1. ◦ Dominant Social Democratic parties ◦ Centralized states ◦ Corporatist interest groups ◦ Universal, generous, service- intensive welfare states that promote equality

2. ◦ Weak, non-existent working class parties ◦ Pluralist interest groups ◦ Relatively small state sectors ◦ Welfare programs ◦ fewer programs, cover fewer people, offer less generous benefits

3. ◦ Religious and class divisions (competitive Social/Christian Democratic parties) ◦ Corporatist interest groups ◦ High welfare spending along occupational lines, which mitigates but reinforces inequalities

4. ◦ Long history of Social Democratic Party (SAP) success; high union membership ◦ Working class positioned to promote interests ◦ First in “Lower-class power” among advanced capitalist democracies ◦ Reformist agenda ◦ Not socialize production, socialize distribution ◦ Form broad coalitions

5.  Democratic Socialist Party (SAP) success  generous, universal, service-oriented welfare state displaces market principles (health and child care) and replaces market incomes (pensions, sick pay, unemployment)  Capitalist system  Full employment  Centralized wage bargaining  Wage solidarity

6.  Consensual democracy ◦ Power sharing (coalition) governments ◦ Inclusive policy-making process ◦ Proportional representation (PR) electoral system  Parliamentary democracy ◦ Unicameral legislature ◦ Riksdag (post-1971): 349 members; low voter- member ratio (1/25,000); multimember districts ◦ Head of state (ceremonial), King; head of government (real power), PM and cabinet ◦ Executive branch dominant in policy ◦ Unitary system

7. ◦ Weakest lower-class in all advanced capitalist democracies ◦ 1930s New Deal coalition ◦ Rise of Republicans ◦ South defects over civil rights ◦ Business community rolls-back government regulations ◦ Christian right organizes on moral issues ◦ Conservative white males threatened by dismantling of racial and gender hierarchies ◦ Democratic base=black, low-income, female, liberal, unmarried voters ◦ Republican base=white male, conservative, Southern, high-income voters

8.  Class matters little in how people vote and a lot in who votes  Gap in participation and power reflected in policy ◦ Extreme market capitalism  Businesses enjoy more autonomy ◦ Small public sector; markets rule  Results of extreme market capitalism mixed ◦ Competitive, prosperous economy ◦ High levels of income/wealth inequality and poverty

9.  Fragmented - Federalism, separation of powers (checks and balances)  President  Congress  House – 435 members, district elections, two-year terms; white, male, wealthy; high incumbency rates (>90%)  Senate – 100 members, returned by states, six-year terms; wealthier, even less diverse, representative; more competitive elections (around 75%)  Courts  Policymaking process = Veto-points (places where policy can fail)  Maintain status quo, obstacles in way of disadvantaged who depend on public policies to offset lack of market power

10. ◦ Unification (1870s); rapid industrialization ◦ Defeat in WWI, Weimar Republic, first democracy ◦ Occupation produced German Democratic Republic (East Germany, Soviet-controlled) and Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)  GDR: one-party state dictatorship  Reunification in 1990 (with end of Cold War) ◦ West Germany Post-WWII politics marked by class and religious cleavages  Christian Democratic Union (CDU) (broad support)  Social Democratic Party (SPD) (industrial workers)  Ongoing competition for governance between these parties in coalition with others

11.  Post-WWII revival under CDU remarkable  State intent on letting markets rule, only “as much state intervention as necessary”  Social market economy ◦ Markets allocate resources; state makes sure it does so in socially responsible way ◦ German Model faltered in 1980s  Growth, jobs declined  Consensus, patience, coordination, incremental change regarded as source of poor performance  Labor market increasingly divided between insiders and outsiders

12.  Federal  Significant authority to EU  Federal Constitutional Court  Powerful, encompassing interest groups  Bicameralism  President (ceremonial), selects party leader to form government  Head of government is chancellor (majority in lower house)  Stable political and party system, consensual decision-making, incremental policy changes