Who Has the Power and How Did They Get It?

Abstract

The capacity to participate in policy decisions in Sweden is shared by political parties, organized interest groups, and administrative elites. Of these diverse political actors, parties and interest groups have played the key role in initiating systemic reforms as well as basic policy decisions, including political democratization, the rise of the welfare state, the extension of workers’ rights, and ongoing changes in the political management of the economy. Administrative elites, in contrast, are significant with respect to policy refinement, continuity, and implementation.