<p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p>D Level Essay in Political Science, Autumn Semester 2008 by Mattias Andersson. Tutor: Alf Sundin. “The Swedish Centre Party and Nuclear Power. A Study of Change in a Political Party”</p><p>The aim of this essay is to examine the policy of the Swedish Centre Party on nuclear power. More exactly the aim is to study if the Centre Party has been going through a change of policy on nuclear power and, if so, how the policy has changed. The essay is about the Centre Party, the Centre Party’s Youth League and the Centre Party’s Women’s Association. The Student Association as well as different special interests in trade and industry with a connection to the Centre Movement have been delimited. The time periods studied are 1979-1988 and 2001-2008. The analysis of the ideology is based on Herbert Tingsten. The various arguments are presented in tables. A couple of concepts from Gunnar Sjöblom have also been used. These are the research questions:</p><p>- Has the Centre Party changed its ideology on nuclear power?</p><p>- Has the Centre Party changed its arguments on nuclear power?</p><p>- Has the Centre Party’s Youth League changed its policy and its arguments on nuclear power?</p><p>- Has the Centre Party’s Women’s Association changed its policy and its arguments on nuclear power?</p><p>- Have the prospects of success for the Centre Party’s policy on nuclear power changed:a, in the electoral arena?b, in the parliamentary arena?c, in the internal arena?</p><p>The research has been made from political and environmental programs as well as some newspaper articles and interviews. Motions on nuclear power to the Centre Party’s assembly have also been studied. The essay makes it plain that the Centre Party has changed its ideology on nuclear power. The fundamental values have changed as well as the recommended action. The main arguments are still the same and have not changed, however a few of the arguments from the earlier time period are no longer used. The Centre Party’s Youth League has been going through the biggest change and is today even in favour of uranium mining in Sweden whereas the Centre Party’s Women’s Association has changed from a strong commitment into a lack of a policy on their own. Earlier there was a strong sense of consensus in the Centre Movement. Today there are all kinds of views on nuclear power within the movement. The policy of today has good prospects of success in the parliament and among voters but is problematic within the party.</p><p>Remaining research fields are to further examine the internal opinions on nuclear power, especially within the Youth League and the Women’s Association. Another field is to study whether the change has been influenced by special interests in trade and industry. A further examination of the concept of change would also be clarifying. </p> / <p><strong>SAMMANDRAG</strong></p><p>D-uppsats av Mattias Andersson, Statsvetenskap IV, ht 2008. Handledare: Alf Sundin ”Centerpartiet och kärnkraften. En studie av förändring i ett parti”</p><p>Syftet är att undersöka om Centerpartiet har förändrat sin politik i kärnkraftsfrågan samt hur politiken i kärnkraftsfrågan i så fall har förändrats. I uppsatsen studeras Centerpartiet, Centerpartiets ungdomsförbund och Centerkvinnorna, medan Centerstudenter eller särintressen med speciell anknytning till Centerrörelsen avgränsats. Två tidsperioder studeras, perioden 1979-1988 samt 2001-2008. I ideologianalysen har Herbert Tingstens syn på ideologibegreppet tillämpats. Argumentationsanalysen redovisas i form av tabeller där de förekommande argumenten för och mot kärnkraft vid de undersökta tidpunkterna redovisas. En analys-modell av Gunnar Sjöblom har också använts. Syftet preciseras till följande forskningsfrågor:</p><p>- Har Centerpartiet förändrat sin ideologi i kärnkraftsfrågan?</p><p>- Har Centerpartiet förändrat sina argument i kärnkraftsfrågan?</p><p>- Har Centerpartiets ungdomsförbund förändrat sin politik respektive sina argument i kärnkraftsfrågan?</p><p>- Har Centerkvinnorna förändrat sin politik respektive sina argument i kärnkraftsfrågan?</p><p>- Har utsikterna till framgång för Centerpartiets politik i kärnkraftsfrågan förändrats:a, på väljararenan?b, på den parlamentariska arenan?c, på den interna arenan?</p><p>I huvudsak har parti- och miljöprogram och motioner till riksstämman studerats, men även några tidningsartiklar och intervjuer har använts. Studien visar att Centerpartiet har förändrat sin ideologi i kärnkraftsfrågan på flera olika sätt. Grundvärderingarna har förändrats, liksom handlingsrekommendationerna. Centerpartiet fortsätter däremot att argumentera mot kärnkraften såsom tidigare; dock har några argument som tidigare användes försvunnit. Centerpartiets ungdomsförbund har gjort den radikalaste omsvängningen i kärnkraftsfrågan och är numera även för uranbrytning i Sverige, medan Centerkvinnorna gått från att vara starkt engagerade till att inte längre föra en egen politik i kärnkraftsfrågan. Tidigare rådde en tydlig konsensus inom centerrörelsen; idag finns olika åsikter om kärnkraft företrädda. Den politik som förts under senare år har goda utsikter till parlamentarisk och väljarmässig framgång men är internt problematisk.</p><p>Kvarvarande frågor är att närmare undersöka den interna situationen i Centerpartiet, inte minst i ungdomsförbundet och kvinnoförbundet. Man skulle också kunna undersöka LRF eller andra näringslivsintressen och studera i vilken mån de har utövat inflytande över den här förändringen. Det kvarstår också att fördjupa litteraturanknytningen kring begreppet förändring.</p>

