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Sweden ‘world’s third most democratic country’

Sweden is the third most democratic country in the world, according to the latest edition of the Economist's Democracy Index.

Published: 9 January 2019 12:21 CET

Sweden 'world's third most democratic country'

People cast their ballots on voting day. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Only its Nordic neighbours Norway and Iceland scored higher in the ranking.

A total of 20 countries (home to only 4.5 percent of the global population) were judged to be 'fully democratic' while the rest of the 167 countries included in the survey were classed as 'flawed democracies'.

The index was based on the following categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties. Overall, 2018 was the first time in three years that the overall score remained stable, with more countries improving their score than declining.

Sweden celebrated one century of democracy in 2018, and held a general election the same year. Turnout was up on the previous election, but the vote led to a very close result between the two major blocs. The country is still without a new government.

From the start of 2019, Sweden's electoral law was updated with a requirement that the area where ballot papers are located in a polling place must be hidden from view from other voters. This is in order to better guarantee voter secrecy, since Sweden's ballot papers have the name and logo of the chosen party on them.

The law change followed a report from international observers monitoring Sweden's election for the first time, which recommended improved secrecy as well as tighter rules on campaign funding.

IN DEPTH: How robust is Sweden's democracy? (Clue: not very)

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SURVEY: Here's how Swedes would vote if an election were held today

The Social Democrats are the clear winners in the new survey from Statistics Sweden, with an increase of 8.3 percent since the 2022 election and 4 percent since the last survey was carried out in November last year, putting them on 38.6 percent in May 2023.

Staying in the left bloc, the Left Party has also seen a minor increase in support. If an election were held today, it would receive 7.3 of the votes, an increase of 0.6 percent since the 2022 election, or a decrease of 0.3 since November last year.

Along with the Green Party, who would receive 4.1 percent of the vote (down 0.3 percent since November 2022 or 1 percent since the 2022 election in September), the Social Democrats and the Left Party would have exactly 50 percent of the vote if Sweden were to go to the polls today.

The Centre Party, the fourth party in the left bloc, has also seen a drop in support, with a decrease of 2.5 percent since the election and 1.2 percent since November 2022, putting it at 4.2 percent. Along with the Greens, the Centre Party is hovering just over the 4 percent parliamentary threshold.

If the Centre Party were to join the rest of the left bloc in forming a government, the bloc as a whole would have 54.2 percent of the vote, compared to the 48.8 percent of the vote it received in September’s election.

Respondents were asked how they would vote “if an election had been held today”. Statistically significant changes are marked with an asterisk (*). Photo: Statistics Sweden

On the other side of the political divide in the right-wing bloc, the Moderates are the only party to see an increase in support, up 0.2 percent since November 2022 which puts them at 19.1, the same figure as in the September 2022 election.

Its partners in government, the Liberals and Christian Democrats, are both under the 4 percent parliamentary threshold at 3.4 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. This represents a decrease of 1.2 percent for the Liberals since the election or a 0.7 percent decrease since November 2022, and a decrease of 1.6 percent for the Christian Democrats since the election or 1.2 percent since November.

The Sweden Democrats, who overtook the Moderates as Sweden’s second largest party after the election last year, have also seen a decrease in support of 2.5 percent since the election or 0.2 percent since November, which puts them on a total of 18 percent.

This would mean the Moderates would retake them as Sweden’s second largest party if an election were to be held today.

Sweden’s current governing bloc, the Moderates, Liberals, Christian Democrats with the support of the Sweden Democrats, returned 49.5 percent of the vote in September’s election. This new survey would put it on just 44.2 percent of the vote, meaning it would lose its majority if an election were to be held today.

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