{"id":6761,"date":"2014-09-04T09:56:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T09:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=6761"},"modified":"2014-09-04T10:26:26","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T10:26:26","slug":"left-or-right-who-knows-the-swedish-elections-of-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/left-or-right-who-knows-the-swedish-elections-of-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Left or right? Who knows! The Swedish elections of 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hejsan! Welcome to <strong><em>In Sweden with Steve<\/em><\/strong>, a new series where I will occasionally talk about Sweden rather than Swedish. But don\u2019t worry, you language-lovers out there will be introduced to some important practical vocabulary in these videos as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pkf0JODGA-Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen title=\"Embedded video\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>So, the reason for the spontaneity of this series is the approach of a very important event in Swedish history: <strong>the general elections of 2014<\/strong>. <em>Mycket st\u00e5r p\u00e5 spel<\/em> \u2013 that is, much is at stake. And there are only 10 days left.<\/p>\n<p>Before we begin, I would like to present the 8 political parties currently represented in <strong>Riksdagen \u2013 the Swedish parliament<\/strong>. In order of size in the current government:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Socialdemokraterna<\/span>: The Social Democrats (<a title=\"Homepage of Socialdemokraterna\" href=\"http:\/\/socialdemokraterna.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Moderaterna<\/span>: The Moderate Party (<a title=\"Homepage of Moderaterna\" href=\"http:\/\/moderaterna.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Milj\u00f6partiet<\/span>: The Green Party (<a title=\"Homepage of Milj\u00f6partiet\" href=\"http:\/\/mp.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Folkpartiet<\/span>: The People\u2019s Party (<a title=\"Homepage of Folkpartiet\" href=\"http:\/\/folkpartiet.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Centerpartiet<\/span>: The Center Party (<a title=\"Homepage of Centerpartiet\" href=\"http:\/\/centerpartiet.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Sverigedemokraterna<\/span>: The Sweden Democrats (<a title=\"Sverigedemokraterna\" href=\"http:\/\/sverigedemokraterna.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">V\u00e4nsterpartiet<\/span>: The Left Party (<a title=\"Homepage of V\u00e4nsterpartiet\" href=\"http:\/\/vansterpartiet.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Kristdemokraterna<\/span>: The Christian Democrats (<a title=\"Homepage of Kristdemokraterna\" href=\"http:\/\/kristdemokraterna.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a lot of parties when compared to in the United States where there are basically only two major parties. Aside from these 8 Swedish parties, though, there are two others that are <strong>fighting to enter the parliament<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Piratpartiet<\/span>: The Pirate Party (<a title=\"Homepage of Piratpartiet\" href=\"http:\/\/piratpartiet.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Feministiskt initiativ<\/span>: Feminist Initiative (<a title=\"Homepage of Feministiskt initiativ\" href=\"http:\/\/feministisktinitiativ.se\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Support for the Pirate Party has fluctuated over the years, while <strong>support for Feminist Initiative<\/strong>, a party whose goal is to combat discrimination on all grounds, <strong>has increased by over 1200% over the past year<\/strong>. There is a strong possibility that the party may enter Riksdagen this year.<\/p>\n<p>To get into the Swedish parliament, a party <strong>must have at least 4% of the popular vote<\/strong>. In August, surveys showed that Feminist Initiative had around 3,4%. As you can imagine, the party is campaigning like crazy.<\/p>\n<p>In Sweden, most of the parties cooperate in one of two blocks. There\u2019s <strong>the left block<\/strong>, otherwise known as<strong> De r\u00f6dgr\u00f6na or \u201cthe Red-Greens\u201d<\/strong>, and <strong>the right block, alliansen or \u201cthe Alliance\u201d<\/strong>. The parties in the left block are, in order of size:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Socialdemokraterna<\/span>: The Social Democrats<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Milj\u00f6partiet<\/span>: The Green Party<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">V\u00e4nsterpartiet<\/span>: The Left Party<\/p>\n<p>The parties cooperating in the right block are:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Moderaterna<\/span>: The Moderate Party<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Folkpartiet<\/span>: The People\u2019s Party<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Centerpartiet<\/span>: The Center Party<br \/>\n&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Kristdemokraterna<\/span>: The Christian Democrats<\/p>\n<p>The eighth party, the one that does not exclusively collaborate with either of the two blocks, is <strong>Sverigedemokraterna<\/strong>, the Sweden Democrats, a nationalist conservative party comprising 5,7% of the current parliament. They are the direct rivals of Feminist Initiative. Because neither of the blocks gained a majority in the previous election, the Sweden Democrats have been functioning as <strong>v\u00e5gm\u00e4stare, the deal breakers<\/strong> with the final say in decisions if the two blocks disagree with each other. In most cases, they have tended to <strong>lean toward the right<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Recent surveys have implied that neither block will comprise a majority after this election either, which implies that the Sweden Democrats will remain the \u201cdeal breakers\u201d. However, since the election in 2010, <strong>support for the left block has risen to just under 50%, while support for the right block has sunk to under 40%<\/strong>. If Feminist Initiative, a left-wing party, enters the Riksdag, they will undoubtedly work with the left block and <strong>effectively form a left-wing majority<\/strong>, removing the Sweden Democrats from their advantageous position as \u201cdeal breakers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ten days from today, Swedish citizens will go to their local <strong>vallokal (polling station)<\/strong> and cast their votes. In the 2010 <strong>riksdagsval, or parliamentary election<\/strong>, 85% of Sweden\u2019s 7 million eligible voters voted. This year, we hope to see even more people voting. We\u2019re all looking forward to seeing the results of this exciting and decisive election!<\/p>\n<p>What do you think will happen? Will the left block end up with a majority thanks to Feminist Initiative, or will the Sweden Democrats remain the deal breakers siding with the right block? <strong>Let us know what you think in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>UPDATE 4\/9 kl 12.00:<\/strong><\/span> There is news regarding support for Feministiskt initiativ. Comment first, then <a title=\"Comment first though!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dn.se\/valet-2014\/katastrofsiffrorna-kan-ge-valseger\/\" target=\"_blank\">check it out!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources: <a title=\"Sveriges Riksdag\" href=\"http:\/\/www.riksdagen.se\/sv\/ledamoter-partier\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sverige Riksdag<\/a>, <a title=\"Valmyndigheten\" href=\"http:\/\/www.val.se\/val\/val2010\/slutresultat\/R\/rike\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Valmyndigheten<\/a>, <a title=\"DN Blogg\" href=\"http:\/\/blogg.dn.se\/sundellssiffror\/2014\/08\/27\/hur-har-sverigedemokraterna-rostat-i-riksdagen\/\" target=\"_blank\">DN(1)<\/a>, <a title=\"DN Opinion\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dn.se\/valet-2014\/opinion\/\" target=\"_blank\">DN(2)<\/a>, <a title=\"Feministiskt initiativ on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/feministisktinitiativ\/photos\/a.112986775422954.15708.112513375470294\/687668884621404\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hejsan! Welcome to In Sweden with Steve, a new series where I will occasionally talk about Sweden rather than Swedish. But don\u2019t worry, you language-lovers out there will be introduced to some important practical vocabulary in these videos as well. So, the reason for the spontaneity of this series is the approach of a very&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/left-or-right-who-knows-the-swedish-elections-of-2014\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6761","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6761"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6767,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761\/revisions\/6767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}