1.  Social Democratic Regimes (Sweden) ◦ Dominant Social Democratic parties ◦ Centralized states ◦ Corporatist interest groups ◦ Universal, generous, service-intensive welfare states that promote equality  Conservative Regimes (U.S.) ◦ Weak, non-existent working class parties ◦ Pluralist interest groups ◦ Relatively small state sectors ◦ Welfare programs with fewer programs, cover fewer people, offer less generous benefits  Christian Democratic Regimes (Germany) ◦ Religious and class divisions (competitive Social/Christian Democratic parties) ◦ Corporatist interest groups ◦ High welfare spending along occupational lines, which mitigates but reinforces inequalities

2.  Background ◦ Long history of Social Democratic Party (SAP) success; high union membership rate ◦ Working class well positioned to promote its interests (Lipset and Marks: First in “Lower-class power” among advanced capitalist democracies)  Politics ◦ SAP became the dominant, governing party throughout 20 th century by adopting reformist agenda (rather than socializing production, socialize its distribution) and forming broad coalitions (workers with farmers, middle class; and later left-wing parties, and greens) ◦ Party system undergoing change (marked by 2006 election; see Table 6.1, 154)  Win by Conservative/Moderates put a right-bloc coalition into power

3.  Social Democratic Party success due to generous, universal, service- oriented welfare state (middle- and working-classes have stake in defending system) ◦ State provision of health care, elder care, day care, cash benefits to sick, old, unemployed ◦ 50% of all Swedes derive income from state as client or public-sector employees ◦ “lifelong middle class standard of living for all”  Budget crisis of 1990s (decline in growth, inflation, deficits) brought changes in welfare state ◦ Trimming of benefits, increased fees, tightened eligibility, some privatization (in pensions and schools); still generous, universal, and well-developed  Welfare state inclusive, offers alternative to labor market; standard of living determined not by job, position in labor market, but egalitarian impact of public services; displace market principles (health and child care) and replace market incomes (pensions, sick pay, unemployment)  Capitalist system (private ownership of means of production and the market rules) ◦ Full employment (can lead to inflation) ◦ Centralized wage bargaining (employers and unions negotiate agreements; holds down wage costs, drives out weak firms; moves capital to efficient sectors; increases productivity and competitiveness with active labor market policies) ◦ Wage solidarity – “equal pay for all work” (small pay differentials)

4.  Consensual democracy (Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy) – inclusiveness, bargaining, compromise; broad participation, broad agreement ◦ Power sharing governments (coalition governments) ◦ Inclusive policy-making process (interest groups and non-governing parties included) ◦ Proportional representation (PR) electoral system  Parliamentary democracy ◦ Unicameral legislature, Riksdag (post-1971): 349 members; low voter- member ratio (1/25,000); multimember districts (number of members determined by size of district; party list voting; 90% returned by district, remainder according to overall vote proportion) ◦ Strong committee system ◦ Oversight (Ombudsman) ◦ Head of state (ceremonial), King; head of government (real power, PM and cabinet) ◦ Remiss: process whereby interest groups comment on legislation ◦ Judicial review restricted (only when in conflict with basic law) ◦ Executive branch dominant in policy-making (inclusive, permeable, tempered by judicial review) ◦ Unitary system (although increasing decentralization in how local governments deliver public services)

5.  Background ◦ Massive gap between power of business and labor ◦ Most pronounced lower-class weakness of all advanced capitalist democracies. Why?  Success of American capitalism (seduction)  Ethnic and racial tensions (division)  Capitalist values of competition and individualism (distraction)  Repression (intimidation)  Politics ◦ 1930s New Deal coalition (urban immigrant workers, Southerners, blacks) laid foundation for welfare state; union organizing, state regulation) ◦ Democratic Party majority, ruling, governing party (with brief periods of Republican control in Congress) from 1932-1994; welfare state, unions grew, workers’ living standards improved, inequality declined) ◦ New Deal unraveled in 1960s (Southern wing, Northern working-class left with civil rights; cultural issues; unemployment and inflation)  Republican party turned right, moved south; eventually took Congress in 1994  Revival caused by South’s defection over civil rights; money from business community wanting to roll-back government regulations; Christian right over moral issues; conservative white males threatened by dismantling of racial and gender hierarchies (Table 6.2, 164)  Democratic base=black, low-income, female, liberal, unmarried voters  Republican base=white male, conservative, Southern, high-income voters

