Social Democrats and trade unions in Scandinavia: The decline and persistence of institutional relationships

Abstract

Abstract. This article examines the institutional arrangements between Social Democratic parties and trade unions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. First, the authors show how these relations have weakened at a varying pace. Party–union ties are now quite distant in Denmark, but remain relatively close in Norway and, especially, Sweden. Second, the authors explore this variation using a simple model of political exchange. The finding is that the intensity of the relationship is correlated with the resources that each side can derive from the other, which in turn reflects national differences. Yet it is also clear that the degree of change is related to the formative phase of the institutional arrangement itself: the weaker the ties were from the beginning, the more easily they unravel in response to environmental changes.

From classic to modern corporatism. Interest group representation in Danish public committees in 1975 and 2010

“…Increased electoral volatility has weakened the unions' capacity to deliver their members' votes to the social democratic parties (Öberg et al, 2011: 386). This development may weaken the ability of traditional corporatist partners to supply public decision makers with valuable resources (Allern et al 2007). …”

The partisan politics of institutional welfare state reform

“…Left-wing parties traditionally seek to control the state apparatus to influence the policies desired by their constituencies in the lower income brackets (Esping-Andersen 1978). But this may be moderated by the relationship between left-wing parties and organized labour (Allern et al 2007;Cameron 1984;Katzenstein 1985;Korpi 1981). By empowering organized labour in, for example, corporatist arrangements, the Left protects its policies on the long term (Moe 1990: 227).…”

Wandel und Zukunftsaussichten des schwedisch-sozialdemokratischen Modells

“…Die programmatische Nähe von LO und sAP lockerte sich zusehends auf. zwar unterstützen die LO-Gewerkschaften weiterhin auf vielfältige Weise die sAP (Öberg u. svensson 2002), allerdings nicht mehr so uneingeschränkt wie noch in den 1970er Jahren (Allern et al 2007). zugespitzt kann man formulieren, dass in den 1970er Jahren die Gewerkschaften die Politik der Arbeiterbewegung programmatisch vorantrieben, dass die Programme seit den 1980er Jahren eher von seiten der sAP formuliert werden und die Gewerkschaften nurmehr kritische Gefolgschaft leisten.…”