The Swedish Model of Public Policy Teachers: Prof. Steven Saxonberg (ssa@du.se) Mgr. Jana Válková (185306@mail.muni.cz) Goal of the Course By the end of the course, students should have a basic understanding of how the Social Democrats were able to achieve such hegemony in Sweden. They should also be able to analyze the basic dynamics behind the Sweden welfare state and its most recent changes. Grading Participation at the seminars will account for 1/3 of the grading. The other 2/3 will be the final paper. Seminars Participation in the seminars is obligatory. Anyone missing a seminar, must send in to their seminar leader a three-page written reflection on the reading that was required for that seminar. Write one page about each. For each reflection, write you OWN thoughts NOT a summary!!!! At each seminar every student will hand in a list of FOUR questions based on one of the readings for that theme, which the students want us to discuss at the seminar. Final Paper Students will write short papers at the end of the course where they reflect on one aspect of the Swedish model and discuss what they think are the advantages and disadvantages of the model. They must compare Swedish with one other country and discuss what that country could learn from the Swedish experience. The paper should be about 4 pages (around 2000 words). Students can write the paper in groups of two. Students are expected to use an internationally acceptable form of notes and references, but they can choose which system to use. Remember in writing your papers: • Scientific, peer-reviewed articles and books are best • Official statistics from the governments or international organizations • Reports from respectable newspapers and magazines (LN – not blesk, etc.) • Not unreliable internet sources, such as wikipedia!!!! • The use of unreliable sources such as wikipedia will lower your grade and can cause your paper to fail. • Remember to have a reference for every fact or opinion that is not your own opinion! We will grade the papers according to the following scheme: A= The authors have used ALL of the relevant course literature on the topic and they have also used other SCIENTIFIC sources such as articles from peer-reviewed journals and books published by academic publishing houses. The authors make clear and logical arguments, which also show original thinking. They back their arguments with clear empirical evidence in a manner that is very convincing for their case. The paper must be well-structured and its logic easy to follow. B= Similar to an A paper, but the arguments are not as original, the evidence not as convincing or the paper is not always as logically organized as we would expect. C= The authors use some of the relevant course literature, but not all of it and they do not use it well. They simply refer to it, because it is required, but do not integrate it well in the paper. The authors have clear arguments and they have good empirical evidence for their arguments, but the arguments are not very original and some problems arise in the presentation of empirical evidence. D=Similar to C, but at times they do not have strong empirical evidence for their case. E= The arguments in the paper are not very strong or convincing. Although the authors present empirical material, the material does not give strong support for their arguments. The usage of course literature is superficial. F= Papers will fail for any of the following reasons: * They do not refer to the course literature * They do not make a clear argument about what their chosen country can learn from Sweden * They do not use scientific sources * They rely on sources like Wikipedia * They do not use correct references and do not have a reference list that is in alphabetical order * They have paragraphs with information that is not common knowledge, but they do not have references for it * They plagiarize, including having material from sources that they do not cite * They write something positive about the music group ABBA. Teaching The course consists of both lectures and seminars. Required Reading Ginsburg, Norman Divisions of Welfare (London: Sage, 1992), chapters 1 & 2. Larsson, Torbjörn & Bäck, Henry, Governing and governance in Sweden:The social democratic state : the Swedish model and the bureaucratic problem of social reforms (Lund : Studentlitteratur, 2008) selected chapters Pempel, T. J. Ed., Uncommon democracies: the one-party dominant regimes (Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1990) Rothstein, Bo Social classes and political institutions : the roots of Swedish corporatism (Uppsala : Maktutredningen, 1988) 27 pages Saxonberg, Steven, “The Swedish Model is Doing Well Despite Neo-Liberal Attacks” Problemy Polityki Spolecznej vol. 7, 2004. Saxonberg, Steven, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? The Swedish Model after the Center-Right Electoral Victory in 2006” forthcoming in Problemy Polityki Spolecznej, nr. 11, 2008. Saxonberg, Steven, “Právo na otce: Rodičovská dovolená ve Švédsku,” pp. 125-144 in Alena Kížková, Radka Dudová, Hana Hašková, Hana Mařková a Zuzana Uhde eds., Práce A péče: Proměny “rodičovské“ v České Republice A Kontext Rodinné Politiky Evropské Unie (Praha: Slon sociologické nakladatelství, 2008) Tilton, Tim The Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press) chapters 8, 9 11 Williamson, Peter J. 1989. Corporatism in Perspective: An Introductory Guide to Corporatist Theory (Sage) selected chapters. Schedule The course will always meet in room U33 Date Time Activity Thursday, Sep 23 14:00 Introduction Sweden, lecture on social democratic dominance Thursday, Oct 7 14:00 Lecture on the people’s home and Rehn-Meidner model Thursday, Oct 14 14:00 Lecture on corporatism Thursday, Oct. 21 14:00 Lecture on family policy Thursday, Nov. 4 14:00-14:50 Group 1 14:50-15:40 Group 2 Seminar on social democratic dominance Thursday, Nov. 11 14:00 Group 1 Seminar on labor market and on the People’s home Thursday, Nov. 18 14:00 Group 2 Seminar on labor market and on the People’s home Thursday, Nov. 25 14:00-14:50 Group 1 14:50-15:40 Group 2 Seminar on family policy Thursday, Dec. 2 14:00-14:50 Group 1 14:50-15:40 Group 2 Seminar on corporatism Thursday, Dec. 9 14:00 Lecture on retrenchment PAPERS DUE ON Thursday December 16 AT 5 PM! Please send them to Mgr. Jana Válková (185306@mail.muni.cz) Reading Schedule In preparing for the seminars, you should read at least one text for each topic Social Democratic Dominance: Uncommon democracies, The Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy (appropriate chapters) Governing and governance in Sweden (chapters 3, 4) People’s Home and Rehn-Meidner Model: Divisions of Welfare (Chapters 1, 2) The Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy (chapters 9, 11) Governing and governance in Sweden (Chapter 13) Corporatism: Social classes and political institutions Corporatism in Perspective Governing and governance in Sweden (chapters 5) Family Policy: “Právo na otce: Rodičovská dovolená ve Švédsku” Note: An English version is on-line as “The Right to have a Father: Parental Leaves in Sweden” Retrenchment: “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same?“ “The Swedish Model is Doing Well Despite Neo-Liberal Attacks”