Following the 2022 Swedish general election, all three of the Scandinavian countries have had right-wing populist parties either within the government or in cooperation with one. This thesis will review the origins and developments of the major, national, right-wing populist parties in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It will further focus on the respective party’s development of relationship with other, mainstream parties, as well as the progression of cooperations and advancement towards influence of governmental politics. With the Scandinavian states’ high level of similarities across various areas, this thesis aims to review and analyse similarities and differences from the three examples connected to the theories. This methodology is based as a qualitative, comparative study, focusing on gathered text materials such as academic works, political statements and news. The empirical material gathered will be analysed and connected to theories like convergence, political strategy and party ideology among others, with the aim to observe what aspects these theories have had regarding both the emergence of the right-wing populist parties in Scandinavia, as well as in connection to their development of cooperation with other parties. Central conclusions from the thesis’s discussion and analysis shows how political convergence through various acts and happenings, have supported the achievements of the right-wing populist parties’ goals of entering governmental cooperation. Moreover, comparisons between the countries show similarities such as these parties being shunned by the mainstream ones for example, while some differences include the societal statuses at the point of the parties’ origins.

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) suggests there are five distinct moral dimensions, which define morality as a whole. MFT can be broken down into two groups binding: in group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity-which encompass group morality. Harm/Care, fairness/reciprocity are individualizing dimensions, which highlight individual morality. Recent work has found MFT predicts sociopolitical ideologies, as well as sociopolitical attitudes. In an effort to better understand the existing relationships we investigate MFT as a predictor of sociopolitical parties, and attitudes Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). We also draw on similarities between Individualism/Collectivism and MFT. Specifically we demonstrate individualizing foundations, and dimensions of individualism predict SDO, where as Binding dimensions and dimensions of Collectivism relate to RWA.

Workplace bullying is a recently recognized problem within organizations. Two personalities may be theoretically related, and may be able to predict this aggressive behavior: right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, it is still unclear how to measure right-wing authoritarianism as a construct. Two surveys were distributed. The first was to assess the factor structure inconsistency among the literature. A three-factor operationalization was supported. Analysis of the second survey examined the relationship between the aggression dimension of right-wing authoritarianism, dangerous worldview and workplace bullying; as well as the relationship between social dominance orientation and competitive worldview on workplace bullying. No significant relationship was found between authoritarian aggression and workplace bullying, however, social dominance orientation fully mediated competitive worldview and workplace bullying. Theoretical implications, limitations, and practical applications are discussed.

This thesis analyzes the correlation between right-wing populist narratives on migration and voting patterns within the European Union. It is argued that recurrent thematic and rhetorical strategies embedded with right-wing populist features are prominent throughout politicians’ discourses. To allow a complex discussion, this thesis utilizes three poststructuralist concepts, including Michel Foucault’s discourse, power/knowledge approaches, and Jacques Derrida’s conception of deconstruction. To provide a comprehensive yet narrow insight into the topic, the theoretical framework is combined with the qualitative content analysis methodology, allowing a systemic analysis of Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and France between 2017-2024. Moreover, the data selection includes politicians’ narratives and secondary data from the latest national elections within the four member states. This provides a complex overview of how rhetorics frame migration as a national ‘threat’, include anti-elitist statements, and legitimize the willingness to reduce it. Therefore, the findings underline that narratives on migration are embedded with the power/knowledge nexus and the dichotomy of ‘us’ versus the ‘others’, producing a sentiment of fear that can be correlated to voting patterns. The recurrent use of discursive strategies and similar voting behavior demonstrates that the right-wing populist narrative phenomenon is a transnational practice.

Essay I (with Mattias Öhman): Fluoridation of the drinking water is a public policy whose aim is to improve dental health. Although the evidence is clear that fluoride is good for dental health, concerns have been raised regarding potential negative effects on cognitive development. We study the effects of fluoride exposure through the drinking water in early life on cognitive and non-cognitive ability, education and labor market outcomes in a large-scale setting. We use a rich Swedish register dataset for the cohorts born 1985-1992, together with drinking water fluoride data. To estimate the effect we exploit intra-municipality variation of fluoride, stemming from an exogenous variation in the bedrock. First, we investigate and confirm the long-established positive relationship between fluoride and dental health. Second, we find precisely estimated zero effects on cognitive ability, non-cognitive ability and education. We do not find any evidence that fluoride levels below 1.5 mg/l have negative effects. Third, we find evidence that fluoride improves labor market outcome later in life, which indicates that good dental health is a positive factor on the labor market. / Essay II: Motivated by the intense public debate in the United States regarding politicians’ backgrounds, I investigate the effects of electing a candidate with earlier experience from elective office to the House of Representatives. The U.S. two-party-system with single-member election districts enables me to estimate the causal effect in a RD design where the outcomes are measured at the election district level. I find some indications that candidates with earlier elective experience are more likely to be members of important congressional committees. I also find some indications that directed federal spending (pork barrel spending) is higher in those districts were the elected representative had earlier elective experience prior of being elected to the House, but the effect manifests itself some years after the election. In contrast, I find no robust or statistically significant effects for personal income per capita or unemployment rate in the home district. / Essay III: This paper uses Swedish and Finnish municipal data to investigate the effect of changes in voter turnout on the tax rate, public spending and vote-shares. A reform in Sweden in 1970, which overall lowered the cost of voting, is applied as an instrument for voter turnout in local elections. The reform increased voter turnout in Sweden. The higher voter turnout resulted in higher municipal taxes and greater per capita local public spending. There are also indications that higher turnout decreased the vote share for right-wing parties. I use an individual survey data set to conclude that it was in particular low income earners that began to vote to a greater extent after the reform. / Essay IV (with Lovisa Persson): In a theoretical model where voters and politicians have different preferences for how much to spend on basic welfare services contra reception services for asylum seekers, we conclude that established politicians that are challenged by right-wing populists will implement a policy with no spending on asylum seekers if the cost is high enough. Additionally, adjustment to right-wing populist policy is more likely when the economy is in a recession. Voters differ in their level of private consumption in such a way that lower private consumption implies higher demand for basic welfare services at the expense of reception of asylum seekers, and thus stronger disposition to support right-wing populist policies. We propose that this within-budget-distributional conflict can arise as an electorally decisive conflict dimension if parties have converged to the median voter on the size-of-government issue.

