Party Government in Flux: Changing Conditions for the Party Groups in the Swedish Riksdag
Introduction
The overall purpose of this research project is to analyse whether the party groups in the Riksdag have in fact become increasingly similar to one another over the period from the end of the 1980s to the beginning of the 2010s. Only by studying developments over time is it possible to identify clear changes in the parliamentary party groups. The research design of the project is based on collaboration. Using a common theory, i.e. cartel party theory, a group of researchers with different areas of expert knowledge examine the thesis of increased similarity by conducting empirical studies of party groups. The project is organised as six distinct sub-studies, each of which focuses on clearly specified research questions: • Have the social composition of the party groups and the pre-parliamentary political experience of members of the Riksdag become more homogeneous? • Has there been a homogenisation of parliamentary party groups due to a decline in gender differences as regards the substance and form of politics? • Do the party groups in the Riksdag de-politicise central policy areas by systematically excluding them from conflict in favour of seeking consensus? • Do the parliamentary party groups adapt their policies to media logic at the expense of ideology logic? • Have the internal cultures of the party groups become more similar? • Has there been a homogenisation of representation norms in the parliamentary party groups, and, if so, what are the normative implications of this for political representation and democracy?
Department Researchers in this Project
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Projektmedlem - infomaster
Douglas
Brommesson
(Associate Senior Lecturer) |
External Project Members
Mats Sjölin (LnU) projektledare Magnus Hagevi (LnU) Katarina Barrling Hermansson (UU) Ann-Marie Ekengren (GU) Karl Loxbo (LnU) Helena Stensöta (LnU) Henrik Enroth (LnU)
