Dear all,
* The nights are drawing in up here in northern Sweden, and that can only mean one thing: yes, it's time for the Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group to submit its applications for panels at the 2004 PSA annual conference. It's at Lincoln University, on April 5th-8th (www.psa.ac.uk/2004/default.htm).
A couple of topics have been suggested to me over recent months, from multiculturalism in Scandinavia to general "developments" in the region. I myself have written stuff recently on the EMU referendum in Sweden, plus the rather odd pattern of governing and semi-governing parties that has developed here over the last few parliamentary terms, so I could chip in with something on either of those. But we need other ideas and proposals for panels and papers. If these are forthcoming, I'll do the applying and co-ordinating. So if you fancy presenting something at the conference, or if you know someone who might, please contact me. The deadline for panel proposals is just a fortnight away, on November 28th.
* By the way, talking of the Swedish EMU referendum, if you're interested in reading a fairly concise report of it, you can collect something that I've written for the European Parties Elections and Referendums Network, based at Sussex University (www.sussex.ac.uk/sei/1-4-2.html). Click on EPERN Elections and Referendum Briefing down on the left, then go to the end of the list.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
2003-11-12
2003-09-15
Thank you, but No
Dear all,
Swedes voted No to the euro yesterday, and by a remarkable margin. Swedish TV’s exit poll pointed to a comfortable victory for the anti-EMU side, 51.8% to 46.2%. But, for as yet unexplored reasons, this severely underestimated the No vote. The final result was:
Yes 41.8%, No 56.1%, blank 2.1%.
In only two of Sweden’s 21 counties, Stockholm and Scania, did a plurality vote Yes, and only Stockholm had a majority. In West Götaland, Gothenburg’s region, the ayes got a surprisingly feeble 40.4%. In Umeå’s county, Västerbotten, there was an overwhelming 72.2% No vote. But even that level of euro-scepticism was surpassed by Jämtland, where a staggering 77.2% voted against the euro. Turnout overall was an impressive 81.2% (compared to 77.9% in last year’s municipal elections, the eligibility rules for which were used in the referendum). In a televised “conversation” about democracy last Friday, which replaced the planned eve-of-referendum debate, all the party leaders had urged people to show their opposition to violence by voting.
Results can be found at the websites of the Elections Authority (www.val.se), Swedish TV (www.svt.se) and various newspapers.
When the Danish prime minister lost that country’s EMU referendum three years ago, he was pretty much crying afterwards. Last night Göran Persson, the Swedish PM, sounded almost relieved. You could speculate as to why that might be, but, in the light of last week’s tragedy, there is one straightforward explanation. After opinion polls had given the No side such a commanding lead for so long, a Yes result would unavoidably have been interpreted as an emotional reaction to the murder of Anna Lindh – which would, soon enough, have prompted No-campaigners to have questioned the legitimacy of the outcome. Fortunately, this decisive result has saved Sweden from that very awkward eventuality.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
Swedes voted No to the euro yesterday, and by a remarkable margin. Swedish TV’s exit poll pointed to a comfortable victory for the anti-EMU side, 51.8% to 46.2%. But, for as yet unexplored reasons, this severely underestimated the No vote. The final result was:
Yes 41.8%, No 56.1%, blank 2.1%.
In only two of Sweden’s 21 counties, Stockholm and Scania, did a plurality vote Yes, and only Stockholm had a majority. In West Götaland, Gothenburg’s region, the ayes got a surprisingly feeble 40.4%. In Umeå’s county, Västerbotten, there was an overwhelming 72.2% No vote. But even that level of euro-scepticism was surpassed by Jämtland, where a staggering 77.2% voted against the euro. Turnout overall was an impressive 81.2% (compared to 77.9% in last year’s municipal elections, the eligibility rules for which were used in the referendum). In a televised “conversation” about democracy last Friday, which replaced the planned eve-of-referendum debate, all the party leaders had urged people to show their opposition to violence by voting.
Results can be found at the websites of the Elections Authority (www.val.se), Swedish TV (www.svt.se) and various newspapers.
