Historisk tidskrift 126:3 • 2006
Innehåll (Contents) 2006:3
Uppsatser (Articles)
Penningutpressare, järnvägspolitiker och järnvägsbyggare. Den
regionala intressegruppen kring Ostkustbanan 1897–1904
Fredrik Andersson
Fulltext (pdf)
Summary
Extortionist, Railway Politician and Railway Constructor. The
Regional Interest Group of the East Coast Line 1897–1904
This article analyses the decision-making processes and the
mobilisation of actors surrounding the investments in private
railways in Sweden by means of a case study of the East Coast
Line between Gävle and Härnösand around the year 1900. An effective
regional interest group was formed with the aim to construct
a coastal railway in Norrland. It consisted of a small, but
well-connected and well positioned, group of industrialists,
politicians and railway promoters, who would all benefit from
the construction of the railway.
The limited size and homogenous
character of the regional political and economic elite made
it easier to form a cohesive interest group. It also enabled
the use of personal networks to influence the policy process.
Furthermore, the impact of the interest group also depended
on institutional factors. Before the electoral reforms beginning
in 1906, the Swedish political system gave regional elites
considerable political influence, which enabled the merging
of political and financial power. In municipalities controlled
by industrial interests, municipal resources were channelled
into a railway investment that catered mainly for industrial
interests. The landsting were another source of public funds
for railway projects, and different regional elites fought
to have access to their funds. The regional elite also had
channels into policy-making on the national level, since their
firm grip of local and regional politics allowed them to obtain
parliamentary seats. This increased the impact of the interest
group, and also helped to shift some of the investment burden
from companies and financial investors to the taxpayers.
Hence,
the process of building a private railway was not only about
engineering and economy. It was also about the mobilisation
of the regional elite behind the project, in order to be able
to perform the political manoeuvres and power brokering necessary
for the railway to become a reality.
Keywords
Sweden, elites, interest groups, institutions, railways, railway
policy
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