Swedish model

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The Swedish model (also Scandinavian model or Nordic model ) is a collective term for the similar labor market , education and social policies of the Nordic countries Denmark , Norway , Finland , Iceland and Sweden . As a political concept, it forms the basis of the welfare states .

history

Share of votes from the main social democratic parties in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The Swedish social system and the political culture of Sweden were summarized under the term "Swedish model", especially in the 1970s. However, the Swedish model developed between 1930 and 1970. At the beginning of the 1990s there were radical changes and reforms in the Scandinavian countries due to a severe economic crisis. The beginnings of the reforms, which renewed the foundations of the welfare state from 1994 to around 2000, were largely shaped by the then Social Democratic Prime Minister of Denmark, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen . He implemented a new orientation in labor and social policy in Denmark, called flexicurity , which was supposed to enable the elimination of unemployment and poverty.

The egalitarian claims, which are often summarized under the Janteloven , quite successfully conceal the fact that Sweden is one of the countries in Europe with the greatest differences in the distribution of property. The willingness of the wealthy to withdraw accordingly is one of the requirements of the model.

It is controversial to what extent a "Swedish model" or "Nordic model" exists and to what extent such terms are more likely to belong to the area of ​​myths that are referred to abroad against the background of debates there.

politics

In an international comparison, the Scandinavian countries finance extensive social benefits, an intensive education policy and very high government research funding through taxes . For the Scandinavian countries this results on the one hand in very high government quotas (ratio of government expenditure to gross domestic product) and on the other hand in the realization of so-called welfare states and high social security for the citizens. Norway is an exception, as the country has a lower government quota, for example due to the income from oil production in the North Sea.

Social policy

  • Consensus politics: The political decision-making process in Sweden is allegedly shaped by the will to achieve as much agreement as possible on important issues. According to some observers, sharp political disputes are the exception in Sweden's political discourse.
  • The strong society was a catchphrase of Erlander's days and referred to a strong public sector that should solve social contradictions and problems and thus contribute to the expansion of democracy . The overarching social planning and the reform programs also required a high degree of centralization. In the early 1990s, Sweden's public sector was the largest in the world in terms of tax rate , share of gross national product and the percentage of employees in the public sector as a percentage of the total workforce.
  • Social partnership: The social partnership in the labor market goes back to the historic compromise between employer and employee representatives in the Saltsjöbaden Agreement of 1938. This laid down a negotiation order and regulated how conflicts in the labor market should be resolved without state interference. This led to strong, homogeneous organizations that dealt with wage and other work-related issues in central negotiations.
  • Less discussed is social engineering , which, shaped by Gunnar and Alva Myrdal in the 1930s, could mean major changes in private life. Swedish programs for forced sterilization continued into the 1970s. Symbolic compensation was only paid out in the 1990s. The excessive number of children and adolescents in forced care has also been heavily criticized. In post-war Sweden up to five percent of children and adolescents had a shorter or longer stay in child and youth psychiatric facilities. In 1983, Der Spiegel spoke in an article entitled “Children's Gulag” in the welfare state of Sweden of “all-powerful welfare offices”.

After 1970, however, the differences between the social partners increased. Instead of social partnership agreements, social democratic governments have regulated the labor market through extensive legislative measures. Divergent views on how to resolve the high national debt and Sweden's high unemployment have contributed to polarization. The strong society built on an expansive public sector was also increasingly called into question. It had led to a confusing and difficult-to-manage bureaucracy that was seen as an obstacle rather than a solution to economic and social problems. In connection with this, centralization was also called into question. There is a clear decentralization process today, especially towards the municipalities.

  • Corporatism : The major interest groups , and above all the social partners, have the opportunity to participate in the political decision-making process at all stages. This leads to an integration of these organizations into state activities.
  • Welfare State: An important aspect of Swedish welfare policy is that social benefits are universal, i. H. apply to all without a needs test.

Labor market policy

  • Full employment: Full employment combined with low inflation and high economic growth was another important goal of the Swedish model. This goal should be achieved through a solidarity wage policy (with a low income differentiation) and an active labor market policy. The demand for equal pay for equal work was central. It was consciously accepted that this would displace companies in low-wage industries. The workers released as a result should - after a possible retraining - be transferred to growth sectors. The aim was to modernize the economy and make it more effective, and with it a higher standard of living for the population.
  • The liberal aspects of the model emphasized today by the Swedish journalist Johan Norberg and business leaders like the Wallenbergs , which made the “Swedish model” a role model until the 1960s , are often forgotten (see literature).
  • Women's rights to wage labor complemented the Swedish model in the 1960s. Society took care of the children in order to enable the women to do wage labor and thereby to change their social position. Even if this policy has led to a significant change in the situation of women through the compatibility of family and work , this does not mean that they have achieved the same wages or the same economic and political influence as the men.

Tax policy

In an international comparison, the tax burden on employees in the Scandinavian countries is very high at up to 56% ( top tax rate in the progressive income tax system in Sweden). However, this only applies to earned income . At the same time, in a system of dual income taxation, income from equity investments in companies is burdened with a significantly lower, proportional tax rate in order to increase the attractiveness of the location for investments.

Ratio of government spending to gross domestic product of the Nordic countries (2012)

  • Denmark 59.5%
  • Finland 56.0%
  • Iceland 46.5%
  • Norway 43.2%
  • Sweden 52.0%

Ratio of government spending to gross domestic product of German-speaking countries (2012)

  • Germany 45.0%
  • Luxembourg 43.0%
  • Austria 51.2%
  • Switzerland 34.1%

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jenny Andersson, Mary Hilson: Images of Sweden and the Nordic Countries. In: Scandinavian Journal of History , 34, 2009, pp. 219-228. Thomas Winkelmann: Everyday myths from the north. Perception Popularization and functionalization of Scandinavian images in the German modernization process (= Imaginatio borealis , Volume 10). Frankfurt am Main 2006.
  2. ^ "Children's Gulag" in the welfare state of Sweden . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1983 ( online ).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i State quota in an international comparison (PDF; 0.21 MB)