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.
2003-09-15
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)