<p>This paper addresses how political parties make decisions. Parties often have to choose between conflicting objectives such as influence on policy, control of the government, and support among the voters. This paper examines the behavior of the two Swedish parties on one of their particular policy positions: Swedish withdrawal from the EU. The aim is to describe why the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) and the Green Party (Miljöpartiet) retain this</p><p>specific policy position when it on one hand seems damaging to their chances of getting into government, and on the other seems to be an unrealistic policy to realize. I undertake a twocase study of the two Swedish parties, which I assume to represent a population of Nordic parties critical to the EU. I employ a theory based on an analytical framework of three models of party goals and behaviors: office, policy or votes. The analysis seeks to identify the factors</p><p>and the motives behind the parties’ stubborn policy. By studying material from two party congresses and interviewing representatives from each party, I conclude that the policy position is important mainly for reasons of principle and symbolism. The structure of the EU represents all that the Left and the Greens dislike and, together with the Swedish critical EU opinion, it becomes almost a duty for the parties to keep their strong aversion towards Swedish membership in the EU. And while the parties do not perceive that the keeping of the policy would be an obstacle for other party goals, it will not be cut out from the party program.</p>

This paper addresses how political parties make decisions. Parties often have to choose between conflicting objectives such as influence on policy, control of the government, and support among the voters. This paper examines the behavior of the two Swedish parties on one of their particular policy positions: Swedish withdrawal from the EU. The aim is to describe why the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) and the Green Party (Miljöpartiet) retain this specific policy position when it on one hand seems damaging to their chances of getting into government, and on the other seems to be an unrealistic policy to realize. I undertake a twocase study of the two Swedish parties, which I assume to represent a population of Nordic parties critical to the EU. I employ a theory based on an analytical framework of three models of party goals and behaviors: office, policy or votes. The analysis seeks to identify the factors and the motives behind the parties’ stubborn policy. By studying material from two party congresses and interviewing representatives from each party, I conclude that the policy position is important mainly for reasons of principle and symbolism. The structure of the EU represents all that the Left and the Greens dislike and, together with the Swedish critical EU opinion, it becomes almost a duty for the parties to keep their strong aversion towards Swedish membership in the EU. And while the parties do not perceive that the keeping of the policy would be an obstacle for other party goals, it will not be cut out from the party program.