Mainstreaming the Sweden Democrats - mapping changes and continuities in party ideology 1989-2019 through discourse analysis

Abstract

Much academic literature has explained the success of radical right parties across Europe in
the last few decades through the increased importance of the sociocultural, conceptualised as
the GAL-TAN, or libertarian-authoritarian, scale. The late rise of the Sweden Democrats, long
considered an exception to the rule, as a successful radical right party, has attracted some
academic interest and various explanations on what may have caused this sudden success. This
study looks at discursive changes happening in the party programs (principprogram) 1989-
2019, especially in the context of mainstreaming/moderation of ideology, using discourse
analysis with reference to literature on supply and demand factors for radical right success.
The study also looks at continuities in the program, to explore to what extent the Sweden
Democrats can be considered a typical TAN-party, that has reached success by being the only
sociocultural-authoritarian party in Swedish politics. The results show significant ideological
flexibility which can be interpreted as a supply-side factor for party success, and which points
to problems with the GAL-TAN scale in the case of the Sweden Democrats, in the sense that
there is too much movement happening on the sociocultural dimension for the party to be
pinned down, and such conceptualisation overlooks the creative ways in which the ideology
builds on successful mainstream discourses to construct Swedishness in a way that is
acceptable for the electorate. The identified continuities reinforce the entanglement with
mainstream discourse and incompatibility with the GAL-TAN scale through the identified
centrality of the local concepts ‘trygghet’ and the people’s home (Folkhem).

Popular Abstract

For a long time, Sweden was considered an exception to the rule when it comes to the increase
of radical right populism across western European countries. The success of the radical right in
other countries has in much research been explained through the increased importance of
sociocultural rather than socioeconomic conflicts in politics. More than left versus right,
political conflicts are increasingly being played out on a value dimension, conceptualised by
scholars as the GAL-TAN scale (Green Alternative Libertarian - Traditional Authoritarian
Nationalist) or the libertarian-authoritarian scale, where the radical right is positioned at the
TAN/authoritarian end of the scale. A potential explanation then becomes that the radical right
has succeeded because they are the best representative for certain (TAN/authoritarian) values,
and the importance of values are increasing for the electorate. A potential explanation for the
lack of radical right success in Sweden was that the sociocultural had not ‘taken over’ there as
it had elsewhere. Many were then surprised by the sudden exponential success of the Sweden
Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) in the last ten years, especially considering their extremist
background in comparison to their Nordic counterparts. This has led to questions regarding
what could have caused the increase in electorate demand for the radical right in Sweden, or
what has changed in party supply (i.e., in the Sweden Democrats) that suddenly made them so
successful. This study looks at the changes happening in the Sweden Democrats’ party
programs (principprogram) 1989-2019, using discourse analysis, with special attention to
mainstreaming or normalisation. The study also looks at continuities in the program, to explore
to what extent the Sweden Democrats can be considered a typical TAN-party, that has reached
success by being the only sociocultural-authoritarian party in Swedish politics. In short, the
study explores continuity and change in the party programs since the party was formed. The
results show significant ideological flexibility in the programs, for example changing from a
radically conservative gender discourse to one that considers gender equality a given fact of
Swedishness; and a significant ‘localness’ of the continuities in the discourse through the
importance of the concepts trygghet and ‘the people’s home’ (Folkhemmet). The continuity of
the law-and-order narrative also holds potential to legitimise the Sweden Democrats as the
original tough party as the tone hardens across the political spectrum. These findings present
an argument against the applicability of the GAL-TAN scale in the case of the Sweden
Democrats, and for a redirection of focus to their connection to mainstream nationalist
discourses and their construction of Swedishness.

• author: Kriss, Mikaela
• supervisor: Olle Frödin
• organization: Department of Sociology; Sociology
• course: SOCM04 20211
• year: 2021
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: radical right, Sweden Democrats, GAL-TAN, flexibility, normalisation, authoritarianism, trygghet, people’s home
• language: English
• id: 9064772
• date added to LUP: 2021-09-07 14:04:42
• date last changed: 2021-09-07 14:04:42