When the Danish prime minister lost that country’s EMU referendum three years ago, he was pretty much crying afterwards. Last night Göran Persson, the Swedish PM, sounded almost relieved. You could speculate as to why that might be, but, in the light of last week’s tragedy, there is one straightforward explanation. After opinion polls had given the No side such a commanding lead for so long, a Yes result would unavoidably have been interpreted as an emotional reaction to the murder of Anna Lindh – which would, soon enough, have prompted No-campaigners to have questioned the legitimacy of the outcome. Fortunately, this decisive result has saved Sweden from that very awkward eventuality.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
2003-09-11
Latest
Dear all,
I was thinking of informing list members that reports in English ahead of the euro-referendum here in Sweden on Sunday are available at Dagens Nyheter's website (www.dn.se and click Euro).
But, as you've probably heard, campaigning has been suspended after yesterday's dreadful attack on the foreign minister, Anna Lindh. The possibility of postponing the referendum has been raised, but that seems unlikely. For one thing, parliament would have to legislate to change the date. For another, it looks as though Lindh will pull through. A five-hour operation was continuing when I went to bed last night, and, I must say, I feared the worst. But this morning her condition is described as critical, but slightly improved. The attacker remains at large, his motive unknown. The only English-language report that I've seen is on the BBC's site (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
What, if anything, this will mean for the referendum outcome is unclear. So is the identity of the next Swedish prime minister. Lindh might just have taken over from Göran Persson some time before the next election, but that now looks highly unlikely. And, of course, 17 years after the murder of Olof Palme, plenty of people are already asking how Sweden's second-most senior politician could have been shopping alone, without a bodyguard, just a few days before an important election.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
I was thinking of informing list members that reports in English ahead of the euro-referendum here in Sweden on Sunday are available at Dagens Nyheter's website (www.dn.se and click Euro).
But, as you've probably heard, campaigning has been suspended after yesterday's dreadful attack on the foreign minister, Anna Lindh. The possibility of postponing the referendum has been raised, but that seems unlikely. For one thing, parliament would have to legislate to change the date. For another, it looks as though Lindh will pull through. A five-hour operation was continuing when I went to bed last night, and, I must say, I feared the worst. But this morning her condition is described as critical, but slightly improved. The attacker remains at large, his motive unknown. The only English-language report that I've seen is on the BBC's site (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
What, if anything, this will mean for the referendum outcome is unclear. So is the identity of the next Swedish prime minister. Lindh might just have taken over from Göran Persson some time before the next election, but that now looks highly unlikely. And, of course, 17 years after the murder of Olof Palme, plenty of people are already asking how Sweden's second-most senior politician could have been shopping alone, without a bodyguard, just a few days before an important election.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
2003-09-03
Scandinavian Politics latest
Dear all,
Greetings from Umeå to everyone on the mailing list for the PSA’s Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group. Four quick notices are timely.
FIRST, there have been changes at Scandinavian Political Studies. Lars Svåsand has written the following message:
"The editorship of Scandinavian Political Studies has now been passed to the University of Bergen, with Dag Arne Christensen, Per Lægreid and myself as editors. We hope that you and your political science colleagues in the Scandinavian studies associations will consider submitting your manuscript for publication in the journal and we would appreciate if you could make this email available to your colleagues working on Scandinavian topics. All manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by three referees and we try to keep the review process to within 3-4 weeks. Scandinavian Political Studies is published by Blackwell. For further information see: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/SCPS/descript.htm."
SECOND, I have received a call for papers and panel proposals from the organisers of the PSA conference at Lincoln University next April (5th-8th). The Scandinavian group did well with its panels last year, so let's keep it up.
A couple of ideas have already floated my way, so, if you have (a) an idea for a panel or (b) a paper you think you'd like to present, let me know. As usual, I'll play the co-ordinating role.
