The social democratic image of society : a study of the achievements and origins of Scandinavian social democracy in comparative perspective / Francis G. Castles.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 152-157) and index.

Originally published in 1978 by Routledge and Kegan Paul Limited.

"This book, originally published in 1978, constitutes a genuinely comparative study of the world's only truly successful democratic socialist parties: the Social Democraic Parties of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The measure of achievement is not merely political success, the fact that in Scandinavia the Social Democrats have become 'natural parties of government', for just as importantly, the author shows that a political success grounded on the symbiotic relationship between party and trade union movement has been the foundation for a higher level of welfare state provision and egalitarian striving than in virtually any other advanced Western nations."--Page 4 of cover.