Sweden

Sweden is a republic in the European Union with a population of 9.4 million inhabitants. Poland and the Baltic states surround the nation to the south, Norway to the west, and Finland to the east. The nation has an extremely favorable economic history, which includes a debt-free country with highly advanced sectors. Its residents are committed to paying taxes that would allow the government to have the best healthcare systems possible. The nation has the most realistic, neutral, and functional parties, with a well-revolutionized and modernized leadership. The majority of Sweden citizen a free and democratic society. In addition, society does not recognize highly educated people who are gifted in areas of education. It has done away with grading students in schools and giving titles such as professors. This has enabled people to maintain social distance amongst themselves. In areas of social welfare, Swedes parents relish 14 months period for postnatal maternity leave with 80% salary. Politically, Sweden has healthy and realistic political systems that are entirely free from internal forces (Thompson).

The political systems are considered to be noticeably successful although they are faced with some economic challenges as a result of the weaker autocratic system of government. The current system of government is viewed to be the most humane alternative by communist countries. Economically, Sweden forms the bedrock for Nordic region and balance. It is considered to the largest in terms of population and the richest in supply of oil. It has been enjoying the highest GDP and per capita for a longer period of time. The most of neighbors from the east side have migrated to Sweden in search of a better life (Thompson).

Since 1923, Sweden has been enjoying independent regimes which have isolated itself from political and military systems. This has resulted to stable national identity and unity. The country has been able to create a steady political harmony as a result of homogenous population. However, with time the homogenous population has gradually changed. One can notice that the country has had a high number of emigrants from all over the world. Immigration is said to have risen the number to nine million (Thompson 24).The number is also steadily rising because of high birth rates of immigrants. In 2005, there was an increase in the number of the asylum-seekers who began to enter the country (Thompson 43). In 2003, the number drastically dropped because of declaration of Iraq war where a big number of Iraqis left Sweden. The Iraqis were the second from Finns in terms of the number of immigrants group in Sweden. By mid-2006, refugee status rose to 80 %which was a decline by 20 percent. Consequently, majority of Swedes speak Finnish language which has its own unique features. However, the degree to which the language and culture of Finns is integrated differ.

From Sweden political history, Social Democratic Workers’ party was the first party to govern the country since 1936. After 1976 election, non- Democratic Worker’s Party led by Olof Palme took over the government. The government has projected to stimulate economic dynamism and promote investments in private sectors. Swedes knew that Palme’s party could solve the country’s economic problems as well as social welfare. He was a controversial and talented leader who made Sweden an open society. Nevertheless, Palme’s party failed to the electorate because he could not maintain the country’s social welfare. In 1986, Palme was murdered by bullets assassin. In 1987, his persona deputy Ingvar Carlson took over as the prime minister. Carlson was criticized for trying to promote relations with United States of America and Soviet States. In 1991, Carl Bildt took over from Carlson. Bildt criticized government support for Vietnam during the war. Bildt was then replaced by person in 1996 and ruled for ten years before handling the powers to Fredrik Reinfeldt who governed from 2006 to 2014. Currently, the county is under the leadership of Stefan Lofven of Social Democrats party who also lead trade unions in Sweden.

Sweden has entered in the league of democratic nations with no single element of violence. Politically, the county is regarded as a most stable country regardless of many political parties. Its constitution has four separate basic laws. The first act is meant for the royal family where the oldest child takes over the power upon the death of the ruler. Freedom of Expression Act allows every one for the freedom of expression (Thompson 50).

Sweden is among the Europeans nation which has tried to promote equality in the society. Boys and girls in Sweden are given equal opportunities in schools. Pronouns such as he, him, she and her are slowly disappearing in some pioneer schools, and the students are referred to as merely friends. Swedes are also less conscious in involving professionals with their titles such as doctor or professors. They call their instructors by their first name hence only a few people know someone's educational achievements.

