The Nordic Model of Social Democracy

Social Democracy has long been prominent in Nordic politics through the dominant parties and ideological hegemony of the centre-left. This book explores the growth of social democracy and the policy dilemmas that social democrats face today. It breaks new ground by relating recent literature on social democracy in Europe to Scandinavia.

Preface 1. Introduction PART I: ORIGINS 2. The Birth of the Social Democratic Movement (1848-1916) 3. Towards a Nordic Model (1916-1940) 4. Planning the Welfare State (1940-1970) PART II: SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND THE NORDIC MODEL 5. The Nordic Model in a Global Economy 6. The Welfare State: The Good Life or Dependency? 7. A Better and More Organized World PART III: IS THE NORDIC MODEL SUSTAINABLE? 8. Economic Growth and Environmental Protection 9. The Sustainability of the Welfare State 10. Liberty, Empowerment, and Community PART IV: CONCLUSION 11. Concluding Essay: The Power of Politics Notes Literature Index

NIKOLAI BRANDAL is a PhD fellow at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Norway. His doctoral research concerns political extremism in the 1960s and 70s. Alongside a scholarly interest in totalitarian movements, Brandal has published articles and book chapters on the Second World War and post-war Norwegian politics.
ØIVIND BRATBERG is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway. His research interests range from British party politics and territorial reform via contemporary social democracy to the analysis of political ideas and discourse.
DAG EINAR THORSEN received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Oslo, Norway in 2012, concluding a research project on the political philosophy of Karl Popper and Isaiah Berlin. He has published a number of articles and book chapters on political theory, ideology and the philosophy of science.