The Universal Welfare State: Theory and the Case of Sweden Andreas Bergh Lund University, Sweden In the existing literature on welfare state typologies, the concept of the universal welfare state is not defined precisely enough to allow for comparisons of universality over time and between countries. In this paper, I discuss some problems with the way the term ‘the universal welfare state’ has been used and I suggest possible solutions. Among other things, I propose that the term ‘universality’ be used to describe the provision of a specific welfare benefit independently of indi- vidual income and/or other individual characteristics. It should also be used to describe the cov- erage of welfare benefits rather than their size. Based on the theoretical discussion, a number of possible indicators of universality are applied to the case of Sweden in the 1990s. The conclusion is that, despite its economic crisis, universality in Sweden did not decrease. The universal welfare state continues to be a popular topic among social scientists. Research in this area has generated a large literature spanning numerous issues. For example, some authors argue that the degree of welfare state universality in a society is positively linked to levels of trust (Rothstein, 2002), social capital (Kumlin and Rothstein, 2003) and to the possibilities for poverty relief (Korpi and Palme, 1998). Despite this large and growing body of work, the research literature lacks a clear-cut and non-ambiguous definition of ‘the universal welfare state’. This causes problems, not only for theoretical research, but also for empirical investi- gations such as cross-country comparisons and evaluations of changes in univer- sality over time. In this paper, I review the literature on welfare state classifications and discuss a number of problems with the way the term ‘universality’ is used. For example, it is used both to describe the size and coverage of benefits and to describe welfare states and welfare programs. To amend these problems, I formulate a number of questions that, if explicitly answered, allow measurable indicators of universality to be constructed. To illustrate this, I apply the theoretical discussion to the case of Sweden and evaluate the universality of the Swedish welfare state during the 1990s. A number of authors have pointed to Sweden as an example of the universal welfare state in practice (Stephens, 1996; Cochrane and Clarke, 1993; Esping-Andersen, 1990). But that research was carried out before or even during the economic crisis of the 1990s, a crisis that struck Sweden with an impact con- siderably larger than in many other countries. To examine whether this led to changes in the degree of universality during the 1990s, I contrast the actual situ- ation in Sweden with theoretical models of universality. The deviations are used to identify indicators of universality that are followed during the 1990s. The results indicate that universality was roughly constant during this period. POLITICAL STUDIES: 2004 VOL 52, 745–766 © Political Studies Association, 2004. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA