FORMATION OF

POLICY
ALTERNATIVE
PAPER
The Swedish Model as an
Alternative to Policy on Poverty

ABOUT THE SWEDISH MODEL

Lets face it, Sweden makes its social welfare system possible

through one of the highest tax rates in the world

It is based on negotiation, standing together, corporate and
working class collaborating
Provision of goods is mostly based on universal rules rather
than means-testing
Sweden has also continued to invest in areas like healthcare,
education and research
It has an open and liberal approach to world trade
modern service sectors such as information and communication
technology
(Sverige,
2014)

SWEDISH GOVERNMENT
General elections are held

on the third Sunday of

September and all elections
employ the principle of
proportional representation.
There are eight parties
currently represented in the
Riksdag : The Social
Democratic Party, the
Moderate Party, the Sweden
Democrats, the Green Party,
the Centre Party, the Left
Party, the Liberal Party, and
the Christian Democrats.

(Sverige, 2014)

LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT
Regional Level

Local Level

individuals and they

20 counties are
20 municipalities are charge on various
headed by county
responsible for range services
counsels
of facilities and
The European Level
services including
are entitled to levy
Sweden is subject to
income taxes to cover housing, roads, water the EU acquis
supply and wastetheir costs
communautaire
water processing,
There are county
They take part in the
schools, public
administrative boards, welfare, elderly care decision-making
the government
process when new
and childcare
bodies for the
common rules are
They are entitled to
counties
drafted and approved
levy income taxes on
(Sverige, 2014)

FEASIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVE
The feasibility of a change from the American model of social welfare policy

to Swedish social welfare policy is more than likely difficult.

Daron Angelou states that it is the more cutthroat American society that
makes possible the more cuddly Scandinavian societies based on a
comprehensive social safety net, the welfare state and more limited
inequality. In other words, if the world is a system of countries reliant on
each other, we cannot necessarily apply a policy to another subsystem that
operates by a completely different ecology.
He states that because the United States is the world technology leader, the
world is reliant on them for leadership in technology and innovation as it
sustains global growth.
My opinion: We dont have to apply every aspect of the Swedish Model to
American Society. There are some changes, especially in the regional and local
areas that we can apply to American policy, but perhaps not all. Incremental
changes over time are key for stabilization of society when altering any social
policy.

(Edsall, 2013)

POLICY GOALS
Social equality

In the last 2 years, Swedens

inequality of income to grow .
Swedens world standard measure
of household equality went from a
.21 to a .25 the best in the
developed world (Smith, 2014,
para. 3).
Redistribution of Resources

Sweden is one is the most

equalized countries today

Social Work Values and Ethics

Sweden values gender equality of

income, access to daycare,
extended maternity leave. All
citizens have feasible access to
resources and services. Equal
opportunity to education and
employment is of utmost value

HOW WILL I IMPLEMENT MY

ALTERNATIVE?
Forces for me

Forces against me

There are several social work

and advocacy organization that
are on my side in advocating
new policy:

The U.S. has many different

(political) groups of which some
oppose each other. They are
not united for a single
emergence of a single nation
that provides and caters to all
citizens.

Childrens Defense Fund

The Center on Budget and

Policy Priorities
Economic Policy Institute
Institute for Womens Policy

Research
New America Foundation

Center for American Progress

Political decentralization also

impedes the emergence of
strong central political
(Karger & Stoesz, 2014)
institutions.

HOW WILL I IMPLEMENT MY

ALTERNATIVE? (CONTINUED)
I plan to focus my long-term goal on the curative approach to poverty.

This approach aims to end chronic and persistent poverty by

helping the poor to become self-supporting through changes in their
personal lives and in their environment Karger & Stoesz, p. 108,
2014). This is where I will advocate for incremental changes that will
eventually end poverty.
My second priority is to sustain a preventative approach to poverty. It

is important to balance the economy with social insurance so those

who struggle will not lag, but have a safety net to keep them in the
loop.
Lastly, but not at the top of my list is to continue to alleviate poverty

by making public assistance programs available to the poor. This also

keeps the poor in stabilized and gives the public a safety net to fall
on.

CONCLUSION
I have much more to learn about social welfare policy concerning

poverty; however, I have made some reasonable conclusions. I do not

think The U.S. can change its current policy to a Swedish model
overnight and I will certainly not attempt to try. I think of our policy in
relation to global welfare as a systems theory rather than an
ecological theory. What strategies that work for one country may not
necessarily work for another. The success of a new policy depends on
how well it fits the unique makeup of citizens, the history of that country,
the cultural, geography, and natural resources. Sweden did one thing
right; they found a policy that works for them through years of rigid
reform and critical planning. The U.S. needs to do the same. I do
believe that many of the programs in Sweden are remarkable and that
we should learn and take from them where they can be applied.

REFERENCES
Edsall, T. B. (2013, May 29). Retrieved from

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/why-cantamerica-be-sweden/?_r=0
Karger, H. J., & Stoesz, D. (2014). American social welfare policy:

A pluralist approach.
Moran, M. (2013, April 13). Retrieved from

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpostblogs/groundtruth/sweden-lessons-income-inequality
Sweden Sverige. (2014, November). The Swedish system of

government | sweden.se. Retrieved from

https://sweden.se/society/the-swedish-system-of-government/