| 1. |
- Erlingsson, Gissur Ó, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Anti-immigrant parties, local presence and electoral success
- 2012
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Ingår i: Local Government Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0300-3930 .- 1743-9388. ; 38:6, s. 817-839
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Does the local organisational presence of anti-immigrant parties affect their chances for electoral success? In order to answer this question, the article explores the potential of a supply-oriented explanation to anti-immigrant party success by examining the electoral advancements the Sweden Democrats (SD) made in the 2006 and 2010 elections. Our results indicate that traditional demand side-explanations to anti-immigrant party success can be successfully complemented by a ‘internal supply-side argument’ to make the electoral fates of these parties more intelligible. Whether the SD had a local organisational presence had a substantial effect on its results in the national election and on the probability of gaining representation in local councils. Thus, the party´s fate in the national as well as local elections was largely determined by whether or not it had a local organisational presence in Swedish municipalities.
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| 2. |
- Babajan, Tigran, 1986-
(författare)
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Oligarchs, State Power and Mass Opinion : A Study of the Role of Oligarchs in Post-Soviet Pseudo-democracies
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis attempts to understand the role of oligarchs in post-Soviet pseudo-democratic regime trajectories. The two dominant, competing streams of prior work have emphasized either the importance of state power or that of mass opinion in these processes in order to explain why some regimes successfully maintain their grip on power, while others make gradual steps towards democratization. However, the role of oligarchs has been largely overlooked; a gap filled by this study. It employs both widely accepted, as well as unique data to approach the research problem. The work presented in this thesis involves large-N surveys, analyses of media reports and an in-depth case study. There are three key findings:First, for an overwhelming majority of citizens in post-Soviet pseudo-democracies, oligarchs’ actual, negative influence on the political system as well as popular perceptions of unfair wealth concentration are conducive to beliefs that a non-democratic regime is what is needed in order to set things right in their country.Second, the findings from Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine demonstrate that four politically motivated, rival oligarchs focused on enhancing their reputation and organizational capacity in their struggles for power. In all four countries, regimes used their state power to counter the rival oligarchs. Evidence from Armenia and Russia provides a nuanced understanding of these interactions. In particular, incumbents in these countries used their state power to manipulate public opinion in order to damage the reputation and credibility of the rival oligarchs. This thesis suggests that the main regime leaders do so in order to portray themselves as more trustworthy than their oligarch rivals.Third, a survey analysis of Kyiv university students shows that they view most oligarchs as corrupt and harmful to their political system. According to the survey results, oligarchs’ concentration of wealth appears to disqualify them from being legitimate political players. Yet, further evidence from this thesis suggests that people differentiate between oligarchs as a group and as individuals, which allows at least some oligarchs to enhance their reputation by using their vast material wealth. I conclude this thesis by discussing possible policy and societal implication of the results and by setting out some new venues of future research.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Blombäck, Sofie, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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DIPAC Government Declaration Data : Technical Report 2.0
- 2022
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The data described in this report were collected for the DIPAC-project. The project’s aim was to investigate the proposed crisis of parties and party systems in Western Europe during the last four decades. The implications of the crisis are that the link between political parties and citizens has been broken, that the political substance of the dominant parties is becoming increasingly similar, and that party systems are being fragmented along new cleavages where right-wing populist, anti-immigration parties are being set against their opposites, such as green parties. The project aimed to answer the following two questions: 1. To what extent are the ideas and policies of political parties converging or diverging in Western European party systems? 2. Are changes in the parties’ ideas and policies initiated mainly by the parties, or are they adjusting to voter demand arising from social changes? One of our main goals was to collect and analyze data on governments in established democracies in a systematic and comparable manner for the time-period from the mid-1970s to the mid-2010s. The eight cases in focus in the project are Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland (not included in this data set), the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
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| 6. |
- Bolin, Niklas, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Radical right parties, organizational maturity and electoral success.The Sweden Democrats and the elections of 2006 and 2010
- 2014
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Although it is commonly claimed that radical right parties, by developing viable partyorganisations, ultimately are masters of their own electoral fates, we argue that previousresearch is devoid of empirical evidence supporting this proposition. Drawing on extensivesubnational data from Sweden, this article breaks new ground by gauging the impact of threeunique measures on the electoral performance of the Sweden Democrats in the 2006 and 2010elections. When controlling for crucial demand- and supply-side factors that are beyond thecontrol of radical right parties themselves we find that the size, competence, and cohesion ofthe party organisation all were decisive to the electoral performance of the SD. Consideringthat Sweden is often viewed as a least likely case for radical right party success, we concludeby arguing that these partisan challengers most likely are more capable of organising forelectoral success than hitherto assumed.
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| 7. |
- Farjam, Mike, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
-
Experimental evidence of a bandwagon effect on voting
- 2019
-
Ingår i: 6th International Meeting on Experimental and Behavioral Social Sciences (IMEBESS).