THIRD, there is a new textbook on Scandinavian politics, namely:
Einhorn, Eric S. and John Logue (2003), Modern Welfare States: Scandinavian Politics and Policy in the Global Age, 2nd ed. (Praeger/Greenwood). $27.95, £18.10. ISBN: 0-275-95058-1.
More information is available on the Greenwood website (www.greenwood.com). If someone wants to write a review, they would be more than welcome to air their thoughts over this list.
FOURTH, I can report that Sweden has a severe case of referendum fever. The vote on the euro on the 14th is now just a week and a half away. Temo still gives the No side a hefty lead, 48% to 37%, and frustration in the Yes camp at its failure to break through in the polls is beginning to show.
* In an interview last week, Göran Persson said that he never wanted a referendum in the first place! He's also said that, even in the event of a Yes to EMU, voters should still trust him to negotiate good terms of entry, which, he reckons, might not be entirely straightforward. This is a "soft Yes".
* Top Social Democrats have been risking the ire of the party's rank-and-file by cosying up to opposition politicians and big business in the pro-euro cause. Of course, this underlines the government's basic problem: the ruling party, and indeed the whole labour movement, is split. The chair of LO, the labour confederation, has been pushing the arguments for a Yes ever more enthusiastically. In a radio interview on Monday, she did the same - yet, presumably because LO decided to remain neutral in the campaign, she refused to say how she was actually going to vote!
Mind you, the absurd can be found on both sides. A group of professors argue in Dagens Nyheter today that Swedes in general, and women in particular, will be much less healthy if there's a Yes to the euro.
As usual, please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, research fellow
Department of Political Science, Umeå University
www.pol.umu.se
Greetings from Umeå to everyone on the mailing list for the PSA’s Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group. Four quick notices are timely.
FIRST, there have been changes at Scandinavian Political Studies. Lars Svåsand has written the following message:
"The editorship of Scandinavian Political Studies has now been passed to the University of Bergen, with Dag Arne Christensen, Per Lægreid and myself as editors. We hope that you and your political science colleagues in the Scandinavian studies associations will consider submitting your manuscript for publication in the journal and we would appreciate if you could make this email available to your colleagues working on Scandinavian topics. All manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by three referees and we try to keep the review process to within 3-4 weeks. Scandinavian Political Studies is published by Blackwell. For further information see: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/SCPS/descript.htm."
SECOND, I have received a call for papers and panel proposals from the organisers of the PSA conference at Lincoln University next April (5th-8th). The Scandinavian group did well with its panels last year, so let's keep it up.
A couple of ideas have already floated my way, so, if you have (a) an idea for a panel or (b) a paper you think you'd like to present, let me know. As usual, I'll play the co-ordinating role.
THIRD, there is a new textbook on Scandinavian politics, namely:
Einhorn, Eric S. and John Logue (2003), Modern Welfare States: Scandinavian Politics and Policy in the Global Age, 2nd ed. (Praeger/Greenwood). $27.95, £18.10. ISBN: 0-275-95058-1.
More information is available on the Greenwood website (www.greenwood.com). If someone wants to write a review, they would be more than welcome to air their thoughts over this list.
FOURTH, I can report that Sweden has a severe case of referendum fever. The vote on the euro on the 14th is now just a week and a half away. Temo still gives the No side a hefty lead, 48% to 37%, and frustration in the Yes camp at its failure to break through in the polls is beginning to show.
* In an interview last week, Göran Persson said that he never wanted a referendum in the first place! He's also said that, even in the event of a Yes to EMU, voters should still trust him to negotiate good terms of entry, which, he reckons, might not be entirely straightforward. This is a "soft Yes".
* Top Social Democrats have been risking the ire of the party's rank-and-file by cosying up to opposition politicians and big business in the pro-euro cause. Of course, this underlines the government's basic problem: the ruling party, and indeed the whole labour movement, is split. The chair of LO, the labour confederation, has been pushing the arguments for a Yes ever more enthusiastically. In a radio interview on Monday, she did the same - yet, presumably because LO decided to remain neutral in the campaign, she refused to say how she was actually going to vote!
