The Impact of the Radical Right: Lessons from the Local Level in Sweden, 2002-2006

Abstract

The aim of this article is to further develop the argument that the interaction between radical right-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.

Voters' Perceptions of Policy Convergence and the Short‐term Opportunities of Anti‐immigrant Parties: Examples from Sweden

“…In order to operationalise and , a number of items in the survey have been specifically designed to tap into citizens' perceptions of the policy alternatives supplied by mainstream parties. Since competition between mainstream parties has become increasingly bipolar in Sweden (Hagevi ), while the SD is excluded from all formal cooperation (e.g., Loxbo ), the measures direct attention to perceived policy differences between the two blocs. The lead question, which is identical for a number of policy areas, reads: ‘When you think about the current political discussion between the political blocs on [policy area is specified], would you like policy differences to be smaller or greater?’ The respondents were then asked to grade their answer on a scale from 0 (demand for much smaller policy differences) to 10 (demand for much greater policy differences).…”

Ethnic Segregation and Xenophobic Party Preference: Exploring the Influence of the Presence of Visible Minorities on Local Electoral Support for the Sweden Democrats

“…In this study, we disregard potential variations in factors such as local party organization and municipal level party competition (but see Loxbo, ).…”

“…Although outside the scope of this study, it may be noted that scholarly work has also been directed toward possible consequences of the relative success of xenophobic parties. Aside from investigating their actual degree of policy influence, studies have also explored how other more “mainstream” parties respond to the challengers in terms of rhetoric as well as coalition building (Boréus, ; Dahlström & Esaiasson, ; Dahlström & Sundell, ; Loxbo, ).…”

Do Anti‐immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy

“…The Swedish party system can be divided into two blocs: a centre‐left, ‘red‐green’ bloc, containing the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Left Party; and a centre‐right, ‘bourgeois’ bloc, containing the Moderate Party, the Liberals, the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats (Aylott & Bolin ). Data for the ‘balance of power’ variable was originally collected by Wångmar () and Loxbo ().…”