Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T05:28:27.813Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Swedish Welfare State in North America? The Creation and Expansion of the Saskatchewan Welfare State, 1944–1982

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

PATRIK MARIER*
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montreal

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Donald Critchlow and Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1. Korpi, Walter, The Democratic Class Struggle (Boston, 1983)Google Scholar; Esping-Andersen, Gosta, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Princeton, 1990)Google Scholar; Bonoli, Giuliano, “Time Matters: Postindustrialization, New Social Risks, and Welfare State Adaptation in Advanced Industrial Democracies,” Comparative Political Studies 40, no. 5 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2. Korpi, The Democratic Class Struggle; Esping-Andersen, Gosta, Politics Against Markets: The Social Democratic Road to Power (Princeton, 1985)Google Scholar; Stephens, J. D., The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism (Champaign-Urbana, 1986).Google Scholar

3. Castles, Francis G., “Comparing the Australian and Scandinavian Welfare States,” Scandinavian Political Studies 17, no. 1 (1994)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kemeny, Jim, “Theories of Power in the Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism,” Journal of European Social Policy 5, no. 2 (1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Shalev, Micheal, “The Social Democratic Model and Beyond: Two ‘Generations’ of Comparative Research on the Welfare State,” Comparative Social Research 6 (1983)Google Scholar; Takegawa, Shogo, “Japan’s Welfare-State Regime: Welfare Politics, Provider, and Regulator,” Development and Society 34, no. 2 (2005)Google Scholar. This also includes Scandinavia because researchers often extrapolate from Sweden’s experience while ignoring important differences related to actual policies in core areas of the welfare state and when policies are similar, the underlying historical and socioeconomic conditions that favor outcomes that are similar to Sweden. See Hagen, Karen, “The Interaction of Welfare States and Labor Markets: The Institutional Level,” International Journal of Sociology 20, no. 4 (1990)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Olafsson, Stefan, The Making of the Icelandic Welfare State: A Scandinavian Comparison (Reykjavik, 1989)Google Scholar. Contrary to critiques, Esping-Andersen argues that there is nothing wrong with this state of affairs since multiple fields of studies have an ethnocentric reference point. As an example, he mentions the study of bureaucracy and its Weberian/Prussian roots. See Esping-Andersen, Gosta, “The Comparative Macro-Sociology of Welfare States,” in Social Exchange and Welfare Development, ed. Moreno, Luis (Madrid, 1993).Google Scholar

4. Korpi, The Democratic Class Struggle; Stephens, The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism.

5. Rothstein, Bo, The Social Democratic State: The Swedish Model and the Bureaucratic Problem of Social Reform (Pittsburgh, 1996).Google Scholar

6. Harry Eckstein, “Case Study and Theory in Political Science,” in Handbook of Political Science, ed. Greenstein and Polsby (Reading, Mass., 1975).

7. The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was created in 1932. The CCF changed its name at the federal level to become the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961. Saskatchewan followed suit in 1967. When discussing both eras, I employ the acronym CCF/NPD. Otherwise, I refer to the party name within its historical context.

8. This is remarkably similar to the dominance of the Swedish social democrats (SAP), who were in government for all but six years during the same period.

9. Rafael Lindqvist, Från Folkrörelse Till Välfärdsburåkrati: Det Svenska Sjukförsäkirngssystemets Utveckling 1900–1990 (Lund, 1990); Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

10. Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism; Scruggs, Lyle and Allan, James, “Welfare-State Decommodification in 18 Oecd Countries: A Replication and Revision,” Journal of European Social Policy 16, no. 1 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hicks, Alexander, Social Democracy and Welfare Capitalism: A Century of Income Security Politics (Ithaca, 1999).Google Scholar

11. Campbell, A. L. and Morgan, K. J., “Federalism and the Politics of Old-Age Care in Germany and the United States,” Comparative Political Studies 38, no. 8 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12. See, for example, Béland, Daniel and Lecours, André, Nationalism and Social Policy: The Politics of Territorial Solidarity (Oxford, 2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13. Johnson, A. W., Dream No Little Dreams: A Biography of the Douglas Government of Saskatchewan, 1944–1961 (Toronto, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lipset, S. M., Agrarian Socialism: The Cooperative Commonwealth Federations in Saskatchewan (Toronto, 1950)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Whitehorn, A., Canadian Socialism: Essays on the CCF-Ndp (Oxford, 1992)Google Scholar; Young, W. D., The Anatomy of a Party: The National CCF, 1932–1961 (Toronto, 1969).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14. Lipset, S. M., “Radicalism or Reformism: The Sources of Working-Class Politics,” American Political Science Review 77, no. 1 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15. Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

16. Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.

