This article analyses the inherent conflict between public and private interest from a long time-perspective, using the example of Sweden from 1620 to 2000. The main argument is that there have been two equally decisive historical shifts in the political discourse on how to organize public services in the past: First, a shift from an early modern patriarchal discourse to a more expansive articulation of publicness during the nineteenth century. Second, a shift toward privatization and deregulation in the late twentieth century. Both these shifts must be considered to fully explain the changing forms of public organization up to the present day. Theoretically, the concept of “publicness” is used to explain the political discourses on the organization of public services. Drawing on three discursive chains, the argument is that the political development was affected by the politicians’ conception of the political community, the form of organization, and by perceptions of values such as equal access and modernity. Our results demonstrate how and why political arguments for or against private service providers have motivated profound changes in the way public services are perceived of and organized.

中文翻译：

---

公共服务的转变政治：瑞典的话语、论点和制度变革，c。1620–2000

本文以 1620 年至 2000 年的瑞典为例，从长期的角度分析公共利益与私人利益之间的内在冲突。主要论点是，关于如何组织公共利益的政治话语有两个同样决定性的历史转变。过去的服务：首先，从早期的现代父权制话语转变为 19 世纪更广泛的公共性表达。其次，在 20 世纪后期转向私有化和放松管制。必须考虑这两种转变，才能充分解释迄今为止公共组织形式的变化。从理论上讲，“公共性”的概念被用来解释关于公共服务组织的政治话语。借鉴三个话语链，其论点是，政治发展受到政治家对政治共同体的概念、组织形式以及对平等机会和现代性等价值观念的影响。我们的研究结果表明，支持或反对私营服务提供商的政治论点如何以及为何推动了公共服务被感知和组织方式的深刻变化。