Starting from a close examination of hitherto neglected sources related to a governmental regulation of Swedish voluntary associations in 1803, the project aims at to investigate the historical foundations of ‘discursive democracy’ and the rise of ‘civil society’ in the Baltic Sea Area around 1800. As a consequence of a royal decree issued in March 1803, thirty eight voluntary associations declared their existence and reported accounts of their respective history and aim, descriptions of internal activities as well as rules, regulations and obligations to authorities throughout the Swedish realm. These responses were gathered and assessed by the supreme police authority  in the capital Stockholm. However, these sources and their potential ramifications have never been analyzed in historical research so far. A primary focus of the project is thus to make the documentary evidence accessible in order to receive a deeper understanding of the rich diversity of voluntary associational life in Sweden around 1800 serving as a significant precursor and vanguard of societal development. For comparative reasons the status of research into and sources emanating from voluntary organizations around the Baltic Sea Area will be included in the study. The project will map organizational cultures, membership composition, normative foundations and discursive practices within this core group of forty associations and contrast the Swedish case with findings related to states around the Baltic Sea. 

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