The aim with this paper is to study how the integrational ideology of the Swedish parliaments party platforms, including the right wing Sverigedemokraterna, is formulated. The integration theories examined are assimilationism, multiculturalism, universalism and residualism. In turn these theories are simultaneously applied to the party platforms extracting explicit or implicit messages of the four former mentioned theories. The Swedish history of integration as well as immigration, which per capita is one of the highest in the European union, pinpoints the reason why this subject is due to further investigation. The results show that most of the parties contain traces of more than one integration theory, with the exception of primarily Sverigedemokraterna which focuses on assimilationism. On the other hand Vänsterpartiet, Socialdemokraterna and Centerpartiet are in favour of multiculturalism whereas Folkpartiet, Kristdemokraterna, Miljöpartiet, and Moderaterna contain more than one integration theory.

The purpose of this essay is to find out if Alliansen has lost their Bourgeoisie collective identity. The comprehensive questions of this essay are: Does liberalism or conservatism dominate the manifesto of Alliansen from 2006-2010 compared to the manifesto 2014-2018? Have Alliansen changed their ideological views to the centre of the political spectrum in their manifesto from 2006-2010 compared to the manifesto 2014-2018?   The method used in this essay is a qualitative dimensional study. The results of the essay show that conservatism dominates both manifestos of Alliansen and show that the ideological view of Alliansen has not changed. Alliansens view of human beings in their manifesto from 2006-2010 is pessimistic and so is Alliansens manifesto from 2014-2018 and therefore closer to the conservative ideology than the ideology of liberalism. Alliansens view of society is collectivistic in both the manifesto 2006-2010 and the manifesto 2014-2018 and therefore also closer to the conservative ideology than the ideology of liberalism.