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social influence and conformity have been thoroughly studied by social psychologists, leading political scientist to the postulation of the bandwagon effect. However, despite its relevance, the bandwagon effect, claiming that seeing pre-election polls makes votes for majority options more likely, has not been properly tested for political voting and evidence regarding this effect is mixed. Experiments either were ran in very abstract contexts only vaguely representing political voting, or only testing the effect of polls on opinions or hypothetical votes . We present an unique experimental design with more realism than previous designs, keeping the experimental control needed to make causal claims.We tested in an online experiment with 1115 participants from the US how votes change when pre-election polls are shown. Our experimental design is unique in that the votes of the participants have real-world consequences within their electoral area (the US), empower actual political organizations falling on a left-right spectrum, and the votes are on issues currently debated in US politics (firearms, abortion, immigration, and environment). Per issue participants chose between three different charities, representing different positions within the political spectrum. As a result of the experiment 1200$ were distributed across these charities as suggested by the vote.In line with the bandwagon-effect, we find clear evidence that seeing poll results makes votes for majority opinion more likely. After seeing the surveys, majority opinions received an extra ~7% of votes. In our experiment this effect did not depend on the electoral system and was robust against controlling for the gender and age of voters and the self-assessment on a left-right spectrum. However, we find evidence that under extreme-polarization (where moderate position are the least popular option) the bandwagon-effect is much weaker.
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| 8. |
- Farjam, Mike, et al.
(författare)
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Social conformity or attitude persistence? : The bandwagon effect and the spiral of silence in a polarized context
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1745-7297 .- 1745-7289. ; , s. 1-21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines whether and to what extent the bandwagon effect and the spiral of silence impact opinion formation in a polarized context, where individuals tend to be persistent in their policy attitudes. Focusing on contentious policy issues at the heart of the culture war in American politics, our aim is to study the relative importance of attitude persistence and social conformity in the opinion-formation process, and how these responses depend on individuals’ ideological commitments. We conducted an experimental study of US citizens, where participants donated money to organizations advocating opposed positions on seven of the most contentious issues in American politics. Utilizing the presentation of opinion polls as a treatment, the findings are threefold. First, we show that polls cause ideologically moderate people to abandon the minority and conform to the majority opinion regardless of the issue at stake. By contrast, we show that attitude persistence prevails among ideologically extreme people. Second, we demonstrate that seeing polls generally demobilizes people with minority views. Third, we find that opinion-conversion and demobilization jointly undermine minority opinions, while only a small minority of extremists repels both mechanisms. These findings have important implications for research on opinion formation in today's polarized political landscape.
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| 9. |
- Gunnarson, Carina, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Antimafia, School and the Promotion of Generalized trust
- 2009
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article analyses whether it is possible to develop generalized trust through public action at the grass-root level. We will analyse the impact of seven public schools in Palermo, Sicily, a city that is largely dominated by organized crime. Hierarchical regression analysis shows that the most important school factors for the development of generalized trust are related to openness of school structures, fairness of institutions, the character of peer interaction and students’ participation in voluntary organized activities within the school premises. The positive effects of participation in voluntary school activities can be contrasted to the negative influence of participation in social groups outside the realm of the school. The analysis also shows a small but significant effect of the family’s socio-cultural level on generalised trust. The article uses unique panel data collected at two different occasions in Palermo, in 2002 and 2005. The students were 10-11 years old in the first panel wave and 13-14 years old in the second.
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| 10. |
- Gunnarson, Carina, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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School and the promotion of generalised trust : Experiences from Sicily
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Trust Research. - Routledge : Informa UK Limited. - 2151-5581 .- 2151-559X. ; 2:2, s. 171-201
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores how generalised trust increases or decreases over time as a result of students’ individual experiences of informal school institutions. However, since experiences in local settings are likely to have varying effects on trust in different groups of strangers, we disentangle the concept of generalised trust and separate between different group-trust items. In the article, we show that three of these measure in-group generalised trust while one taps out-group generalised trust. Drawing on original data, collected in seven public schools in Palermo, Italy, between 2002 and 2005, we conclude that experiences of the school climate are transferred to both in-group and out-group generalised trust. However, our second main conclusion is that involvement in associations outside of school tends to generate distrust in people who resemble the respondents’ ingroup. By distinguishing between in-group and out-group generalised trust, we thus show that school experiences generate trust in unknown people in general, whereas other localised experiences are exclusively transferred to trust, or distrust, in familiar groups of people. We conclude by arguing that these findings are of potentially great importance to trust research since they suggest that generalised trust is less stable and more multi-faceted than previously thought. Moreover, since Palermo is a critical case, we argue that our results are encouraging. If schools can generate trust here, then schools are likely to have a similar effect elsewhere, in more favorable settings.
