Election year

This year - 2014 - is Election Year in Sweden. Elections have inspired me for a long time - the first one I remeber is 1988 when seals were threatened and I joined to the local school - or was it a library -  where people cast their votes.

The question today is whether  the Social Democrats, with a little help from the Green party (and the Left party), will keep its lead from the opinion polls and go all way to office. The centre-right has been governing for almost 8 years, and there is a feeling that something else is needed. Furthermore, it is an issue whether the Centre party and the Christian Democrats, today included in the centre-right government "Alliance", will actually reach the electoral threshold. If they would not, the centre-right would be consideraly weakened. How far are Moderate party supporters willing to go to support weaker parts of the "Alliance"? And are supporters of other parties, such as the Green party, willing to vote for the small centre-right parties, just to keep them in parliament?

Research shows that voters identify less with a specific party than before, and as many as 20 percent of the electorate in a regular opinion poll are unable to answer which party they support or would vote for if there were a general election. The electorate is volatile and therefore trends become even more important to follow. That's the purpose of this blog. Be very welcome!

Stortorget, Lund, Winter 2013-2014