Torsten Svensson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3889613 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Torsten Svensson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Torsten |
| FAMILY NAME | Svensson |
| SIGNATURE | SVENSSON T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 233 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Civil Society and Deliberative Democracy: Have Voluntary Organisations Faded from National Public Politics
The political context of civil society in Western Europe has changed dramatically in recent decades. These changing circumstances may produce a decline in the integration of civil society into political life – especially deliberative activities at the national level. This article discusses how serious these alleged threats are to a hitherto vital civil society – that of Sweden. It focuses on fours indicators of organised civil society's contribut…
Similarity vs. homogeneity: Contextual effects in explaining trust
Diversity has powerful advantages, but may also generate internal tensions and low interpersonal trust. Despite extensive attention to these questions, the relationship between diversity and trust is often misunderstood and findings methodologically flawed. In this article, we specify two different mechanisms and adherent hypotheses. An individual might base her decision to trust on her perceived social similarity in relation to others in the com…
Disrupted Exchange and Declining Corporatism: Government Authority and Interest Group Capability in Scandinavia
Denmark, Norway and Sweden are still among the most corporatist democracies in the world. Although corporatism has declined in Scandinavia over the last decades, it still exists, albeit at a lower level. Based on comparative and longitudinal data, we argue that this is a consequence of the disruption of some of the prerequisites to corporatist exchange. Neither governments nor the relevant interest groups in Scandinavia control what their exchang…
Does Power Drive Out Trust? Relations between Labour Market Actors in Sweden
Although power and trust are crucial to human cooperation, and considerable attention has been paid to both these concepts in the social sciences, the relationship between them has been poorly investigated. In this article, based on data about a complete network of labour market actors in Sweden, it is investigated whether power ‘drives out trust’ or if power is a requirement of trust. In contrast to previous research, the article concludes that …
Varieties of Democracy: Interest Groups and Corporatist Committees in Scandinavian Policy Making
Corporatism may be seen as variety of capitalism in which specific structural prerequisites such as unionization, centralization, and strong states combined with bargaining and concertation produce certain economic outputs. Corporatism may also be seen as a variety of democracy in which interest groups are integrated in the preparation and/or implementation of public policies. Departing in the last position, we measure the strength of Scandinavia…
Power, Trust, and Institutional Constraints: Individual Level Evidence
This article focuses on how institutions matter in generating relationships of trust in an environment of unequal power. Trust is seen as the truster's expectation that the trustee will act trustworthily out of moral commitment and/or interest in continuing the relationship. Using cross-sectional data from a survey conducted in 2006 on Swedish employment relations the authors show that perceived power asymmetries between an employee and his or he…
Managing the Bank-System Crisis in Coordinated Market Economies: Institutions and Blame Avoidance Strategies in Sweden and Japan
Sweden and Japan represent two different positions regarding policymaking when faced with similar crises of the bank systems. Different institutional settings led the main actors to different paths of reactions in order to avoid blame. In the Japanese case, the very close relationship between private banks and the Ministry of Finance, in combination with the lesser degree of widespread perceptions of a system crisis, made it more urgent as well a…
How are coordinated market economies coordinated? evidence from Sweden
Central actors in coordinated economies have a dense network of associations for coordinating their actions. However, we lack knowledge of how such relationships are constituted and how the mechanisms of such coordination work. In the present article, we concentrate on the non-market mechanisms of power and trust. We want to know: Are all actors in the industrial relations system connected to each other or are they divided into contending but coh…
Labour Market Organisations’ Participation in Swedish Public Policy–Making
Unions and employers are political actors. Besides defending their interests on the labour market they act in the political arena. In order to weaken the trade unions, neoliberal parties and employers’ organisations have tried to change existing systems in Sweden and elsewhere. Hence, the general questions being asked in this article are: Do Swedish labour market organisations still participate in (i.e. try to influence) public policy–making on a…
Globalisation, Marketisation and Power: The Swedish Case of Institutional Change
Globalisation is often thought to threaten the autonomy of national policymaking and generous welfare policies. This article examines two decades of policy change in Sweden, often viewed as a prime example of a fully fledged welfare state. The analysis is focused on reforms within the welfare sector, which is compared with three other important areas – credit markets, the labour market, and infrastructure policy. These areas can all be seen as cr…
