When deciding about what your political beliefs are, there are two different angles that you may be approaching the subject from. You may either be thinking: Strictly Academic?

• What is best for society as a whole?

Or you may be thinking;

• What is best for me (and my family), never mind the rest of society?

Depending on which of these angles you are approaching the matter of political belief from, you may actually reach different conclusions!

Growing up in Sweden, I assumed that everybody took the former approach. I thought the matter of Politics was a purely academic one.

I thought that the people were Socialist or Conservative (see previous post for run-down of Swedish political parties) depending on what they genuinely thought was best for society as a whole!

As a child I actually used to think of Socialism in the same terms as I thought of Christianity; Is it ‘true’ or ‘not true’? I thought there is (was) evidence pointing both ways.
I used to wonder whether
socialism really was ‘true’…
This is also the line of reasoning that I think the Swedish schools were trying to get across. Gosh, that line of reasoning seems pretty preposterous now!

“Simple Maths” Approach

I gradually started realising that there may be reasons other than the perceived truth or validity of a political idea that may influence the way that people vote. Welcome to the real world Cordelia!

For example my childhood neighbours in an affluent suburb of Stockholm voted Conservative mainly so they would lose less of their income in taxes. In many cases they still had their old Marx and Engels books around in the book-cases in their luxury villas… This was (is) true of my father for example, and also the parents of my best friend. I think my father secretly held his quite genuine Marxist beliefs well into the 1980s. He doesn’t hold them anymore though.
Did Socialist voters really care about their
theories? Or is it just about the benefits?
Likewise, reading between the lines of Swedish mainstream media, it was clear that working class people did not necessarily believe in the actual political principles of the Social Democrats which they largely voted for.

They just wanted to be certain that they would be able to continue claiming miscellaneous state-benefits that they had come to be dependent upon, in a society where more people were claiming some benefit or another, than not… They felt that the state somehow ‘owed’ them a decent standard or life, regardless of whether supply and demand on the labour market valued their contribution highly or not.

Since the tax burden on people in blue-collar jobs was lower than it iwas on the higher income earners, this group cared less about lowering taxes and more about legislation to assure them of a good income and continued stream of benefits.

I started realising that for most people it simply came down to; What political party leaves me with the most money in my pocket? I found this disillusioning. I had always thought that politics was about something more than “How much money can I get out of this?”

The “One-Issue Decides My Vote” Approach

Another factor should be mentioned though; the relatively large group of people who let one issue settle the matter of how they vote.

Some people are very concerned about the environment and let that concern influence the way they vote.Because I love nature passionately I say ‘Good on them!’ Other people have other pet-issues (or should I say ‘issue close to their heart?’) that determine the way they vote. This could be issues like abortion, immigration, European integration issues, foreign policy in general, or a local concern.

I am not certain what I personally make of people who take this approach. I suppose it depends on what the issue is!

The ‘Looks Vote

Another thing that influenced some people is the looks of party leaders…! Silly, but true! Apparently female voters are more susceptible to the looks-factorto than men; probably because most party leaders still are men. I am not completely immune to it myself, but I’d like to think that it wouldn’t affect my vote.
Sarah Palin
As for male voters; Who knows, I am not a man. But I read something just recently about the Republican Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. She is quite good looking and this fact was not lost on the male Republican voters there. Now they brag that they have the best looking governor in the USA! And how about Ségolène Royal of France…? She must be the most photographed socialist party leader ever! (I happen to think she really is quite elegant!)

Others let their votes be affected by whether the candidate is likeable or not. Does he have a good sense of humour? Can he let loose and have fun? Does he smile a lot? What kind of accent does he have when he speaks? Is he an engaging speaker… etc! I know of people in England who wouldn’t vote for somebody who came from the wrong class and/or talked with the wrong accent.

The Personality Vote

At the Nobel Prize Ball
with his second wife
And what about the personality and integrity of party leaders? Are those relevant to somebody’s ability to make sound political decisions? I used to think that such matters were not relevant. I thought (for example) that the constant ‘revelations’ about British politician’s sexual preferences, their history of alcoholism or their extra-marital affairs were completely pointless.

I found them embarrassing from a human interest perspective, and I couldn’t see that somebody’s sexual orientation (say) was at all relevant to his ability to make sound decisions on (say) infrastructure.

Since becoming a Christian I have changed my opinion about this somewhat, but I am still not sure what I make of it.
Same party - different wife
But can you believe this; While actually in office, the Swedish (Social Democrat) prime minister Göran Persson had an extra marital affair with the female director of the state monopoly alcohol vendor, Systembolaget. This was reported in media.

While still in office, he divorced his wife and moved in with this woman. She later became his third wife. Nobody raised an eyebrow…. That’s how much marriage means in Sweden today, and that is the sort of role model that the elected prime minister was.

A Healthy Mix of Factors?

I think that the following would be an acceptable mix of factors to influence your vote;

• What I think would be best for my country as a whole: 60%
• What would be best for my personal finances: 20%
• Party leader’s personality and integrity: 12.5%
• Position on my pet issue: 12.5%
• Party leader’s look and style: 5%