6.  Class matters little in how people vote and a lot in who votes ◦ Electorate skewed toward upper class (lower proportion of low- income citizens than in any other countries) ◦ Even greater class differences in more involved forms of participation (contacting officials, contributing to campaigns, etc.) ◦ Wealthy more active and better organized  Interest groups, lobbying, policy-makers are predominately upper-class  Politics dominated by upper class  Gap in participation and power reflected in policy ◦ Extreme market capitalism  Businesses enjoy more autonomy (less interference from unions, small percentage of workers covered by collective bargaining agreements, and state, minimal state regulations) than any other rich democracy ◦ Small public sector; markets rule  State collects less, spends less as proportion of GDP than other rich democracies; citizens receive few public services  Results of extreme market capitalism mixed ◦ Competitive, prosperous economy (growth, jobs, wealth) ◦ Highly unequal: high levels of income/wealth inequality and poverty

7.  Highly fragmented  Federal: power divided between national and state governments  Power divided horizontally between branches of government, checks and balances ◦ Founders believed in democracy, but wanted to avoid its egalitarian consequences ◦ System requires “passage” of legislation through three different bodies (Executive, House, and Senate) ◦ President - sets agenda, leadership  Combines head of government and state (real and symbolic power) ◦ Congress  House – 435 members, returned through 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 – federal judges with lifetime tenure; significant judicial review power ◦ Policy-making process marked by innumerable veto-points, places where policy can fail; fantastic system for maintaining the status quo; puts obstacles in way of disadvantaged who depend on public policy to offset their lack of power in the market

8.  Background ◦ Bismark: political unification in 1870s; rapid industrialization (heavy industry through tariffs, colonialism, welfare state) ◦ Defeat in WWI, Weimar Republic, first democracy  Lack of legitimacy, economic problems (war reparations, inflation, unemployment) led to rise of Hitler, eventual defeat in WWII ◦ 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  More recent rise of regional parties and greens  See elections results (1998-2005, Table 6.3, 175)

9.  Post-WWII revival under CDU remarkable ◦ Steady growth, high wages, low inflation, generous welfare benefits, low poverty; high-quality goods, competitive industries  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  Generous welfare state to ensure people’s needs met  Work councils to ensure employees demands heard  State promotes cooperation among economic actors  Broad guidelines, empower private groups (employers, unions, banks) to administer programs ◦ 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

10.  “Semi-sovereign state” (Katzenstein) ◦ System of checks and balances within, between state and society limit nationally elected government to govern ◦ Because power is so thoroughly divided, shared among institutions, national government policy-making authority severely constrained  Federal: power divided between central government and 16 federal states ◦ States responsible for education, administering federal laws; raise taxes, elect governments; select members to upper-house, which has veto power over bills affecting their jurisdictions  Significant authority given over to EU (trade, environment, border; monetary policy; ECJ judicial review)  Judicial Review: active Federal Constitutional Court  Powerful, encompassing interest groups (especially labor and employer associations)  Bicameralism: parliamentary democracy with two chambers ◦ Upper-house representing states (based on population) ◦ Lower house selects government; elected every four year; combined single-member district (half of the total ) and party list voting (the other half)  Voters pick candidate they want to represent them and apportion seats among the parties  President performs ceremonial functions, selects party leader to form government  Head of government is chancellor (majority in lower house) ◦ Less powerful than other chief executives; appoint ministers (who tend to be independent) and set policy guidelines  Constraints on exercise of power by national government has created a stable political and party system, fostered consensual decision-making, and incremental policy changes