The Intersections of Equality, Welfare and Democracy in Sweden

This article examines the historical legal treatment of equality and its present-day protections against the backgrounds of welfare, democracy and access to justice. This first part begins with the historical development and legal treatment of equality, democracy and local govern-ment, moving over to the Swedish labor law model and the “folk home” that created the Swedish welfare state, and then to the current Swedish discrimination legislation. Access to justice is then addressed, seen here as the necessary mechanism for achieving both formal and substantive equality, followed by a discussion as to what type of equality is being protected and promoted by the law.