Electoral Political Participation at the Core of Democracy: A Human Rights-Based Study of the Swedish Electoral System
(2023) JURM02 20222Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- In this thesis, I investigate how the democratic form of government is maintained and protected in the Swedish legal system, as well as what kinds of risks the legal system poses to the maintenance of democracy in Sweden. Recent reports from NGOs show that the world, and Europe, are going through a trend of democratic backsliding. Thus, it is timely to evaluate what risks the Swedish system might face, from a legal point of view.
The study is based on a human rights perspective, where my definition of democracy is based on international human rights law, in particular the right to political participation of Art. 21 of the UDHR and Art. 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the ECHR. Through these sources, I build a democratic framework that... (More) - In this thesis, I investigate how the democratic form of government is maintained and protected in the Swedish legal system, as well as what kinds of risks the legal system poses to the maintenance of democracy in Sweden. Recent reports from NGOs show that the world, and Europe, are going through a trend of democratic backsliding. Thus, it is timely to evaluate what risks the Swedish system might face, from a legal point of view.
The study is based on a human rights perspective, where my definition of democracy is based on international human rights law, in particular the right to political participation of Art. 21 of the UDHR and Art. 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the ECHR. Through these sources, I build a democratic framework that identifies the basic requirements for a democratic state. This approach is based on an understanding of democracy as political participation, in particular electoral political participation in relation to parliamentary elections. This framework consists of five requirements for the realization of electoral political participation as a cornerstone of the democratic state, those are: (1) a legislative power that derives its authority from the will of the citizens, (2) that this will is expressed through contested elections, (3) that the citizens have the right to vote and may stand for election, (4) these elections must meet conditions of universal and equal suffrage, periodicity, free and secret elections, and that (5) limitations from these requirements must be justified, are proportionate and prescribed by law.
This framework is used as the backbone for the study of the Swedish system of electoral political participation, especially its regulation in the Constitution, as in the Instrument of Government. The study finds that although the regulation is extensive and that the requirements are mainly met, the system is vulnerable due to the relatively simple procedure to amend the Constitution. Furthermore, many of the provisions of practical nature are governed by the Elections Act, an ordinary law. In this sense, a fairly weak political majority would be able to amend laws in a way that could put democracy at risk. Therefore, the democratic form of government needs stronger legal protection, at least through an amended procedure of changing the Constitution. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- I detta examensarbete undersöker jag hur det demokratiska statsskicket upprätthålls och skyddas i det svenska rättssystemet, samt vilka typer av risker
rättssystemet utgör för upprätthållandet av demokratin i Sverige. Nyligen
publicerade rapporter från icke-statliga organisationer visar att världen, och
Europa, är i en trend av demokratisk tillbakagång. Det är därför dags att utvärdera vilka risker det svenska systemet kan stå inför, ur juridisk synvinkel.
Studien utgår från ett människorättsperspektiv, där min definition av demokrati utgår från folkrätt och mänskliga rättigheter, i synnerhet rätten till politiskt deltagande i Art. 21 i UDHR och art. 3 i tilläggsprotokoll nr 1 till EKMR.
Genom dessa källor bygger jag ett... (More) - I detta examensarbete undersöker jag hur det demokratiska statsskicket upprätthålls och skyddas i det svenska rättssystemet, samt vilka typer av risker
rättssystemet utgör för upprätthållandet av demokratin i Sverige. Nyligen
publicerade rapporter från icke-statliga organisationer visar att världen, och
Europa, är i en trend av demokratisk tillbakagång. Det är därför dags att utvärdera vilka risker det svenska systemet kan stå inför, ur juridisk synvinkel.
Studien utgår från ett människorättsperspektiv, där min definition av demokrati utgår från folkrätt och mänskliga rättigheter, i synnerhet rätten till politiskt deltagande i Art. 21 i UDHR och art. 3 i tilläggsprotokoll nr 1 till EKMR.
