Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Abstract. The author interprets the Swedish model as that of societal engineering based principally on redistributive paradigm of the Swedish social democracy functional socialism. The basic aspects of this interpretation were published in the author’s previous works, where the model’s chronological framework was defined as the early 1960s and the turn of the 1980–1990s. In order to confirm the previously expressed points of view, it is attempted to operationalize this interpretation of the model through quantification of its manifestations in such important spheres as government general and social spending, de- and remarketization, privatization, social equalization policy, labour market as well as power resources of the social democracy. The analysis of changes which took place in these spheres during the above mentioned period reveals Sweden’s reaching the world top positions by the mentioned indicators and the subsequent loss of this status. This is confirmed by data from the number of original tables. Thus, it becomes possible to specify the concept of the Swedish model and to verify it. The model’s statistical identification conducted according to the given parameters advocates its interpretation as an essentially and chronologically specific construct (not diffused in subject-matter and in time). As a result of the research, the basic idea of the article has found confirmation. The idea is that the Swedish case has really the “individual”, inherent dynamics of the whole number of key socio-economic and political macro-indicators, and that this dynamics is characteristic just for a certain historical period, namely for the final stage of industrial development and the Golden Age of the Swedish social democracy. The identification of the specificity, at both national and international levels, through the quantification of its components, can serve as a powerful argument in favor of the Swedish model notion interpretation as reflecting a conceptual and time-bound societal phenomenon.
Keywords: Sweden, Swedish model, social democracy, government spending, de- and remarketization, privatization, social policy, labour market, power resources
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