The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the arguments presented by the Center party (Centerpartiet) and the Moderate party (Moderaterna) in two motions regarding a ban on male circumcision. The public discussion about non-medical male circumcision surfaced in the autumn of 2019, when the Center party decided to strive a ban on male circumcision during their congress meeting.   The study's questions were: What arguments are used to legislate a ban on male circumcision? How can the motions be understood as a form of politicization of religion? Is religion portrayed as an object or subject? Is religion presented as a resource or a problem? Using qualitative argumentation analysis, the content of two motions, one from the Center Party and one from the Moderates, as well as opinions on these motions from district boards, federal boards and party leaders, were examined and analyzed based on the theory politicization of religion. The results showed that religion was mainly presented as an object, meaning religion was referred to but there was no dialogue with religious leaders, figures or communities. Based on the analysis, religion was presented both as a resource and a problem, however it was more frequently presented as a problem than as a resource.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate if the gender of a political party leader affects the attitudes that male and female voters have towards him or her, with hope to contribute to the research field regarding voting behavior in parliamentary democracies. The hypothesis, which is derived from previous research on the field, is that men have a more positive attitude towards male party leaders than woman have, while women have a more positive attitude towards female party leaders than men have. To test the hypothesis, large amounts of data from a Swedish election research project (Svensk Valundersökning) is being examined. Specific data regarding male and female voters’ attitudes towards the party leaders Lars Werner (Left Party) 1991, Gudrun Schyman (Left Party) 1994, Lennart Daléus (Center Party) 1998 and Maud Olofsson (Center Party) 2002, is being analyzed through multiple regression analysis.  The findings of the study are that for the party leaders of the Left party, there is a statistically significant correlation that male voters are more positively set towards the male party leader Lars Werner, while female voters are more positively set towards the female party leader Gudrun Schyman. However, for the party leaders of the Center Party, no statistically significant correlation was found between sharing the sex of the party leader and having a more positive attitude towards him or her. This implies that the hypothesis is in need of supplementation, which is why alternative theories are brought up and discussed in the final parts of the study. This study can serve as a foundation for future research on male and female voter behavior, and the significance of the gender of a party leader.

The Center Party’s election results in 2022 was a great loss in comparison to the previous election. A distinguishing difference was the Center Party’s attitude to and choice of coalition partner where they 2018 proclaimed the Social Democrats to one of its main contenders along with the Sweden Democrats for to in the coming election express a will to partake in the same government as the Social Democrats, even though many party members and voters indicated that it wasn’t something they would prefer. This study therefore aims to explain the change in attitude by investigating underlying motives based on Gunnar Sjöblom’s rational theory about parties as strategic actors acting on three arenas: the internal arena, the electoral arena and the parliamentary arena. The arenas have different objectives and the motives are predefined based on these arenas to consist of reaching party cohesion, vote maximization and parliamentary power. Motive analysis is the method which is used to analyze the empirical material which is then analyzed in relation to the arena theories. The result shows that in similarity with previous research, a single motive cannot itself explain a party’s behaviour, however the motive indicators together with the party’s actions that the parliamentary arena’s motive showed to weigh heavier than the other motives.

Centerpartiet, som är ett av Sveriges riksdagspartier, har länge profilerat sig som liberala och samarbetat i politikens borgerliga allians. Från 2010 har det politiska läget i Sverige genomgått stora politiska förändringar vilket gjort att Centerpartiet idag verkar i den ’breda mitten’ och profilerar sig med en ‘mittenidentitet’. Huruvida denna turbulenta tid påverkat partiets ideologiska förändringar har därför undersökts i denna studie. Syftet som ligger till grund för studien är att studera ideologisk förändring för Centerpartiet under en politiskt turbulent tid. Den teoretiska ansatsen utgår från Marie Demkers teori om ideologisk förändring samt tre idealtyper av ideologierna konservatism, socialliberalism samt nyliberalism. Den valda metoden är kvalitativ ideologianalys, med detta menas att utvalda valmanifest kommer att läsas och innehållet kommer att tolkas och kategoriseras utifrån ett analysverktyg. I det aktuella fallet är analysverktyget en tabell som utgår från de ovan nämnda idealtyper kombinerat med definitionen av begreppen frihet, människosyn, ekonomiskt system, individ/samhälle och offentligt/privat. Valmanifesten läses i sin helhet och innehållet kategoriseras in i tabellen för att kartlägga ideologin. Genom att analysera resultatet kan en slutsats om eventuell ideologisk förändring dras. I studiens fall visade resultatet att Centerpartiet inte har genomgått någon ideologisk förändring, partiet har bedrivit en socialliberal politik från 2010 till 2022.