Disrupted Exchange and Declining Corporatism: Government Authority and Interest Group Capability in Scandinavia
Denmark, Norway and Sweden are still among the most corporatist democracies in the world. Although corporatism has declined in Scandinavia over the last decades, it still exists, albeit at a lower level. Based on comparative and longitudinal data, we argue that this is a consequence of the disruption of some of the prerequisites to corporatist exchange. Neither governments nor the relevant interest groups in Scandinavia control what their exchang…
Varieties of Democracy: Interest Groups and Corporatist Committees in Scandinavian Policy Making
Corporatism may be seen as variety of capitalism in which specific structural prerequisites such as unionization, centralization, and strong states combined with bargaining and concertation produce certain economic outputs. Corporatism may also be seen as a variety of democracy in which interest groups are integrated in the preparation and/or implementation of public policies. Departing in the last position, we measure the strength of Scandinavia…
Civil Society and Deliberative Democracy: Have Voluntary Organisations Faded from National Public Politics
The political context of civil society in Western Europe has changed dramatically in recent decades. These changing circumstances may produce a decline in the integration of civil society into political life – especially deliberative activities at the national level. This article discusses how serious these alleged threats are to a hitherto vital civil society – that of Sweden. It focuses on fours indicators of organised civil society's contribut…
Similarity vs. homogeneity: Contextual effects in explaining trust
Diversity has powerful advantages, but may also generate internal tensions and low interpersonal trust. Despite extensive attention to these questions, the relationship between diversity and trust is often misunderstood and findings methodologically flawed. In this article, we specify two different mechanisms and adherent hypotheses. An individual might base her decision to trust on her perceived social similarity in relation to others in the com…
Labour Market Organisations’ Participation in Swedish Public Policy–Making
Unions and employers are political actors. Besides defending their interests on the labour market they act in the political arena. In order to weaken the trade unions, neoliberal parties and employers’ organisations have tried to change existing systems in Sweden and elsewhere. Hence, the general questions being asked in this article are: Do Swedish labour market organisations still participate in (i.e. try to influence) public policy–making on a…
Power, Trust, and Institutional Constraints: Individual Level Evidence
This article focuses on how institutions matter in generating relationships of trust in an environment of unequal power. Trust is seen as the truster's expectation that the trustee will act trustworthily out of moral commitment and/or interest in continuing the relationship. Using cross-sectional data from a survey conducted in 2006 on Swedish employment relations the authors show that perceived power asymmetries between an employee and his or he…
How are coordinated market economies coordinated? evidence from Sweden
Central actors in coordinated economies have a dense network of associations for coordinating their actions. However, we lack knowledge of how such relationships are constituted and how the mechanisms of such coordination work. In the present article, we concentrate on the non-market mechanisms of power and trust. We want to know: Are all actors in the industrial relations system connected to each other or are they divided into contending but coh…
Does Power Drive Out Trust? Relations between Labour Market Actors in Sweden
Although power and trust are crucial to human cooperation, and considerable attention has been paid to both these concepts in the social sciences, the relationship between them has been poorly investigated. In this article, based on data about a complete network of labour market actors in Sweden, it is investigated whether power ‘drives out trust’ or if power is a requirement of trust. In contrast to previous research, the article concludes that …
Managing the Bank-System Crisis in Coordinated Market Economies: Institutions and Blame Avoidance Strategies in Sweden and Japan
Sweden and Japan represent two different positions regarding policymaking when faced with similar crises of the bank systems. Different institutional settings led the main actors to different paths of reactions in order to avoid blame. In the Japanese case, the very close relationship between private banks and the Ministry of Finance, in combination with the lesser degree of widespread perceptions of a system crisis, made it more urgent as well a…
Globalisation, Marketisation and Power: The Swedish Case of Institutional Change
Globalisation is often thought to threaten the autonomy of national policymaking and generous welfare policies. This article examines two decades of policy change in Sweden, often viewed as a prime example of a fully fledged welfare state. The analysis is focused on reforms within the welfare sector, which is compared with three other important areas – credit markets, the labour market, and infrastructure policy. These areas can all be seen as cr…
