Shifting regimes : Political disruption and change in early modern Sweden

Abstract

This book deals with six critical junctures in early modern Sweden between 1500 and 1810, intense periods of change when the prevailing system of government was challenged and replaced by something different – a new political regime. Drawing on both history and the social sciences, this book presents a new interpretation of Sweden’s early modern political history. First, each critical juncture’s course of events is analysed, and key political actors’ incentives and motives are identified. The impact and effects of each regime shift are explained using three analytical key concepts: state capacity, impartiality, and political participation. Second, the various regime shifts are compared and the long-term effects of the early modern changes on state formation and democratization are discussed. How and in what ways did the turbulent changes in government affect Sweden’s subsequent development into a modern, democratic state? Sweden’s conflict-ridden history is highly relevant for understanding the process of state formation in early modern Europe. In comparative studies, sixteenth-century Sweden is sometimes highlighted as a pioneer; a dynastic state that organized an efficient fiscal bureaucracy to finance military expansion. In other contexts, Sweden’s representative institutions of the eighteenth century have been an example of participatory or even proto-democratic forms of government. However, the two periods have rarely been compared to explain similarities and differences, or why the first period transformed into the second. This book takes a holistic approach to the period 1538–1810, explaining how and why the shifting regimes influenced political and social development. The analysis shows the uneven character of the ongoing struggle between Sweden’s power elites and social groups demanding political inclusion. The ideal balance between a strong state and an organized society proved hard, if not impossible, to realize in the early modern period. Democratization in Sweden continued to be an uneven process well into the twentieth century.