The Changing Swedish Electorate

1981 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Electoral Strategies ◽  
Class Voting ◽  
Socioeconomic Composition

This article attempts to assess the contribution of long-term changes in Swedish social structure to three recent developments in Swedish electoral behavior: the decline of the Social Democrats, the decline in class voting, and the increase in the volatility of party preference. The author argues that the decline of the Social Democrats cannot be attributed to long-term structural changes in the electorate but rather is a product of the policies and electoral strategies pursued by the parties. The decline in class voting is found to be partly attributable to long-term structural change. Original secondary analysis of survey data is then presented to show that the socioeconomic composition of individuals' places of residence affects their voting behavior independent of individual-level characteristics. The author then argues that the parties' policies and electoral strategies have reinforced the tendency toward decreasing class voting. Finally, both long-term structural changes and the decline in class voting itself appear to have caused the increase in the volatility of party choice.

Party preferences and political participation: the emergence of the Turkish-origin German voter

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Vera Eccarius-Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Green Party ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Turkish Origin ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Specific Interests

The article examines trends in voting preferences and voting behavior of Turkish-origin German voters. Despite only representing a small percentage of the total German electorate, Turkish-origin voters are gaining an opportunity to shape the future political landscape. While the Social Democrats have benefited most directly from the minority constituency so far, this author suggests that the Green Party is poised to attract the younger, better educated, and German-born segment of the Turkish-origin voters. All other dominant national parties have ignored this emerging voting bloc, and missed opportunities to appeal to Turkish-origin voters by disregarding community-specific interests. 

Many losers – One winner? An examination of vote switching to the AfD in the 2017 German federal election using VAA data

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406882091495 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Constantin Wurthmann ◽  
Stefan Marschall ◽  
Vasiliki Triga ◽  
Vasilis Manavopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Strongly Connected

The German federal election of 2017 saw significant losses for the two German mainstream parties (Volksparteien) and governing coalition partners, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD). The major beneficiary was the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-populist party, which almost tripled its amount of votes received from the 2013 federal election. Making use of data from a Voting Advice Application, this article seeks to explore the AfD’s extraordinary electoral success with particular attention to the party’s capacity to attract voters from the two mainstream and traditionally powerful parties. Drawing on the literature on radical right-wing parties in Europe and tracking the route of AfD from a single-issue Eurosceptic party to a radical party with broader programmatic appeal, this work tests hypotheses regarding demographic, political and attitudinal determinants of voting for AfD, in general, and switching one’s vote to AfD from CDU/CSU or SPD more specifically. In line with previous literature, individual-level analyses show that voting for the AfD seems to be more tangentially related to demographic variables, such as sex, age and education and more strongly connected to political concerns, e.g. “conservative” self-placement and attitudes toward specific policies, immigration and Euroscepticism in particular.

Kyrgyz referendum may be Pyrrhic victory

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pyrrhic Victory ◽  
Constitutional Changes

Subject Kyrgyzstan's constitutional referendum. Significance Now that President Almazbek Atambayev has secured the constitutional changes he wanted, it is unclear how he benefits. The December 11 referendum was a success in its own terms despite the dearth of public understanding of the issues, but was accompanied by an acrimonious divorce between the ruling Social Democratic Party and its long-term coalition partner, Ata-Meken. Impacts A weaker government and divided parliament will struggle to focus on chronic and serious economic problems. The Social Democrats are in a stronger position nationwide thanks to their strong showing in simultaneous local elections. Kyrgyz nationalist and conservative groups will feel emboldened as some of the amendments are seen as concessions to them.

scholarly journals Lost in Transition - Where Are All the Social Democrats Today?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bischof ◽  
Thomas Kurer
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Generational Cohort ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Factor

This chapter follows individual voter flows using panel data for Social Democrats in Germany (1984-2018), the United Kingdom (1991-2018) and Switzerland (1999-2018). To our knowledge this chapter, thus, provides the first long running study of individual voting transitions amongst Social Democratic voters, following their transitions for almost 40 years. The key goal of this chapter is to understand where initial voters of the Social Democrats are today and which individual level characteristics correlate with leaving SDs. We find: 1) Social Democrats manage to keep some of their core 2) but a lot of their core gets de-mobilized or moves on to more progressive options (Greens, LibDem, Green Liberal Party). 3) SDs struggle in all countries to attract new voters, less so in Switzerland which we think is at least partly due to the progressive offer provided by the SP. In contrast, the German SPD loses to everyone and gains almost nothing. We also find evidence that SDs die out: the key factor correlated with `leaving' is the generational cohort Social Democrats belong to. In contrast, often theorized and emphasized factors such as occupation, income or unemployment show much smaller correlations with former Social Democrats' decision to leave the party behind.