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| 11. |
- Gunnarsson, Mattias, 1979-
(författare)
-
Mobilisera, passivisera eller vinna : har skandinaviska partiers tävlan om röster förändrats?
- 2019
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna licentiatuppsats lägger grunden för att undersöka om skandinaviska partiers tävlan om röster har förändrats så som den uttrycks i partiernas valmanifest. Därigenom testas dels om det finns en förändrad partitävlan i Skandinavien, dels om en eventuell förändring i partitävlan drivs av en existerande tävlansstruktur ärvd från 1970-talet, om partiernas tävlan om röster helt eller delvis försvunnit eller om partiernas tävlan snarast handlar om konkurrens om väljarnas rösterInom partiforskningen har den så kallade kartellpartitesen haft ett mycket stort genomslag. I korthet innebär denna att partier snarast försöker passivisera väljare genom att inte erbjuda alternativ vare sig i policy eller ideologi till skillnad från tidigare då partier i första hand försökt mobilisera sina kärnväljare och erbjudit tydliga skillnader i såväl policy som ideologi. Mot dessa två beskrivningar kan även ställas en tredje baserad på ett antagande om skärpt partikonkurrens där det gäller att vinna alltmer rörliga väljare. För att testa dessa tre hypoteser studeras valmanifest från 1970 till 2010 från agrara, konservativa och socialdemokratiska partier i Danmark, Norge och Sverige.Resultatet visar snarast på stark konkurrens inom samtliga partisystem oavsett vilken partifamilj som studeras. Valmanifesten blir tydligare och tendera att mer och mer betona policytävlan, men det finns även en konstant närvaro av värderingar i valmanifesten. Detta talar framförallt mot att tävlans bortdöende, men för att slutgiltigt utvärdera resultaten krävs närmare studier av vilka policys och vilka värderingar som presenteras och om dessa förskjuts eller förändras över tid.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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Changed Policy Congruence Between Political Parties and Voters? : A Comparative Study of Seven Party Systems in Western Europe
- 2018
-
Ingår i: ECPR General Conference. ; , s. 1-19
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is about changed policy congruence between voters and political parties in seven party system in Western Europe. To investigate change, this paper includes policy congruence between voters and political parties during five decades starting in the 1970s. According to scholars of political parties, especially advocates of the cartel thesis such as Katz and Mair, representative democracy in Western Europe is in an ever-widening crisis since the links between citizens and political parties are broken. By comparing unique data of the actual LeftRight and GAL-TAN positions in the election manifestos of 70 West European parties with corresponding views among their voters, this study argues that the crisis of representation is largely exaggerated. Instead, the policy congruence between current parties and voters, on left-right as well as gal-tan issues, tend to be at least as good as the time before the alleged crisis of representation started.
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| 14. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
DIPAC CITIZEN DATA : Technical report 1.0
- 2019
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The data described in this report were collected for the DIPAC-project: Decreased Ideological Polarisation and Conflict in Western Europe? This report describes DIPAC Citizen data set. The first part of this report gives information on the project as a whole, including discussions of case selection and core concepts. Following this, there are a technical report the DIPAC citizen data set.
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| 15. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
Fragmentation and Ideological Stretch within European Party Systems in Established Democracies : A First Draft
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Swedish Political Science Association (SWEPSA) Annual Meeting. ; , s. 1-17
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is about a relation between party fragmentation and ideological distance between parties in 18 European party systems in established democracies during six decades, starting in the 1950s. The study aims to answer this basic question: Does a high degree of party fragmentation tend to increase the ideological stretch within European party systems in established democracies? To determine ideological distances between parties, we study the Manifesto Project Database (MPD). To gauge party fragmentation, we use data from election results in established European democracies reported in the Comparative Political Dataset (CPD). Our preliminary findings suggest that high party fragmentation tend to lead to large ideological stretch within party systems on the Left-Right dimension, but not on the GAL-TAN dimension.
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| 16. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
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”Låt partimedlemmarna rösta om ny partiledare”
- 2015
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Ingår i: Dagens Nyheter. - Stockholm : AB Dagens Nyheter. - 1101-2447. ; :16 september, s. 6-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Stoppa flykten. De politiska partierna har förlorat medlemmar sedan 80-talet och de kvarvarande går i allt större utsträckning i otakt med partiernas väljare. Botemedlet är att göra medlemskap mer attraktivt för stora grupper genom ökad interndemokrati. Låt medlemmarna välja ordförande i direkta val, skriver två docenter i statsvetenskap.
