Civil Society Organizations Going European?

This study explores factors that influence Swedish civil societyorganizations’ (CSOs) degree of activity at different geographical and administrativelevels and, in particular, how they are affected by processes of Europeanization in thesocial welfare policy area. The present study is based on a national survey and includesapproximately 1,600 Swedish CSOs. Despite the often claimed mismatch between the Swedishwelfare model and European Union (EU) level social policy measures, EU membership hasopened a new level of opportunities for activities for Swedish CSOs. The results showthat Swedish CSOs are mostly active at the local level and very seldom at the Europeanlevel. The strongest factor contributing to Swedish CSOs’ degree of activity at theEuropean level is the perceived relevance of this level. Furthermore, resources have agreat impact. CSOs that can claim strong representativeness and that have access toemployed staff are more likely to be Europeanized