The Voluntary Sector in a Social Democratic Welfare State – The Case of Sweden

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to capture a few vital features of the Swedish voluntary sector and to place them in an international perspective. The size and composition of the Swedish voluntary sector are discussed against the background of dominative theories in voluntary sector research. Special attention is also given to the role of the sector in the field of social welfare. The authors present results from comparative research projects on the voluntary sector carried out in the latterpart of the 1990s. The size of the Swedish sector is as large as in other industrialized countries, although the composition and the form of the sector differs when compared to many other countries. Voluntary organizations make a crucial contributions in certain areas and combining work for interest and values with contributions for members and others. Finally, the authors discuss some conceivable scenarios for the future of the Swedish voluntary sector.