This article argues that the widespread hypothesis stating that intra-party democracy has declined since the glory days of the mass party is too sweeping and, largely, empirically groundless. In order to test it the article draws on a comparison between two internal policy-making processes within the Swedish social democratic party (SAP), one concerning an expansion of welfare benefits in the 1950s and the other concerning a retrenchment in the 1990s. If intra-party democracy is in a state of decline, the results of the comparison most likely should confirm this tendency. Yet the article concludes that party leaders exercised considerably less control, while activists were much more influential in the 1990s than in the days of mass party mobilization in the 1950s. Therefore, drawing on a single case study, the article casts doubts over the influential decline hypothesis and proposes new venues for research on the fate of intra-party democracy.
AllernElinPedersenKarina (2007) ‘The Impact of Party Organizational Changes on Democracy’, West European Politics30: 68–92.
2.
AndersonKaren M.MeyerTraute (2003) ‘Social Democracy, Unions, and Pension Politics in Germany and Sweden’, Journal of Public Policy23: 123–54.
3.
BennetAndrewGeorgeAlexander (2004) Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4.
BilleLars (2001) ‘Democratizing a Democratic Procedure: Myth or Reality?’, Party Politics7: 363–80.
5.
BirnirJóhanna Kristin (2010) ‘Where Are the Disgruntled Voters? Voter-Party Relations Under Cartelization Conditions', Party Politics16: 29–49.
6.
BlythMarkKatzRichard S. (2005) ‘From Catch-all Politics to Cartelization: The Political Economy of the Cartel Party’, West European Politics28: 33–60.
7.
BolleyerNicole (2009) ‘Inside the Cartel Party: Party Organization in Government and in Opposition’, Political Studies57: 559–79.
8.
CarlssonIngvar (2003) Så tänkte jag: Politik & dramatik[These Were My Thoughts: Politics & Drama]. Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg.
9.
CartyR. Kenneth (2004) ‘Parties as Franchise Systems: The Stratarchical Organizational Imperative’, Party Politics10: 5–24.
10.
DahlRobert (1958) ‘A Critique of the Ruling Elite Model’, American Political Science Review52: 463–69.
11.
DetterbeckKlaus (2005) ‘Cartel Parties in Western Europe?’, Party Politics11: 173–91.
12.
DownsAnthony (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Addison & Wesley.
13.
DuvergerMaurice (1954) Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State.London: Methuen & Co.
14.
ErlanderTage (1976) Tage Erlander 1955–1960.Stockholm: Tiden.
15.
HeidarKnutSaglieJo (2003) ‘Predestined Parties? Organizational Change in Norwegian Political Parties', Party Politics9: 219–39.
16.
HopkinJonathan (2004) ‘The Problem with Party Finance: Theoretical Perspectives on the Funding of Party Politics', Party Politics10: 627–51.
17.
JandaKenneth (1983) ‘Cross-National Measures of Party Organizations and Organizational Theory’, European Journal of Political Research11: 319–32.
18.
KatzRichard S. (2001) ‘The Problem of Candidate Selection and Models of Party Democracy’, Party Politics7: 277–96.
19.
KatzRichard S.MairPeter (1995) ‘Changing Models of Party Organizations and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party’, Party Politics1: 5–28.
20.
KatzRichard S.MairPeter (2009) ‘The Cartel Party Thesis: A Restatement’, Perspectives on Politics7: 753–66.
21.
KirscheimerOtto (1966) ‘The Transformation of Western European Party Systems', in La PalombaraJosephWienerMyron (eds) Political Parties and Political Development, pp. 177–200. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
22.
KitscheltHerbert (1994) The Transformation of European Social Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23.
KitscheltHerbert (2000) ‘Citizens, Politicians, and Party Cartelization: Political Representation and State Failure in Post-Industrial Democracies', European Journal of Political Research37: 149–79.
24.
KitscheltHerbert (2001) ‘Partisan Competition and Welfare State Retrenchment: When do Politicians Choose Unpopular Policies?’, in PiersonPaul (ed) The New Politics of the Welfare State, pp. 265–305. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
25.
KooleRuud (1996) ‘Cadre, Catch-all or Cartel? A Comment on the Notion of the Cartel Party’, Party Politics2: 507–24.
26.
LewinLeif (1967) Planhushållningsdebatten[The Debate on Planned Economy]. Stockholm. Almqvist & Wiksell.
27.
LijphartArend (1971) ‘Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method’, American Political Science Review65: 682–93.
28.
LinderborgÅsa (2002) Socialdemokraterna skriver historia. Historieskrivning som ideologisk maktresurs 1892–2000[Social Democrats Writing History. Historical Writing as an Ideological Power Resource 1892–2000]. Stockholm: Atlas.
29.
LoxboKarl (2007) Behind the Decisions of Swedish Social Democracy: A Study of the Dilemmas of Party Change. From the Battle for ATP in the 1950s to the Pension Reform in the 1990s.Växjö: Växjö University Press.
30.
LukesSteven (2005) Power a Radical View. London: MacMillan.
31.
LundbergUrban (2003) Juvelen i kronan. Socialdemokraterna och den allmänna pensionen[The Jewel in the Crown. Social Democrats and Supplementary Pensions]. Stockholm: Hjalmarsson & Högberg.
32.
MairPeter (1997) Party System Change: Approaches and Interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
33.
MayJohn D. (1973) ‘The Opinion Structure of Parties: The Special Law of Curvilinear Disparity’, Political Studies21: 135–51.
34.
McKenzieRobert (1963) British Political Parties: The Distribution of Power within the Conservative and Labour Parties. London: Heineman.
35.
MichelsRobert (1962) Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy.New York: The Free Press. (Original work published 1911).
36.
MolinBjörn (1965) Tjänstepensionsfrågan. En studie i svensk partipolitik[The Issue of Supplementary Pensions. A Study of Swedish Party Politics]. Göteborg: Akademiförlaget.
37.
PanebiancoAngelo (1988) Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
38.
PerssonGöran (1997) Den som är satt i skuld är icke fri[Those Who are Indebted are not Free]. Stockholm: Atlas förlag.
39.
PettittRobin T. (2007) ‘Challenging the Leadership: The Party Conference as a Platform for Dissenting Membership Voice in British and Danish Parties of the Left’, Scandinavian Political Studies30: 229–48.
40.
PierreJonWidfeldtAnders (1994) ‘Party Organizations in Sweden: Colossuses with Feet of Clay or Flexible Pillars of Government?’, in KatzRichard S.MairPeter (eds) How Parties Organize: Change and Adaptation in Party Organizations in Western Democracies, pp. 332–57. London: Sage Publications.
41.
RahatGideonReuvenHazan Y.KatzRichard S. (2008) ‘Democracy and Political Parties: On the Uneasy Relationship between Participation, Competition and Representation’, Party Politics14: 663–83.
42.
RuinOlof (1986). I välfärdsstatens tjänst. Tage Erlander 1946–1969[Serving the Welfare State. Tage Erlander 1946–1969]. Stockholm: Tiden.
43.
SAP, Executive Committee, Protocols and Attachments (Verkställande utskottet, protokoll och bilagor) (1950–80). Stockholm: Labor Movements Archive and Library.
44.
SAP, Party Congress Protocols (1952, 1956, 1993, 1996, 1997). Stockholm: Labor Movements Archive and Library.
45.
SAP, Party Executive – Electoral Surveys (1950–1962) Archive, vol. F 07, A: 014-018. Stockholm: Labor Movements Archive and Library.
46.
SAP, Party Executive, Protocols and Attachments (Partistyrelsens protokoll och bilagor) (1950–80). Stockholm: Labor Movements Archive and Library.
47.
SAP, The Committee for Statutory Pensions (Kommittén för lagfäst tilläggspension) (1957) Folkomröstningen om ATP. Tjugoen punkter om folkomröstningen 1957 i hela riket [The Referendum on Universal Supplementary Pensions (ATP). Twenty-one nation-wide notes on the referendum 1957], including correspondence by the Executive Committee 1957–8, Archive Vol. F: XII: A: 016, 07.
48.
ScarrowSusan (2006) ‘Party Subsidies and the Freezing of Party Competition: Do Cartels Work?’, West European Politics29: 619–39.
49.
ScarrowSusanGezgorBurcu (2010) ‘Declining Memberships, changing members?’, Party Politics16: 823–43.
50.
SvenssonTorsten (1994) Socialdemokratins dominans. En studie av den svenska socialdemokratins partistrategi[Social Democratic Dominance: A study of the Swedish Social Democratic Party Strategy]. Uppsala: Uppsala University Press.
51.
TeorellJan (1998) Demokrati eller fåtalsvälde? Om beslutsfattande i partiorganisationer[Democracy or Oligarchy? On intra-party decision-making]. Uppsala: Uppsala University Press.
52.
TeorellJan (1999) ‘A Deliberative Defense of Intra-Party Democracy’, Party Politics5: 363–82.
