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Putting Party First: Swedish MPs and their Constituencies
In: Representation, Band 54, Heft 1, S. 87-102
ISSN: 1749-4001
Inter‐level Trust in a Multilevel Political System
In: Scandinavian political studies, Band 40, Heft 3, S. 289-311
ISSN: 1467-9477
The aim of this article is to study political representatives in a multilevel government system and their level of political trust in relation to institutions in their own and other tiers of government. The results show that two factors are essential for understanding variations in their trust: Representatives tend to trust institutions in other tiers less than those in their own tier (the tier‐association effect), and they trust institutions more where their own party is in a governing position (the home‐team effect). Of the two, the home‐team effect is by far the most dominant factor. Multiple mandates serve to increase inter‐level trust, but divided loyalties possibly make representatives with multiple mandates less trusting towards political institutions in their own tiers than more partisan single mandate representatives. The study builds on data from surveys conducted among all elected representatives in Sweden in 2012 (local and regional councillors) and 2014 (national MPs).
Local Autonomy or National Equality? A Conflict of Values and Interests for Political Leaders
In: Regional & federal studies, Band 25, Heft 1, S. 19-44
ISSN: 1743-9434
Democracy of Scale: Size and Representative Democracy in Swedish Local Government
In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, Band 17, Heft 1, S. 7-28
ISSN: 2001-7413
Two central mechanisms of representative democracy are A) the identification of the people's will by elections and B) the process wherein elected representatives enforce pol- icies preferred by the voters. This article demonstrates that municipal size is of vital importance for how these two mechanisms function in Swedish local democracy. A prerequisite for mechanism A is that voters are provided with a variety of political alternatives to choose from. If the political alternatives are limited, voters will have trouble deciding which parties or candidates reflect their political opinions. To interpret election results as a manifestation of the people's will in such situations is highly problematic. The study shows that the manifestation of political alternatives in local politics increases significant- ly with the size of the municipality. The results also show that the political knowledge and influence (in relation to national and local bureaucracies) of local political leaders correlate positively with municipal size. The conclusion is that the success of local political leaders in their endeavour to identify and enforce the will of the people depends on the size of the municipality they govern.
The Hidden Constitutions: How Informal Political Institutions Affect the Representation Style of Local Councils
In: Local government studies, Band 39, Heft 5, S. 681-702
ISSN: 1743-9388
The Hidden Constitutions: How Informal Political Institutions Affect the Representation Style of Local Councils
In: Local government studies, Band 39, Heft 5, S. 681-702
ISSN: 0300-3930
A Democracy of Scale. Size and Representative Democracy in Swedish Local Government
Two central mechanisms of representative democracy are A) the identification of the people's will by elections and B) the process wherein elected representatives enforce policies preferred by the voters. This article demonstrates that municipal size is of vital importance for how these two mechanisms function in Swedish local democracy. A prerequisite for mechanism A is that voters are provided with a variety of political alternatives to choose from. If the political alternatives are limited, voters will have trouble deciding which parties or candidates reflect their political opinions. To interpret election results as a manifestation of the people's will in such situations is highly problematic. The study shows that the manifestation of political alternatives in local politics increases significantly with the size of the municipality. The results also show that the political knowledge and influence (in relation to national and local bureaucracies) of local political leaders correlate positively with municipal size. The conclusion is that the success of local political leaders in their endeavour to identify and enforce the will of the people depends on the size of the municipality they govern.
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Why do politicians perceive the same financial conditions differently?
In: Public administration: an international journal
ISSN: 1467-9299
AbstractBehavioral public administration research has provided empirical evidence of several perception biases when individuals process information. Building on these findings, we seek to advance the literature by analyzing politicians' financial perceptions of their own government. Drawing on the theory of motivated reasoning, we examine the context of Swedish municipalities and find financial perception gaps associated with politicians' party affiliation (establishment or anti‐establishment), parliamentary position (opposition or governing party), and formal hierarchical rank. Specifically, politicians representing anti‐establishment and opposition parties, as well as those occupying lower positions in the political hierarchy—and thus having less influence over and less responsibility for municipal affairs—tend to perceive the financial situation more negatively. These findings suggest the presence of a motivationally driven bias in politicians' perceptions of financial conditions; moreover, they illustrate that these perceptions are influenced by factors beyond the traditional financial, socioeconomic, and demographic ones examined in previous research.
Local politicians' perceptions of financial conditions – do they align with financial indicators?
In: Local government studies, Band 50, Heft 1, S. 28-47
ISSN: 1743-9388
Perceptions of polarization among political representatives
In: Political research exchange: PRX : an ECPR journal, Band 4, Heft 1
ISSN: 2474-736X
Causes of party conflicts in local politics
In: Politics, Band 38, Heft 2, S. 182-196
ISSN: 1467-9256
This article shows how two forms of party conflict (political dissent and antagonistic behaviour) are related but explained by different factors. It is therefore of utmost importance to distinguish between the two forms of conflict. Political dissent is mainly explained by the size of demos while social fragmentation, fiscal stress and party contestation increase antagonistic behaviour. The presence of a local protest party inflates both forms of conflict. Surprisingly, party contestation has less impact on conflict levels than earlier studies have suggested. The study builds on data from a unique survey conducted among all councillors in the 290 municipalities in Sweden.
Cost-of-ruling in Local Elections – The Case of Sweden
In: Lex localis: journal of local self-government, Band 14, Heft 3, S. 695-714
There is a cost-of-ruling effect for parties who are part of ruling coalitions I local multi-party elections. Results from the case of Sweden (based on 8,892 election results of parties in local elections 1998-2010) indicate that a party on average loses almost a quarter of its share of the votes after an election period in government. The results also indicate that this cost-of-ruling effect varies depending on the party's prominence and its political company within the ruling coalition. The voters punish anti-establishment parties who enter into ruling coalitions especially hard.
Political leaders and the local constitution
In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, Band 17, Heft 1, S. 3-6
ISSN: 2001-7413
The relation between institutions and political leadership has been the central theme of the research project "Local political leadership in a time of constitutional transition" at the School of Public Administration, University of Gothenburg. The project, which started in 2006 was funded by the Swedish Research Council and led by Professor Henry Bäck. Results from the project have contributed with new knowledge in the field of local political leadership in a number of aspects. This special issue of Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration marks the end of this project. Each of the three included articles represents essential aspects of how political institutions affect local political leadership. The first article has been written within the project, while the two others are written by internationally renowned local government scholars and provide comparative perspectives on the importance of institutions for political leadership.