A kinder, gentler democracy? - Needs and ambitions

The project is a joint venture between the Faculties of Social sciences and Medicine at Uppsala University. We try to explain the variation between Swedish municipalities regarding their care for persons with disabilities and we search for the explanation in a much esteemed political science theory on so called consensus democracy. The theory states that if the relation between political parties is characterized by cooperation instead of conflict, it leads to a ”kinder, gentler form of democracy” for vulnerable groups, for instance persons with disabilities (Lijphart). The Political science department is the main seat of the project. It has long experience of the theory and also a large data base on consensus democracy at the municipal level. A great part of the research will be conducted at the Centre for disability research where there is intimate knowledge of such material that will constitute the dependent variable. The study is a total investigation, supplemented with qualitative case studies. The study involves testing of hypotheses. It also allows testing of counter hypotheses such as the importance of ideology or political party. Purpose: The aim of this research project is to find the causes of regional variation in disability policies. Contains variables used for the article: Lewin, B. Westion, L. and Lewin, L. (2008) "Needs and Ambitions in Swedish Disability Care", Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 10:4, 237-58. DOI:10.1080/15017410802410068