The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics provides a state of the art analysis of political development in Sweden. Covering all essential aspects of politics in Sweden, this volume provides detailed accounts of policy making, governance, institutional arrangements, foreign relations, electoral behavior, the party system, the public administration, the constitutional framework, and the welfare state. The Handbook shows how many of the features that once were exceptional to Sweden, for example, the welfare state, the consensual policy making, the historical compromise between capital and labor, and the dominance of social democracy, are less prominent today compared to a few decades ago although they are still certainly present. Global forces, increasing affluence, and an ideological shift towards neo-liberalism have contributed to making Sweden more of an average European industrialized democracy.

The Handbook is divided into ten thematic Sections with four chapters and an Introduction in each Section. Thus, each theme is studied from different perspectives in order to provide the reader with a more multi-faceted picture of the political development in each theme.

Jon Pierre is Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg and Professor of Public Governance at the University of Melbourne. He is author, co-author, editor, and co-editor of more than 25 books. Jon Pierre is editor of Debating Governance (Oxford University Press, 2000) and co-author (with Guy Peters) of Governance, Politics and the State (Palgrave, 2000) and Governing Complex Societies (Palgrave, 2005). His most recent books include Globalization and Governance (Edward Elgar, 2013) and (with Bengt Jacobsson and Goran Sundstrom) Governing the Embedded State (Oxford University Press, 2015). His work has also appeared in journals like Governance, Journal of Politics, Journal of Public Administration and Theory and Journal of European Public Policy.

Section 1: The Politics of the Welfare State (Section Editor: Bo Rothstein)
1. Introduction, Bo Rothstein
2. Who Loves the Swedish Welfare State? Attitude trends 1980-2010, Stefan Svallfors
3. Political Partisanship and Policy Feedback: The Swedish Welfare State after Eight Years of Center-Right Government, Anders Lindbom
4. The Welfare State and Gender Equality, Christina Bergqvist
5. The Moral, Economic and Political Logic of the Swedish Welfare State, Bo Rothstein
Section 2: Constitutional Design (Section Editor: Shirin Ahlback Oberg)
6. Introduction, Shirin Ahlback Oberg
7. Constitutional History, Olof Petersson
8. The Election System, Jorgen Hermansson
9. The Parliamentary System, Tommy Moller
10. The Public Sector and the Courts, Shirin Ahlback Oberg and Helena Wockelberg
Section 3: The Party System (Section Editors: Hanna Back and Gissur Erlingsson)
11. Introduction, Hanna Back and Gissur O. Erlingsson
12. The Party System, Nicholas Aylott
13. The Party Organizations, Gissur O. Erlingsson, Ann-Kristin Kolln and Patrik Ohberg
14. Political Parties and Political Representation, Peter Esaiasson and Lena Wangnerud
15. The Parties in Government Formation, Hanna Back and Torbjorn Bergman
Section 4: Electoral Behaviour (Section Editors: Soren Holmberg and Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson)
16. Introduction, Soren Holmberg and Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson
17. Voter Turnout, Richard Ohrvall
18. The Never-Ending Story of Class-Voting in Sweden, Maria Oskarson
19. Issue Voting Structured by Left-Tight Ideology, Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson and Soren Holmberg
20. Swedish Election Campaigns, Jesper Stromback
Section 5: Public Administration (Section Editor: Goran Sundstrom)
21. Introduction, Goran Sundstrom
22. The Swedish Administrative Model, Patrik Hall
23. Administrative Reform, Goran Sundstrom
24. The Public Servant, Peter Ehn
25. Governing the State, Bengt Jacobsson and Goran Sundstrom
Section 6: Subnational Government (Section Editor: Anders Lidstrom)
26. Introduction, Anders Lidstrom
27. Municipalities, Regions, and County Councils: Actors and Institutions, Stig Montin
28. Subnational Government in a Multi-Level Perspective, David Feltenius
29. Challenges and Reforms of Local and Regional Governments in Sweden, Lars Niklasson
30. Swedish Local and Regional Government in a European Context, Anders Lidstrom
Section 7: Sweden's International Relations (Section Editor: Ole Elgstrom)
31. Introduction, Ole Elgstrom
32. Swedish Foreign Policy: The Policy of Neutrality and Beyond, Ulf Bjereld and Ulrika Moller
33. Sweden in the Baltic Sea Region, Rikard Bengtsson
34. Swedish Internationalism and Development Aid, Annika Bergman Rosamond
35. A Force for Good? Paradoxes of Swedish Military Activism, Lisbeth Aggestam and Adrian Hyde-Price
Section 8: Sweden and the EU (Section Editor: Ulrika Morth)
36. Introduction, Ulrika Morth
37. Sweden in a Multigovernance Polity, Ulrika Morth
38. The Europeanization of the Swedish State, Bengt Jacobsson and Goran Sundstrom
39. The Europeanization of Swedish Foreign Policy and Beyond: On Multiple Roles in Swedish Post-Cold War Foreign Policy, Douglas Brommesson
40. Leading the European Union: Sweden's EU Presidencies 2001 and 2009, Malena Rosen Sundstrom
Section 9: The Political Economy of Swedish Governance (Section Editor: Johannes Lindvall)
41. Introduction, Johannes Lindvall
42. A Model of Welfare Capitalism? Perspectives on the Swedish Model, Then and Now, Jenny Andersson
43. One Hundred Years of Swedish Economic Policy, Leif Lewin and Johannes Lindvall
44. The Swedish Macroeconomic Policy Framework, Lars Calmfors
45. The Swedish Model of Industrial Relations, Torsten Svensson
Section 10: Policy Making in Sweden (Section Editor: Carl Dahlstrom)
46. Introduction, Carl Dahlstrom
47. Policy Coordination Under Minority and Majority Rule, Torsten Persson
48. Rational Politics: Commissions of Inquiry and the Referral System in Sweden, Olof Petersson
49. Interest Organizations in the Policy Process: Interest Advocacy and Policy Advice, PerOla Oberg
50. Parliamentary Committees: A Ground for Compromise and Conflict, Ingvar Mattson