Research project Shifting Regimes: Representation, administrative reform and institutional change in early modern Swe
Modern Sweden is often referred to as a model democracy with a long parliamentary tradition. However, Early Modern Sweden saw wildly shifting politics: from aristocratic rule to royal absolutism and then a parliamentary regime. This project seeks to explain how Sweden eventually managed to develop effective administrative and political institutions.
How was the modern state formed, why and by whom? We propose to answer this question by studying regime shifts in Early Modern Sweden, investigating the dynamics between authoritarian rule and representative government.
We analyse how political leaders and bureaucrats operated to incite political change, the immediate results of their actions as well as the long-term effects on state capacity, rule of law and political participation.
The project consists of six case studies, focusing on “critical junctions”, periods when the Swedish state experienced substantial change in forms of rule in a relatively short time:
- Gustav Vasa’s “German period” 1540-1544
- The administrative reforms of Axel Oxenstierna ca 1620
- The introduction of absolute rule after 1680
- The shift towards a parliamentary regime 1719-1723
- Gustav III’s coupe d’etat 1772
- The abolition of absolutism and the new constitution of 1809.
Through the case study of long-term political change in Sweden, the project seeks to contribute to the disussion about the European transition from old kingdoms to functioning democracies.
Project members
Project managers
Mats Hallenberg
Professor
Members
Magnus Linnarsson
Universitetslektor
Joakim Scherp
Forskare
