Suchergebnisse

The introduction to the thematic volume of Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, which focuses on the role of political parties in democracies, outlines the scope of the volume. Adapted from the source document.

Citizens of a democracy have a two-fold task: Giving their representatives a mandate and holding those representatives accountable. Evidence is strong that voters greet such promises with a mix of hope and skepticism. The project described is aimed at adding to the body of knowledge on the subject of accountability in modern representative democracies. The project, which has drawn the support of the Comparative Party Pledges Group research network, has significance in ongoing normative discussions concerning representative democracy as well as empirical research in the field. Adapted from the source document.

It is pointed out that the current old fashioned method for distributing seats to political parties can he replaced by the Integer Method, which is a simple percentage calculation on the votes resulting in an improved proportionality. In comparison with traditional methods like the adjusted odd number method & the Integer Method, a number of disagreements are found with respect to the number of seats actually distributed due to a basic systematic mistake. In elections in large municipalities, the sub-division into constituencies gives rise to seat number disagreements with the effect that old-fashioned distributions overestimate right-wing numbers in relation to left-wing ones. Examples of actual distributions are listed. It is proposed that the traditional methods are reconsidered in favor of the Rounding Method & that each municipality be a single constituent all to the benefit of democracy. Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

Five parties held (almost) all seats in the Swedish Riksdag between 1921 & 1988. Although contenders have been around since the mid 60's, it took until the elections of 1988 & 1991 for three newcomers to make a breakthrough: Miljopartiet (1988), Kristdemokraterna & Ny Demokrati (1991). This article examines the serious challengers that emerged in the early 2000s, i.e., Junilistan, Piratpartiet, Sverigedemokraterna & Feministiskt initativ. How did they emerge, what issues & ideas do they represent, & what characterizes the voters that are attracted by them? The articles' main focus is on the last question. We conclude that although there are variations between the supporters of the four different parties, they share some common properties. The typical contender- voter is a young man that is uninterested in politics, has a low education & is poorly integrated into the labor market. Adapted from the source document.

This article confronts some general methodological issues involved when analyzing 'euroscepticism,' ie., opposition to European integration. Reviewing the literature on party-based & public euroscepticism, the article proceeds with a presentation & critical examination of conceptual frameworks & models suggested in previous research on public attitudes towards the EU. Drawing on eg., the Eurobarometer surveys, the strengths & weaknesses of different analytical frameworks arc demonstrated. The article concludes with a discussion about measurement issues related to empirical analyses of public opposition to European integration. Adapted from the source document.

The formation of a green party in Sweden, "Miljopartiet De Grona", in 1981, can be explained as a result of the established party system's failure to handle a change of zeitgeist in an ecological direction, & most of all the political trauma arising from the focal point of Swedish environmental protest, the popular referendum on Nuclear Power 1980. Initially, Miljopartiet De Grona originally was organized as an alternative, non-hierarchical party, without a distinct party leadership & an with an ultrademocratic ideal. The party failed to achieve the 4 percent necessary to enter parliament in the elections of 1982 & 1985, but in 1988 it finally established itself in the Swedish Riksdag. Since then, Miljopartiet has step by step changed in the direction of a more "normal" political party. In 2002 they were allowed as a semi-coalition partner of the Social Democrats & the formerly communist Left Party. Still eager to be an alternative party, Miljopartiet will, perhaps, enter a red-green government after the election in autumn 2010. If so, they have in 30 years managed to move from "alternative exclusion" to what may be labeled "included alternativism.". Adapted from the source document.

The Swedish Social Democrats' coalition with the Left Party & the Green Party seems to be a departure from the party's unique position in Swedish politics. This article analyzes the Social Democrats' transformation from a minority ruling party to a coalition-forming party among others. If the transformation implies a substantial strategic shift, what is then behind it? The change is smaller than it might seem -- the coalition idea is far from new. The option has been considered before, but has for various reasons not been realized. The change of strategy can be explained as a tactical response to new circumstances, rather than as the result of drastic rethinking. Adapted from the source document.

