The purpose of this thesis is to describe the hard euroscepticism in two Swedish parties: The Swedish democrats and the Left party, by describing and comparing their arguments. I will mainly do this by examining if they have traditional features in their arguments and if they have an alternative system to the EU. I’m using a study by Van Bohemen et al and the Benchmark theory by De Vries to analyze the results. The arguments are found in their official party documents. By describing, comparing and analyzing the arguments I’ve found that both parties arguments have anti-institutional and protectionist features. The Left party also argues against economic inequality and the Swedish democrats arguments have ethnocentric features. Besides the traditional ‘arguments’ The Left party also argue that the union is unequal, neoliberal and disregarding the climate changes. Both parties also have an alternative system to the EU. The Left party wants to replace it with international organizations which works against for instance inequality and climate changes. The Swedish democrats wants a deepened Nordic collaboration, which would help the economy as well as protect the Nordic identity. My conclusion is that both parties have traditional Eurosceptic features and an alternative system. There are some similarities as well as differences in their arguments and the differences are mainly ideological.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the hard euroscepticism in two Swedish parties: The Swedish democrats and the Left party, by describing and comparing their arguments. I will mainly do this by examining if they have traditional features in their arguments and if they have an alternative system to the EU. I’m using a study by Van Bohemen et al and the Benchmark theory by De Vries to analyze the results. The arguments are found in their official party documents. By describing, comparing and analyzing the arguments I’ve found that both parties arguments have anti-institutional and protectionist features. The Left party also argues against economic inequality and the Swedish democrats arguments have ethnocentric features. Besides the traditional ‘arguments’ The Left party also argue that the union is unequal, neoliberal and disregarding the climate changes. Both parties also have an alternative system to the EU. The Left party wants to replace it with international organizations which works against for instance inequality and climate changes. The Swedish democrats wants a deepened Nordic collaboration, which would help the economy as well as protect the Nordic identity. My conclusion is that both parties have traditional Eurosceptic features and an alternative system. There are some similarities as well as differences in their arguments and the differences are mainly ideological.

Titel: Ris eller ros i svensk press? – en studie av Sverigedemokraternas gestaltning i två svenska tidningar under valrörelsen 2010 Författare: Emelie Pettersson Handledare: Christer Clerwall Kurs: Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap III Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur Sverigedemokraterna gestaltades i tidningarna Dagens nyheter och Expressen, inför valet 2010. Studien ämnar även kunna finna likheter eller skillnader i gestaltningen, i morgonpress respektive kvällspress. Teori: Studien har en tydlig teoretisk utgångspunkt, gestaltningsteorin. Gestaltningsteorin belyser mediers makt i dess olika form, på olika nivåer och med olika genomslagskraft. Studien utgår främst från Robert Entmans tankar om mediers gestaltningar. Vidare blir även forskning om läsning och läsbeteende centralt. Den delen belyser hur vi läser och vilken roll rubriker och bilder spelar för vårt åsiktsbildande. Metod: Undersökningen har utgjorts av innehållsanalyser. Fenomenet mixed methods har tillämpats, vilket innebär att en och samma undersökning tar två riktningar, för att komplettera varandras brister. Undersökningen har alltså haft både en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ ansats. Den kvantitativa innehållsanalysen har tillämpats på 103 artiklar, och utifrån de mönster som framkommit, har den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen sedan applicerats på sju artiklar. Resultat: Resultatet visar att Sverigedemokraterna har gestaltats i negativ klang i majoriteten av artiklarna. Om partiet var huvudperson i artiklarna, var gestaltningen oftast negativ. Då Sverigedemokraterna gestaltades på neutralt vis, var de istället oftast inte artikelns huvudperson. Det var även så att partiet oftast gestaltades med hjälp av negativt laddade ord. Partiet fick dessutom i majoriteten av fallen inte komma till tals i artiklarna. Dagens nyheter och Expressen har visat på mer skillnader än likheter i sina gestaltningar, men dessa skillnader blir trots allt inte så stora i praktiken, då båda tidningarna främst levererar en övervägande negativ bild av partiet. / Title: Praise or Blame in Swedish Press – a study of the framing of the Swedish Deomcrats in two Swedish newspapers during the election campaign of 2010. Author: Emelie Pettersson Tutor: Christer Clerwall Course: Media and Communication Studies III Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out how the Swedish Democrats was framed in the newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Expressen in the election campaign of 2010. The paper also aims to find similarities and differences in the framing of the party in morning newspapers and tabloids. Theory: This paper has a distinct theoretical point of departure, framing theory. Framing theory sheds a light on the power of media in its different forms, on all levels, and its different kinds of impact. The paper departs mainly from thoughts of Robert Entman about the different depictions of media. Further on, research about reading and behaviour of reading also becomes central. That part raises how we read and what role head lines and images play in our formation of opinions. Method: The study has been done with analyses of content. Mixed methods have been applied to the study, which means that the same study has been made in both a quantitative way and a qualitative way, in order to supplement each other’s shortages. The quantitative analyses of content have been applied to 103 articles and from patterns revealed in those analyses the qualitative analyses of content has been applied on seven articles. Result: The result of the study shows that the Swedish Democrats has been framed in a negative way in the majority of the articles included in the study. If the party was the main subject in the articles the framing was most of the times negative. The times when the Swedish Democrats was portrayed in a neutral manner they were not the main subject of the article. The party was in the articles often framed with negatively charged words. In addition to this the party was in a majority of the articles not quoted or invited to speak their part. Dagens Nyheter and Expressen has during the study shown several differences in their portrayals of the party, although these differences are not as extensive in theory since both papers at first hand has chosen a negative image of portrayal of the party.