17. Wilensky, Harold L., The Welfare State and Equality: Structural and Ideological Roots of Public Expenditures (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1974).Google Scholar

18. Korpi, Walter, “Power, Politics, and State Autonomy in the Development of Social Citizenship: Social Rights During Sickness in Eighteen OECD Countries Since 1930,” American Sociological Review 45, no. 3 (1989).Google Scholar

19. Ibid., 319.

20. Ibid., 324.

21. Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

22. Pierson, Paul, Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Retrenchment (Cambridge, 1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23. Allan, James P. and Scruggs, Lyle, “Political Partisanship and Welfare State Reform in Advanced Industrial Societies,” American Journal of Political Science 48, no. 3 (2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Their analysis focuses on the expansion and retrenchment of the welfare state and they include a dummy variable for each country in the analysis that marks the break between both periods.

24. Korpi, The Democratic Class Struggle.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets.

28. Svensson, Torsten, Socialdemokratins Dominans: En Studie Av Den Svenska Socialdemokratins Partistrategi (Uppsala, 1994).Google Scholar

29. Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets.

30. Svensson, Socialdemokratins Dominans.

31. Hinnfors, Jonas, “Stability through Change: The Pervasiveness of Political Ideas,” Journal of Public Policy 19, no. 3 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

32. Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets.

33. Ibid.

34. Rothstein, Bo, “Svenska Intresseorganisationer—Från Lösningar Till Problem,” in Svensk Demokrati I Förändring, ed. Olsen, Johan P. (Stockholm, 1991).Google Scholar

35. Korpi, Walter and Palme, Joakim, “New Politics and Class Politics in the Context of Austerity and Globalization: Welfare State Regress in 18 Countries,” American Political Science Review 97, no. 3 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36. But see Heclo, Hugh, Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden (New Haven, 1974)Google Scholar; Rueschemeyer, Dietrich and Skocpol, Theda, eds., State, Social Knowledge, and the Origins of Modern Social Policies (Princeton, 1996)Google Scholar; Weir, Margaret and Skocpol, Theda, “State Structures and the Possibilities for Keynesian Responses to the Great Depression in Sweden, Britain, and the United States,” in Bringing the State Back In, ed. Evans, Peter B. (Cambridge, 1985).Google Scholar

37. Heclo, Modern Social Politics, 305.

38. Theda Skocpol and Edwin Amenta, “States and Social Policies,” Annual Review of Sociology 12 (1986).

39. Martha Derthick, Policymaking for Social Security (Washington, D.C., 1979).

40. Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

41. Ibid.

42. Lipset, Agrarian Socialism.

43. Michels, Robert, Political Parties (New Brunswick, N.J., 1999)Google Scholar; Bentham, David, Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, 1985).Google Scholar

44. Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets, 48.

45. Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

46. Ibid.

47. Christoffer Green-Pedersen, “The Dependent Variable Problem within the Study of Welfare State Retrenchment: Defining the Problem and Looking for Solutions,” Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 6, no. 1 (2004).

48. Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets; Korpi, The Democratic Class Struggle; Stephens, The Transition. For a more critical assessment, see Jonas Pontusson, The Limits of Social Democracy: Investment Politics in Sweden (Ithaca, 1992).

49. Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.

50. Korpi, The Democratic Class Struggle.

51. Cameron, David, “The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis,” American Political Science Review 72, no. 4 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

52. Alexander Hicks and Duane Swank, “On the Political Economy of Welfare Expansion: A Comparative Analysis of 18 Advanced Capitalist Democracies, 1960–1971,” Comparative Political Studies 17, no. 1 (1984).

53. Banting, Keith G., The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism (Kingston, Ontario, 1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

54. Dion, Stéphane, “Understanding Quebec Nationalism,” in The Collapse of Canada?, ed. Weaver, Kent (Washington, D.C., 1992).Google Scholar

55. Wilensky, Harold L., Rich Democracies: Political Economy, Public Policy, and Performance (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kato, Junko, Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State: Path Dependence and Policy Formation (Cambridge, 2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

56. See Richards, John and Pratt, Larry, Prairie Capitalism: Power and Influence in the New West (Toronto, 1979)Google Scholar; McLaren, Robert I., The Saskatchewan Practice of Public Administration in Historical Perspective (Lewiston, N.Y., 1998), 159Google Scholar; David McGrane, “From Traditional to Third Way Social Democracy: The Emergence and Evolution of Social Democratic Ideas and Politics in Saskatchewan and Quebec in the 20th Century” (Ph.D. diss., Carleton University, 2007).

