Foreword

The nine preceding volumes of Scandinavian Political Studies have either been devoted to certain themes or have been collections of articles from different fields of research. This tenth volume of SPS is definitely of the latter type: Our 1975 yearbook offers a wide selection of current research in the Scandinavian countries.

The opening article by Daniel Tarschys on the expansion of public expenditures in industrial societies is a continuation of the focus in Volume 9 on the structure of state power. His nine modes of explanation reflect yet another vigorous attempt to develop models and empirical methods for the study of the growth of the public sector.

Richard Tomasson presents the interesting thesis in his article, 'Iceland as 'The First New Nation" ', that Iceland, like America, New Zealand, or Argentina, is a fragment new society created by transmaritime migration from Europe and was faced with the same challenges of nation-building. His argument is enhanced by the macro-comparative and historical perspective he brings to the material.

The next two articles deal with the current debate in political science over 'elitist' vs. 'participatory' theories of democracy. By focusing on the meaning of participation, William Lafferty builds a case for the participatory approach based on a normative model of individual needs. In his view need may be expressed as a need for organismic action and must be met by the sociocultural system if a 'human' society is to result. Krister Ståhlberg and Voitto Helander limit their concept of participation to different types of involvement in the political decision-making process and seek to find evidence for their normative conception of democracy in a study of influence and participation in the Finnish communal planning process.

The two contributions which follow are representative of the strain in Norwegian political science which has sought to trace the development of European political institutions through the use of historical and time-series empirical analyses. Kjell Eliassen and Lars Svaasand suggest an analytical framework for the study of the formation of mass political organizations and supply empirical evidence in support of their ideas from the historical development of such mass political organizations hi some European countries. Sten Sparre Nilson takes issue with some of the theses presented by William Lafferty in a recent book and argues that labor radicalism in Norway in the early part of this century can partially be understood in terms of prohibitionist sentiment.

The close connection between communications studies and the analysis of
politics is represented in our collection of articles. Karen Shine examines the role

of Danish Radio in the 1971 parliamentary elections and weighs the effects the journalists have had on the structure of political programs. Svennik Høyer presents interesting data showing a relationship between the rate of reduction of functioning Norwegian newspapers and factors associated with the timing of the founding of the newspaper and the strength of electoral support.

The last two articles in the main part of the book suggest how approaches to the study of politics can be improved. Erikki Berndtson reviews the effect of the socalled post-behavioral revolution on the discipline and recommends that political research become more relevant through greater awareness by researchers of societal development, the international relations of political science, and proper methodology. Evert Vedung follows up this discussion with his monograph on the study of political ideas. He argues that ideas may be effectively examined if the researcher can make a conceptual distinction between the content-oriented and functionoriented analysis of ideas.

Our final section, entitled 'Political Realignments in Scandinavia', is in a sense of follow-up of reviews presented in earlier volumes on the dramatic electoral changes in the early 1970s in Scandinavia. The results of the 1975 Danish election presented by Ole Borre show a stabilization of support for the populist Progress Party, while David Matheson and Risto Sankiaho note that support for the upstart Finnish Rural Party has weakened. In both countries, however, the party system may be heading for a new configuration.

Our thanks to the Political Science Associations in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway for their moral and financial support, to the authors for their patience and wisdom, and to Universitetsforlaget for their efficiency and much needed advice.

Helsinki, April 1975