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The Shifting Politics of Public Services: Discourses, Arguments, and Institutional Change in Sweden, c. 1620–2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2020

MAGNUS LINNARSSON  and
MATS HALLENBERG
MAGNUS LINNARSSON
Affiliation:
Stockholm University
MATS HALLENBERG
Affiliation:
Stockholm University
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Abstract

This article analyses the inherent conflict between public and private interest from a long time-perspective, using the example of Sweden from 1620 to 2000. The main argument is that there have been two equally decisive historical shifts in the political discourse on how to organize public services in the past: First, a shift from an early modern patriarchal discourse to a more expansive articulation of publicness during the nineteenth century. Second, a shift toward privatization and deregulation in the late twentieth century. Both these shifts must be considered to fully explain the changing forms of public organization up to the present day. Theoretically, the concept of “publicness” is used to explain the political discourses on the organization of public services. Drawing on three discursive chains, the argument is that the political development was affected by the politicians’ conception of the political community, the form of organization, and by perceptions of values such as equal access and modernity. Our results demonstrate how and why political arguments for or against private service providers have motivated profound changes in the way public services are perceived of and organized.

Keywords

Public servicesinstitutional changepolitical discourseprivate entrepreneursfreedom of choiceSweden
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Policy History , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 463 - 486
Copyright
© Donald Critchlow and Cambridge University Press 2020

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References

Notes

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24. Publication from the county governor of Stockholm, August 1, 1766, printed in Gustaf Reinhold Modée, Hedvig Eleonora Lindhielm, and Elsa Fougt, eds. (1742–1829), Utdrag utur alle ifrån den 7. decemb. 1718. utkomne publique handlingar, 15 vols. Stockholm: Grefing/Fougt: vol. 8, p. 7185.

25. SSA (City archives of Stockholm), appendix to Drätselkommissionens arkiv (DKP), December 17, 1856.

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27. Sources from the Swedish parliament are published in printed series (sw: Riksdagstrycket). References are given to the standardized volume and collection numbers; minutes from the nobility, September 22, 1854, 1853/54, vol. 1, p. 153, “Jag kan icke tro annat, än att det ligger i sakens natur, att en egendom, som förvaltas af sina egna egare, med mycket få undantag, förvaltas bättre, än om den lemnas till förvaltning af de regerande… . [D]et vore en orättvisa att de enskilde i sådant fall icke äfven skulle få deltaga i administrationen, och min fullkomliga öfvertygelse är, att dervid skulle administrationen vinna ganska mycket.”

28. Minutes second chamber (AK), March 28, 1904, III:34, p. 5, “Enligt min mening är det tvärtom lyckligt att det finnes två olika representanter för telefonanläggningar, nämligen riks och allmänna.”

29. Minutes AK, March 28, 1904, III:34, p. 5, “såsom det nu är ställdt med konkurrens mellan staten och bolagen, är det tvärtom uppenbart, att allmänheten får sina telefoner billigare […] Med ett ord, allmänheten blir väl betjänad på sådant sätt.”

30. Sources from the city council in Stockholm are published in printed series (sw: Stockholms stadsfullmäktiges handlingar). References are given to the standardized volume and collection numbers: SSF minutes, November 26, 1902, Wallenberg’s statement, p. Y483.

31. SSF minutes, November 26, 1902, Lundbergh’s statement, pp. Y470–71.

32. SSF minutes February 2, 1903, Johan Östberg’s statement, pp. Y80–81, “Bolaget bör känna och erkänna, att det utnyttjar ett monopol på den allmänna trafikens område och att denna trafik bör handhafvas äfven till Stockholms stads bästa.”

33. Minutes from the parliament, January 30, 1984, 1983/84:68, p. 98, “Att vara rädd för en tävlan av det här slaget mellan olika former kan bero på att man är rädd för att de alternativa barnomsorgsformerna visar sig vara bättre och därmed vinner mark.”

34. For example, Göte Jonsson, Minutes from the parliament, December 7, 1983, 1983/84:41, p. 67, “vi först måste skapa alternativ, innan familjerna kan välja. Ni gör precis tvärtom.”

35. Minutes from the parliament, January 30, 1984, 1983/84:68, p. 88, “Det får inte bli så att plånboken skall avgöra vilken omsorg barnen skall få. Företag med profiten som drivfjäder etablerar sig självfallet endast där man kan göra vinster.”

36. Minutes from the parliament, January 30, 1984, 1983/84:68, p. 102, “Om marknadskrafter och vinstintressen skulle styra fick man alltid leva med det hotet att verksamheten lades ned, om den inte visade sig vara lönsam. Så kan vi inte bedriva sjukvård och utbildning. Och hur skulle föräldrar kunna känna trygghet med en sådan barnomsorg?”

37. SSF minutes 1986, Sture Palmgren’s statement, protocol no. 17, pp. 30–31, “På område efter område presenterar vi förslag där vanliga människor skall ges fler valmöjligheter såväl mellan alternativ inom den offentliga sektorn som mellan alternativ i den offentliga sektorn och den enskilda sektorn. Det är just det som är poängen. Vi vill låta de vanliga människorna välja själva, och det gör man inte genom att ha all verksamhet bara i kommunal regi.”

38. For example, SSF minutes 1986: statements from Inger Båvner (Social Democrats) and Brit Rundberg (Left party), protocol no. 17, pp. 168–72, 179–82, 188.

39. For example, SSF minutes 1991: statements from Carl Cederschiöld (Conservatives) and Lennart Rydberg (Liberals), protocol no. 17, pp. 32–36, 40–44.

40. SSF minutes 1993, Mats Hulth’s statement, protocol no. 2, p. 81. Similar arguments were expressed by Ewa Törngren from the Left Party, SSF Minutes 1993, protocol no. 7, p. 64, “Valfrihet beträffande kommunal service handlar om att varje pensionär på ett servicehus skall få säga vilken vårdgivare som man vill anlita… . Men Lennart Rydberg tar det stora greppet: alla pensionärer som råkar bo på det här servicehuset skall ha privat entreprenör. Jag tycker det är fel linje.”

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42. For example, Hardy Hedman, SSF minutes 1992, Hardy Hedman’s statement, protocol no. 17, p. 95, “Tänk, om vi kunde frigöra människors resurser så att de satte i gång och gjorde som de första kooperatörerna gjorde, löste sina egna problem och fick resurser av kommunen för det!”

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45. Meagher and Szebehely, “The politics of profit in Swedish welfare services.”

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53. Andersson-Skog and Ottosson, Stat och marknad i historiskt perspektiv, 120–22.

54. Ibid.., 119.

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