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Paradoxes of Hegemony: Scandinavian Social Democracy and the State

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European Socialists and the State in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements ((PSHSM))

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Abstract

The social democratic parties of Northern Europe arguably enjoy a special place in the history of this political family. Hardly anywhere else have parties been at the same time so deeply rooted in society through their ancillary organizations, and entrenched in the state apparatus through decades of dominance since the 1930s. Both their social presence and political hegemony have eroded over time across the region. In retrospect it is nevertheless interesting to reflect on the actual relationship that these parties have developed with the state, both as an apparatus, but also as a historical set of public policies, as well as an instrument of power. Is this relationship indexed on the length of incumbency? What are the institutional and social legacies?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter draws partly on two older and unpublished works by the author: Aucante 2003, 2005.

  2. 2.

    In the limited space of this chapter, I will not be able to quote every relevant research.

  3. 3.

    SAP : Socialdemokratiska arbetarepartiet, later S : Socialdemokraterna ; DNA : Det norske arbeiderpartiet, later AP, Arbeiderpartiet.

  4. 4.

    The Swedish Social Democrats—most prominently, Hjalmar Branting—helped allay concerns regarding Norway’s move toward independence in 1905, something that cannot be said of all of their Norwegian counterparts (Sejersted 2011: 131).

  5. 5.

    Tage Erlander, proceedings of the SAP Steering Committee protocol, 25 September 1956, Labor Movement archives, Stockholm (translation mine).

  6. 6.

    “Vill ni sitta i farbror statens knä”. Quoted in Elvander (1968: 396).

  7. 7.

    While there have been ad hoc parliamentary coalitions, the system of “negative parliamentarism” equates abstention with tacit support of a policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France

    Yohann Aucante

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Correspondence to Yohann Aucante .

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  1. Centre of History, Sciences Po Centre of History, Paris, France

    Mathieu Fulla

  2. Centre of History, Sciences Po Centre of History, Paris, France

    Marc Lazar

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Aucante, Y. (2020). Paradoxes of Hegemony: Scandinavian Social Democracy and the State. In: Fulla, M., Lazar, M. (eds) European Socialists and the State in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41540-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41540-2_6

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