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| 17. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
Partierna och demokratin efter medlemsnedgången
- 2015. - 1
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Ingår i: Låt fler forma framtden!. - Stockholm : Wolters Kluwer. - 9789138243725 ; , s. 13-64
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Del I inleds med ett kapitel som handlar om hur de politiska partiernas verklighet och förutsättningar har förändrats under de senaste decennierna. Magnus Hagevi och Karl Loxbo belyser i Partierna och demokratin efter medlemsnedgången de problem som den stora nedgången i antal partimedlemmar har inneburit för partiernas interna demokrati och för partiernas roll som länk mellan medborgare och makthavare i den representativa demokratin. De fastslår att avståndet mellan medlemmar och väljare har vuxit, men att medlemsinflytandet samtidigt har förbättrats.
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| 18. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965-, et al.
(författare)
-
Party realignment in Western Europe : Electoral drivers and global constraints
- 2022. - 1
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying a crisis for representative democracy in Western European party systems, this essential book studies the widening gap between political parties’ ideological economic Left–Right rhetoric. Combining in-depth theoretical analysis with empirical research, it addresses whether political party ideologies are converging or diverging, and whether these changes are initiated by the parties themselves, aligned with voter demand, or forced by economic globalization.
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| 19. |
- Hagevi, Magnus, 1965, et al.
(författare)
-
Party Realignment in Western Europe. Electoral Drivers and Global Constraints
- 2022
-
Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Identifying a crisis for representative democracy in Western European party systems, this essential book studies the widening gap between political parties’ ideological economic Left–Right rhetoric and their increasing convergence on policymaking. Addressing whether these ideologies are converging or diverging, it answers whether these changes are initiated by the parties themselves, aligned with voter demand, or forced by economic globalization. The crisis of representative democracy in Western Europe is a prevalent issue in comparative politics. This comprehensive study assesses the problems faced by representative democracy by analysing ideological polarization and inter-party conflict in relation to the changing linkage between citizens, parties, and public policies, and the implications this has for representative democracy. Considering both supply-side and demand-side theories, it analyses five major theoretical themes central to the ideological convergence and polarization within party systems, including the cartel party thesis, the median voter theorem, realignment theory, consensus democracy theory, and globalization theory. Going beyond theory, chapters use five decades of empirical research to present new and unique longitudinal and comparative data sets covering eight party systems, ultimately providing a more accurate diagnosis of the vitality of representative democracy in contemporary Western Europe. Combining in-depth theoretical analysis with empirical research, this comprehensive book will prove invaluable to students and scholars of politics and political science, and policymakers concerned with party systems.
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| 20. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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Att rösta mot systemet
- 2012. - 1
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Ingår i: Den svenska väljaren. - : Boréa Bokförlag. - 9789189140783 ; , s. 165-181
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 21. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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Bakom lyckta dörrar : Beslutsprocessen bakom den svenska pensionsreformen
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift. - 0039-0747. ; 111:3, s. 239-264
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The reform of the Swedish pension scheme (ATP) illustrates a surprising ability among Swedish politicians to sidestep entrenched partisan conflicts and establish consensus. Although several studies set out to explain the comparatively successful reform, the significance of new, and exclusive, institutions for decision-making has largely been overlooked. The hypothesis of this article, however, suggests that the creation of these new institutions is what really explains the Swedish success story. In order to test the hypothesis, decisions and negotiations leading up to the reform are process-traced, and opinions among voters and central actors that were excluded from the process are explored. The results indicate that the pension reform was made possible by the highly restricted decision-making process, and also cast doubts on whether the same pension reform would have been possible without it. These new institutions for decision-making, however, might have negative consequences for the future functions of representative democracy.
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| 22. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Bakom socialdemokraternas beslut. : - från 1950-talets ATP-strid till 1990-talets pensionsuppgörelse
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 1959, the Swedish Social Democratic Party prevailed over the bourgeois parties in the great battle for supplementary pensions (ATP). In the 1990’s, however, the party leadership decided to abolish the ATP in close cooperation with the bourgeois parties. The thesis poses the following question: “What prospects did the Social Democratic leadership have to gain support for the ATP-reform in the 1950’s, and then for the quite dissimilar pension reform in the 1990’s, and how can differences between these prospects be explained?” In order to explain the kind of party change pointed out in the problem statement, this thesis proposes a theoretical perspective that focuses on the tension between different roles played by the party leadership on different arenas. The hypothesis, that is tested in the thesis, is that early decisions create different constrains for future decisions on different arenas. The thesis has two main conclusions. The first conclusion is that the decision to implement the generous ATP-system in the 1950’s in practice laid the ground for the subsequent abolishment of that same system in the 1990’s. The second conclusion is that the pragmatism, always displayed on the parliamentary arena, has not been visible on the electoral arena or on the party arena. The party leadership plays different roles on different arenas, and over time these different roles have become hard, if not impossible, to combine. The result of this was that decisions on the parliamentary arena were decoupled from messages and rhetoric about these decisions on the party arena, and on the electoral arena. The pension reform in the 1990’s was quite a different decision compared to the popular introduction of the ATP-system. Both of these decisions, however, were attempts by the party leadership to maximize support on each arena. The possibilities for succeeding in this venture were greatly reduced in the 1990’s. Instead of one party striving for one goal, Swedish Social Democracy in the 1990’s appeared as two or three parties, with different objectives and goals.
