Polarising Pluralism: The Swedish Parliamentary Election of September 2014

Abstract:

The parliamentary election in Sweden on 14 September 2014 resulted in defeat for the four-party centre-right coalition that had governed for eight years.1 It was displaced by another coalition, comprising the Social Democrats and the Greens. The new government rested on a very narrow parliamentary base, however, and its prospects looked uncertain. Its weakness was in large part due to the strong electoral performance of the far-right Sweden Democrats.