Equality influences Swedish family setups as many fathers do not play the role of disciplinarians. Out of the high female participation rate in labor forces, the position of both of both sexes was equalized. In most urban middle-class families, family members have a more relaxed relationship. In Sweden, older adults are more financially independent hence extended families do not live together. By the age of 67, the elderly receive pensions that amount to two-thirds of their earlier working incomes and are frequently adjusted for inflation. In addition to the allowances, the state provides the old with other social services they need. Services such as cleaning their premises and bodies are offered to them to ensure high standards of hygiene. The state ensures that the elderly remain at their home for a long time by delivering complete meals, chauffeuring services and special subsidies are offered to them. When the old need full care, they are moved to state-operated homes. The life expectancy in Swede society is 79.7 for men and 83.7 for women (Thompson). The leading cause of population growth in Sweden is immigration. One baby in four being born is from a non-Swedish family. Sweden has the lowest infant mortality rate in the globe.

The marriage institution is changing in Swedish society. Living together and having a sexual relationship without being married is now regarded as legally and culturally accepted. The act of cohabitation has led to half of the babies born are out of wedlock, and 90% of couples have lived together before marriage. The average of first marriages is 30 for men and 27 for women although growing number of Swedes prefer to live single. Divorce has played a significant role in reducing the number of families thus a significant percentage of Swedish families have only one parent. The Sweden society respects homosexual rights. Homo-sexual was granted the right to enter civil partnerships, and in 2004, they were allowed to adopt children or get them through artificial means. The church retains the right to decide whether to wed gay couples or not (Thompson).

Childcare is highly emphasized in Swedish society. The Swedish government provides allowances to families with children for balancing the living standards between families with children and those without children. The assistance depends on the earnings of the families; the fewer parents earn, the more the support. The parents are obligated to 14 months of almost fully paid vacation when a child is born to take care of the infant. Also, nonworking parents also receive allowances for 14 months to caring for the infant. In case an infant falls sick, both the father and the mother are obligated to 60 days sick leave. The child also enjoys protection from any harassment be it physical punishment or humiliating treatment. The child protection law has left many people with questions on how to discipline children without hitting them although several European countries have followed Sweden in child protection.

Children in Sweden attend the primary school for nine years. The grading system is system is limited in the first in the first six years, and there is no final examination at the end of the nine years. After the nine years, the pupils join integrated high school for two to four years. Some pupils take more academic courses to prepare them for university studies while others take more practical classes to develop them in more practical careers. Educational vouchers are awarded to parents to support the educational needs of their children (Thompson 86). This sponsorship ensures that all children are entitled to education no matter the economic background of their family. After the course at the integrated high school, the pupil can apply for a place in state institutions of higher learning. Although there limited positions in each field, distribution of these places are strictly on the academic performance of previous years. Some slots are reserved for people with over twenty-five years of age. Women dominate in the fields of law and theology. Many males are in engineering, national science and math and business administration. Sixty percent of university graduates are females (Thompson).

Sweden is experiencing a growing ethnic diversity. Sweden’s growing industries in 1960s led to shortage of labor force thus attracting foreign workers. The country never adopted guest worker policy leading to immigrants remaining in Sweden even after their jobs ended. The other reason for immigrants moving to Sweden is due to conflicts in the world. For instance, Poland declaration of martial law in 1981 led to many Poland citizens moving to Sweden. Finns were the largest group of immigrants followed by Iraqis in 2003. Due to the growing in number of the Iraqis in Sweden, the governments of the two countries in 2008 agreed to return the immigrants home by force unless the immigrant proof he was fleeing from persecution. Only small percentage was able to prove and many Iraqis were returned home.

The role played by Swedish government to accommodate immigrants is paramount compared to other European nations. Cases of race riots have been low in Sweden apart from May 2013 when riots broke after police shot an elderly man. The immigrants from Nordic countries become Swedish citizens while other from other countries requires a minimum of five to become citizens. The immigrants are not forced to return home even after losing their jobs. The immigrants also enjoy rights to vote and even to stand for electoral posts as long they have been a resident there for at least three years (Thompson). The Swedish government distributes immigrant’s newspapers in different languages. In cities, Swedish find it difficult to live with other people especially those who are non-Nordic. The Swedish government through Integration Office has moved in to ensure no one is subjected to racism or any form of discrimination. The high rate of immigrants moving in to Sweden is worsening the situation as it leads to massive unemployment in Sweden.

