Decentralized welfare or universal standards? The transformation of territorial authority and local discretion in Sweden.

Transformation of formal power from the central state to sub-national levels has been the prevailing trend since the Second World War in Europe but also present in most other parts of the world. In Sweden, local government and local responsibility for welfare provision has a long history and municipalities enjoy considerable discretion with local politicians being comparatively independent from national government. The transformation in territorial authority and local discretion regarding welfare services in the case of Sweden since the 1980's are the focus of this paper. Central arguments promoting decentralization are outlined as well as motives and objections against a far reaching shift of responsibility from the central to the sub-national level. Until the mid 1990s, decentralisation was the dominating trend in Sweden and shifts of authority pointing in the same direction. Decentralization and increased autonomy in determining municipal organization also made new solutions for public sector steering possible and a multitude of cooperation and agreements between municipalities developed. The most recent development in Sweden however diverge from the dominating international trend, since nations-state driven recentralisation has occurred as an reaction to increasing local variations in service availability and welfare standards. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]