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Sweden - Political Parties

The Swedish party system has, for a long time, been one of the most stable party systems in the world. Up until the 1988 election the same five parties dominated the political stage for almost seven decades. These five are the Social Democratic party (Socialdemokratiska Arbetar Partiet, SAP), the Conservatives (Moderata Samlingspartiet, M), the Liberals (Folkpartiet liberalerna, Fp), the Centre party (Centern, C ) and the Left Wing (Vänsterpartiet Vp).

In the 1988 election environmental problems became a great issue in the election campaign and a green party (Miljöpartiet de gröna, Mp) entered the stage and received 5.5 % of the vote, and 20 seats in the Swedish parliament, Riksdagen. Since then, the system has become more unstable. Mp lost their seats in 1991 but reentered in 1994; the Christian Democrats ( Kristdemokratiska Samlingspartiet, KDS) has entered Riksdagen and a new party, called New Democracy (Ny Demokrati) entered in 1991 and disappeared in 1994.

The Swedish party system has been called a "modified two-party system" despite the number of parties in the parliament. This is because of the division in two blocs (one socialistic with SAP and Vp and one liberal/conservative bloc of M, Fp and C) of approximately the same size, from which both can form a government. The Social Democrats, however, did for almost half a century dominate Swedish politics. Their dominance has weakened somewhat but they are still the single largest party.

Several of the Swedish political parties have one thing in common; they have their roots in different popular movements formed at the turn of the last century, as for example the labour movement, the temperance movement and nonconformist movement. They have therefore (or at least have had) a very strong position in Swedish society. The Conservative party, however, was created from groupings within the parliament.

Politics in Sweden are in general less confrontational than in many other European states. A consensual approach where parties on opposite sides unite around a common policy is not unusual. The political debate is consequently not as broad and confrontational as in other countries. The consensual approach is also reflected in the public debate. On immigration there appears to be a tacit agreement that none of the established parties will overtly try to capitalize on sentiment opposed to further immigration. Sweden's strongly embedded egalitarian values also appear to have set definite limits to the media debate, making a tough line on immigration policy a controversial, and almost suspect view. This is in contrast to Sweden's neighbors Norway and Denmark, which have established parliamentary parties advocating restrictions on immigration.

1. The Social Democrats are the oldest and largest party in Sweden and dominated the political landscape until the 1990s. The party promotes workers' rights and built the modern Swedish welfare state, paid for by progressive taxation. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has a base of blue-collar workers and public sector employees. It derives much of its power from strong links with the National Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), which represents blue-collar workers. The party program combines a commitment to social welfare programs and government direction of the economy.
   
   The Social Democratic Party led the government for 65 of the 76 years since 1932; the 2006 election ended its most recent term of 12 consecutive years in office. After a crushing defeat in 2006, the Social Democrats continued to lose votes in 2010, particularly from Sweden's urban middle class. But the party bounced back after Löfven took over as leader and returned to power in a coalition with the Green Party following the general election in September 2014. Some of the party's more controversial policies so far have been recognizing Palestine and its push for a feminist foreign policy which saw relations grow frosty between Sweden and Saudi Arabia in the first part of 2015.

2. The Moderate Party emphasizes personal freedom, free enterprise, and reduction of the public-sector growth rate, while still supporting most of the social benefits introduced since the 1930s. The party also supports a strong military and Sweden's membership in the EU. Its voter base is urban business people and professionals, but the party also attracts young voters, main-street shop owners, and, to some extent, blue-collar workers.
   
   Moderate Party Leader Reinfeldt followed an election strategy that remodeled his party as "New Moderates," moving away from the party's right-wing, upper-class roots to appeal to a large middle ground of voters and successfully winning over many who had until then supported the SDP, as well as others who had previously voted for the smaller, non-socialist parties. Reinfeldt was instrumental in uniting into one party the previously separate four center-right parties. The Alliance offered alternative policies on job creation that persuaded voters. Fredrik Reinfeldt stepped down with approval ratings of well over 50 percent after Sweden's general election in 2014.
   
   There had been growing discord in the party over the controversial December Agreement, a deal struck between the ruling centre-left coalition and the Alliance opposition – the Moderates, the Centre Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats – to thwart a budget crisis in late 2014. The Moderates are focused on job creation and cutting taxes. After eight years in power the party lost out to the Social Democrats in Sweden's general election in 2014, but it remains Sweden's largest opposition party.

