The Swedish Conservative Party and the Welfare State. Institutional Change and Adapting Preferences.

Abstract

The paper argues that the Swedish ‘neo-liberal’ party (Moderaterna) has adapted its policies because of the popularity of the ‘universal’ Swedish welfare state. The party has come to accept that the modern welfare state is irreplaceable. We furthermore argue that the party’s moderate electoral platform in 2006 is earnest. In the “short run” the party can only hope to achieve incremental changes and it recognises this. Simultaneously however, the party in the “long run” wants to gradually change society. Over time the party in its rhetoric and ideological statements has emphasised the short and the long run differently. These differences between the ‘neo-liberal’ 1980s and 2006 should not conceal that the mechanism of welfare popularity largely remains the same. The party’s actual policy proposals tend to suggest incremental changes only in both periods.Swedish conservative party; welfare state; neo-liberal