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| 23. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Cartelisation and Europeanisation?
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Cartelisation, Convergence or Increasing Similarities?. - : ECPR Press. - 9781785522543 ; , s. 97-118
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Electoral Competition between Social Democracy and the Populist Radical Right : How Welfare Regimes Shape Electoral Outcomes
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Political Studies. - 0032-3217 .- 1467-9248. ; , s. 003232172311733-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines how the growing competition over immigration and welfare between social democratic parties and populist radical right parties impacts electoral outcomes. The study argues that the historical legacies of the social democratic and conservative welfare regimes influence how voters respond to this competitive struggle. The findings support this argument. In the social democratic regime, populist radical right parties gain more support when they compete over welfare, although Nordic social democratic parties can mitigate this trend by appearing tough on immigration. However, populist radical right parties’ emphasis on welfare is the main source of electoral mobilization, particularly among voters with anti-immigration sentiments. In the conservative regime, the competitive dynamic is less connected to immigration, and populist radical right parties’ welfare discourse appeals primarily to economically vulnerable voters, while social democratic parties lose votes by taking a strict stance on immigration. These results have important implications and suggest that welfare regimes shape voting behaviour differently today than in previous eras.
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| 26. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Ethnic diversity, out-group contacts and social trust in a high-trust society
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Acta Sociologica. - London : Sage Publications. - 0001-6993 .- 1502-3869. ; 61:2, s. 182-201
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although ethnic diversity is widely believed to undermine social trust, several scholars have argued that this outcome ultimately depends on the extent of high-quality contacts between diverse groups as well as the extent of equality in society. This article scrutinises these different hypotheses by exploring the association between ethnic diversity and social trust among Swedish schoolchildren. Building on data from Sweden, where legacies of equality would be expected to provide unique opportunities for building trust among diverse groups, the contribution of the article to the literature is twofold. First, it was found that contextual diversity is only weakly related to adolescents’ trust. Furthermore, while interactions revealed that a higher socio-economic level in a classroom reinforces, rather than cushions, the adverse effect, it is concluded that contextual measures obscure the micro-level dynamic underlying the association between diversity and trust in classrooms. Second, when accounting for compositional effects, and the distinction between in-group and out-group contact, the findings strongly supported the conflict hypothesis, while rejecting the contact hypothesis. The principal finding is that ethnic diversity in a classroom undermines social trust among native-born adolescents, whereas the effect is the exact opposite for minorities. In addition, social trust is only promoted if adolescents interact with members of their ethnic in-group. Because these disconcerting results were found in the high-trust context of Sweden, it is suggested that similar findings are likely in less favourable settings. The article concludes by arguing that the high levels of social trust in traditionally homogenous, but increasingly segregated, countries such as Sweden may conceal the fact that individuals primarily include others who are similar to themselves in their ‘imagined communities’.
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| 27. |
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| 28. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Europeisering och kartellisering av nationella partisystem? : Förändrade konfliktlinjer mellan partierna i riksdagens EU-nämnd mellan 1995 och 2012
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift. - 0039-0747. ; 116:1, s. 123-147
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several scholars argue that Europeanization, by transferring political authority to non-partisan supra-national institutions, leads to depoliticization, and even party system cartelization, at the national level. Other scholars, however, maintain that European integration instead is likely to boost partisan conflicts over time. This article tests these rival hypotheses – depoliticization or politicization – using a case study of Swedish European Affairs Committee between 1995 and 2012. If Europeanization results in depoliticization and a waning of opposition, the article argues that the Swedish experiences are likely to confirm this tendency. Yet, in contrast to these expectations, the article presents evidence indicating that partisan struggles on Europeanization in Sweden – particularly on issues of relevance to the left-right divide – has intensified significantly over time. Therefore, the article casts a shadow of doubt over the hypothesis of depoliticization, as well as over the influential cartel party thesis, while instead supporting the rival hypothesis of increased politicization.
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| 29. |
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| 30. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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Hög generell tillit och låg tolerans mot främlingar?