The article investigates the conception of social justice endorsed by the Swedish Green party. It is argued that the prime mover in the realisation of the party's vision of social justice is the introduction of a universal basic income, a reform that has been advocated by the party since 2001. The conception of justice implied by the party's version of a basic income is best understood against the backdrop of the ideas of social justice of the contemporary Brian Barry. Just as Barry, the Green party embraces a basic income out of concern for the safety of the least well off groups in society and out of concern for equality of opportunity. For both Barry & the Swedish Green Party, moreover, the latter ideal not only implicates justice for all inhabitants in society, but also justice in global & intergenerational terms. References. Adapted from the source document.

The number of farmers in the Riksdag has progressively declined by about 25% between 1918 & 1958, a change esp noticeable in the 2nd chamber. Today this group is under-represented when it is considered that in 1958 farmers made up 29% of the voters in parliamentary elections. There has also been a change in the composition of the farm representation: the number of large property owners has been markedly reduced, while agri'al labors have made their appearance. The dominant groups consist of Mc farmers belonging to the conservative, agri'al & liberal parties, & another group of small farmers. The letter, along with the agri'al workers, are for the most part Soc Democrats. Thus it can be seen that the various pol'al parties pick their parliamentary representatives from diff farmer categories. (Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA).

In the efforts to explain election outcomes, the interest in the effects of political communication, information & media coverage on political opinions has increased. This includes the effects of political opinion polls in the media. Especially, after 1980, numerous studies about the effects of opinion polls on voters' party preference have been published. However, it seems as if many studies approach the issue with ad hoc constructed models not or only partly guided by the existing literature. Research is little cumulative. One of the reasons for this is probably that no recent comprehensive & systematic overview has been published. This article fills this gap: It presents & systematizes approaches in studies analyzing the effects of opinion polls on voters' party preferences. By discussing theoretical & empirical gains & weaknesses, important questions for future research are highlighted. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

In this article, ideological tranformations within the Swedish Christian Democratic party throughout the past years is analyzed. This is done in comparison with previous research on the ideological character of the party from the 1960's to the early 2000's. The party's ideology is analyzed with a two dimensional model, i.e., universalism -- particularism & confessionalism -- secularism. These two dimensions are derived from the ideological debate within the Dutch CDA during the 1990's, a party that has operated in a similar context as the Swedish Christian Democrats have. Based on the two dimensions speeches & op-ed articles by the party leadership is analyzed. The conclusion is that the Swedish Christian Democrats has moved from a position of a strong Christian inspiration to a more secular direction, & that the party also has moved from strong universal beliefs to less universal & more particularistic beliefs. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this article is to study how Sweden's political parties handled the process of constitutional review from 2004-2008. In particular the analysis examines how parties choose between their office-seeking, policy-seeking and vote-seeking goals and the desire to maintain ultra party agreement. Three expectations are identified: (a) parties' different strategic situations lead them to advocate different long-term goals; (b) different parts' levels will take different stands in order to increase their influence vis-a-vis other levels: (c) party leaderships will try to increase their freedom to negotiate with others by avoiding extensive intra party debates or decisions. The study is based on 30 interviews with representatives closely involved in the constitutional-reform process. The conclusion is that parties have self-interested goals as regards the question of how the political game should be regulated. The conflict between different intra-party levels is also obvious. However, due to party members' disinterest in the constitutional review, party leaders did not need to adopt a variety of strategies to avoid a large scale intra-part debate, It was enough for them to claim that the resulting compromise was actually something of a victory' for each party. Adapted from the source document.

What are the causes for political party membership? And why do some members take a further step and candidate for political parties in local parliament elections? We evaluate these questions using a Swedish survey of local politicians. The article reports three main findings. First, the results do not support that social status, career ambitions and material rewards are causes behind participation in political parties. Rather, sense of civic duty has a strong impact. Second, many representatives refer to the fact that they were recruited as a main factor influencing their participation. Third, our results show that active local party members describe themselves as 'reluctantly active altruists', driven by civic duty and recruited by others. A minority became active by their own initiative, and a majority got involved in party politics after being recruited. Adapted from the source document.