Fredrik Engelstad, Cathrine Holst, Gunnar C. Aakvaag (Eds.) Democratic State and Democratic Society. Institutional Change in the Nordic Model Fredrik Engelstad, Cathrine Holst, Gunnar C. Aakvaag (Eds.) Democratic State and Democratic Society Institutional Change in the Nordic Model Managing Editor: Dominika Polkowska Language Editor: Adam Leverton ISBN 978-3-11-063407-5 e-ISBN 978-3-11-063408-2 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. © 2018 Fredrik Engelstad, Cathrine Holst, Gunnar C. Aakvaag Published by De Gruyter Poland Ltd, Warsaw/Berlin Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston The book is published with open access at www.degruyter.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Managing Editor: Dominika Polkowska Language Editor: Adam Leverton www.degruyter.com Cover illustration: egal / @thinkstock Contents Preface XIII Fredrik Engelstad, Cathrine Holst, Gunnar C. Aakvaag 1 Introduction: Democracy, Institutional Compatibility and Change 1 1.1 What Can a Democratic Society Be Like? 2 1.2 Alternative Views 3 1.3 Broadening Focus on Democracy 5 1.4 Institutions in Modern Societies 8 1.5 Institutions in Change 11 1.6 Aspects of the Nordic Model 13 1.7 A Brief Note on Methods 14 1.8 Challenges to Democracy in the Nordic Model 14 References 18 Fredrik Engelstad 2 Social Institutions and the Quality of Democracy 22 2.1 The Salience of Normative Theory 24 2.2 From Political Philosophy to Sociological Analysis 27 2.3 An Old Story: Democratizing the Economy 29 2.4 Normative Preconditions of the Modern Economy 30 2.5 Democratic Norms in the Economy 32 2.6 Welfare State Institutions in Democracy 33 2.7 Democracy in the Media Institution 37 2.8 Generalizing Institutional Norms and Conflicts 41 2.9 A Brief Conclusion 43 References 44 Gunnar C. Aakvaag 3 A Democratic Way of Life: Institutionalizing Individual Freedom in Norway 48 3.1 Democracy and Freedom 49 3.2 The Norwegian Democratization of Freedom 51 3.3 An Institutional Approach 52 3.4 Empirical, Theoretical, Comparative and Macro-Sociological Challenges 53 3.5 Varieties of Freedom 54 3.6 The Robinson Crusoe Model: Zero-Sum Social Freedom 55 3.7 The Lilliput Model: Positive-Sum Social Freedom 57 3.8 The Case of Norway 58 3.9 Horizontal Differentiation: Institutional Diversity and Density 59 3.10 Vertical Integration: Collective-Political Coordination 60 3.11 Coordinated Differentiation: Some Empirical Illustrations 61 3.12 Liberal Containment 67 3.13 Institutional Complementarities, Collective Action and Political Conflicts 68 3.14 Concluding Remarks 70 References 72 Espen D. H. Olsen 4 Welfare State Discourse and Citizenship Politics: From ‘Silent’ Policy to Steering Logic 76 4.1 Background: The Debate on Citizenship Post-1989 78 4.2 Studying Citizenship Politics and Welfare State Discourse 80 4.3 Citizenship in Norway: From Silent Policy to Steering Logic 83 4.4 Concluding Remarks: Institutional Change and Democratic Implications 91 References 92 Stine Hesstvedt 5 Redistributing Knowledge? How Institutions Affect Citizens’ Political Knowledge Levels: The Scandinavian Case Compared 94 5.1 Citizens and Political Knowledge 95 5.2 From ‘The Political System Matters’ to the Importance of Equality 97 5.3 The Scandinavian Case Compared 99 5.3.1 Data and Operationalization 100 5.3.2 Political Knowledge Gaps: A First Glance 102 5.3.3 Multilevel Analysis 105 5.4 Knowledge Gaps and Inequality: Exploring the Relevance of Scandinavian Institutions and Policies 110 5.5 Concluding Remarks: Citizenship in a Time of Rising Inequality 112 References 112 Appendix 116 Lars Mjøset 6 Old and New Social Movements in the Nordic Countries: History and Future in an International Perspective 118 6.1 Introduction 118 6.2 Hegemonic Shifts in the Modern World Economy 119 6.3 Trajectories of Democratization and De-democratization 122 6.4 Social Movements, Elites and Democracy in Norden’s Development 123 6.5 Defining and Comparing Old and New Movements in Norden 128 6.6 The Women’s Movement 129 6.7 Uneven Development after 1979 – Generalization of the Western Fossil Growth Model Creates the Risk of Global Warming 131 6.8 Different Effects of Financial Instability – Internal Western Tensions between the US and the EU 133 6.9 Different Effects of the US Role as World Police – Conflict Zones and Refugee Flows in the EU-Connected Regional Migration System 134 6.10 The Anti-Globalization Movement 137 6.11 The Environmental Movement – An Anti-Waste Movement 139 6.12 Resistance against Immigration as a Social Movement 140 6.13 Old and New Movements in the International System 144 6.14 Conclusion – The Nordic Models in the 21st Century 147 References 148 Eva Krick, Cathrine Holst 7 Committee Governance in Consensus Cultures: An Exploration of Best Practice Cases in Germany and Norway 151 7.1 Two Committees 151 7.2 Consensus-Oriented Political and Epistemological Systems 154 7.3 The Methodological Approach and Analytical Framework 155 7.4 Case Analyses 159 7.4.1 The Final Storage Committee 159 7.4.2 The 22 July Commission 164 7.5 A Condensed Normative Assessment - Overall Scores, Limitations and Tensions 169 7.6 Conclusion 171 References 172 Sveinung Legard 8 Translation and Institutional Change: What Happened when Participatory Budgeting Came to the Nordic Countries? 