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Surveyjournalen. - : Linnaeus University. - 2001-9327. ; 1:2, s. 68-85
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In light of Sweden’s exceptionally high levels of generalised trust, a widely argued view is that this country is well equipped to counterbalance contemporary challenges of xenophobia and build trust between diverse groups. However, while trust remains at high levels in Sweden, the same, somewhat paradoxically, goes for xenophobic attitudes. Therefore, the main question addressed in this article is why many Swedes report that they trust ‘most people in general’ while simultaneously displaying high levels of xenophobia. Drawing on unique survey-data, the article presents three main answers. First, the article shows that Swedish respondents place much more trust in their cultural in-group – which they tend to equate with ‘most people’ – than in their cultural out-group. Second, when relating these different measures of trust to respondents’ degree of xenophobia, on the one hand, and their party preferences, on the other hand, the article shows that an overwhelming majority of the electorate report that they trust people from Western Europe, while only a minority report that they tolerate and trust non-Europeans. Third, and most crucially, the article finds that high trust in the cultural out-group is associated with tolerance, whereas high trust in the in-group instead appears to breed xenophobia.
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| 31. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Parliamentary opposition on the wane? : The Case of Sweden, 1970–2014
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Government and Opposition. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0017-257X .- 1477-7053. ; 52:4, s. 587-613
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While it is commonly assumed that parliamentary opposition is on the wane in Western democracies, we argue that evidence supporting this established proposition is lacking. Therefore, drawing on unique data from the Swedish parliament (the Riksdag), between 1970 and 2014, this article breaks new ground by systematically testing the ‘waning–of–opposition thesis’. First, we explore patterns of cross-partisan cooperation by gauging the extent to which governments seek to accommodate the position of the opposition. Second, we tap into the degree of partisan conflict over time by mapping the degree to which the opposition politicises and rejects government policies. Our findings directly contradict the waning–of–opposition thesis. In contrast to theoretical expectations, including the influential ‘cartel party thesis’, the article finds that partisan struggles in general have intensified significantly over time. Therefore, the article casts a serious shadow of doubt over the influential idea that parliamentary opposition is waning.
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| 32. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Party Organizational Development and the Electoral Performance of the Radical Right : Exploring the Role of Local Candidates in the Breakthrough Elections of the Sweden Democrats 2002-2014
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties. - : Routledge. - 1745-7289 .- 1745-7297. ; 26:2, s. 170-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is today commonplace to view radical right parties as masters of their own fates. However, whereas most authors in the field focus on dominant leaders, the impact of party organizations remains understudied. To remedy some of this, we study the impact of three unique measures of organizational development on the electoral performance of the Sweden Democrats (SD) in four consecutive local elections between 2002 and 2014. When controlling for crucial demand- and supply-side factors, while holding the appeal of the national leadership constant, we find that the size, competence, and stability of the local candidate base were all decisive for explaining the success of the SD. These findings suggest that a developed organizational base not only matters to the long-term persistence of radical right parties, but also to their electoral breakthrough. Additionally, we suggest that party organizations are likely to have a greater impact in countries where radical right parties are already established. We conclude by arguing that our findings potentially provide insights into mechanisms that explain how new parties in general establish themselves
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| 33. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Reliability testing of coded election manifesto data in the DIPAC-project
- 2019
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The data described in this report were collected for the DIPAC-project.1 The project’s aim was to closer investigate the proposed crisis of parties and party systems in Western Europe during the last decades. To fulfil this aim, one of our main goals was to collect electoral manifestos from all parties in the respective party system for all selected years, and code their ideological contents. The main reason for our choice to code manifestos was to provide a more detailed and nuanced foundation for analyzing ideological polarization and ideological change in Western European party system than the saliency-oriented perspective that has hitherto dominated manifesto-research. In this report, we conclude that the DIPAC coding of ideological position has yielded highly reliable measures, whereas the coding of saliency should be interpreted with some caution with regard to the GAL-TAN dimension and sub-dimensions.
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Sverigedemokraterna : Framgångsrikt enfrågefokus
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift. - : Fahlbeckska stiftelsen. - 0039-0747. ; 117:2, s. 169-187
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Sweden Democrats: Single-Issue Focus and Electoral Success. In the 2014 election, the Sweden Democrats (SD) established itself as the third big- gest party in Sweden. With the aim of explaining this unexpected electoral breakthrough, I argue that stigmatised parties like the SD ultimately shape their own fates by choosing how to exploit political opportunities that face them in different arenas. Drawing on a variety of data sources, I support this argument by presenting evidence indicating that the vast mobilisation SD-voters in 2014 largely is a prod- uct of strategies by the SD-leadership to exploit a perceived political vacuum in the wake of convergence between mainstream parties. The article suggests, moreover, that the very high degree of stigmatisation surrounding the SD, in fact, has facilitated internal strategies to normalise the ideological appeal of the party. In light of these findings, the article concludes by arguing that the current actions of Swedish mainstream parties are bound to further strengthen the SD.
