Suchergebnisse

At the turn of the century agrarian parties emerged in large parts of Europe. The parties had one thing in common: they stood up for the social, economic, cultural, and political interests of the agrarian society. The Swedish agrarian parties - 1 Bondeförbundet ' and 'Jordbrukarnas Riksförbund1 - were formed between 1913 and 1915.In this study the agrarian parties are not considered to be class parties. Instead, they are described as traditional parties, defending the old agrarian community against expansive industrialization. Their potential voters belonged to various social strata in the agrarian community, and their political programme, often characterized by a markedly negative view of modern society and by cultural protectionism, is summarized here under the term agrarianism. Agrarianism seen as a political theory and an applicable ideology had features in common with Conservatism as well as with Fascism and Socialism. Liberal values, however, were kept in the background.A modernization perspective is adopted in order to demonstrate that the agrarian parties were in fact traditional parties. It is assumed that regional variation in the electoral support of the agrarian parties reflects the modernization process, and, consequently, that the parties were weaker in industrial areas and stronger in socially and economically backward areas.The empirical studies show that the Agrarian parties stand out as traditional parties rather than class parties. Their voter support was stronger in areas where the historical and economic development was characterized by stagnation and conservatism, as well as in areas where social mobilization advanced slowly. In more industrialized and modernized areas conditions were quite the opposite. A study of Swedish interwar agrarianism with special regard to regional variations in party strength proves the agrarian parties to be the inheritors of a way of life formed by centuries of agrarian traditions. ; digitalisering@umu

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).