КОМПАРАТИВНИЙ АНАЛІЗ МОДЕЛЕЙ ПУБЛІЧНОЇ ПОЛІТИКИ ЛІБЕРАЛЬНИХ ДЕМОКРАТІЙ НА ПРИКЛАДІ ШВЕЦІЇ ТА НОРВЕГІЇ

Abstract

The article examines the Scandinavian model of public administration, which is characterized by a corporate decision-making system (state – trade unions – employers), in which the role of coordinator in this structure is assigned to the authorities. It was determined that the state assumes responsibility for providing the population with social benefits and exercises control over the economy, promoting fair competition, safe working conditions and employment of the population. Characteristic features are a high level of trust of citizens in public authorities and their participation in decision-making (through a referendum, consultations with the public, trade unions), openness and accountability of public authorities to the population. It is highlighted that the studied Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Norway, are leaders in the world in terms of the standard of living of the population, economic development, ensuring social standards and political stability, which is a guarantee of the high competitiveness of the Scandinavian countries. It is noted that different levels of government (state, regional, local) work together on favorable conditions for the country’s development and on ensuring quality living conditions for its citizens. A reliable basis for ensuring the high competitiveness of the countries under study is the balanced and effective functioning of all subsystems within the nation. Scandinavian countries are able to maximally combine progressive political and economic development and a high level of social security in modern conditions, which is a necessary condition for achieving high competitiveness in the world. Thus, the comparative study conducted in the mentioned Scandinavian countries using the method of binary longitudinal temporal comparison made it possible to single out a model of public policy of liberal democratic states, in which effective interaction between the government and society regarding the development and implementation of political decisions is established. Constructive factors that affect the relationship between the government and society and contribute to the functioning of this model of public policy are: clear legislative regulation of the legal status of all participants in the socio-political process; high level of political and legal culture and consciousness; stable economy; the activity of expert groups, the presence of independent institutes of control over the activities of the authorities, and others. The number of constructive factors of influence in these states significantly exceeds the level of destructive ones. An important condition for the functioning of public policy in liberal democracies is the presence of feedback between the government and society.