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| 36. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
-
The decline of Western European social democracy: Exploring the transformed link between welfare state generosity and the electoral strength of social democratic parties, 1975–2014
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Party Politics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1354-0688 .- 1460-3683. ; 27:3, s. 430-441
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social democratic parties are crumbling at the polls. Surprisingly, however, the causes of this demise remain largely unexplored. This article contributes to filling this gap in the research by studying the long-term impact of welfare state generosity on the vote share of social democratic parties in 16 Western European democracies. If the welfare state indeed was a key factor behind social democratic growth in the past, we ask whether the recent plight of these parties is down to a reversal of their previously dominant success factor? The article makes three principal findings. First, we show that social democratic parties primarily benefited electorally from expansive reforms at lower levels of welfare state generosity. Second, we find that this dynamic of diminishing returns also helps explain the demise of the Social Democratic party family in the whole of Western Europe. Lastly, our results reveal that programmatic turns to the right predict electoral losses in the least generous welfare states, whereas such shifts either pass unnoticed or predict vote gains in the most generous ones. We conclude by arguing that the structure of welfare state institutions is one important explanation for variations in the demise of the once powerful Social Democratic party family.
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| 37. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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The Fate of Intra-Party Democracy : Leadership Autonomy and Activist influence in the Mass Party and the Cartel Party
- 2013
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Ingår i: Party Politics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1354-0688 .- 1460-3683. ; 19:4, s. 537-554
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article argues that the widespread hypothesis, stating that intra-party democracy has declined since the glory days of the mass party is too sweeping and, largely, empirically groundless. In order to test it, the article draws on a comparison between two internal policy-making processes within the Swedish social democratic party (SAP), one concerning an expansion of welfare benefits, in the 1950s, and the other concerning a retrenchment in the 1990s. If intra-party democracy is in a state of decline, the results of the comparison most likely should confirm this tendency. Yet, the article concludes that party leaders exercised considerably less control, while activists were much more influential, in the 1990s than in the days of mass party mobilization, in the 1950s. Therefore, drawing on a single case study, the article casts doubts over the influential decline hypothesis and proposes new venues for research on the fate of intra-party democracy.
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| 38. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
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The Impact of the Radical Right : Lessons from the Local Level in Sweden, 2002-2006
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Political Studies. - : Wiley. - 0080-6757 .- 1467-9477. ; 33:3, s. 295-315
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to further develop the argument that the interaction between radicalright-wing challengers and mainstream parties is bound to shape not only the trajectory of the latter, but also the future prospects of the former. Drawing on recent developments in Sweden, following the Sweden Democrats’ (SD) appearance in local politics in 2002 and 2006, the article demonstrates that the SD has had an impact on the coalition practices of Swedish mainstream parties, responsible for the emergence of minority governments rather than grand coalitions. This trend suggests that the mere presence of a radical right party, although small and isolated, polarises the party system. The article supports the notion that the interaction between unequal competitors matters to the trajectory of the party system, and further concludes that the current responses of Swedish mainstream parties appear to improve, rather than to curb, the fortunes of the SD in subsequent elections. Finally, the article presents evidence indicating that the presence of the SD in local councils causes increased levels of political conflict.The results imply that the impact of the radical right is more immediate than suggested by previous research.The fact that the typically stable Swedish party system has been put under strain as a result of a seemingly minor challenge suggests that the radical right is a political force with which to be reckoned.
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
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| 41. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Vaksamhet mot korruption och New Public Management
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Offentlig Förvaltning. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration. - Göteborg : Förvaltningshögskolan. - 2000-8058 .- 2001-3310. ; 14:3-4, s. 38-60
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Even in a ‘least corrupt’ case like Sweden, scholars have begun to argue that rapid NPM reform has increased the risks for corruption. With the aim of scrutinizing this argument, this article sets out to map the degree to which the risk for corruption is brought to attention by politicians and civil servants in Swedish municipalities. The article concludes that corruption is a much more salient issue in municipalities with far-reaching NPM-reforms than in municipalities lacking such reform. It is concluded, furthermore, that corruption is likely to become an increasingly important issue on the political agenda if municipalities, regardless of their population size, have a history of client-choice models. Accordingly, the article shows that corruption is framed as a political problem precisely in those contexts where theory predicts that problems ought to be most extensive. Even though the results cannot say anything about the actual levels of corruption in Sweden, they indicate that politicians and civil servants with more extensive experience from NPM appear to acknowledge the increased risks for corruption pointed out by scholars.
