| 1. |
- Brännlund, Anton, et al.
(författare)
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Jolts at the ballot box : Electricity prices and voting in Swedish manufacturing communities
- 2024
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This research examines the overlooked political implications of energy pricing on voting patterns in manufacturing communities, amidst increasing scholarly interest in the political ramifications of Western industrial decline. We focus specifically on the surge in electricity prices and their effect on electoral choices in manufacturing -dense regions in Sweden during the 2022 general elections. The rise in electricity costs holds particular significance given Europe's reliance on imported energy for competitive manufacturing, coupled with the existing constraints on energy supply. With energy prices being a direct threat to industries and influencing the competitiveness of manufacturing firms and job security, we argue that these factors could significantly influence voting behaviour in affected communities. Our findings show that areas with higher electricity costs witnessed a more robust performance by the incumbent Social Democratic Party, suggesting that economic insecurity may indeed spur greater demand for traditional left-wing policies, such as economic compensation.
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| 2. |
- Österman, Marcus, PhD, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Unemployment, workplace socialization, and electoral participation : evidence from Sweden
- 2024
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Ingår i: European Sociological Review. - : Oxford University Press. - 0266-7215 .- 1468-2672. ; 40:1, s. 85-98
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- How unemployment affects electoral participation is a archetypal question in political sociology and of particular relevance in economic crises; in the 1930s as well as during a pandemic. A frequent argument in the literature is that unemployment leads to political withdrawal as the unemployed have to focus on their economy and other personal matters. Some scholars, on the other hand, reason that unemployment triggers political mobilization through feelings of grievance and a strive to protest against leading politicians. However, existing empirical evidence is mixed and often suffers from limitations in data and research design. To make progress on this difficult empirical question, the present study leverages Swedish register data on turnout, spanning nine elections between 1970 and 2018. This extensive panel dataset enables us to more adequately address the causal status of the relationship by relying on the with-in individual variation in turnout. Our results report significant but modest negative effects of both unemployment in general and of losing a relatively well-paid job (job loss). The effects are driven by the young. We also find that the negative effect is less pronounced for those who have previously worked at a workplace where most colleagues participate, supporting a socialization mechanism.
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