Sweden Democrats

Sweden Democrats
Sverigedemokraterna
AbbreviationSD
ChairpersonJimmie Åkesson
Party secretaryMattias Bäckström Johansson
First deputy chairHenrik Vinge
Second deputy chairJulia Kronlid
Parliamentary group leaderLinda Lindberg
European Parliament leaderCharlie Weimers
Founded6 February 1988; 36 years ago (1988-02-06)
Preceded bySweden Party
HeadquartersRiksdag, 100 12 Stockholm
NewspaperSD-Kuriren
Youth wing
Women's wingSD-Women
Media wingRiks [sv][1][2]
Membership (2023)Decrease 30,426[3]
IdeologyNational conservatism
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Political positionRight-wing to far-right
European affiliationEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party
European Parliament groupEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Group
Nordic affiliationNordic Freedom
Colours
  •   Yellow
  •   Light blue
  •   Bluish purple
Riksdag[4]
72 / 349
European Parliament
3 / 21
County Councils[5]
275 / 1,720
Municipal Councils[5]
2,091 / 12,614
Website
sd.se

The Sweden Democrats (Swedish: Sverigedemokraterna [ˈsvæ̂rjɛdɛmʊˌkrɑːtɛɳa] ⓘ, SD [ˈɛ̂sːdeː] ⓘ) is a nationalist[6][7] and right-wing populist[8][9][10] political party in Sweden founded in 1988.[6][8][9] As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing bloc and the second-largest party in the Riksdag. It provides confidence and supply to the centre-right ruling coalition.[11][12] Within the European Union, the party is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.[13][14]

The party describes itself as social conservative with a nationalist foundation.[15][16][17] The party has also been variously characterised by academics, political commentators, and media as national-conservative,[8][6] anti-immigration,[20] anti-Islam,[21] Eurosceptic,[27] and far-right.[14][28] The Sweden Democrats reject the far-right label, saying that it no longer represents its political beliefs.[29] Among the party's founders and early members were several people that had previously been active in white nationalist and neo-Nazi political parties and organizations.[30][31][32][33][34] Under the leadership of Jimmie Åkesson since 2005, the SD underwent a process of reform by expelling hardline members and moderating its platform, building on a work that had begun during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[8][33] Today, the SD officially rejects fascism on their platform and since 2012 has maintained a zero-tolerance policy against "extremists," "lawbreakers," and "racists."[35]

The Sweden Democrats oppose current Swedish immigration and integration policies, instead supporting stronger restrictions on immigration and measures for immigrants to assimilate into Swedish culture. The party supports closer cooperation with Nordic countries, but is against further European integration and believes Sweden must have a strategy to exit the European Union if it assumes more power and that the Swedish people should be allowed to vote on future EU treaties.[citation needed] The Sweden Democrats are critical of multiculturalism and support having a common national and cultural identity, which they believe improves social cohesion. The party supports the Swedish welfare state but is against providing welfare to people who are not Swedish citizens and permanent residents of Sweden, a policy known as welfare chauvinism. The Sweden Democrats support a mixed market economy combining ideas from the centre-left and centre-right. The party supports same-sex marriage, civil unions for gay couples, and gender-affirming surgery but prefers that children be raised in a traditional nuclear family and argues that churches or private institutions should have the final say on performing a wedding over the state. The SD also calls for a ban on forced, polygamous or child marriages and stricter enforcement of laws against honour violence. The Sweden Democrats support keeping Sweden's nuclear power plants in order to mitigate climate change but argues that other countries should reduce their greenhouse gas emissions instead of Sweden, which the party believes is doing enough to reduce their emissions.[citation needed] The Sweden Democrats support generally increasing minimum sentences for crimes, as well as increasing police resources and personnel. The party also supports increasing the number of Swedish Army brigades and supports raising Sweden's defense spending.

Support for the Sweden Democrats has grown steadily since the 1990s and the party crossed the 4% threshold necessary for parliamentary representation for the first time during the 2010 Swedish general election, polling 5.7% and gaining 20 seats in the Riksdag.[36][37] This increase in popularity has been compared by international media to other similar anti-immigration movements in Europe.[38] The party received increased support in the 2018 Swedish general election, when it polled 17.5% and secured 62 seats in parliament, becoming the third largest party in Sweden.[39][40] The Sweden Democrats were formerly isolated in the Riksdag until the late 2010s, with other parties maintaining a policy of refusing cooperation with them.[41][42] In 2019, the leader of the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch announced that her party was ready to start negotiations with the Sweden Democrats in the Riksdag,[43] as did Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson. In the 2022 Swedish general election, the party ran as part of a broad right-wing alliance with those two parties and the Liberals, and came second overall with 20.5% of the vote.[44] Following the election and the Tidö Agreement, it was negotiated that SD agreed to support a Moderate Party-led government together with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals.[45][46][47] It is the first time that SD holds direct influence over the government.[48][49]

  1. ^ Juonala, Jouko (8 May 2024). "Ruotsidemokraattien "trollitehtaasta" nousi kohu – näin kommentoi puoluejohtaja Jimmie Åkesson" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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  6. ^ a b c Peter Starke; Alexandra Kaasch; Franca Van Hooren (2013). The Welfare State as Crisis Manager: Explaining the Diversity of Policy Responses to Economic Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-137-31484-0. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
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  8. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Rydgren was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Berezin, Mabel (2013), "The Normalization of the Right in Post-Security Europe", Politics in the Age of Austerity, Polity Press, p. 255
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  19. ^ *Sainsbury, Diane (2012), Welfare States and Immigrant Rights: The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion, Oxford University Press, pp. 226–27
    • Pelinka, Anton (2013), "Right-wing Populism: Concept and Typology", Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse, Bloomsbury, p. 14
    • Tolinsson Ting, Kristina (2014), "Sweden: Social Solitariness", European National Identities: Elements, Transitions, Conflicts, Transaction, p. 246
    • Finseraas, Henning (2012), "Anti-immigration attitudes, support for redistribution and party choice in Europe", Changing Social Equality: The Nordic Welfare Model in the 21st Century, Policy Press, p. 23
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