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| 42. |
- Loxbo, Karl, 1975-
(författare)
-
Voters' Perceptions of Policy Convergence and the Short-term Opportunites of Anti-immigrant parties : Examples from Sweden
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Political Studies. - : Wiley. - 0080-6757 .- 1467-9477. ; 37:3, s. 239-262
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In contrast to previous studies on the political opportunity structures of anti-immigrant parties, this article argues that voters’ perceptions of policy convergence between mainstream alternatives affect their short-term propensity of supporting such partisan challengers. Drawing on leading research in the field, two hypotheses about voters’ perceptions of policy convergence, in two policy areas (economic-redistribution and immigration), are presented. The main findings in the article suggest that policy convergence between mainstream parties has a more immediate impact on the electorate than commonly recognised. Building on unique data from Sweden, the article shows that perceived convergence between Swedish mainstream parties in the field of immigration policy increases potential support for the anti-immigrant party, the Sweden Democrats (SD). Yet the results are the opposite when it comes to perceptions of convergence in the field of economic-distributive policies. In contrast to widespread assumptions, the article thus finds that policy convergence between mainstream parties only appears to create short-term opportunities for anti-immigrant parties if it takes place on their own policy turf. These results indicate, in other words, that the potential electorate of the SD – which is a wider group than hard-core xenophobes – is largely driven by preferences about immigration policy, rather than the short-term urge to protest against mainstream parties. The article, therefore, concludes that the cordon sanitaire to isolate the SD in Sweden – which is underpinned by de facto convergence between mainstream parties on immigration policy – could improve, an is unlikely to curb, the short-term electoral opportunities of this party.
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| 43. |
- Pircher, Brigitte, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
-
Compliance with EU Law in Times of Disintegration : Exploring Changes in Transposition and Enforcement in the EU Member States between 1997 and 2016
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Common Market Studies. - Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-9886 .- 1468-5965. ; 58:5, s. 1270-1287
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores whether disintegration, in the form of increased non-compliance with EU law, has occurred in the EU member states between 1997 and 2016. The contribution is twofold. First, we develop hypotheses to test the argument that non-compliance with EU law increases when member states experience growing economic constraints and political turbulence. However, the hypotheses are conclusively rejected. Second, while we demonstrate distinct differences between member states’ compliance by the end of the 1990s, our time-series analyses demonstrate that these disparities disappeared over time. Taken together, our findings not only suggest that economic factors, government capacity, and, above all, domestic politics become gradually decoupled from the European integration process but also that cultural differences in law observance become increasingly irrelevant to explain the behaviour of governments. We conclude by arguing that the strong trend towards harmonisation probably is explained by a changed culture of EU transposition and enforcement.
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| 44. |
- Pircher, Brigitte, et al.
(författare)
-
Member states’ compliance with EU law in times of crisis
- 2019
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article explores whether a process of disintegration affected the transposition deficit and infringement procedures in the EU member states between 1997 and 2016. The contribution is twofold. First, we develop hypotheses to test the argument that non-compliance with EU law increases when member states experience growing economic constraints and political turbulence. However, the hypotheses are conclusively rejected. Second, while we demonstrate distinct differences between member states’ compliance by the end of the 1990s, our time-series analyses demonstrate that these disparities disappeared over time. Taken together, our findings not only suggest that economic factors, government capacity, and, above all, domestic politics become gradually decoupled from the European integration process but also that cultural differences in law observance become increasingly irrelevant to explain the behaviour of governments. We conclude by arguing that the strong trend towards harmonisation probably is explained by a changed culture of EU transposition and enforcement.
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| 45. |
- Ricknell, Emma
(författare)
-
Death Penalty in Decline : Brakes and Accelerators in U.S. State Legislatures
- 2021
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- After reaching a peak during the 1990s, death sentences and executions havedeclined throughout the states. During this time, a steady stream of states havetaken the step to join a growing group of abolitionist states, or alternatively, have a moratorium on executions in place. In a parallel development, supportfor the death penalty among the U.S. population has equally waned. However,the trend towards a shrinking death penalty is not without its challenges. The ultimate punishment is still administered in some states, and legislation aiming to maintain the use of the death penalty continue to be proposed and enacted in state legislatures. Previous research provides a wide range of reasons explaining the current situation at state level. This compilation thesis argues that state legislatures, a hitherto less researched area in this context, play a central role in recent developments. With a lack of research on determinants for death penalty legislation, meaning both legislation that aims to limit the use ofthe death penalty and that which aims to maintain or expand it, a significant gap exists in the literature and subsequently our understanding of a declining death penalty. This thesis attempts to address this gap by contributing with fourstudies of a unique set of death penalty legislation in 38 states covering the years 1999-2018. The papers examine legislative activity in terms of both billproposals and enacted legislation, as well as the role of women legislators andthat of governors and their use of vetoes targeting death penalty legislation. Party and institutional aspects are shown to matter to the current development, but with a number of caveats depending on the type of bill and with greatdiversity between different state legislatures and their shaping of death penalty policy.
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| 46. |
- Wångmar, Erik, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Finlands sätt bör bli Sveriges
- 2010
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Ingår i: Kommunalvetenskaplig Tidskrift (i Finland). - Tammerfors : Föreningen för kommunalvetenskap. - 0356-3669. ; :1, s. 90-96
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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