Shifting Regimes: State Formation and Political Reform in Early Modern Sweden

How, and in what ways, could early modern state formation have promoted the development of modern democratic institutions? We propose to answer this question by studying the interaction between the political and the administrative spheres during regime shifts in Sweden, c. 1527–1810. The wider purpose is to analyse the agency behind institutional change by comparing the actions of political leaders with those of major administrative bodies. To study how key decision-makers acted to influence the organization of the state we will focus on so-called “critical junctions”, periods when the Swedish state experienced substantial change in a relatively short time. Our research address the problem of shifting regime types, by investigating the dynamics of both authoritarian rule and representative government respectively. The project consists of six case-studies, focusing on formative moments when the Swedish state experienced thorough administrative reform and/or shifts in regime type. We focus on the political debates as well as administrative initiatives in order to identify the key actors involved in the process. Importantly, we will analyse the role of the political and the administrative spheres in promoting institutional change. For the workshop we want to discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of comparing different historical periods. We will present the outline of one or two empirical cases to demonstrate our work with the primary sources. Finally, we aim to address the macro-level questions of the project: - What was the relation between regime type and administrative reform? - How did Sweden manage to develop effective administrative institutions, and a resilient parliamentary regime, despite oscillations between royal absolutisms and proto-parliamentary rule? - What conclusions may be drawn about the later democratic development in Sweden based on our investigations?