<p>This thesis aims at studying the development of the party cohesion in the Swedish national parliament, riksdagen, after the introduction of preference voting in the election of 1998. The party cohesion has been measured during parliamentary sessions before and after the reform. The result of the cohesion during each of the sessions has then been compared towards each other. The cohesion was measured between the members of parliament viewed as a whole, and within the party groups during the different sessions. The research method being used has been a quantified statistical voting analysis, making the comparisons of party cohesion during the different parliamentary sessions as easy as possible. The main findings show an increment of the cohesion after 1998, both among the parliamentary members as a whole, and within the political parties. The result rejected the originally stated hypothesis, saying the party cohesion would decrease after the implementation of preference voting to the Swedish parliament.</p>

This thesis aims at studying the development of the party cohesion in the Swedish national parliament, riksdagen, after the introduction of preference voting in the election of 1998. The party cohesion has been measured during parliamentary sessions before and after the reform. The result of the cohesion during each of the sessions has then been compared towards each other. The cohesion was measured between the members of parliament viewed as a whole, and within the party groups during the different sessions. The research method being used has been a quantified statistical voting analysis, making the comparisons of party cohesion during the different parliamentary sessions as easy as possible. The main findings show an increment of the cohesion after 1998, both among the parliamentary members as a whole, and within the political parties. The result rejected the originally stated hypothesis, saying the party cohesion would decrease after the implementation of preference voting to the Swedish parliament.