The aim of this essay is examine how the Moderate party ideas and values have changed over time in relation to the so-called GAL-TAN dimension. The dimension theorizes values regarding green, alternative and libertarianism against traditional, authoritarian and nationalism. The dimension has recently become relevant for the Swedish political party system and political culture. The source material we use are documents of the Moderate party from 1904 to 2013. We have examine the Moderate party ideas using qualitative and comparative method, the results are presented in the form of a “codified text analysis”. Also, to find a deeper understanding, the results is evaluated in an idea analysis. Finally, we offer an understanding of values and ideas from a cultural and social perspective. The results show that the dimension existed from the very beginning in the Moderate party and that it is most prominent today. The study compared over time, making possible comparisons of cultural positions over time.

Högerpopulismen har vuxit sig stark i Europa och västvärlden på senaste tiden. Fenomen som Trump, Brexit och Sverigedemokraterna är exempel på detta. Sverigedemokraterna har störst stöd bland män och samma mönster återfinns i stora delar av Europa. Könsgapet i partisympati till högerpopulistiska partier är ett omdebatterat ämne men relativt få studier har gjorts kring ämnet. De studier som har försökt förklara könsgapet har ännu inte lycktas – det är därför puzzlet fortfarande återstår. Sveriges politiska konfliktdimension har länge bestått av ekonomiska klasskillnader men det nuvarande politiska klimatet tycks kännetecknas av nya konfliktytor. Dessa ytor består av sakpolitiska frågor som rör kring bland annat; invandring, lag och ordning, miljö och jämställdhet. Vissa forskare hävdar att den traditionella höger/vänster-skalan bör kompletteras med en kulturell dimension. Den dimensionen går ibland under namnet GAL-TAN. För att förstå Sverigedemokraternas framgång och varför partiet lockar till sig fler män har denna studie som avsikt, att med hjälp av GAL-TAN-skalan, försöka förklara könsgapet utifrån eventuella värderingsskillnader mellan män och kvinnor. Värderingsperspektivet underbyggs av andra teorier som förklarar könsgapet mellan män och kvinnor till följd av olika socioekonomiska och sociokulturella positioner i samhället. Studien utförs genom enkätdata från SOM-institutet. Resultatet visar att det inte finns några särskilda könsskillnader i värderingar men att värderingar däremot spelar roll gällande stödet för Sverigedemokraterna, i synnerhet för män.

Den svenska väljarstrukturen har genomgått ett politiskt värderingsskifte, från att enbart präglas av en ekonomisk och materiell höger/- vänsterskala till att utmanas av en postmateriell kulturell dimension som fångar upp grundläggande motsättningar i frågor om nationalstatens gränser och globaliseringens konsekvenser. Den kulturella dimensionen brukar delas in två polariserade riktningar. Gröna, alternativa, och liberala värderingar, även kallade GAL, ställs emot värderingar som är traditionella, auktoritära, och nationalistiska, även kallade TAN. Som ett bidrag till den statsvetenskapliga debatten om postmaterialism och GAL/TAN- skalan syftar denna uppsats till att analysera vad den kulturella dimensionen innebär för det politiska klimatet i Sverige. Med grund i Ronald Ingleharts postmateriella teori undersöker studien hur den svenska väljarskarans syn på postmateriella frågor utvecklats mellan 2010 och 2018. Undersökningen appliceras på valundersökningar i väljarbeteende inom ramen för den valda tidsperioden. Resultaten visar en värderingsökning i postmateriella frågor mellan 2010- 2018, samt en värderingsminskning av materiella fördelningspolitiska frågor under samma period.

This essay will explain the electoral success of radical right parties in thirteen Western European countries over time. Based on a theory of convergence and polarization as a recent for the upsurge of radical right partiers. The two main factors that will be tested as potential explanations to the success of these parties are polarization and convergence along the leftright and the Gal-Tan dimensions respectively. The questions (and hypothesis) that will be answered in the essay are; Does left-right convergence between established parties lead to electoral success for Radical right parties (H1); Does Gal-Tan polarization lead to electoral success for radical right parties (H2). This research problem is approached then with statistical methods. The conclusion is that radical right parties benefits from polarization between parties in the party system on the left right and the Gal-Tan dimensions. Yet, the findings show that Gal-Tan polarization has a more profound effect than left-right polarization.

Donald Trump’s candidacy for president has led to a substantial debate not only in the Republican party but also in the media. Using a two-dimensional theoretical model consisting of the left-right scale and the GAL-TAN scale, this study aims to review the conflict that Donald Trump’s campaign has led to in the Republican party. Using content analysis, a range of statements from Republicans have been analyzed, aiming to answer the following questions; How do the republican political actors contend for or against Donald Trump’s candidacy? and: what material or post-material values are linked to these arguments and statements? This study shows that the conflict following Donald Trump’s candidacy can mainly be placed in the post-material conflict dimension, even though some left-right arguments can also be found in the studied material. The political actors supporting Trump’s candidacy are mainly using arguments possible to place in the TAN-part of the post-material conflict dimension, whereas the actors criticizing Trump are mainly using arguments possible to place in the GAL-part.

The aim of this study is to examine two cleavages in a Swedish political context and how the political debate of parentel leave among the parliamental parties relates to the cleavages. The cleavages examined are the right-left-scale and the new cleavage GAL-TAN. To do so, the study examines party platforms and debate articles to see if the proposals and arguments used are mainly related to the right-left-scale or to GAL-TAN. The result shows that the debate mostly relates to GAL-TAN due to the fact that most parties use proposals and arguments that are connected to social and cultural values, such as equality and freedom of choice, rather than economic values. Even though the proposals and arguments for the most part relate more to GAL-TAN, the economic arguments are not insignificant. Almost all parties discuss economic values in some way but not in the same amount as social and cultural values. This is the case for all parties except for two who focuses on both sides equally much. The main conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that GAL-TAN is a cleavage that is able to organize Swedish party politics in some political areas and can therefore be seen as a complement to the rightleft-scale.

