The Question of Civil Society in a Scandinavian Welfare State: Focusing on Older People in Sweden

Sweden is generally considered to be a prime example of the Social Democratic or the Scandinavian regime type of welfare states.Constructed around the principles of universalism, comprehensive risk coverage, and generous benefit levels and based on publicly funded and organized broad welfare systems, Sweden may give the impression of being a country where "everything is taken care of by the state."Therefore, it has often been assumed that Sweden is a country where civil society is weak.Extensive research in the Scandinavian countries in the past 20 years has repeatedly refuted this assumption, however: Sweden has a civil society that is as extensive, important, and vital as in many other Western countries.This paper takes its point of departure from this background and goes on to describe recent trends of change in Sweden-in boundaries and patterns of interdependence between the sectors of society, notably between the State and civil society.Within this context, the second part of the paper focuses on older people and their roles and activities in civil society in Sweden, a country that has one of the oldest populations in the world.One area addressed is involvement by older people in voluntary organizations.Another area to be addressed has to do with informal help and caregiving-with a focus on older Swedish people as providers.