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The article surveys research on the political systems of the countries of the Baltic Sea region. The author highlights that source materials and data for these countries is widely available and easily accessible and therefore lends itself particularly well to comparative government scholarship. Examples provided include Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and Poland.

Scandinavia is, in spite of a few weaknesses, still a socio-economic model for countries that do not want to follow the Anglo-Saxon route of far-reaching liberalization of the labour market and the welfare state. Most striking is the combination of high employment (including high public sector employment), the facilitation of employment for women, relatively low inequality and poverty, solid public finances and top-level competitiveness, particularly in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]