[en] Resolving the dilemma between equality and liberty : the Swedish political system

Type de document

Est une partie de

Mots clés en

Humanities and Social Sciences
political culture
equality
political system
Sweden

Date de publication

Langue du document

Anglais

Editeur

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi

Résumé

[en] Swedish democracy ranks very high in international democracy indexes. It fascinates political scientists from all over the world because it seems to have resolved a fundamental political dilemma : the choice between equality and liberty, without the historical inconvenient of regimes which favoured too much equality-but killed liberty, or regimes which favoured liberty-but failed to make citizens equal... The "'egalitarian pluralism" practiced in Swedish political system is rooted in a specific political culture. This culture has opted for popular sovereignty and comes from the ancient peasant society. Lutheran values and the absence of feudalism paved the way to the search for equality and the edification of a strong State. In the 20 th century, the Social-democrats endorsed the traditional Swedish values and prolonged them in the so-called Swedish model, with social policies allowing more equality along with more individual autonomy. Nowadays, the model is evolving, coping with globalization, and the definition of equality is under discussion.

Nom de la revue

Eastern Journal of European Studies

Collection

Source

HAL

Type de ressource

Texte intégral

Licence

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Citation bibliographique

Nathalie Blanc-Noel. Resolving the dilemma between equality and liberty : the Swedish political system. Eastern Journal of European Studies, 2013, 4. [hal-02975578]

Citer cette ressource

[en] Resolving the dilemma between equality and liberty : the Swedish political system, dans Études nordiques, consulté le 16 Mars 2025, https://etudes-nordiques.cnrs.fr/s/numenord/item/18194