Since the adoption of a generous and universal sick pay scheme in 1978, the key elements of Norwegian sick pay policies have remained the same. The present study focuses on the gradual developments in welfare corporatism and policymaking during this period, arguing that these changes paved the way for new and surprising strategies and behaviour among the labour market parties. Tracking several retrenchment attempts across decades, the analyses show how policymaking in corporatist committees was gradually replaced by less predictable processes. Successive governments of different colors have tried to bypass the social partners and legislate hierarchically, thus signaling a break with traditional corporatist norms and decision rules. Labour and business groups adapted by negotiating a pact that kept the existing distribution of economic risks in the sick pay scheme off the political agenda, and by backing each other and creating negative attention to government in the media to protect the pact. In sum, although sick pay policies have remained largely unchanged, this is a status quo upheld by processes of welfare policymaking that have changed substantially. The pact between the social partners and the state is currently a new vetopoint for welfare policymaking. But the piecemeal institutional transformation witnessed in this period, together with the need for conflictual media strategies and new alliances to protect the pact, suggest that it could be a fragile veto- point.
{"title":"Everything Changes, But It All Stays the Same. Labour Market Parties, Corporatism and Norwegian Sick Pay Policies 1978–2014","authors":"Gunnar Thesen","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12200","url":null,"abstract":"Since the adoption of a generous and universal sick pay scheme in 1978, the key elements of Norwegian sick pay policies have remained the same. The present study focuses on the gradual developments in welfare corporatism and policymaking during this period, arguing that these changes paved the way for new and surprising strategies and behaviour among the labour market parties. Tracking several retrenchment attempts across decades, the analyses show how policymaking in corporatist committees was gradually replaced by less predictable processes. Successive governments of different colors have tried to bypass the social partners and legislate hierarchically, thus signaling a break with traditional corporatist norms and decision rules. Labour and business groups adapted by negotiating a pact that kept the existing distribution of economic risks in the sick pay scheme off the political agenda, and by backing each other and creating negative attention to government in the media to protect the pact. In sum, although sick pay policies have remained largely unchanged, this is a status quo upheld by processes of welfare policymaking that have changed substantially. The pact between the social partners and the state is currently a new vetopoint for welfare policymaking. But the piecemeal institutional transformation witnessed in this period, together with the need for conflictual media strategies and new alliances to protect the pact, suggest that it could be a fragile veto- point.","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12200","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48300955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Few empirical studies have investigated career- related incentives for party membership, including for young party members. Through the lens of rational choice, we ask what career-related incentives young and active party members consider when calculating costs and bene- fits of party membership. We argue for a broad understanding of career- related incentives, including careers outside party politics. The study is based on in- depth interviews with 25 young party members in Sweden. Our main empirical finding is that the interviewees experience a ‘super- dilemma’: Although the young party members might consider a political career, they think it is important to leave the party if it departs from their perceived ideology. Hence, these young members must keep non- political career options open. At the same time, many of the interviewees express concern that their party membership could negatively affect their non- political career. Material incentives offer potential members an expectation or hope of personal reward in return for party membership. These personal rewards can range from patronage appoint-ments or government contracts to more general inducements like career advancement. Solidary incentives offer potential participants the company of like- minded individuals and social or recreational opportunities. Purposive incentives afford individuals an opportunity to assist in achieving the party’s collective policy or ideological goal. (2002, 549)
{"title":"Making a (Political) Career: Young Party Members and Career‐Related Incentives for Party Membership","authors":"Elin Fjellman, Malena Rosén Sundström","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12203","url":null,"abstract":"Few empirical studies have investigated career- related incentives for party membership, including for young party members. Through the lens of rational choice, we ask what career-related incentives young and active party members consider when calculating costs and bene- fits of party membership. We argue for a broad understanding of career- related incentives, including careers outside party politics. The study is based on in- depth interviews with 25 young party members in Sweden. Our main empirical finding is that the interviewees experience a ‘super- dilemma’: Although the young party members might consider a political career, they think it is important to leave the party if it departs from their perceived ideology. Hence, these young members must keep non- political career options open. At the same time, many of the interviewees express concern that their party membership could negatively affect their non- political career. Material incentives offer potential members an expectation or hope of personal reward in return for party membership. These personal rewards can range from patronage appoint-ments or government contracts to more general inducements like career advancement. Solidary incentives offer potential participants the company of like- minded individuals and social or recreational opportunities. Purposive incentives afford individuals an opportunity to assist in achieving the party’s collective policy or ideological goal. (2002, 549)","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12203","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47616122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ecological impacts of consumption are well acknowledged, and most people worldwide are likely to have encountered proofs for or information about it. Likewise, online and offline media seem to be full of information on the issue. Even so, large numbers of people are ‘non- political’ consumers, inconsiderate of the ethical and ecological implications of what they buy and consume. Using representative survey data from Sweden collected in 2019, this paper shows that a major reason for non- political consumerism can be seen in the lack of interpersonal ‘recruitment’ efforts; that is, deliberate attempts by some to influence another’s consump- tion. Moreover, the analyses show that for a person having faced such attempts by others to influence their consumption is distinct from them discussing political consumption issues. With this, the paper also provides one of the first large- N studies confirming recent theoretical prop-ositions of an extended definition of political consumerism: discussion, that is, discursive action, is a sub- form of political consumerism next to boycotting, buycotting, and lifestyle change. Interpersonal influence, in turn, is a key predictor of political consumerism. Altogether, the results suggest that spreading information may feed discursive actions. Yet, to get more people change their consumption choices and engage in political consumerism, what is needed is that people influence each other to do so.
