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| Me, according to eHarmony… | Factors that Influence your Vote | ||
| Tuesday, 8th May, 2007 at 22:47 pm | |||
Swedish Politics (for Dummies …) | |||
Sweden has eight political parties with some level of actual political influence. A party needs a minimum of 4% of the total number votes to get represented in the Swedish parliament. Some of the smaller parties are constantly balancing on that 4% border. There is a general election every three years.
There are two coalitions in Swedish politics;
- The ‘Left’ which includes the Social Democratic party and the Leftist (formerly Communist) party.
- The ‘Right’ (which goes under the name of ‘The Alliance’) includes the ‘Moderate Conservatives’ as well as the ‘People’s Liberal Party’, the ‘Christian Democrats’ and the ‘Centre Party’.
Notice how every one of these political parties have names that implicitly say; ‘Please note that we are not really right-wing!’ I am talking about the ‘People’ bit, the ‘Moderate’ bit and the ‘Centre’ bit…? This should give you some idea of what the political climate is like in Sweden.
There are two parties that are un-affilliated with either voting block. Those are:
- The Green party is leaning more to the left, but is officially unaffiliated with either side.
- The Swedish Democratic Party, on the other hand, is very clearly leaning to the right on most issues. It occasionally veers over into socialist territory when talking about re-instating the values of ‘Folkhemmet’ (Literally ‘The home of the People’ – a term traditionally used to describe the Swedish welfare state). However this party has not been invited to join either of the two coalitions…
Although the parties listed supposedly reflect the full scale of political opinions, it should be pointed out that in Sweden, that scale itself is quite significantly biased towards the left… This means that the Right would really be Centre / Middle ground in any other country.
The Left on the other hand is promoting socialism-inspired policies that would be unthinkable in either the UK or the US for instance.
Here is a very subjective run-down of the parties…. Feel free to express your reaction! I have included links to the English language web-pages of the parties listed, should you find my summary too biased or ill-informed… If you are a Swedish person who is more up-to-date than me, please feel free to correct me!
| Logo and Link | Summary |
|---|---|
The Environment Party, Greens |
Although I care enormously about the environment, I do not like Sweden’s Green Party. That is because their policies are very clearly socialist in addition to being Green. Also they often give a very unprofessional impression in almost everything they do. They seem un-rehearsed, ill-informed and plain confused about matters that they really ought to master as a parliament party. In a climate where environmentalists are considered on the fringe, they really need to make an effort to prove that they are not that at all. Many of their ideas used not to be too thoroughly researched. It’s possible this has changed over the last 5 years or so thought? I really do like the fact that they draw attention to environmental issues! And I’d rather they existed in their current form than not at all. This party has more influence than what is normally expected, due to the fact that it is not associated with either of the two main voting blocks (coalitions). This means that their vote can change the outcome as all the other parties vote according to the official party line. The Environment Party was against Sweden joining the EU. 5% voted for them. |
The Moderates
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This is the supposedly conservative and possibly ‘new-labour-style’ party in Swedish politics. It’s the second largest party after the Social Democrates. The Moderates have been almost constantly in opposition for the last 80 years and I think it is fair to say that they never really had a fair chance at proving themselves. They had at the most three years in office before being beaten again by the Social Democrats. The Moderates are for increased choice in matters like education, healthcare and similar. (These were almost exclusively run by the state during the 20th century in Sweden.) They usually speak up for lowering the tax burden which is extremely high in Sweden. As a student I was concerned that the Moderates did not care sufficiently about the environment. The Moderates were in favour of Sweden joining the EU since as far back as the 1970s.. 26% voted for them in 2006. |
The Centre Party |
“The Conservative, Environmental Alternative”. (Party slogan) This party’s voters are mainly rural people or farmers. The Centre party is quite environmentally focussed (as long as the measures in question do not negatively affect the farmers…) They are probably almost every bit as conservative on the traditional scale as the Moderates. They have always been in favour of Sweden joining the EU, bearing in mind that the EU is a walking talking Santa Claus to the farmers of Sweden. Ask and ye shall recieve… The Centre Party got 7% of votes in 2006. |
Swedish Democrats |
This party was founded partly as a reaction to the somewhat poorly planned mass-immigration that has taken place in Sweden from 1980s to present. Although this party has a policy on most matters and really does not appear to hold any seriously extreme opinions about immigration, it is perceived as a one-issue-party. To put it mildly, this party is completely vilified by virtually all Swedish media and made out to be racists. Whether they really are or not, I don’t know but I have never heard or read anything actually racist coming from them. Interestingly, quite a few people with distinctly non-Swedish names are listed as party functionaries on the website. This party simply dares to question the existing policy on immigration, but nobody who publically admitted to being a supporter could get a job anywhere outside of politics. It also values Swedish traditions and culture. It has attempted to raise the profile of traditionally Christian values such as abortion. However, unfortunately for SD being patriotic/nationalistic is very negatively loaded in Sweden today. Very tragic and somewhat pathetic if you ask me! I think it is a matter of time until this party gets represented in the Parliament. They got 3% of votes in 2006. |
