THE JUDICIALIZATION OF POLITICS IN SWEDEN

As to judicial intervention in politics, Sweden sides with skeptical s tates like the United Kingdom or Third and Fourth Republic France. The Social Democrats, in power for more than four decades, have consisten tly defended a majoritarian and popular sovereignty view of democracy, hostile to built-in checks on the elected representatives. But judgme nts of the European Court on Human Rights at Strasbourg, and a gradual weakening of the Social Democratic dominance in Swedish politics, hav e initiated a slow but steady process toward a more significant role f or court litigation and the judicial branch. This judicialization of t he political process will probably accelerate now that interest organi zations have discovered this ''American'' way of influencing politics.