57. Calculated from Crown Corporations’ annual reports and governmental revenue figures from Statistics Canada.

58. Lipset, Agrarian Socialism, 27. Contrary to the UK and continental Europe, Scandinavian countries were late to industrialize. Farming remained the primary economic activity until the mid-1930s in Sweden. See Alestalo, Matti and Kuhnle, Stein, “The Scandinavian Route: Economic, Social, and Political Developments in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden,” International Journal of Sociology 16, no. 3/4 (1987): 1013.Google Scholar

59. For a succinct review, see Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, chap. 1.

60. Laycock, David, Populism and Democratic Thought in the Canadian Prairies, 1910–1945 (Toronto, 1990), 138.Google Scholar

61. Micheletti, Michele, “Organization and Representation of Farmers’ Interests in Sweden,” Social Research 27, no. 2/3 (1987).Google Scholar

62. See Rothstein, Bo, “Explaining Swedish Corporatism: The Formative Moment,” Scandinavian Political Studies 15, no. 3 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

63. Laycock, Populism and Democratic Thought in the Canadian Prairies, 142; Esping-Andersen, Politics Against Markets.

64. Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

65. Lipset, Agrarian Socialism, 259.

66. Smith, David E., Prairie Liberalism: The Liberal Party in Saskatchewan, 1905–1971 (Toronto, 1975), 3233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

67. On the emergence of class-consciousness among Saskatchewan farmers, see Lipset, Agrarian Socialism, chap. 3.

68. Ibid.

69. McLeod, Thomas H. and McLeod, Ian, Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem (Toronto, 2004), 6061Google Scholar; Praud, Jocelyne and McQuarrie, Sarah, “The Saskatchewan CCF-NDP from the Regina Manifesto to the Romanow Years,” in Saskatchewan Politics: Into the Twenty-First Century, ed. Leeson, Howard A. (Regina, 2001), 145–46.Google Scholar

70. Lipset, Agrarian Socialism, 151; Smith, Prairie Liberalism, 233.

71. The CCF changed its name at the federal level to become the New Democratic Party in 1961. Saskatchewan followed suit in 1967.

72. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, 65.

73. See, for example, McLeod and McLeod, Tommy Douglas; Doris French Shackleton, Tommy Douglas (Don Mills, Ontario, 1975); Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams.

74. Wiseman, Nelson, “The Pattern of Prairie Politics,” in Party Politics in Canada, ed. Thorburn, Hugh G. and Whitehorn, Alan (Toronto, 2001).Google Scholar

75. See, for example, Richards and Pratt, Prairie Capitalism, 23–28; Laycock, Populism and Democratic Thought in the Canadian Prairies.

76. Wesley, Jared J., Code Politics: Campaigns and Cultures on the Canadian Prairies (Vancouver, 2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

77. Brownstone, Meyer, “The Douglas-Lloyd Governments: Innovation and Bureaucratic Adaptation,” in Essays on the Left: Essays in Honour of T. C. Douglas, ed. Douglas, T. C. and LaPierre, Laurier L. (Toronto, 1971).Google Scholar

78. McLeod and McLeod, Tommy Douglas, 163.

79. Smith, Prairie Liberalism, 29.

80. Ibid.; McLaren, The Saskatchewan Practice, 67–90.

81. Smith, Prairie Liberalism, 201; Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, 6.

82. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, 37.

83. McLeod and McLeod, Tommy Douglas, 162; Brownstone, “The Douglas-Lloyd Governments.”

84. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, 56.

