2022 is an election-year here in Sweden, and the campaigns have begun. Both the Left-Party and the Social-Democrats are heading into the election with the promise that they will beat back the tide of privatisation and market-control of our welfare, and their messages are similar: the Social-Democrats want to “take back democratic control,” and the Left-Party wants “the politics to take responsibility.” These things are necessary, of course – it’s not “socialism,” but it’s a step in the right direction. Yet, something about the Left-Party’s rhetoric irks me; something doesn’t sit quite right. What is this “politics,” that’s supposed to (re)take responsibility of our welfare-state?
The Left-Party has pretty much the same line as the Social-Democrats: the free market has proven itself to be unfit to manage our welfare, so we must move away from the “welfare-market”, and head towards a welfare-state. But where the Social-Democrats talk of “democratic control” evokes the power of the people, the Left-Party’s “political responsibility” rather leads the mind towards politicians and our representatives in the Parliament. The private welfare-market has brought us such things as New Public Management and expensive technocratic consultants, but is it really such a break with technocracy to replace consultants with politicians?
In that sense I actually like the Social-Democrats’ rhetoric more, but it belies the truth which the Left-Party is – intentionally or otherwise – more honest about. Owing to our representative democracy, “democratic control” is less “power to the people” and more “power to the politicians.” Both parties are pursuing a vaguely state-socialist line and I can’t help but feel that it’s not quite enough. For there to be true democratic control, what we should pursue is not a welfare-technocracy by either private or public entities, but rather a welfare-democracy that we can all shape and take part of.