This thesis examines the Swedish Democrats relationship to an islamophobic worldview. The party developed from the racist party Bevara Sverige Svenskt (Keep Sweden Swedish) and is today the third largest party in Sweden, which gives them a powerful position in the society. It is therefore important to investigate their view on minorities, and in this case Muslims. In this thesis I examine the Swedish Democrat’s material during the election campaign the years of 2006, 2010 and 2014 using Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory. This theory makes it possible to examine implicit and explicit relationships an islamophobic worldview and provides the tools to relate it to a greater context. The research questions of this thesis are how the Swedish Democrats fixate the meaning of the words Muslim, Swedish and culture, as well as how the election material differs between the years. The conclusions suggests that the Swedish Democrats produce a islamophobic worldview by picturing Muslims as a monolithic mass and articulate an antagonism between West and East, we and the Other. The islamophobic worldview produced by the Swedish Democrats is not only a Swedish phenomenon but also a part of a Western islamophobia industry, which is common to Radical Right-wing parties in Europe.

The purpose of this essay is to get an understanding of how the Swedish Democrats have such a prosperity in the countryside. The aim is also to see if, and in that case how, the Swedish Democrats uses religion as a tool to increase their voter support. This will be especially focused, and compared with, what the respondents have to say about the countryside. To achieve this a qualitative interview study will be used to establish the information needed. The use of a qualitative interview study is essential due to the need of profound and complex information from the respondents. The respondents sit on a big knowledge because of their close relationship with the village and the Swedish Democrats. Further on the study will be set in a small town where the Swedish Democrats have a strong support. In this small village three out of the four Sweden Democrats who sit in the municipal council lives. The study will be in close proximity with words as xenophobia and islamophobia and it aims to supplement the research previously focused on the Swedish Democrats as ideology, with its actual representatives in the countryside.

I valupptakten hösten 2010 fick Sverigedemokraternas två valfilmer oerhört genomslag i media, och hade inte mindre än en halv miljon visningar på Youtube, på bara några få dagar. Denna här uppsatsen undersöker vilka strategier som ligger bakom ett sådant genomslag i media. Frågeställningen försöker besvara vilka verklighetsbeskrivningar som TV4 respektive Sverigedemokraterna (SD) ger i sitt pressmaterial angående lanseringen av SD:s två valfilmer, och vad de får för effekter. Uppsatsen analyserar nyckelord som används, vilken ram de sätter på situationen och om SD använder sig av anti-etablissemangsstrategin. Den diskuterar också omkring problemformuleringsprivilegiet, det vill säga att den som formulerar frågeställningen alltid äger tolkningsföreträdet till den. Uppsatsens slutsats är att SD:s strategi vid lanseringen av valfilmen var att synliggöra och förstärka avståndet mellan SD och etablissemanget, såväl till politiska partier som till media. SD använde sig av de egna problemformuleringarna massinvandring och censur, som i sin tur skapade egna ramar, till vilka enbart SD hade tolkningsföreträde. SD:s ramar stämmer tydligt överrens med vilka kriterier ett politiskt parti måste ha för att använda sig av anti-etablissemangsstrategin. / In the fall of 2010 during the election, the Swedish Democrats launched two election movies who got a enormous breakthrough in the media. They got over half a million views on Youtube in just a few days. This essay investigates what strategies that lays behind the breakthrough in the Swedish media. The inquiry tries to answer what description of reality that TV4 and the Swedish Democrats leaves in their press material concerning the launch of the Swedish Democrats two election movies and following effects. The essay analyses keywords in these movies, the frame of the situation and if the Swedish Democrats uses the anti-establishment strategy. It also discuss the problem formulation privilege, which means that the person who formulate the inquiry always own the right to interpret the inquiry. The conclusion of the essay is that the Swedish Democrats strategy during the launch of the election movies, was to expose and strengthen the distance between the Swedish Democrats and the establishment. As well as between other political parties and media. The Swedish Democrats formulate their own problem formulation using words as “mass migration” and “censorship”. With these two words they create their own frames that gives the Swedish Democrats the total interpret of the words. The frames that the Swedish Democrats are using, agrees with the criteria of what a political party must contain to use the anti-establishment strategy.

