ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Social Movements card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 26 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaDemocracy & power
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Democracy & power

Social Movements

People fighting for change (or status quo)

The temperance movement, the labour movement, the sports movement: Sweden is to a large extent built by people who organised themselves. Popular movements govern themselves, no agency decides over an association's opinions. The public power that exists is about money, premises and rules, and there the municipality weighs heaviest in everyday life.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · grants, premises & cooperation · approx 45 %
  • Region · popular education & culture support · approx 10 %
  • State · association rights & state grants · approx 40 %
  • EU · funds & programmes · approx 5 %

The movements decide for themselves, the public sphere sets the frame and the support. Of the public power, most lies with the municipality: the grants and premises that shape the everyday life of associations.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityEveryday support · centre of gravity
The regionPopular education
Central governmentFrame & rights
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the committees, often the culture and leisure committee.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the region's culture committee.
The Riksdag and agencies such as MUCF. The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) handles the rules for associations.
What do they decide?
Association grants, premises, sports halls and meeting halls. Many municipalities have councils and dialogues with the association sector.
Support to study associations, folk high schools and regional organisations.
Freedom of association in the constitution, state grants to civil society and the conditions for receiving them.
Where are decisions made?
In the committee's grant rules and the council's budget, official documents.
In the region's culture plan and budget.
In the Riksdag and in the agencies' grant conditions.
Who pays?
Municipal tax: grants and subsidised premises.
Regional tax: popular education and regional association life.
The central government budget: support to civil society, popular education and sport.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Start or join an association, apply for a grant, respond when the municipality invites dialogue.
Regional election Get involved in a study association, comment on the region's culture plan.
General election Vote, get involved in national organisations that respond to referrals.
EUEU funds and programmes support projects in civil society, and freedom of association is also protected in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case An association is born and moves a decision
  1. State

    Freedom is the foundation

    Freedom of association is written into the constitution: you need no permit to organise. With statutes, a board and an annual meeting you become a non-profit association that can open an account and apply for grants.

  2. Municipality

    The association takes its place

    You apply for an association grant and premises from the municipality, often through the culture and leisure committee. The grant rules are public and must be equal for all.

    Point of influence

    Starting is easier than many think: a few people, statutes and an annual meeting go a long way.

  3. Region

    Popular education reinforces it

    A study association helps you with study circles and premises, funded with support from the central government and the region. Here the movements have built knowledge for over a hundred years.

  4. Municipality

    The issue is driven

    The association gathers signatures to save the youth centre, submits a citizen's proposal (medborgarförslag) and lobbies the committee's politicians. The local press writes about it, more people get involved.

    Point of influence

    Petitions, the citizen's proposal in many municipalities and open committee meetings are your tools. A local referendum initiative (folkinitiativ) backed by ten percent of those eligible to vote can raise the question of a referendum.

  5. Municipality

    The council decides

    The proposal is prepared by the committee and lands on the council's table. The meeting is open, the documents public and the vote visible in the minutes.

    Point of influence

    Attend the meeting and talk to members beforehand. They are elected to listen, and the next municipal election is never far off.

  6. Your everyday life

    The youth centre is lit up on Thursdays

    The decision was changed, the activity was saved, and the association is still there, now used to winning. The next issue goes faster.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which movement would you join if it existed where you live?

  2. What do associations do better than agencies, and the other way around?

  3. What happens to a movement's independence when it accepts public grants?

  4. Where does the engagement go when fewer people join the classic associations?

  5. Which issue in your municipality would gain from people organising themselves?

Glossary

Ideell förening
An association with statutes, a board and members that is not run for profit.
Stadgar
The association's own basic rules: purpose, membership and how decisions are made.
Studieförbund
Organisations that arrange study circles and popular education with public support.
Medborgarförslag
The right in many municipalities to put a proposal directly to the municipal council.
Folkinitiativ
If ten percent of those eligible to vote sign, the question of a local referendum can be raised in the council.
Samlingslokal
A space that the association sector and the public can use, often with municipal support.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.