Federal Dynamics: Continuity, Change, and the Varieties of Federalism

Brandal et al. ask, and answer, relevant questions about Scandinavian social democracy and the related Nordic model, for example, whether the welfare state is the good life (yes, according to the authors) or dependency (no); whether social democracy may yield a better and more organised world (yes); and whether the welfare state is sustainable financially and morally (in both cases a qualified yes). However, the empirical evidence to support the claims is limited. The limited evidence presented concerns findings from secondary literature. Since most, if not all, of the questions Brandal et al. pose are empirical in nature, it is a missed opportunity that they did not present any empirical data. If they had, their claims would have been much more convincing. Showing that the welfare state is the good life instead of dependency convinces more than arguing that it is does. This holds especially true because the authors do not hide that, normatively, they have a positive view of social democracy. A, related, missed opportunity is that Brandal et al. do not discuss the effect – or lack thereof – of the social democrats being out of office for (relatively) long periods of time on the Nordic model of social democracy. This holds especially for Denmark, where the centre-right governed for the 10 years between 2001 and 2011, and – to a somewhat lesser extent – Sweden, where the centre-right has been in office since 2006. Despite these weak spots, Brandal et al. have done a good job in writing a booklength introduction to Scandinavian social democracy. They also offer a corrective to the dominant view in the literature that the best days of social democracy are over. For them, the welfare state is in no real danger of dismantling and social democracy can, as it did in the past, make ‘a difference in people’s lives through incremental but systematic reform’ (p. 188). This amounts in Brandal et al.’s positive conviction that a ‘less awful’ world is indeed possible.