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The Scandinavian Welfare State: The Institutions of Growth, Governance, and Reform. Review Article
Author(s) -
Christensen Jorgen Grønnegåd
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
scandinavian political studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9477
pISSN - 0080-6757
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9477.1997.tb00200.x
Subject(s) - politics , path dependency , incentive , welfare state , corporate governance , political science , state (computer science) , institutional change , political economy , variation (astronomy) , public policy , welfare , public administration , economic system , economics , market economy , law , physics , finance , algorithm , computer science , astrophysics
In a review of five recent works on Scandinavian politics and public policy, it is shown that the basis for talking about a Scandinavian model is unfounded. Politics and policies diverge from country to country and within each country from sector to sector as a result of institutional variation. This variation is embedded in institutional history which accounts for strong national path dependency in public policies. However, the institutional set‐up at a given point in time also provides political actors with incentives for change. Two of the works reviewed take up this lead as they argue for institutional reform, in one case to protect the welfare state against political erosion, in the other case to facilitate renewed economic growth and improved living standards. The review concludes by arguing for the positive prospects for systematic comparative analysis of Scandinavian politics, providing a mixture of institutional and political similarities combined with theoretically relevant variation.