Labour Market Organisations’ Participation in Swedish Public Policy–Making
Unions and employers are political actors. Besides defending their interests on the labour market they act in the political arena. In order to weaken the trade unions, neoliberal parties and employers’ organisations have tried to change existing systems in Sweden and elsewhere. Hence, the general questions being asked in this article are: Do Swedish labour market organisations still participate in (i.e. try to influence) public policy–making on a…
Globalisation, Marketisation and Power: The Swedish Case of Institutional Change
Globalisation is often thought to threaten the autonomy of national policymaking and generous welfare policies. This article examines two decades of policy change in Sweden, often viewed as a prime example of a fully fledged welfare state. The analysis is focused on reforms within the welfare sector, which is compared with three other important areas – credit markets, the labour market, and infrastructure policy. These areas can all be seen as cr…
How are coordinated market economies coordinated? evidence from Sweden
Central actors in coordinated economies have a dense network of associations for coordinating their actions. However, we lack knowledge of how such relationships are constituted and how the mechanisms of such coordination work. In the present article, we concentrate on the non-market mechanisms of power and trust. We want to know: Are all actors in the industrial relations system connected to each other or are they divided into contending but coh…
Managing the Bank-System Crisis in Coordinated Market Economies: Institutions and Blame Avoidance Strategies in Sweden and Japan
Sweden and Japan represent two different positions regarding policymaking when faced with similar crises of the bank systems. Different institutional settings led the main actors to different paths of reactions in order to avoid blame. In the Japanese case, the very close relationship between private banks and the Ministry of Finance, in combination with the lesser degree of widespread perceptions of a system crisis, made it more urgent as well a…
Varieties of Democracy: Interest Groups and Corporatist Committees in Scandinavian Policy Making
Corporatism may be seen as variety of capitalism in which specific structural prerequisites such as unionization, centralization, and strong states combined with bargaining and concertation produce certain economic outputs. Corporatism may also be seen as a variety of democracy in which interest groups are integrated in the preparation and/or implementation of public policies. Departing in the last position, we measure the strength of Scandinavia…
Power, Trust, and Institutional Constraints: Individual Level Evidence
This article focuses on how institutions matter in generating relationships of trust in an environment of unequal power. Trust is seen as the truster's expectation that the trustee will act trustworthily out of moral commitment and/or interest in continuing the relationship. Using cross-sectional data from a survey conducted in 2006 on Swedish employment relations the authors show that perceived power asymmetries between an employee and his or he…
Does Power Drive Out Trust? Relations between Labour Market Actors in Sweden
Although power and trust are crucial to human cooperation, and considerable attention has been paid to both these concepts in the social sciences, the relationship between them has been poorly investigated. In this article, based on data about a complete network of labour market actors in Sweden, it is investigated whether power ‘drives out trust’ or if power is a requirement of trust. In contrast to previous research, the article concludes that …
Similarity vs. homogeneity: Contextual effects in explaining trust
Diversity has powerful advantages, but may also generate internal tensions and low interpersonal trust. Despite extensive attention to these questions, the relationship between diversity and trust is often misunderstood and findings methodologically flawed. In this article, we specify two different mechanisms and adherent hypotheses. An individual might base her decision to trust on her perceived social similarity in relation to others in the com…
Disrupted Exchange and Declining Corporatism: Government Authority and Interest Group Capability in Scandinavia
Denmark, Norway and Sweden are still among the most corporatist democracies in the world. Although corporatism has declined in Scandinavia over the last decades, it still exists, albeit at a lower level. Based on comparative and longitudinal data, we argue that this is a consequence of the disruption of some of the prerequisites to corporatist exchange. Neither governments nor the relevant interest groups in Scandinavia control what their exchang…
Civil Society and Deliberative Democracy: Have Voluntary Organisations Faded from National Public Politics
The political context of civil society in Western Europe has changed dramatically in recent decades. These changing circumstances may produce a decline in the integration of civil society into political life – especially deliberative activities at the national level. This article discusses how serious these alleged threats are to a hitherto vital civil society – that of Sweden. It focuses on fours indicators of organised civil society's contribut…
Political science (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Public relations (4 works) · Social Capital and Networks (4 works)