No one believes in Åkesson - a comparative study on the evening press and the public service reporting on the Swedish Democrats before the 2014 election. The purpose of this essay was to study how Aftonbladet and Ekot reports about the Swedish Democrats before the election 2014, as well as comparing the two medias and reasoning about their agendas towards the party. The tabloid, Aftonbladet, is one of the biggest newspapers in Sweden, which depends on counter sales and commercials. Ekot, which is a part of public service, is state-funded and regulated by certain guidelines. Using a quantitative method we studied 80 articles, and through a qualitative method, six of the articles were analyzed to reach a deeper understanding. The theories primary used in this study were agenda-setting and framing, to stress the power of media. As well as political communication, to examine whether the Swedish Democrats are portrayed according to the democratics ideals of what kind of information journalism should provide citizens before an election. The result showed that the politics of the Swedish Democrats was rarely applied in the news articles. It also showed that both Aftonbladet and Ekot tended to portray the political party with a primary negative agenda. The Swedish Democrats were often described as racists, ignorant and irresponsible. Although Ekot proved to be a bit more restrict in their reporting, there were little differences in how both media presented the politcal party. Although the Swedish Democrats has taken on costumes instead of bomber jackets, and has an office in the Swedish Parliament, they still in 2014 aren’t neutralised or portraid as a serious political alternative, in either Aftonbladet nor Ekot.

The aim of this study is to analyse the Moderate Party and the Swedish Democrats idea development in the issue of migration in 2010-2018. The inquiry consists of the following two research questions. How has the Moderate Party and the Swedish Democrats positions regarding migration developed in 2010-2018? How can institutional theories explain the Moderate Party and the Swedish Democrats idea development? The study is encompassed by three theoretical perspectives also recognised as rational-choice institutionalism, historical institutionalism and discursive institutionalism. In regard to the methodological approach, the study employs the comparative case study design with the most-similar system and is essentially an idea analytical study. The main results reveal that both the Moderate Party and the Swedish Democrats have adjusted their migration policies but to different degrees. The Swedish Democrats promote similar policies in 2010 as in 2018 with smaller alterations while the Moderate Party has customised larger alterations, distinguishing the party’s migration policy from 2010 and 2018. These policy alterations are primarily explained as a result of rational action, societal discourses and critical junctures.

The purpose of this essay was to analyse the way two Swedish parties, The Swedish Democrats and the Nordic Resistance Movement, represent women in articles written for members of their parties. The qualitative analysis was done on a small number of articles using Norman Faircloughs Critical Discourse Analysis and with the theoretical framework of mainly Frank Ankersmits aesthetic representation, but also metapolitics and red and blue pill. The main questions that has been answered are how women are represented in the articles, i.e. what roles they are given, and how this is motivated, including also how women can be attracted to these discourses. The result of this essay has shown that the discourses uses by the two parties are connected in a way, to support each other, instead of putting forth other arguments. The role of the woman as mother and wife works because as a part of it, her role is also to support men. Without that he cannot be the man he is supposed to be, and the woman cannot either, because feminism is destroying that possibility.

The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of right-wing populist parties in Europe. The three parties included in the study are the Swedish Democrats (SD), the British National Party (BNP) and the National Front (NF) in France. The study includes a definition of right-wing populism based on previous research and from that an ideal type of a right-wing populist party has been created. The material used in the study to verify how well the parties were consistent to the ideal type and what similarities and differences the parties in the study have are the parties’ political programs and policies. The conclusion of the results is that the parties fit the ideal type even if they differ in a few certain aspects. The BNP is the party most similar to the ideal type, followed by the NF and then the SD.