Mind you, the absurd can be found on both sides. A group of professors argue in Dagens Nyheter today that Swedes in general, and women in particular, will be much less healthy if there's a Yes to the euro.
As usual, please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
--
Dr Nicholas Aylott, research fellow
Department of Political Science, Umeå University
www.pol.umu.se
2003-04-29
PSA conference report
Those of you who made it to warm and sunny Leicester the week before last will know that the Scandinavianist contribution to the annual PSA conference was really rather successful.
We had two panels. In the first, I went on about parties and unions, and Christine Agius managed an interesting presentation on progressive politics in Sweden, despite computer collapse in the week before the conference. In the second panel, Annika Bergman talked about the Nordic states' "adjacent internationalism", and John Madeley and Nick Sitter discussed the striking variation in Nordic Christian parties' attitudes to the EU. Both sets of papers provoked excellent discussions.
Special thanks go to Marcin Zaborowski, who, as chair and then discussant in the panels, contributed very usefully from a comparativist but non-Scandinavianist perspective.
We also managed a brief annual meeting of the group. It was agreed to plan a research meeting, probably a one-day workshop or seminar, that would cover a particular theme. Various possibilities were mentioned, but an especially interesting possibility was something on the Nordic states and multiculturalism, which could cover a variety of topics (EU, radical-right parties, anti-modernism, etc). As for our workshop in April 2002, London would probably be the best venue: it's easy to get to, and the chance to make a weekend of it in the capital increases an event's pulling-power, especially for anyone coming from abroad. Holding a joint event with the Nordic History Group, as we did last year, might allow use of University College London facilities again.
As for timing, the Easter 2004 break, or possibly the window around June (after teaching, before exams), were mentioned.
Under the PSA's new schemes for funding specialist groups, money may be available (a) specifically to support a workshop or conference, and (b) to import a high-profile participant. The deadlines have already passed for all these schemes, but that is not a disaster. I will see if any money is still available this year for general activities, and an early and well-planned application before next year's deadline should stand a good chance of bringing in the necessary cash in plenty of time for an event in either April or June. I have always found the PSA executive very keen to help fund this sort of activity by its specialist groups.
Several people expressed interest in organising it. Can volunteers please let me have their more concrete ideas – where, when, what, who, how much – as soon as possible, and certainly by the end of term? I'll be happy to help as much as I can.
As ever, please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
We had two panels. In the first, I went on about parties and unions, and Christine Agius managed an interesting presentation on progressive politics in Sweden, despite computer collapse in the week before the conference. In the second panel, Annika Bergman talked about the Nordic states' "adjacent internationalism", and John Madeley and Nick Sitter discussed the striking variation in Nordic Christian parties' attitudes to the EU. Both sets of papers provoked excellent discussions.
Special thanks go to Marcin Zaborowski, who, as chair and then discussant in the panels, contributed very usefully from a comparativist but non-Scandinavianist perspective.
We also managed a brief annual meeting of the group. It was agreed to plan a research meeting, probably a one-day workshop or seminar, that would cover a particular theme. Various possibilities were mentioned, but an especially interesting possibility was something on the Nordic states and multiculturalism, which could cover a variety of topics (EU, radical-right parties, anti-modernism, etc). As for our workshop in April 2002, London would probably be the best venue: it's easy to get to, and the chance to make a weekend of it in the capital increases an event's pulling-power, especially for anyone coming from abroad. Holding a joint event with the Nordic History Group, as we did last year, might allow use of University College London facilities again.
As for timing, the Easter 2004 break, or possibly the window around June (after teaching, before exams), were mentioned.
Under the PSA's new schemes for funding specialist groups, money may be available (a) specifically to support a workshop or conference, and (b) to import a high-profile participant. The deadlines have already passed for all these schemes, but that is not a disaster. I will see if any money is still available this year for general activities, and an early and well-planned application before next year's deadline should stand a good chance of bringing in the necessary cash in plenty of time for an event in either April or June. I have always found the PSA executive very keen to help fund this sort of activity by its specialist groups.