Although Sweden is complimented for immigrants hosting, some of its cities suffer from racial divisions. In Malmo City for instance, there is minimal interactions between the communities in which One-fourth of Malmo’s population is Muslims. The Danish marriage law which forbids foreign young spouses from living in Sweden has worsened the situation. Some Swedish extremists made it difficult for assimilation of immigrants. The extremists form groups which advocate discrimination of foreigners. For instance, Stockholm city was among the contenders who wanted to host 2004 Olympic Games. The bid was bruised by an extremist group which said that it could not allow people from other countries and races to come to Stockholm. The campaign led to Stockholm not to be considered as a top contender to host the games.

Sweden’s capacity to bring together the growing ethnic groups has been questioned. The authorities had allowed foreign girls to marry at age of 15 while Swedish only married when they are 18. The law was changed after Kurdish father shot his daughter in the head for refusing to marry a Turkish stranger. By 2011, the Muslim population in Sweden had reached 450,000. The integration between Swedish and other Muslims was tested in 2007 when a cartoonist in a local newspaper drew a sketch of a dog carrying the head of Muhammad. The cartoon led to protests from Muslim community and some of Muslims called for slaughtering of the cartoonist and even offered a lamp sum to whoever who could do the job. This put to a test the relationship between the ethnic groups living in Sweden and it took the intervention of then the Swedish prime minister to cool things down (Thompson).

The Swedish government has placed tighter regulations for newcomers. People who come out of Nordic area finds it difficult in getting working permit in Sweden. The Swedish government is making faster decisions on application by political refugees and deports immediately those who are not given the status. Sweden served as home for asylum seekers in 2003 because other European countries had refused or had greater restrictions in hosting asylum seekers (Thompson).

Political Overview of Germany and Spain

German is Europe’s hub of industrialization and has the largest population of 82 million people. The nation caught up in a fast pace after suffering two defeats in the deadliest wars in human history. After the end of the Cold War, the country was reunited as one block following the fall of the Berlin wall. The political structure follows that of a democratic liberal nation with a ceremonial President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel in charge of all government activities. Merkel is the first female Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The country has 16 states (Lander) and power is distributed between the state and federal government. The nation is a member of the European Union (EU) and has been on the frontline in advocating for a cooperative EU. It has taken the leadership role in implementing the foreign policy of the European Union. The country is also on the frontline in mitigating the refugee crisis in Europe. Angela Merkel allowed the nation to accommodate immigrants. Other countries in Europe have been rejecting the proposal of sharing the refugee burden mitigated by Germany. However, the policy by Merkel led to massive protests against allowing refugees who are most from Muslim and Arab countries in the Middle East stricken by war and terror. Majority of terrorism activities in Europe have been linked to refugees affiliated with ISIL and other terrorist organizations (Hess and Green 320-322).

On the other hand, Brexit referendum by Britain to leave the European Union has affected the countries trade with the UK. After the exit, the export to the UK decreased by 3% but the economy is still strong. The political environment is very stable and the German parliaments Bundestag and Bundesrat work in hand to ensure that both the state and federal governments deliver in their mandates (Hess and Green 315).

Spain is a sovereign and democratic country after the death of General Franco a dictator in 1975. The current president is Mariano Brey. The country adopted its new constitution in 1978 that is very effective in the current government. Recently, Spain has experienced catastrophic protests in Catalonia that is an economic powerhouse of the country. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and is a hub of tourists from across the world (Aljazeera.com 2017). The region wanted to secede and form its own democratic state, a move that has been highly criticized by the federal government. Catalonians went on a referendum to vote for a legislation that would recognize its autonomy from the Kingdom of Spain. Unfortunately or fortunately, the referendum did not pass even if the Catalonia leaders insist on leaving Spain. However, there were mixed reactions in Catalonia because not everyone is in the favor of secession. With this note, the Catalonia referendum has become a very contentious political issue in Spain. A successful secession would also impact other political and economic systems in Europe. Following the referendum, the value of Euro a currency for the European Union fell against the US dollar and British Pound. Catalonia contributes 19% of Spain’s GDP (Aljazeera.com 2017), and hence, the referendum is very unpopular in the view of the federal government. Nevertheless, the country has a stable political system.































Works Cited

Aljazeera.com."Can Spain's Economy Survive A Catalan Secession?." Aljazeera.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 Dec. 2017.

Hess, Christin, and Simon Green. "Introduction: The Changing Politics And Policies Of

Migration In Germany." German Politics 25.3 (2016): 315-328. Web.

Thompson, Laurie. The Kingdom of Sweden. New York: EBSCO publishing. 2015,