Flyktingkrisen i Europa har lett till nya politiska skiljelinjer och ökat högerextrema partiers väljarstöd. Medan en hög grad av exponering för flyktingar över tid ökar stödet för högerextrema partier har en direkt kontakt med flyktingar visats minska partiernas väljarstöd. Positiva möten har ökat kollektiva handlingar för att ge stöd åt en minoritetsgrupp medan negativa möten minskat dessa handlingar. Med bakgrund i värdedimensionen GAL/TAN har Allports kontakthypotes undersökts i denna kvantitativa enkätstudie. Kontakthypotesen har testats genom att undersöka positiva och negativa möten med flyktingar och deras samvariation med kollektiva handlingar. Handlingar för och emot flyktingar har likställts med en röst på ett invandringsvänligt respektive ett invandringskritiskt parti. Vänsterpartiet och Miljöpartiet har definierats som invandringsvänliga partier och Sverigedemokraterna som ett invandringskritiskt parti. Då lärare och poliser kontinuerligt möter flyktingar men på skilda premisser har de varit undersökningens analysenheter. Lärare förväntades ha positiva möten och ligga till vänster på GAL/TAN-skalan med en röst på ett invandringsvänligt parti, medan poliser förväntades uppleva negativt laddade möten och ligga till höger genom att rösta på ett invandringskritiskt parti. Resultaten visade att positiva möten samvarierade med en hög andel röster på Vänsterpartiet och Miljöpartiet medan negativt laddade möten samvarierade med ungefär lika hög andel röster på Sverigedemokraterna.

A semi-systematic literature review of research carried out on the evolution of the concept of Euroscepticism since the term first was reportedly used in 1986 with special focus on articles published around the year before the 2019 European Parliament elections and to this date. The thesis was conducted with a particular interest in gathering more knowledge on using an evidence-based method in political science. The purpose was twofold, therefore: one to see how the concept itself has evolved in research, in terms of definition and salience as well as in terms of measuring and explanatory factors, and the other to see if the method used is appropriate to this purpose. From the data gathered, it can be said that the method is pertinent and relevant when assembling research from a widespread and multifaceted area in terms of geography and content, since it is meant to avoid the pitfalls of ‘picking and choosing’ data. The articles thus uncovered have shown that there is a red thread in research on Euroscepticism, that its context has changed and therefore its content, and that Euroscepticism 2020 is a salient issue.

This thesis aims to contribute to the study of how established political parties deal with an increasingly popular radical right parties, focusing on the case of Sweden and the Sweden Democrats (SD). Swedish parties have had a different approach compared to established parties in other European countries, when being challenged by the radical right. The trend has been that the major parties have formed government with support of the radical right and also adapting some of their political positions, in order to regain lost voters. Although, in the case of Sweden, the initial strategy of the major parties was to distance themselves from SD:s policies, while also making efforts to isolate them from positions of power and minimizing their influence in all levels of government.  Anders Backlund (2020) has studied the case of Sweden and argues, with the use of the modified spatial theory (Meguid 2008), that the initially rejective strategy of the major parties towards SD, might have forced them to adapt their policies to a large extent further down the line. The thesis explores Sweden as a least-likely case for a theory-testing purpose. Through the means of a combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis the election manifestos from all parliamentary parties in Sweden, from the last five elections are being analyzed. The thesis tries to explain to what extent, and in what manner, the parliamentary parties have adapted their policies to those of SD – and furthermore, to what degree these adaptations can be explained in terms of the strategic pursuit of votes.  The Sweden Democrats are placed far out on the TAN-scale, on the socio-cultural political conflict dimension GAL-TAN – where TAN stands for Tradition, Authoritarianism and Nationalism. Therefore, the extent to which the remaining parties have included policies related to TAN in their election manifestos is examined. The result shows that most parties in Sweden increasingly have included policies related to TAN in their election manifestos for the more recent elections – hence showing an adaptation to both SD:s policy suggestions and their way to formulate issues. Especially the parties that have been shown to lose particularly many voters to SD, but also the parties that are not competing for their votes to any bigger extent, exhibit a political conformity in the direction of SD.  The thesis strengthens the modified spatial theory by highlighting how Swedish parties swiftly have modified their strategy of handling SD – from initial rejection, to adaptation of rhetoric and policy. The thesis further contributes a few theoretical adjustments, to more fully explain how all major Swedish parties have managed their strategies when facing the increasing popularity of SD.

The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about gender differences in ideological orientations in Europe. We use quantitative methods and survey data from European Social Survey (ESS) to examine 25 countries in Europe over time and investigate if there is a correlation between gender equality and the gender gap in self-placement on the political left-right scale. The study examines how the political gender gap has developed through time, and how the trends differ between men and women. The study also examines how gender equality has evolved over time in comparison to the gender gap in political ideology. Furthermore, it examines whether different ideological dimensions might affect self-placement on the left-right scale for men and women. The results show that the gender gap has increased in general across Europe. However, there is substantial variation across the countries. In several countries, the gender gap in ideological orientations decreases over time. The study found different tendencies in how the gender gap has been changing through time in relation to how gender equality has developed. We also found that some ideological factors have a greater effect on women’s self-placement compared to men’s and vice versa.