Genom dessa källor bygger jag ett demokratiskt ramverk som identifierar de
grundläggande kraven för en demokratisk stat. Förhållningssättet bygger på
en förståelse av demokrati som politiskt deltagande, i synnerhet valpolitiskt
deltagande i förhållande till riksdagsval. Ramverket består av fem krav för att
förverkliga valpolitiskt deltagande som en hörnsten i den demokratiska staten, de är: (1) en lagstiftande makt som härleder sin auktoritet från medborgarnas vilja, (2) att denna vilja kommer till uttryck genom val med flera valbara alternativ, (3) att medborgarna har rätt att rösta och kan ställa upp i val,
(4) att dessa val måste uppfylla villkor för allmän och lika rösträtt, periodicitet, fria och hemliga val, och (5) att begränsningar från dessa krav måste motiveras, vara proportionerliga och föreskrivna i lag.
Detta ramverk används som ryggraden för studien av det svenska systemet
för valpolitiskt deltagande, särskilt dess reglering i grundlagen – Regeringsformen. Studien konstaterar att även om regleringen är omfattande och att kraven i huvudsak är uppfyllda, är systemet sårbart på grund av det relativt
enkla förfarandet för att ändra grundlagen. Vidare styrs många av bestämmelserna av praktisk karaktär av Vallagen, en vanlig lag. I den meningen skulle
en ganska svag politisk majoritet kunna ändra lagar på ett sätt som i slutändan
skulle kunna äventyra demokratin. Därför behöver det demokratiska statsskicket ett starkare rättsskydd, åtminstone genom ett ändrat förfarande för att
ändra grundlagen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9109763
- author
- Wikström Avaria, Amanda LU
- supervisor
-
- Karol Nowak LU
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20222
- year
- 2023
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Public international law, constitutional law, democracy, political participation, Human Rights Law, folkrätt, statsrätt, demokrati, politiskt deltagande, Mänskliga rättigheter
- language
- English
- id
- 9109763
- date added to LUP
- 2023-04-10 18:52:32
- date last changed
- 2023-04-10 18:52:32
@misc{9109763,
abstract = {{In this thesis, I investigate how the democratic form of government is maintained and protected in the Swedish legal system, as well as what kinds of risks the legal system poses to the maintenance of democracy in Sweden. Recent reports from NGOs show that the world, and Europe, are going through a trend of democratic backsliding. Thus, it is timely to evaluate what risks the Swedish system might face, from a legal point of view.
The study is based on a human rights perspective, where my definition of democracy is based on international human rights law, in particular the right to political participation of Art. 21 of the UDHR and Art. 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the ECHR. Through these sources, I build a democratic framework that identifies the basic requirements for a democratic state. This approach is based on an understanding of democracy as political participation, in particular electoral political participation in relation to parliamentary elections. This framework consists of five requirements for the realization of electoral political participation as a cornerstone of the democratic state, those are: (1) a legislative power that derives its authority from the will of the citizens, (2) that this will is expressed through contested elections, (3) that the citizens have the right to vote and may stand for election, (4) these elections must meet conditions of universal and equal suffrage, periodicity, free and secret elections, and that (5) limitations from these requirements must be justified, are proportionate and prescribed by law.
This framework is used as the backbone for the study of the Swedish system of electoral political participation, especially its regulation in the Constitution, as in the Instrument of Government. The study finds that although the regulation is extensive and that the requirements are mainly met, the system is vulnerable due to the relatively simple procedure to amend the Constitution. Furthermore, many of the provisions of practical nature are governed by the Elections Act, an ordinary law. In this sense, a fairly weak political majority would be able to amend laws in a way that could put democracy at risk. Therefore, the democratic form of government needs stronger legal protection, at least through an amended procedure of changing the Constitution.}},
author = {{Wikström Avaria, Amanda}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Electoral Political Participation at the Core of Democracy: A Human Rights-Based Study of the Swedish Electoral System}},
year = {{2023}},
}