No Escape from the Long-term Crisis? The Social Democrats' Failure to Devise a Promising Political Strategy

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Egle
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
The Social ◽  
Left Party ◽  
Agenda 2010 ◽  
Party Behavior ◽  
Government Coalition

The result of the 2005 Bundestag election provoked difficult questions concerning the political positioning of the SPD. Should the Social Democrats negate the Schröder government's Agenda 2010 reforms in order to regain voters from the Left and envisage a government coalition with the Left Party, even though this party has been portrayed as "unfit to govern"? Or should the SPD stick to the center, at the risk of losing even more voters to its leftist competitor? Based on a theoretical concept of different party goals (vote, office, policy, and democracy-seeking) and strategic party behavior, this article explains why the SPD did not succeed in establishing a promising strategy with regard to these questions. This failure is caused mainly by the party's internal divisions and its severe leadership problems. In addition, the structure of German party competition and the institutions of federalism make it even more difficult to handle these problems with success.

scholarly journals A unifying framework for depression: Bridging the major biological and psychosocial theories through stress

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrita Roy ◽  
M Karen Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Chronic Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Causes

Several mechanisms for the development of depression have been proposed, and a comparative examination reveals considerable overlap. This paper begins by summarizing the conclusions drawn in the literature on the major biological theories: HPA-axis hyperactivity, the monoamine theory, the cytokine hypothesis/ macrophage theory, and structural changes to relevant brain regions and neurons. It then discusses the role of psychosocial stress as a bridge between the pathophysiology of depression and its predominantly psychosocial risk factors, touching upon theories offered in psychology and in population health. This paper further proposes a unifying framework which integrates the major theories. The multiple systems involved, and the directional complexity among them, likely help to explain the wide-ranging symptoms associated with depression, and the wide variety of comorbid medical conditions. They may also contribute to challenges in treatment, the diversity in symptoms and treatment outcomes among individuals, and the high rates of symptom persistence and relapse. The apparent bi-directionality of associations may suggest the existence of positive-feedback loops which aggravate symptoms; however, further bench research is required to confirm such phenomena. A better understanding of these interweaving associations is warranted. Additionally, given the significant influence of socioeconomic and psychosocial factors on the aetiology of depression, population-level interventions that address the social determinants of health are required. Current individual-level pharmacologic approaches are designed to treat pathophysiology once it is underway, and current individual-level non-pharmacologic interventions (such as talk therapy) are designed to moderate the relationship between psychosocial stress and pathophysiology. In contrast, a key strategy for primary prevention lies in population-level interventions that address the predominantly social causes of one of depression’s most notable risk factors: chronic psychosocial stress.

scholarly journals Escaping the Climate Trap: Participation in a Climate-Specific Social Dilemma Simulation Boosts Climate-Protective Motivation and Actions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9438
Author(s):  
Perri B. Druen ◽  
Stephanie J. Zawadzki
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Social Dilemma ◽  
Protective Behavior ◽  
Protective Behaviors ◽  
Personal Benefit ◽  
Environmental Engagement ◽  
The Social

One way in which educators can help to address increasingly pressing environmental problems, including climate change, is to encourage individuals to change their behavior and to press for structural changes in society. The promotion of climate-protective behavior is challenging because the payoffs for various actions and inactions are structured such that they create social dilemmas. The conflict between short-term personal benefit and long-term collective gain in such dilemmas often leads to self-serving motives that can ultimately be self-defeating. We created a social dilemma simulation specific to climate change, called Climate Trap: Social Dilemma Simulation, to help students observe how they and others respond to these conflicts, and predicted that doing so would lead to climate-protective motivations and behaviors after the simulation. The simulation participants (N = 344) reported greater confidence in their knowledge and understanding of the social dilemma context of climate change, higher environmental concern and more self-determined motivation to act, and they engaged in more climate-protective behaviors compared to the students who did not complete the simulation. Moreover, the simulation participants reported greater pro-environmental engagement on all of the measures after the simulation compared to before they participated in the simulation. The results suggest that a climate-specific social dilemma simulation can create uniquely motivating experiences, and can have utility as a teaching tool, research instrument and intervention.

scholarly journals Land Use Changes in the Czech Republic 1845 - 1995: Main Trends and Some Broader Consequences

Geografie ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 276-291
Author(s):  
Leoš Jeleček
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Land Use Development

The paper outlines the periodization of land use structural development on the Czech territory in between 1845 and 1995. It aims to demonstrate how does the land use structural changes reflect phases of the social, economic, and political development, as well as some ecological changes. Basic information on the research project on detailed long-term land use development are presented. Tables containing original data are included.

Slovene premier's fall might end privatisation policy

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Government Stability ◽  
Strategic Assets ◽  
Privatisation Programme ◽  
Growth Prospects

Subject The challenge to Slovenia's privatisation programme. Significance Slovenia's privatisation programme faces a new challenge with the emergence of an open rift between the ruling Modern Centre Party (SMC) and one of its coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SD), over the behaviour of Defence Minister Janki Veber. The first casualty will be Telekom Slovenije, whose sale will inevitably be postponed. The wider privatisation programme is also at risk from persistent public hostility to the sale of strategic assets. Impacts The latest rift will weaken government stability and could cause it to collapse. The open display of dissent over privatisation will both deter strategic investors and complicate further sales of state-owned assets. Failure to deliver on the privatisation programme poses a risk to Slovenia's economic stability and long-term growth prospects.

Romania will target business in search of revenue

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Economic Developments ◽  
Wage Increases

Subject Romanian government policy in a slowing economy. Significance Economic developments have allowed the senior coalition party, the Social Democrats, to claim a measure of success in the last few years, despite acute cabinet instability and controversial judicial reforms. However, growth is widely expected to slow in 2019. Despite upbeat projections in the budget, passed belatedly and in the face of presidential opposition in mid-March, the government is struggling to fund ambitious wage increases, as the budget deficit comes perilously close to breaching EU limits. Impacts The banking and energy sectors are bearing the brunt of interventionist policies. Legal instability could damage investment. Long-term underinvestment in infrastructure and lack of institutional modernisation will become more evident and difficult to tolerate.

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