ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY AND SWEDEN: ECONOMIC THOUGHT, INSTITUTIONAL THEORY, AND HISTORICAL PRACTICE IN A MIXED CAPITALIST SYSTEM (DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM, SELF-MANAGEMENT, MARKET SOCIALISM, LABOR MANAGEMENT

The main focus of the thesis is the economic problem of transforming a private property based capitalism into a political economy founded on democratic rights. The method used combines abstract economic theory, empirically informed institutional economics, and an historical case study of Sweden.;Definitional problems with the term "economic democracy" are examined. Economic thought about democratically organized production units, financial intermediaries, and macroeconomic agencies is surveyed and critiqued. The most important economic obstacles facing the democratic transformation of economic institutions are identified.;An historical survey of Sweden's development of political, social, and industrial democracy follows. The evolution of social democratic macroeconomic policies and regulations is described. The contemporary struggles concerning public control over savings and investment allocation are chronicled. The reforms creating publicly controlled investment funds are analyzed to see if they can achieve the goals which motivated them. All of these changes are considered from the perspective of the Swedish social democratic labor movement's conceptual vision of a fully developed economic democracy.;The Swedish social democratic strategy of economic democratization is contrasted with alternative strategies of social transformation. Several advantages to Sweden's comprehensive approach are identified, as are several obstacles which will remain. Certain limitations and benefits from the economist's deductive axiomatic perspective on democratization are discussed. A much broader interdisciplinary approach which joins theory, empirical institutional studies, and practice appears necessary for students and advocates of the radical democratic transformation of modern capitalist societies.