This study concerns political communication in general, and right-wing populist PR in particular. Research shows that the role of mass media in liberal democracies has changed as a result of emerging social- and alternative media. Political parties no longer need news media to spread their agenda, which proves an opportunity for right-wing populist parties to reach a broader audience. This study aims to determine how The Sweden Democrats, as Sweden’s largest right-wing populist party, communicate through the use of PR-activities. Building on existing work on the content of populist communication, this study aims to show not only what the party communicate but also how they communicate. The ambition is to enable a discussion on the possible effects of right-wing populist communication in liberal democracy.   Based on Habermas’ theory of the public sphere, a critical discourse analysis was carried out on two of the Sweden Democrat’s PR-activities. Analysis on the examples demonstrates use of a populist discourse as well as the use of manipulative persuasive strategies. The results indicate that right-wing populist communication have a negative effect on democracy. The Sweden Democrats utilize discontent and fear as a foundation for totalitarian reasoning, through a use of strategy that neglects the value of democracy. Based on the results the public sphere is recommended as a normative vision for political debate. Further research is needed on how right-wing populist parties communicate in Sweden and internationally, as well as how the use of strategic communication can be transformed to better serve democratic politics.

Explaining the rising support for right-wing populist parties in Europe during the last decade is an issue that interests both economists, sociologists and political scientists. A number of theories suggest that the rising inflow of migrants to Europe has had an important causal effect on right-wing populist support. However, as migration patterns generally are not exogenous to right-wing populist support, it is difficult to interpret the estimates of a correlation study causally.  In this paper, I exploit a Swedish refugee dispersal program as a natural experiment to estimate the effect of refugee inflow on the support for the right-wing populist party the Sweden Democrats using an instrumental variable strategy. Despite detailed institutional knowledge, I am not able to find support for any short-term effects of refugee inflow on the self-reported preferences for the Sweden Democrats. This goes against the findings of most previous studies.  However, the multicollinearity of some of my covariates are high. In addition, as the program was introduced in 2016, there are few years available for identification. Thus, the precision of the estimates is relatively low and the study would benefit from adding more years to the panel data set.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-04-20T14:36:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Mateus da Fonseca Capssa Lima_.pdf: 3347550 bytes, checksum: 610c06f897ee8431a1b3748f6926d179 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-20T14:36:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mateus da Fonseca Capssa Lima_.pdf: 3347550 bytes, checksum: 610c06f897ee8431a1b3748f6926d179 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-15 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho investiga a organização, posição e ações da direita estudantil universitária no Rio Grande do Sul entre os anos de 1961 e 1968. Busca-se compreender a formação de grupos de oposição à União Nacional de Estudantes e ao governo de João Goulart no período de polarização política que antecedeu o Golpe de 1964. Nesse período, destaca-se o surgimento do Movimento Democrático Universitário e a ação da Federação dos Estudantes Universitários Particulares. Além disso, observa-se a relação desses com outros grupos anticomunistas no Rio Grande do Sul, cuja articulação principal se deu a partir dos cursos denominados “Educando para a Democracia”. São avaliados também os impactos do Golpe e da consolidação da Ditadura Civil-Militar sobre esses estudantes de direita. Em um primeiro momento, eles foram beneficiados ao assumirem como delegados as entidades estudantis sob intervenção. Em um processo de expansão e consolidação, venceram duas eleições diretas para o Diretório Estadual de Estudantes e criaram movimentos como o Decisão, uma tentativa de aglutinar estudantes com a mesma linha política. No entanto, outros dispositivos legais, como o Decreto Aragão, somados a incapacidade da Ditadura em responder aos anseios estudantis, levaram a um tensionamento cada vez maior a partir de 1967. As fontes utilizadas no trabalho foram as notícias publicadas pelos jornais da época, os documentos produzidos pelas próprias entidades estudantis e entrevistas realizadas com ex-militantes estudantis. / This work investigates the organization, position and actions of right-wing university students in Rio Grande do Sul between 1961 and 1968. It aims to comprehend the formation of opposition groups to the União Nacional de Estudantes and the government of João Goulart in the period of the political polarization that precedes the 1964’s Coup. During this period, the emergence of the Movimento Democrático Universitário and the action of the Federação dos Estudantes Universitários Particulares stands out. In addition, this work observes the relationship with other anti-communist groups in Rio Grande do Sul, whose main articulation ocurred trought the courses called “Educando para a Democracia”. It also evaluates the impacts of the Coup and the consolidation of the Civil-Military Dictatorship on these right-wing students. Initially, they benefited by taking student associations under intervention as delegates. In a process of expansion and consolidation, they won two direct elections to the Diretório Estadual de Estudantes and created movements such as the Decisão, an attempt to bring together students with the same political line. However, other legal initiatives, such as the Decreto Aragão, added to the Dictatorship's inability to respond to student yearnings, have led to an increasing tension since 1967. The sources used in the work were the news published by newspapers at that time, the documents produced by the student organizations and interviews with former student activists.

