A right-wing populist party’s walkthrough into governmental cooperation : A comparative analysis, focused on the origins and historical development of right-wing populist parties in Scandinavia, as well as the evolution of relationships and cooperation be

Abstract: Following the 2022 Swedish general election, all three of the Scandinavian countries have had right-wing populist parties either within the government or in cooperation with one. This thesis will review the origins and developments of the major, national, right-wing populist parties in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It will further focus on the respective party’s development of relationship with other, mainstream parties, as well as the progression of cooperations and advancement towards influence of governmental politics. With the Scandinavian states’ high level of similarities across various areas, this thesis aims to review and analyse similarities and differences from the three examples connected to the theories. This methodology is based as a qualitative, comparative study, focusing on gathered text materials such as academic works, political statements and news. The empirical material gathered will be analysed and connected to theories like convergence, political strategy and party ideology among others, with the aim to observe what aspects these theories have had regarding both the emergence of the right-wing populist parties in Scandinavia, as well as in connection to their development of cooperation with other parties. Central conclusions from the thesis’s discussion and analysis shows how political convergence through various acts and happenings, have supported the achievements of the right-wing populist parties’ goals of entering governmental cooperation. Moreover, comparisons between the countries show similarities such as these parties being shunned by the mainstream ones for example, while some differences include the societal statuses at the point of the parties’ origins.