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The article analyzes the politics and rhetoric of tax reform in the United States (1986) and Sweden (1990). The two cases show that loosely regulated idea markets may yield policies that are more uneven, less consistent with the rhetorical claims made for them, and less strongly supported by the public than is the case with tightly regulated idea markets.

The article deals with patterns of academic migration between Sweden and the U.S. in the 20th century. It discusses the volume of this migration, its disciplinary characteristics, and concludes with a discussion of its significance for certain Swedish ac

The article discusses the academic and cultural relationships between Sweden and the U.S in the early 20^th century. It focuses on the activities of two key institutions, the Sweden-America Foundation in Stockholm and the American-Scandinavian Foundation in New York. Both foundations were established in the second decade of the 20^th century and sought to promote educational and cultural exchanges and contacts between Sweden and the United States. Although the foundations had similar goals, the reasons behind their establishment were quite different. The American foundation had one root in the development of Scandinavian-American ethnic communities. Another source of origin can be traced to a growing interest in medieval England, Old English, and Anglo-Saxon in American universities, in which Scandinavia came to occupy a privileged position. The Swedish foundation was established partly as a result of a Swedish cultural and academic reorientation following World War I, away from Germany towards the U.K. and the U.S. The effects of the work of both foundations have been significant, both in establishing close academic contacts between Sweden and the U.S. and in creating improving and promoting closer cultural and political ties between the two countries.

This article examines different patterns of interaction between Swedish Americans and the homeland, and my interest is in the significance and consequences of these encounters. The mass emigration of some 1,3 million Swedes in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a fundamental event in Swedish history, and as a result a separate social and cultural community Swedish America was created in the U.S. and a specific population group of Swedish Americans emerged. Close to a fifth of these Swedish Americans returned to Sweden, and in their interaction with the old homeland they were seen as a distinct group in Sweden and became carriers of a specific American experience. Swedish Americans thus became a visible sub-group in Sweden and it is the significance of this population that I am interested in. The article looks at both material and immaterial effects of the return migration and at the larger significance of Swedish America and Swedish Americans for Sweden.

This article deals with how President Barack Obama has related to American exceptionalism, and how he developed a distinct version of the concept. We begin by discussing the background and meanings of American exceptionalism, making a distinction between its academic and political use. Based on three of his major speeches, we then discuss Obama’s relationship to the concept, arguing that his initial skepticism to American exceptionalism, which was met by criticism, notably from American conservatives, was replaced by a greater acceptance, especially with regard to foreign policy. We also argue that even though Obama embraced exceptionalism he also changed and expanded it, especially with regard to American history.