The Swedish Model: Many Actors and Few Strong Leaders

Abstract

The organisation of the political executive in Swedish local government has its roots in the mid-nineteenth century. The view of local selfgovernment held at that time was that lay representatives rather than civil servants should be responsible for all decision-making. However, during the 1960s there took place a cultural shift which has been described as a transformation from ‘administration by laymen’ to ‘administration by professionals’ (Stromberg and Westerståhl, 1984). The degree of professionalisation has increased ever since. Currently, more than one million people — some 21 per cent of the workforce — are employed at local government level, compared with 6 per cent in state employment. The municipality is often the largest employer in its local area.