3. The Center Party maintains close ties to rural Sweden. The Centre Party has rural roots, emerging from Sweden's Farmers' League, which was set up more than one hundred years ago. The main priorities of the party include providing a sound economic climate for business and job creation, rural development, climate change and environmental concerns, and health and welfare issues. Agricultural and environmental issues remain key concerns alongside allowing local communities to make their own decisions. More recently the party has tried to attract urban voters by promising help for small businesses.

4. The Left Party, formerly the Communist Party, focuses on feminist issues, employment in the public sector, and the environment. It opposes privatization, cuts in public expenditure, Swedish participation in NATO activities, and EU membership. Its voter base consists mainly of young people, public sector employees, feminists, journalists, and former social democrats. The Left Party still provides an "ideological anchor" for the SDP's leftist and labor factions. Many of these SDP supporters cast their ballots for the Left Party on election day to ensure that "Comrade 4%" stays in Parliament, Linde added, alluding to the need for a party to garner at least 4% of the national vote in order to be represented in the legislature.

5. The Christian Democrat Party is conservative and value-oriented. Its voter base is primarily among members of conservative churches and rural populations. Christian Democrats seek government support for families and better ethical practices to improve care for the elderly. The Christian Democrats have been trying to move away from their religious roots and build wider support, but the party struggled to gain popularity. It only just reached the four-percent threshold needed to secure seats in the Swedish parliament in the last general election in September 2014, having previously held top ministerial posts as part of the centre-right Alliance. Busch Thor is widely expected to favor a more right-wing agenda than her predecessor and she has said that she plans to promote the party's traditional conservative values and to fight to increase rights for families in Sweden.

6. The Liberal Party's platform is "social responsibility without socialism," which includes a commitment to a free-market economy combined with comprehensive Swedish social welfare programs. Foreign aid, education and women's equality also are popular issues. The Liberal Party base is mainly centered in educated middle-class voters. The Liberal Party is part of the centre-right Alliance. Its core supporters are middle-class voters. The party is focused on improving education, encouraging more open immigration, joining Nato and nuclear expansion. It also promotes what it calls “feminism without socialism”, aiming to secure equal opportunities by investing in work sectors dominated by women and encouraging men to share childcare responsibilities. The party has been plummeting in the polls and a survey in April 2015 put their approval ratings at 3.5 percent, meaning it would not make it into parliament if an election was held then.

7. The Green Party is a leftist environmentalist party that attracts young people. The Greens support a phasing-out of nuclear energy in Sweden and hope to replace it with alternative, environmentally friendly energy sources. The Greens first won seats in the Swedish parliament in 1988. They had hoped to become the third largest party in the September 2014 elections, but lost out to the nationalist Sweden Democrats. The Greens did, however, enter government for the first time in 2014, after forming a coalition with the Social Democrats. The party is focused on fighting climate change and promotes policies designed to protect the planet for future generation. Some issues on which it has sparred with its coalition partners include the potential closure of Bromma airport, which it supports, and the building of a motorway bypass around Stockholm, which it is against.

8. The Pirate Party -- founded in January 2006, attracted young voters angry over the guilty verdict in the Pirate Bay trial, the unpopular EU Ipred directive, and new national laws criminalizing file sharing and authorizing monitoring of emails. It campaigned on reformation of copyright and patent law and opposition to a wiretapping law proposed by the Swedish security services. The Pirates see themselves as an historic movement analogous to working-class and the green movements. The Pirates have some of the same voter base as the far-right nationalist Sweden Democrats -- young men with mistrust for politicians.

9. The nationalistic Sweden Democrats is a party which all Swedish parliamentary parties view as undemocratic and xenophobic. The nationalist Sweden Democrats were founded in 1988, evolving from far-right organizations with neo-Nazi roots. A significant group of more extreme Sweden Democrats left the party in 2001 to form the National Democrats.
   
   In recent years the party has worked to tone down its image as a racist and extremist group, including through mass expulsions of some of its more conservative members, causing a rift between the mother party and its youth wing which wants to pursue a more radical path. However, cutting immigration remains the party's main goal.
   
   It gained 2.9% of the national vote in September 2006, capitalizing on anti-immigration sentiment. The party and its views on restricting immigration are treated with suspicion by the mainstream parties and media. The Sweden Democrats claim that they are only proposing policies similar to existing laws in Denmark. The party's relative electoral success will give it a more visible role in questioning Swedish immigration policy. Critics claim that the party is xenophobic. At the same time many politicians and opinion makers explain the success of the Sweden Democrats as a phenomenon of people voting in protest against the establishment.