Sveriges politiska landskap
Sambandet mellan tillgång till samhällsservice och partival
Abstract
The political landscape of Sweden: The link between access to societal services and party choice
This study investigates the relationship between local service availability and political behaviour in Sweden from 2015–2022. We argue that changes in service availability are linked to people’s perception of social status, impacting political behaviour. Our empirical aims in this article are twofold. Firstly, we examine how the level of societal services has changed in Swedish municipalities over the last few decades. Secondly, we explore whether there is a correlation between these changes and the 2022 parliamentary election results. Our analyses yield a complex picture concerning service supply. The general trend is negative in one-fourth of the municipalities, which indicates growing geographic imbalances. At the same time, the supply of different types of services has developed in different directions. Furthermore, our results suggest a correlation between a decline in societal services and support for the radical right party, the Sweden Democrats.