{"title":"Political Consumerism and Interpersonal Discussion Patterns","authors":"Carolin V. Zorell, T. Denk","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12204","url":null,"abstract":"The ecological impacts of consumption are well acknowledged, and most people worldwide are likely to have encountered proofs for or information about it. Likewise, online and offline media seem to be full of information on the issue. Even so, large numbers of people are ‘non- political’ consumers, inconsiderate of the ethical and ecological implications of what they buy and consume. Using representative survey data from Sweden collected in 2019, this paper shows that a major reason for non- political consumerism can be seen in the lack of interpersonal ‘recruitment’ efforts; that is, deliberate attempts by some to influence another’s consump- tion. Moreover, the analyses show that for a person having faced such attempts by others to influence their consumption is distinct from them discussing political consumption issues. With this, the paper also provides one of the first large- N studies confirming recent theoretical prop-ositions of an extended definition of political consumerism: discussion, that is, discursive action, is a sub- form of political consumerism next to boycotting, buycotting, and lifestyle change. Interpersonal influence, in turn, is a key predictor of political consumerism. Altogether, the results suggest that spreading information may feed discursive actions. Yet, to get more people change their consumption choices and engage in political consumerism, what is needed is that people influence each other to do so.","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12204","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48327135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is the first expressly to focus on membership ballots as an instrument in the selection of parliamentary candidates in Finland, a polity in which the nomination process is inclusive and decentralised. A Finnish case study is of comparative interest for three main reasons: (i) Finland is one of the few European countries in which candidate selection is regulated by the state; (ii) challenging much of the literature, the combination of democratised selection procedures and an intraparty preference voting system has not incentivised individualistic parliamentary behaviour and reduced legislative party unity; (iii) contrary to the trend towards the democratisation of nominations elsewhere, membership ballots, from being routinised and internalised in the four larger historic parties, have become the exception rather than the rule in Finland today. Accordingly, this paper assesses the changing trajectory of membership ballots and asks what does their deinstitutionalisation indicate about the [changing] dynamics of intraparty participatory democracy?
{"title":"Digging in the ‘Secret Garden of Politics’: The Institutionalisation and De‐institutionalisation of Membership Ballots in the Selection of Finnish Parliamentary Candidates","authors":"D. Arter","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12202","url":null,"abstract":"This article is the first expressly to focus on membership ballots as an instrument in the selection of parliamentary candidates in Finland, a polity in which the nomination process is inclusive and decentralised. A Finnish case study is of comparative interest for three main reasons: (i) Finland is one of the few European countries in which candidate selection is regulated by the state; (ii) challenging much of the literature, the combination of democratised selection procedures and an intraparty preference voting system has not incentivised individualistic parliamentary behaviour and reduced legislative party unity; (iii) contrary to the trend towards the democratisation of nominations elsewhere, membership ballots, from being routinised and internalised in the four larger historic parties, have become the exception rather than the rule in Finland today. Accordingly, this paper assesses the changing trajectory of membership ballots and asks what does their deinstitutionalisation indicate about the [changing] dynamics of intraparty participatory democracy?","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12202","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45083939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Back to School: The Effects of School Reopening on Parents and Children","authors":"J. Dahlgaard, Z. Fazekas","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12198","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12198","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46943266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Institutions or the Societal Setting? Explaining Invalid Voting in Local Elections in Sweden","authors":"Krister Lundell, John Högström","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12199","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12199","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43913075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Same Problems, Different Solutions: Stealth Democracy and the Vote for a Populist Party","authors":"Irene Esteban, D. Stiers","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12196","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12196","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42535597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Issue Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12197","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12197","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46719504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Timing in Opposition Party Support under Minority Government","authors":"Melanie Müller, Pascal D. König","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12195","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12195","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45688564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ideological Tripolarization, Partisan Tribalism and Institutional Trust: The Foundations of Affective Polarization in the Swedish Multiparty System","authors":"Andres Reiljan, Alexander Ryan","doi":"10.1111/1467-9477.12194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.12194","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51572,"journal":{"name":"Scandinavian Political Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1111/1467-9477.12194","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46194550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}