2023 har en debatt om att införa euron åter kommit upp till ytan i Sverige. Men hur argumenterar egentligen enskilda politiker för euron? Skiljer det sig när de argumenterar internt i sitt parti gentemot hur de argumenterar till väljarna? Argumenterar enskilda politiker på ett förenklat vis när de talar till väljarna? Om så är fallet riskerar väljarna att inte få en fullständig bild av frågan. Genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys som kompletteras med en enklare kvantitativ analys kommer dessa frågor att undersökas utifrån en omarbetad variant av Sjöblom och Hadenius arenamodell. Resultatet visar att det inte finns tydliga skillnader mellan hur politiker argumenterar på interna arenan respektive väljararenan. Däremot finns det tecken på att det finns andra orsaker till att politiker förenklar sin argumentation. Det tycks vara så att politiker målgruppsanpassar sin argumentation, men att det inte sker helt utifrån vilken arena de befinner sig på. En del argumentationer tycks även ske på flera arenor samtidigt. Arenamodellen verkar inte på ett godtagbart vis kunna förklara när enskilda politiker väljer att förenkla sina argument kontra när de väljer att argumentera komplext och nyanserat.

<p>Title: Similarities or differences within the centre-right? A study of the potential for party fusions within in the Swedish centre-right</p><p>Author: Charlie Weimers</p><p>Aim: The thesis seeks to find the potential for party fusions within the Swedish centre-right by analyzing the ideological similarities and differences between the parties.</p><p>Method/Material: In the thesis, four dimensions of the parties’ ideologies are analyzed: view of man, theory for societal structures, fiscal theory and moral values. The results of the study of the ideologies are then compared. The investigation is done with the party manifestos as starting point and with the analysis of ideas as theoretical tool.</p><p>Main Results: The comparative analysis, based on the parties’ ideological views, shows specific party constellations are more probable than others. The biggest ideological similarities are to be found between the Liberal People’s Party and the Centre Party, out of which I conclude that these two parties have the best potential for a fusion. The Moderate Party and the Christian Democratic Party also have clear similarities, thus there is a potential for fusion to a certain degree. The Moderate Party also shows some similarities with the Liberal People’s Party and the Centre Party, hence the possibility for a merger can not be excluded. My conclusion is based upon social liberalism and neo-conservatism as ideal types, which gives the Christian Democratic Party a position to the right. Thus, it would possible to claim that this party has the least options regarding fusion partners. The Moderate Party has the most alternatives, since the party is in a kind of “middle ground” between social liberalism and neo-conservatism.</p><p>Number of pages: 49</p><p>Course: Political Science C</p><p>University: Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Karlstad University</p><p>Period: Fall, 2006</p><p>Tutor: Anders Broman</p><p>Keywords: centre-right, Sweden, party fusion, ideology, Moderate Party, Liberal People’s Party, Christian Democratic Party, Centre Party</p>

Denna uppsats ämnar utforska ett statsvetenskapligt område med en sociologisk teori för att ge ett nytt verktyg i läsandet av partiprogram. Med hjälp av Peter L. Bergers teori om kosmiskt världsbyggande kallad Nomos läses partiprogram för att fram den politiska världsbyggnaden. Genom att identifiera Objektivering (politiska idéer) och Externalisering (politisk handling) i partiprogrammen försöker uppsatsen bryta ner partiprogrammen för att underlätta läsningen. Detta underlättande ger ett verktyg för förståelse av partiprogram och kan i förlängningen leda till en förbättrad källkritisk aspekt genom att läsaren förstår och kan ta ställning till de idéer och mål som presenteras, och inte bara anfalla en vägg av text. / This essay aims to explore a problem within the political sciences with a sociological theory to provide a new approach to reading political parties campaign publications. Through Peter L. Bergers sociological theory about cosmic world construction called Nomos the essay aims to capture a societal world construction through the political parties’ conceptions of society through their campaign publications; a political nomos. By identifying objectivation (political ideas) and externalization (political acts) in the publications we can try to capture the parties’ political nomos that they try to convey to the reader. In extension this provides a tool for educational purposes when trying to explain political parties’ publication to pupils or aiding in the understanding of parties underlying ideas and goals.