The SOM institute has studied five different changes of government in Swedish politics and can state that voters’ trust in and general attitude towards democracy is affected by how the parties they voted for go in the elections.
For example, the research shows that trust in the government, Riksdag and politicians generally decreases among voters whose parties lose an election. The same applies in the opposite direction, i.e. trust in the political institutions increases among voters whose parties are doing well. For example, the latest SOM survey shows that SD sympathizers generally have a more positive attitude towards various institutions after the election last autumn.
– A lot of exciting things happen, when the content suddenly gets to be out and the out gets to be in, states the professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson, in the seminar “The impact of the change of government on political opinion”, which you can see in the video above .
Every year, the SOM institute examines Swedes’ perception and attitude towards various current social issues. The institute has done this since 1986.
The video is part of a full-day seminar from the SOM institute at the University of Gothenburg on March 28.
