Abstract
The chapter on Sweden analyzes the immigration debates from their first high salience period in 2002 up until the populist radical right party Sweden Democrats (SD) developed into an entrenched force in Swedish politics in 2010/2012. The reason why the election campaign 2002 featured immigration issues so prominently lies with the dire condition of the right-liberal people’s party (FP). The party desperately needed a political issue ensuring its re-entry to the Swedish Parliament. Due to the benign economic climate and the strength of Swedish Social Democracy (SAP), the FP dropped its conservative messaging on immigration issues shortly after the election 2002. From the mid-2000s onwards, conservative Swedish voters—which had been mobilized in 2002—could not find coherent conservative messaging on immigration matters from the established parties any longer. This opened the political space for a political contender on the far right and explains the subsequent rise of the SD.
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Notes
- 1.
As elaborated in the chapter on case selection the rise of the right populist Ny Demokrati (NyD) in Sweden in the early 1990s was not proceeded by a high salience of immigration issues, neither in the public perception, nor amidst established political parties in Sweden. Ny Demokrati ran its campaign on a broad anti-establishment agenda; neither in its campaigns, nor for their respective voters have immigration issues been of major importance for their electoral breakthrough in the federal election 1991. After accessing the parliament in 1991, Ny Demokrati put the issue on the political agenda, not established political players.
- 2.
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- 3.
Mellgren Fredrik (2002, September 8). Språktester kan skapa nya klyftor i samhället. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 4.
Hennel Lena (2002, April 27). S missar målet om fler invandrare i riksdagen. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 5.
Malmström Björn (2002, September 11). Ur debatten Om integrationen. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 6.
Engström Annika (2005, February 2). De apatiska flyktingbarnen får inte stanna. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 7.
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- 8.
Mellgren Fredrik (2005, April 7). Apatiska barn får inte stanna i Sverige. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 9.
Olsson Lova (2005, June 9). Inre strid i s om flyktingpolitiken. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 10.
El Mahdi Josef (2006, June 28). Fp tar fram gammalt krav om språktest för invandrare. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 3, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 11.
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- 12.
Mellgren Fredrik (2006, September 2). Jobbagenter ska öka integrationen. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from retriever.no.
- 13.
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- 14.
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- 15.
Levin, David (2010, June 9). Betygsgap skylls på skolan. Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from retriever.no.
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- 17.
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Lochocki, T. (2018). Sweden: How the Liberals (FP) Gave Birth to the Swedish Democrats (SD). In: The Rise of Populism in Western Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62855-4_7
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