175 8.1 Translation, Institutions and Change 175 8.2 From Porto Alegre to Fredrikstad 179 8.3 A Toolkit Version of PB 182 8.4 Modifying a Pre-Existing Translation 183 8.5 Supporting Representative Democracy 185 8.6 Layering as the Best Available Option 187 8.7 A Common Pattern – With One Exception 188 References 190 Mari Teigen 9 Can Descriptive Representation be Justified outside Politics? 193 9.1 Politics and the Economy – An Institutional Perspective 195 9.2 Gender Balance and the Concept of Representation 197 9.3 Arguments for Descriptive Representation of Gender in Political Organizations 198 9.4 Arguments for Descriptive Representation of Gender in Corporate Boards 200 9.4.1 Main Arguments in Favour of Gender-Balanced Corporate Boards 201 9.5 Institutional Variation in Arguments for Descriptive Representation of Gender 205 9.6 Conclusion 209 References 210 Åsmund Arup Seip 10 The Battle over a Fair Share: The Creation of Labour Market Institutions in Norway 213 10.1 The Elements of a New Institutional System 213 10.1.1 Collective Agreements as a Road towards Industrial Peace 215 10.2 The Role of the State in Institution Building 217 10.2.1 Three Problems and the Search for a Political Solution 219 10.2.2 The Law and the Institutions 221 10.2.3 Central Power and Fringe Battles 222 10.3 Why New Labour Market Institutions? 224 10.3.1 Preconditions for the Institutional Change 225 10.3.2 Social Struggle and the Role of the State 225 10.4 Were There Alternatives? 227 10.5 Industrial Action and Industrial Peace 229 References 229 Kristin Alsos, Sissel C. Trygstad 11 Workplace Democracy: Representation and Participation Gaps in the Norwegian Labour Market Model 232 11.1 Stability or Change? 232 11.1.1 Research Questions and Outline of the Chapter 233 11.2 Background – A Robust Case? 234 11.3 Participation as an Institutional Arrangement 235 11.3.1 The One Leg: Company-Level Arrangements and Participation 235 11.3.2 The Moral Justification for Participation 236 11.3.3 Relations between Perspectives – Democracy and Productivity 237 11.4 Data and Method 239 11.5 Findings: The Representation Gap 240 11.6 Findings: The Participation Gap 244 11.7 Discussion 247 11.7.1 How to Explain the Gaps? 247 11.7.2 How Solid Is the One Leg? 249 11.8 Concluding Remarks 251 References 252 Appendix 254 Jon Rogstad, Kaja Reegård 12 Bowling Alone and Working Together? Social Capital at Work 255 12.1 Generalized Trust and the Workplace 256 12.2 Retail Work – An Extreme Case 259 12.3 Data and Methods 260 12.4 Generating Trust in Retail Work 262 12.4.1 Networks in Retail Work 262 12.4.2 Bridging and Bonding: The Significance of Us and Them 264 12.4.3 Linkages: Trust and Autonomy 266 12.5 Discussion 268 12.6 Conclusions 269 References 270 Håkon Solbu Trætteberg 13 Stability and Change in Scandinavian Welfare: The Nonprofit Sector as a Buffer against For-Profit Expansion 273 13.1 Institutional Change – Critical Juncture and Incremental Steps 274 13.2 Central Features of the Nordic Welfare System 275 13.3 Welfare Mix and Democracy 276 13.4 Service Areas 277 13.5 The Nature of the Change 278 13.6 Schools 278 13.7 Elderly Care 280 13.8 What Is Happening? 282 13.9 Why the Change in Sweden? 283 13.9.1 Critical Juncture? 283 13.10 Incremental Changes? 285 13.11 Sweden, Democracy and the Future of the Nordic Welfare System 288 References 291 Anniken Hagelund 14 No Factory for Dreams: Street-Level Bureaucrats between Activation Targets and User Orientation 296 14.1 Introduction 296 14.2 Democracy, Discretion and Street-Level Bureaucracy 297 14.3 Discretion in Context 301 14.4 The Work Line and User Orientation in Practice 304 14.5 Democracy at the Street-Level? 307 References 310 Øyvind Skorge 15 The Demand for Work-Family Policies in Advanced Capitalist Democracies 312 15.1 A Brief Conceptualization of Work-Family Policies 313 15.2 Household Bargaining and the Demand for Work-Family Policies 315 15.3 Empirical Analysis: Demand for Work-Family Policies 319 15.3.1 Using Cross-National Survey Data to Measure Demand 319 15.3.2 Measuring Employment and Education in