2002-10-16

Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group: latest

Dear all,

Greetings from Umeå, where the temperature is hovering just above freezing and the dark nights are drawing in. If you ever fancy seeing just how cold it really is here, you can always check the university webcam (http://webcam.educ.umu.se).

Sweden is settling down after the election and the unusually fraught inter-party negotiations that followed. News about articles on the election and its implications will be posted to the group in due course, one of them very soon. Feel free, though, to post anything that I might not be aware of, and which might be interesting to others on our list.

Let's turn once again to the PSA conference in Leicester on April 15th-17th 2003. I've had various expressions of interest from people who are keen to present a paper in a panel run by the Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group. So far, these cover the following topics:

* the decline of progressive politics in Sweden

* Euro-scepticism and the Christian parties

* neo-liberalism and internationalism in the Nordic countries

* the Nordic labour movements and EU enlargement

* Swedish Social Democracy and the trade unions

* presidentialism in Sweden

Remember, our model for a panel is two papers, a discussant and a chair. At the moment, then, it looks as though we've got enough papers for two panels, on, say, (a) Euroscepticism and internationalism and (b) labour movements. So, I'd be grateful if people could do the following.

- If you've already contacted me about a paper idea, please let me know whether you're still interested, and, if you are, send me a title and very brief résumé of what the paper would cover.

- If you haven't yet contacted me, and you'd be interested in presenting a paper, let me know, with title and résumé. (That may leave us with too many papers, of course. But, to borrow a football phrase, that would be a nice problem for the manager to have.)

The deadline for panel proposals is Friday November 15th 2002, so we'll make a decision on our application a week before that (November 8th).

(I'm copying this message to the Comparative European Politics Specialist Group. If it particularly fancies one of our proposed topics, a joint panel may yet be an idea.)

Best,

Nick Aylott.

2002-09-19

Swedish election latest

Dear all,

Good morning from Sweden. Below is a quick résumé of the election result as it stands. Postal votes won't all be counted until Wednesday, so things might change a bit; turnout, for instance, might well creep over 80 per cent.

LEFT PARTY (v) 8.3 per cent (-3.6 from 1998), 30 seats (-13). Disappointment at losing momentum after 1998's great leap forward, though bourgeois bloc kept out of office. Renewal of government-supporting role likely – though Schyman, v's major office-seeker, sounded uncertain about her future last night.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (s) 39.9 per cent (+3.5), 144 seats (+13). Extreme satisfaction at surpassing poll predictions, despite looking likely to need Green support again in parliament. First incumbent since 1968 to increase its score. Unexpected recovery of Stockholm's municipal government a sweet bonus.

s + v = 48.2 per cent (-0.2), 174/349 seats (no change)

GREENS (mp) 4.5 per cent (no change), 17 seats (+1). Relief at keeping seats, especially given leadership chaos in spring. Although attempts to stare out s over getting ministerial posts seemed to collapse feebly last week, new leadership otherwise had good campaign.

s + v + mp = 52.7 per cent (-0.2), 191/349 seats (+1)

CENTRE PARTY (c) 6.2 (+1.1), 22 seats (+4). Joy at increasing score for first time since 1973, probably due to "Maud effect"; she was in floods of tears last night. Would she answer a call from Persson about co-operation? "He already has his girlfriend [read: Schyman]."

LIBERALS (fp) 13.3 per cent (+8.6), 48 seats (+31). Sensational result, spectacularly ending four straight losses. Almost certainly a consequence of controversial integration (immigration) policy proposals – a brilliant tactical ploy. But leadership, whose confidence grew visibly in last six weeks, pointed to generally greater "clarity" in its message.

CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS (kd) 9.1 per cent (-2.7), 33 seats (-9). Disappointment at losses – though, as leader pointed out, still party's second-best performance. Poll ratings fell as fp's surged.

MODERATES (m) 15.1 per cent (-7.8), 55 seats (-27). Catastrophe too mild a word. With lots of its votes going to fp, no longer the undisputed top bourgeois party. Lacklustre leadership an obvious problem; by campaign's end, Lundgren was urging voters to support any bourgeois party, and didn't slap down fp and kd bids for bloc's informal prime minister candidacy. Yet the final insult, the loss of Stockholm, sustained despite presence in municipal party of m's one popular figure. Big problems.

c + fp + kd + m = 43.7 per cent (-0.8), 158/349 seats (-1)

In sum, then, it's pretty much as you were in terms of government office and bloc strength. Despite unprecedented co-ordination, the right failed to make headway, though it got its hopes up in the final few weeks. There were big swings, but within the blocs, not between them. Updated results can be found at the Election Authority's website (www.val.se).

Best,

Nick Aylott.
--
Department of Political Science, Umeå University
www.pol.umu.se

2002-09-01

Article on the Swedish election

Dear all,

As the Swedish election draws nearer, one of our number, Jennifer Novack
(J.Novack@lse.ac.uk), has written a piece on it for the Economist
Intelligence Unit's ViewsWire service. It's part of the EIU pages' free
content. To see it, go to the EIU website (www.viewswire.com) and click on
Sweden in the list of countries on the left-hand side. I'm sure Jennifer
would welcome any comments.

More generally, English-language news on Scandinavian politics is always
useful for teaching purposes, and the EIU might be a good source. So too
might the The Economist's own website (www.economist.com), particularly the
country briefings, which are packed with basic political and economic
information (these can be found via the left-hand side of the homepage).

Best,

Nick Aylott.

2002-08-23

PSA Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group

Dear all,

Apologies for the lengthy silence since the spring, when we held that highly
successful workshop on populist party politics in Scandinavia. (If anyone
would like the papers from this event, please let me know.)

As for future events, the first item on the agenda is the Swedish election,
which is just over three weeks away. Your man on the spot can exclusively
reveal that the Social Democrats are very likely to win. However, the size
of their victory, and what will come afterwards, remains unclear. If anyone
sees, or indeed writes, English-language material on the election before or
after September 15th, do let the list know about it.

Otherwise, the group's next activity is likely to be at the PSA conference
in Leicester on April 15th-17th 2003. We should have at least one panel
there, I think. The likeliest theme so far is Scandinavian social democracy
and whether it has abandoned what previously made it distinct. We needn't be
restricted to one panel, of course. And I should also mention that the
Comparative European Politics Specialist Group has mooted the idea of
jointly sponsored panels.

So, please get in touch with me if (a) you'd be keen to contribute to this
panel or (b) you've got another idea for a theme, perhaps in collaboration
with the CEPSG. We have a few weeks left to formulate a proposal. But, you
know, time goes so fast these days.

Best,

Nick Aylott.

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