Unintentionally Helping the Radical Right? : A Study on the Swedish Established Parties' Articulation on the Immigration Issue and the Electoral Support for the Swedish Radical Right.

Abstract: In recent years Sweden has witnessed an unprecedented electoral support for the radical right in domestic politics. Similar developments for radical right parties have in the last decades been observed around Western Europe, and scholars have tried to identify the reasons for this (arguably surprising) political trend. One possible explanation is presented by the legitimisation theory, which holds that when the political parties incorporate more of the issues typically associated with the radical right into their own party agenda in the hopes of regaining lost votes they simultaneously legitimise the controversial issues advocated by the radical right. Consequently, in contrast to its aim this political strategy may in fact unintentionally facilitate the growing support for the radical right. The findings of this study suggest that there are indications of a potential correlation between the Swedish established parties’ articulation on the immigration issue and the electoral support for the Swedish radical right in 1988-2018. Furthermore, the study provides descriptive information on how the Swedish established parties’ articulation on the immigration issue has changed over time, and how the Swedish printed media’s articulation on the immigration issue has differed from it. Together, the descriptive and statistical findings of this research are both useful and encouraging for future research on this highly contemporary issue in political science.