ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a few brief observations about the Swedish welfare state. The model of the Swedish welfare state has long played an important role in the political imagination of Americans. The Swedish model has had a great influence on the evolution of social policy in the United States. Sweden has responded to the challenge of the global economy in a far different fashion than the United States has. Sweden has chosen to retain and even strengthen its reliance on the state for assuring the well-being of its population. If a state-driven welfare state model can be successful anywhere it will be in Sweden and the other Nordic countries. Nothing is more difficult for the state to do than demand "givebacks"—taking benefits that people regard as their right away from them. How the Swedish people confront this issue of what sacrifices and changes to make will be a true test of Sweden's fortitude as a civil society.
