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About Bo Rothstein

Bo Rothstein is professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg.

American democracy,democracy in the United States,democracy in the US

What saved American democracy?

by Bo Rothstein on 13th January 2021

Democracy in the United States survived the assault by Donald Trump and his supporting mob. But why it survived raises questions awkward for some.

What to do about economic inequality?

by Bo Rothstein on 9th January 2020

Economic inequality has burgeoned as income from capital has risen faster than growth. Time to change the owners of capital.

Bo Rothstein

Politics Of Fear Versus Politics Of Hope

by Bo Rothstein on 12th June 2018

There are many different ways to understand the dimensions of politics. The classic right-left scale has dominated most European politics for over a hundred years and is mainly about redistribution. Another dimension that has recently gained attention is about the difference between those who are geared toward environmentalism, internationalism and the extension of civil liberties […]

Bo Rothstein

Strange Bedfellows Undermining Liberalism: Trump And Academia

by Bo Rothstein on 2nd May 2018

For people like myself, working as a social science researcher, these are very strange times. Almost any colleague, in whatever discipline you talk with, will quickly turn the conversation onto one and only one question – the election and politics of Donald Trump. Since his election as US President, the academic community appears to have […]

Bo Rothstein

UBI: A Bad Idea For The Welfare State

by Bo Rothstein on 23rd November 2017

In its admittedly noble striving for increased social justice, the political left has historically had several ideas that, one might dare claim, were not particularly well thought out. For example, the idea of ​the centrally planned economy, the nationalization of all the means of production, forced collectivization of agriculture and, I can add, the Swedish […]

Bo Rothstein

Reinventing Social Democracy: An updated Swedish model

by Bo Rothstein on 13th September 2017

Well, Bo, thank you very much for joining us today to do a SWOT analysis of the Swedish Social Democratic party SAP. What is the historic position of the SAP in the Swedish political system and where does it stand currently? Well, the Swedish Social Democrats have I think forever, at least since back in […]

Bo Rothstein

Immigration And Economic Growth: Is Keynes Back?

by Bo Rothstein on 20th June 2017

There is something very strange going on in the current debate on refugee immigration. There is a lot of alarmist talk about youth gang criminality, problems related to labor market integration, falling results in school, honor-related violence and oppression, increased social tensions, housing segregation, recruitment to various terrorist groups, ethnic discrimination and lack of respect […]

Bo Rothstein

Macron And The Nordic Model

by Bo Rothstein on 22nd May 2017

Emmanuel Macron’s political success has surprised many political commentators. The fact that in a large country like France with long-standing political traditions and within a very brief period he has succeeded in building a whole new political movement outside the traditional parties and then getting two thirds of the votes cast in a presidential election […]

Bo Rothstein

The Long Affair Between The Working Class And The Intellectual Cultural Left Is Over

by Bo Rothstein on 10th February 2017

Sometimes love comes to an end. The glow fades, the couple has grown “apart” or suffered what used to be called “irreconcilable differences”. This occurs not only between individuals but also in politics. The Brexit referendum in the UK, Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States and the success of all sorts of nationalist-populist […]

Bo Rothstein

Why Has The White Working Class Abandoned The Left?

by Bo Rothstein on 19th January 2017

Maybe the most surprising political development during this decade is why increased inequality in almost all capitalist market societies has not resulted in more votes for left parties. Especially telling is the political success of Donald Trump and why such a large part of the American working class voted for him. In a country with […]

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