DURING THE 20th century, Sweden was regarded as the archetype of the progressive industrialized country. Managing to find a true third way between capitalism and socialism, Sweden developed one of the world's highest standards of livings, while at the same time achieving a relatively high degree of egalitarianism among its population. The main means of achieving this was a cooperative nature among Swedes and the Social Democratic Party, which has ruled the country from 1932 to date in 2004, with the exception of the periods from 1976 to 1982 and 1991 to 1994.

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and an ethnically homogeneous state that has produced public policy that seems to depend on certain commonly held values. As Donald Hancock notes, a large majority of Swedes ...