From Outsiders to Influential Insiders: Pensioners' Organizations in the Policy Process in Sweden

This article explores the position and influence of pensioners' organizations in Sweden's policy process. The purpose is to shed light on a controversy in the literature concerning the power held by client interests. It has been argued in the literature regarding the new politics of the welfare state that client interests, such as pensioners' organizations, are important actors for the understanding of welfare policy retrenchment. This argument has been challenged, especially with reference to the Scandinavian countries. This essay argues that client groups' influence on welfare policy development is relevant to consider even in corporatist countries with a strong labor movement. This argument is supported by an empirical investigation of the case of Sweden, which shows that pensioner’ organizations, from a position as insiders in the policy process, have managed to be influential on several issues of importance for the elderly from the early 1990s to the present. The main explanation behind their influence is their high membership rate, which makes their views important for politicians to consider.