The politics of compromise : a study of parties and cabinet government in Sweden

How is it that Sweden has been able to combine political stability with an entrenched multiparty system? How is it that she has produced such remarkable achievements in economic policy, social welfare, labor relations, and international cooperation? In this first comprehensive study of Swedish parties and cabinet government in English the author examines the delicate yet effective means of compromise worked out by the political parties. The first three chapters are a concise history of Swedish politics, from the time when the parliament consisted of four estates to the present, while the succeeding chapters give a systematic account of the four groups responsible for representative government in Sweden: the electorate, parties, legislature, and cabinet. Originally published in 1955. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. How financial crises are inherent features of macroeconomic dynamics There are no bigger disruptions in the functioning of economies than financial crises. Yet prior to the crash of 2007–2008, macroeconomics incorporated financial crises simply as bad shocks, like earthquakes, failing to consider them as an intrinsic phenomenon of the evolution of macroeconomic variables, such as credit, investment, and productivity. Macroeconomics and Financial Crises rethinks how technological change, credit booms, and endogenous information production combine to generate financial crises as inherent and recurrent reactions to macroeconomic dynamics. Gary Gorton and Guillermo Ordoñez identify short-term debt, collateral, and information as common elements that are present in all financial crises. Short-term debt is a critical element for storing value over short periods without fear of loss, but there needs to be collateral backing the debt. Critically, the collateral should be such that no agent wants to produce information about its quality. The debt backed by such collateral is information-insensitive. Gorton and Ordoñez argue that, during a credit boom, as more and more firms get loans, the economy reaches a tipping point where information production becomes too tempting, disrupting short-term debt and cutting most firms out of the credit market. Showing how a financial crisis is an information event triggered by the dynamics of macroeconomic variables, Macroeconomics and Financial Crises provides new perspectives on the intricate relations between macroeconomics and financial crises. Preface Contents Tables Figures Introduction Chapter I. Origins of the Modern Parties Chapter II. The Victory of Democracy Chapter III. The Four-Party System: Swedish Politics since 1920 Chapter IV. The Electorate Chapter V. Party Organization Chapter VI. The Legislative Process Chapter VII. Cabinet Government Chapter VIII. The Politics of Compromise Appendix Index