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11 J. Consumer Pol'y 1 (1988)

handle is hein.journals/jrncpy11 and id is 1 raw text is: Victor A. Pestoff Exit, Voice, and Collective Action in Swedish Consumer Policy ABSTRACT. The development of consumer influence in Sweden is characterized by successive phases of initiation (1940-1953), expansion (1954-1971), consoli- dation (1972-1977), retrenchment (1978-1984), and decentralization (since 1985). For the study of consumer policy, the concepts of exit and voice, collective action, countervailing power, and integrated participation are used. It is shown that consumer policy neither belongs exclusively to the public domain, nor is simply left to the whims of the market. Its success depends in part on the participation of non-governmental organizations. However, the state's presence is essential for the survival of organized consumer interests as a countervailing power. The protection of consumers is an integral, though seldom a major, part of economic and social policy in modern welfare states. The term consumer protection refers to the prevention of physical or economic disadvantage or damage to the buyers and/or users of goods and services for personal or household use (Lane, 1983). Consumer protection is a public good and, according to Lane, it is not available in socially optimal quantities without governmental intervention. Consumer protection has emerged as an issue area on the public-policy agenda of many advanced industrial societies. A comparison of Britain and the United States demonstrates, however, that it only becomes a public-policy issue at the discretion of politicians (Flickinger, 1983). Consumer movements in those two countries are unable to provide consumer issues with permanent status in public policy-making. Rose (1980, 1985) argues that con- sumer issues occupy similar positions in Norway and Sweden. Public efforts on behalf of consumers nevertheless reflect different historical traditions, national approaches, and policy-making styles. Studies of social policy also illustrate major variations among welfare states. Some states provide much broader coverage and more diver- sified social programs than others. Major differences in the provision of social welfare have been characterized by the terms institutional and residual (Korpi, 1980). Institutional welfare states provide extensive and universal social services, while residual systems merely extend such services to limited needy groups in society (Esping- Journal of Consumer Policy 11 (1988) 1-27. © 1988 by Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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