People’s Liberal Party
|
Another party to the right of the scale (although slightly less so than the Moderates). This party is a bit confusing. The name which is always shortened to ‘People’s party’ gives you associations with socialism, doesn’t it? It is just an odd and very non-descriptive name.. And another problem further complicates people’s perception: There are two camps in this party; traditional liberals inspired by Adam Smith, JM Keynes etc, and the more socialist inclined members who are not far removed in their opinions from the social democrats. This confusion as to exactly what the party stands for means it hasn’t done very well lately, despite actually being filled to the rim with extremely talented, well-meaning and intelligent people. I think it is a bit too academic and ‘bland’ to appeal to a large enough group of voters. This party has always been a strong supporter of the EU and got 6% of votes in 2006. |
Social Democrats
|
This party is like a chameleon in its ability to change according to the climate in society. Political correctness tinted with varying degrees of socialism has always been its specialty. Lately it has added a bit of New Labour to the mix, privatising some government own businesses with varying success. The Social Democratic party always gets the most votes of any party in the general elections, however in last year’s election it didn’t quite get enough votes to be able to form the majority together with the Leftist party as usual. Being in opposition will be a new experience to this party! The almost un-interrupted reign of the Social Democrats means that they have ‘perpetuated’ themselves in every part of society, having appointed local county leaders, mayors, bishops, university chancellors and shaped education for close to 100 years. A very large percentage of the population are financially dependent on the state benefits which the Social Democrats specialise in and support. Clever huh? Vote for anybody else and you’ll lose your home… ! |
The Christian Democrats |
Nobody in this party would mention a certain name starting with “J” in public.. Sweden is seriously secular and this party is constantly worried about being labelled by media as too Christian (=backwards, loony and potentially fundamentalist… ) Hence the Christian Democrats dare not take a stand on issues like abortion, or stand up for any traditionally Christian values. Their Christian foundation is the cuddly feel-good version of Christianity, the version that is 50% humanism and 50% ‘ pick ‘n choose’ from the Bible… Many of the CD voters are older, hence CD’s position on issues relating to senior citizens are particularly well thought through. I think this party ought to change it’s name since it doesn’t stand fo any real Christian values. |
Leftist Party
|
This party lost all my respect when, shortly after the fall of the Wall, they dropped the name ‘Comunists’ and made a statement to the extent that they had never really been Communists at all! I was in my teens, but I was totally flabbergasted at nerve of them. I had personally heard them singing the ‘Internationale’ and carrying sickle and star red banners… (And who was that boarding the ferry to Leningrad and vacationing at the Black Sea…?) What a bunch of sell-outs! For the last 15 years, the main purposes of the Leftist party seem to have been supporting Social Democratic governments, promoting the creation of additional jobs in state-owned businesses, lobbying for an increased intake of refugees and for additional government benefits to the less well off. They also criticize the EU on just about everything it does, and lobby (successfully) against Sweden adopting the Euro. |
Lots of choice here! I voted for the Centre Party once, and another time for the Liberals. Last time there was an election I didn’t make it to the Swedish Embassy in London on time, due to delays on the Underground!
If I had been allowed to vote at 16 I am sure I would have voted for some anarchist party… I was quite the revolutionary. I was voted “Most likely to join a hippie commune” and “Most progressive” that year….
At university I studied Social Work, Psychology and Political Science….
So what would I vote for today….? Well that’s what I am leading up to. I think it it will be in the next post.
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And I though we had it bad, I personally am a Libertarian. So which way do you lean?
Det verkar ha blivit något fel på listningen av partierna i ditt inlägg. Sverigedemokraterna finns inte med (men namnet står på flera ställen). Synd, för jag vill gärna veta vad du anser om sd.
Bra blogg du har förresten. Upptäckte den nu och ska fortsätta läsa.
Thanks for the update on Swedish political parties. I have learned something new today. Cheers.
Wow…
Thats alot of parties, and it is very informative. I had no idea it was so varied over there across the pond.
It really too bad that these days one could be afraid of forming or joining a Christian party, Or forming and creating a Swedish party. Its the same way here though. If you are at all for Christians or for your ancestory your some kind of racists or bigot. All this while immigrants are able to cherish and hold on to their culture.
I wish the PC people would realize ther eis a difference between holding your own people dear and holding them above all others.
Luckily we have just the Democrats(donkey) and the Republicans (Elephant). We must be the only country where the socialists and communists don’t call them selves by name.So you either vote one or the other. If you do vote the rare third party then you split the vote and you get the oposite of what you choose like in the Bush Perot Clinton election. Half the conservatives voted for Perot and half for Bush 41. We got Clinton with 43% of teh vote. Now we are almost socialists. I believe Hillary will be our next President and we shall have 28 years of rule with just two families…..not our way at all. we will also be a socialist or communist country. They are the same thing, one being achieved through evolution and one through revolution.
Great post Cordelia…you are pretty well informed!
P.S. What do you think of France’s last election? 86% turnout wow. We can only muster 46% here from the herd. I guess the media missed something.
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