85. McLeod and McLeod, Tommy Douglas, 164.

86. Ibid.

87. Lipset, Agrarian Socialism, 255–57.

88. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, <au: add page number>

89. Brownstone, “The Douglas-Lloyd Governments,” 66.

90. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams. <au: add page number>

91. Brownstone, “The Douglas-Lloyd Governments,” 66.

92. Smith, Prairie Liberalism, 257–58.

93. Dunn, Christopher, The Institutionalized Cabinet: Governing the Western Provinces (Montreal, 1995), 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

94. Rasmussen, Ken and Marchildon, Gregory P., “Saskatchewan’s Executive Decision-Making Style: The Centrality of Planning,” in Executive Styles in Canada: Cabinet Structures and Leadership Practices in Canadian Government, ed. Bernier, Luc, Brownsey, Keith, and Howlett, Michael (Toronto, 2005), 157.Google Scholar

95. Glor, Eleanor D., ed., Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982 (North York, 1997).Google Scholar

96. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams.

97. Government of Saskatchewan, Plans for Progress (Regina, 1944).

98. Ibid., 32.

99. See Glor, ed., Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982; Harding, Jim, ed., Social Policy and Social Justice: The NDP Government in Saskatchewan During the Blakeney Years (Waterloo, Ontario, 1991).Google Scholar

100. Burry, John, “Reducing Drug Prices: The Saskatchewan Prescription Drug Plan,” in Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982, ed. Glor, Eleanor D. (North York, 1997).Google Scholar

101. Simeon, Richard and Miller, E. Robert, “Regional Variations in Public Policy,” in Small Worlds: Provinces and Parties in Canadian Political Life, ed. Elkins, David J. and Simeon, Richard (Toronto, 1980).Google Scholar

102. Statistics Canada, Public Finance Historial Data: 1965–66—1991–92 (Ottawa Ministry of Industry, Sciences & Technology, 1992).

103. Simeon and Miller, “Regional Variations,” 260.

104. Ibid.; Atkinson, Michael M. and Bierling, Gerald, “Is There Convergence in Provincial Spending Priorities?Canadian Public Policy 24, no. 1 (1998)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Banting, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism; Poel, Dale H., “The Diffusion of Legislation among the Canadian Provinces: A Statistical Analysis,” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique 9, no. 4 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

105. National Council of Welfare, Medicare: The Public Good and Private Practice (Ottawa, 1982), 47–51. A potential explanation for this outcome may be due to the large number of aboriginals residing in Saskatchewan (roughly 12 percent). They have noticeably lower socioeconomic outcomes than nonaboriginals and are covered mostly by federal social programs. In fact, Blakeney states in his memoirs that improving relations between aboriginals and nonaboriginal people is the greatest challenge facing Saskatchewan’s future. Blakeney, A., An Honourable Calling: Political Memoirs (Toronto, 2008), 239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

106. Government of Saskatchewan, Plans for Progress, 40.

107. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, 81–82.

108. McLaren, The Saskatchewan Practice, 89.

109. Warren, Jim and Carlisle, Kathleen, On the Side of the People: A History of Labour in Saskatchewan (Regina, 2005), 141.Google Scholar

110. Snyder, Gordon, “Social Justice for Workers,” in Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982, ed. Glor, Eleanor D. (North York, 1997).Google Scholar

111. Sass, Robert, “Self-Enforcement of a Rights-Based Approach to Workplace Health and Safety,” in Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982, ed. Glor, Eleanor D. (North York, 1997).Google Scholar

112. Stewart, R. N. and Flynn, Larry, “Getting People Off Welfare: The Employment Support Program—Innovative Grassroots Community Economic and Social Development,” in Policy Innovation in the Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971–1982, ed. Glor, Eleanor D. (North York, 1997).Google Scholar

113. Brock, Richard N. and Roberts, Karen, “A Comparison of Labour Standards in the United States and Canada,” Industrial Relations 55, no. 2 (2000).Google Scholar

114. Simeon and Miller, “Regional Variations.”

115. David McGrane, “From Traditional to Third Way Social Democracy.”

116. Huber, Evelyne, Ragin, Charles, and Stephens, John D., “Social Democracy, Christian Democracy, Constitutional Structure, and the Welfare State,” American Journal of Sociology 99, no. 3 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

117. Poel, “The Diffusion of Legislation.”

118. See, for example, Karvonen, Lauri, “Semi-Domestic Politics: Policy Diffusion from Sweden to Finland,” Cooperation and Conflict 16, no. 2 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Bjørn Hvinden, “Fortsatt storebror og lillebror i velferdspolitikken?” Frigitt 7 (2005).

119. Allan and Scruggs, “Political Partisanship.”

120. For an interesting discussion on this subject, see Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.

121. Pontusson, Jonas, “The Comparative Politics of Labor-Initiated Reform,” Comparative Political Studies 25, no. 4 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar