universal welfare states are reformed in accordance with market-oriented principles. Considering the traditional portrayal of universal welfare states as an institutional feature of Nordic political economics, which tends to favor the Social Democrats in the political power struggle, this is a highly surprising conclusion. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, that Social Democratic market reforms are caused by economic constraints, this article postulate reforms to be conducted for political & strategic purposes. The theoretical argument goes like this: Social Democrat governments decide upon reforms when the parry-elite perceive policy problems as potential threats to the legitimacy of the universal welfare state. Hence, market-oriented reforms are expected to re-invigorate the legitimacy of the universal welfare institutions. For political institutions to be efficient power resources they are requited to be deemed legitimate by a democratic constituency. Otherwise they can work counterproductive in the ongoing power-struggle. The theory is tested empirically in a structured comparison of Swedish & Danish school policy in the 1990s, & is confirmed with some slight modifications. References. Adapted from the source document.

A world government based on democratic principles would be ideal, but this is unlikely to come about any time soon. However, the mere impossibility of immediately implementing an idea does not make that idea wrong. Meanwhile one can work through existing institutions such as the UN and European Union to improve accountability in the arena of world politics. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract Olsson, Karin (2009). Den (över)levande demokratin. En idékritisk analys av demokratins reproducerbarhet i Robert Dahls tänkta värld. (Sustainable Democracy. Exploring the Idea of a Reproducible Democracy in the Theory of Robert A. Dahl). Acta Wexionensia 185/2009, ISSN: 1404-4307, ISBN: 978-91-7636-677-6. With a summary in English. Everybody loves democracy. The problem is that while everybody calls himself democratic, the ideal form of democracy is hard to come by in the real world. But if we believe in democracy and believe that it is the best form of government, I argue that we should try to design a theory of democracy that is realisable – and reproducible. This thesis, then, focuses primarily on the question whether we find support in democratic theory for an idea of a self-reproducing democracy. It proceeds by means of an investigation of Robert A. Dahl's theory of democracy. He is one of the most well-known and highly regarded theorists in the field of democratic research, whose work covers both normative and empirical analysis. When analysing the reproducible democracy, I argue that it is essential to study both normative values and empirical assumptions: the values that count as intrinsic to democracy, the assumptions that are made about man, and the institutions that are needed for the realisable and reproducible democracy. In modern social science man is often pushed into the background. This is also the case in theories of democracy, even though man (the individual) is the one who has the right to vote, the one who has the autonomy to decide – the one who has to act democratically in order to preserve democracy. The study yields the following findings. First, in Dahl's theory political equality and autonomy come out as intrinsic values. Second, the assumptions made about man show that even if he seems to be ignored, he is always present. When Dahl construes his theory, he does it with full attention to man's qualities, interests, manners of acting and reacting, and adaptability to the values of democracy. Third, the institutions needed to realise and reproduce democracy go further than the institutions of polyarchy. They need support from the judicial system, political culture, education and the market. Fourth, when it comes down to making democracy work and reproducing democracy, Dahl puts the full responsibility on man as he is not willing to allow too rigid constitutional mechanisms. Fifth, even though Dahl puts the emphasis on the empirical situation of the real world, he does not alter his normative ideals in order to make the theory more adaptive. For him, political equality and autonomy are imperative demands, too important to alter. And the only way to get full procedural democracy is to trust the democratic man.

Regionalisation out of step - the varying growth of regional cooperation councils Traditionally regionalisation is either seen as a bottom up movement or as state reform politics from above. From that perspective, Sweden contains both parts. The state enables regionalisation through legislation, promote it through policies and encourage it in rhetoric's. But the formation of new regional institutions can only be done by the municipalities themselves. Without their belief in stronger and more self governed regions or their will to act and together build capacity in their region, the regionalisation is halted. Sweden is a unitary state and there is no real tradition of strong and self governing regions. In that perspective the regional experiments during the second half of the 1990th can be seen as a rather big step. These experiments inspired other parts of Sweden and in the millennium shift, all counties was interested in forming some kind of selfgoverning regional body. In 2002, when legislation made it possible to build new political regional institutions, these new institutions were formed in seven counties. Since then, yet six counties have formed these new regional bodies. This variation raises several empirical questions. The main purpose of this study is to describe and explain the variation in growth of these new regional institutions. The analysis follows three different perspectives. The first is a structural one and aims to investigate municipalities need for economic development as a driving force. The second is an institutional perspective where norms are supposed to promote cooperation. The third focus on promoting actors as a force behind the growth of new regional institutions. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods this thesis shows that different kinds of social norms promoting collaboration are the most important factor in explaining the variation in growth of new regional institutions. The analysis also showed that political actors play an important, both in building and maintaining coopera-tive norms, and probably also in bridging the lack of them.

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.