Viking politics in Sweden

From the Boston Globe: “Center-right coalition captures a narrow win in Sweden – Promises changes in welfare model”

A center-right opposition vowing to revamp Sweden's welfare state ousted the Social Democratic government in a close parliamentary election yesterday.

Prime Minister Goran Persson, a Social Democrat who had governed for 10 years, conceded defeat and said his government would resign after the party's worst election showing in decades.

Persson said Sweden's social model, a market economy blended with a high-tax welfare state, was at stake in the election. But the opposition led by [Fredrik] Reinfeldt's Moderate Party insisted that it would not dismantle the system, but rather, help it survive by promoting jobs over welfare handouts.

That’s a seismic culture shift for a country that is the model of cradle-to-grave socialism.