Several people expressed interest in organising it. Can volunteers please let me have their more concrete ideas – where, when, what, who, how much – as soon as possible, and certainly by the end of term? I'll be happy to help as much as I can.
As ever, please forward this message to anyone you think might be interested.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
2003-01-16
Latest news
Dear all,
A belated happy new year to you all. I have two items for your attention.
The first concerns the PSA conference (Leicester, April 15th-17th 2003). Below are the panels that the Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group has been awarded.
-----
VALUES AND EUROPEANISATION IN THE NORDIC STATES
Chair: Nicholas Aylott (Umeå)
Paper 1: Annika Bergman (Edinburgh), “The Nordic States, Adjacent Internationalism and the Process of Civil Regionalisation”
Paper 2: John Madeley (LSE) & Nick Sitter (Norwegian School of Management BI), “Differential Euroscepticism Among the Nordic Christian Parties: Protestantism or Protest?”
**Discussant**
THE DECLINE OF NORDIC SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
**Chair**
Paper 1: Nicholas Aylott (Umeå), “Linkage and Political Exchange in Mass Parties: A Dynamic Model”
Paper 2: Christine Agius (Lancaster), “The Decline of Progressive Politics in Sweden?”
**Discussant**
-----
So:
(a) Can the PAPER-GIVERS please confirm to me that they still intend to take part?
(b) We need a **CHAIR** for the second panel and **DISCUSSANTS** for both. If you fancy taking on one of these roles, or you know someone who might, please let me know as soon as possible. The conference organisers are, understandably, hassling me to fill these gaps quickly. Thanks for your help with this.
The second item concerns politics here in Sweden. Last September's election already seems like ages ago. But only now has the Royal Institute for International Affairs got round to publishing on its website my election report (http://www.riia.org/pdf/research/europe/OERN%20Swedish1.pdf). Any comments about it would, naturally, be welcome.
You might also be interested in the new "official gateway to Sweden", Sweden.se (www.sweden.se). It might be useful for teaching purposes, especially in the run-up to the referendum on EMU, now set for September 14th this year.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
--
Department of Political Science, Umeå University
www.pol.umu.se
A belated happy new year to you all. I have two items for your attention.
The first concerns the PSA conference (Leicester, April 15th-17th 2003). Below are the panels that the Scandinavian Politics Specialist Group has been awarded.
-----
VALUES AND EUROPEANISATION IN THE NORDIC STATES
Chair: Nicholas Aylott (Umeå)
Paper 1: Annika Bergman (Edinburgh), “The Nordic States, Adjacent Internationalism and the Process of Civil Regionalisation”
Paper 2: John Madeley (LSE) & Nick Sitter (Norwegian School of Management BI), “Differential Euroscepticism Among the Nordic Christian Parties: Protestantism or Protest?”
**Discussant**
THE DECLINE OF NORDIC SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
**Chair**
Paper 1: Nicholas Aylott (Umeå), “Linkage and Political Exchange in Mass Parties: A Dynamic Model”
Paper 2: Christine Agius (Lancaster), “The Decline of Progressive Politics in Sweden?”
**Discussant**
-----
So:
(a) Can the PAPER-GIVERS please confirm to me that they still intend to take part?
(b) We need a **CHAIR** for the second panel and **DISCUSSANTS** for both. If you fancy taking on one of these roles, or you know someone who might, please let me know as soon as possible. The conference organisers are, understandably, hassling me to fill these gaps quickly. Thanks for your help with this.
The second item concerns politics here in Sweden. Last September's election already seems like ages ago. But only now has the Royal Institute for International Affairs got round to publishing on its website my election report (http://www.riia.org/pdf/research/europe/OERN%20Swedish1.pdf). Any comments about it would, naturally, be welcome.
You might also be interested in the new "official gateway to Sweden", Sweden.se (www.sweden.se). It might be useful for teaching purposes, especially in the run-up to the referendum on EMU, now set for September 14th this year.
Best,
Nick Aylott.
--
Department of Political Science, Umeå University
www.pol.umu.se
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