The Nordic countries are geographically, culturally and politically close, and have all witnessed an upsurge in support for radical right-wing parties over the past decades. Although the five parties: the Danish People’s Party, the Finns Party, the Icelandic Progressive Party, the Norwegian Progress Party, and the Sweden Democrats, are different when it comes to party history and how accepted they have been by other parties, they are today similar in their anti-immigration rhetoric, their critique of the established elites and to some extent their welfare chauvinism. According to theories on radical right-wing parties and environmental attitudes, caring for nature and the environment would make a person less probable to vote for a radical right-wing party. Using data from the European Social Survey, the relationship between environmental attitudes and radical right-wing support is examined. The initial results support this thesis, but when adding control variables the relationship is no longer significant. However, when looking at the countries separately, it shows that the relationship between environmental values and radical right-wing voting varies across the Nordic countries. Here, Norway stands out as the country with the strongest negative relationship between environmental values and support for radical right-wing parties.

<p>This thesis deals with the National Society Against Emigration (Sw.Nationalföreningen mot emigrationen) – referred to as the NE – and its radical right-wing leader Adrian Molin. Th e NE was founded in 1907 in order to stem the tide of emigration from Sweden and facilitate re-immigration by providing jobs and accomodation. Its many bureaus served as employment offi ces, land distribution centres and own-your-own-home companies, mainly aimed at creating smallholdings for Swedish working-class families.</p><p>The purpose of the study is to investigate the organization, concept and practise of the internal colonization of rural Sweden between 1907 and 1925. By following both the successes and setbacks of the NE during the first decades of the twentieth century, ideas and opportunities circulating in Swedish society in a time of wide-ranging ideological and material change are discussed. Questions in focus include why a society to prevent</p><p>emigration from Sweden emerged at that particular time; the function it served for both society and the state; the form internal colonization actually took and how it was conducted in comparison with other governmental and private agricultural reforms; and the attitude of the NE toward modernization in general. Theoretically the dissertation takes its point of departure in theories on nation-building and internal colonization (i.e., the establishment of small-scale farming and the cultivation of new land within the national borders), corporatism and attitudes toward modernization. The ideological analysis has been inspired by political scientist Michael Freeden´s theory of the construction of political ideologies via political concepts, as well as an analysis of the view of social categories such as gender, class and ethnicity. The source material is comprised of magazines, newspaper articles, letters and books and offi cial parliamentary publications. The practise of internal colonization has been studied with the aid of preserved accounts of the NE’s small-scale farming colonies, real estate documents, company reports, correspondance and further press materials.</p><p>The surge of anti-emigration attitudes is explained as a powerful reaction arising at the turn of the century due to the economic upswing in Swedish industry and the social transformations which followed in the 1890s, when the country was seen as a nation with a promising future. That Adrian Molin founded the NE in 1907 is viewed as a consequence of his nationalistic thought. Together with political scientist Prof. Rudolf Kjellén, Molin was one of the country´s foremost advocates of an integrative nationalism.</p><p>The NE was led by an elite of middle- and upper-class men involved in politics, industry and voluntary associations. Female members and representatives of the lower social classes were mostly absent. In general the NE neglected women in both speeches and plans, being preoccupied with ideas concerning the cultivation of middle-class Swedish men.</p><p>The NE became a co-actor in a corporative colonization eff ort sanctioned by government financing during the 1910s. In 1920 the NE’s projects were condemned as hierarchical and undemocratic in comparison with other own-home organizations. Many other own-home companies were built on a cooperative foundation,</p><p>while the NE was run by a national, regional, and local political and financial elite. Suspicions were raised about the raison d´être of the society. The state withdrew its subsidies and loans, and the NE lost it close connections with the government. Though conservative and reactionary in social issues, the NE cannot be characterized as critical of civilization or economic modernization of the country. Its programme intended to aid in the development</p><p>of both agriculture and industry. The creation of more smallholdings would help bridge the problematic transition between two systems, from agrarian to industrial society.</p>