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Conservatism in Sweden refers to the political philosophy ofconservatism as it has developed inSweden throughout the last two centuries. Today it is primarily represented by two major parties, namely the liberal-conservativeModerate Party and the nationalistSweden Democrats.
In the early 19th century, Swedish conservatism developed alongsideSwedish Romanticism. The historianErik Gustaf Geijer, an exponent ofGothicism, glorified theViking Age and theSwedish Empire,[1] and the idealist philosopherChristopher Jacob Boström became the chief ideologue of the official state doctrine, which dominated Swedish politics for almost a century.[2] Other influential Swedish conservative Romantics wereEsaias Tegnér andPer Daniel Amadeus Atterbom.
Early parliamentary conservatism in Sweden was explicitly elitist. TheConservative Party was formed in 1904 with one major goal in mind: to stop the advent ofuniversal suffrage, which they feared would result in socialism. Yet, it was a Swedish admiral, the conservative politicianArvid Lindman, who first extended democracy by enactingmale suffrage, despite the protests of more traditionalist voices, such as the later prime minister, the arch-conservative and authoritarian statesmanErnst Trygger, who railed at progressive policies such as the abolition of thedeath penalty.[3]
Once a democratic system was in place, Swedish conservatives sought to combine traditional elitism with modern populism. Sweden's most renowned political scientist, the conservative politicianRudolf Kjellén, coined the termsgeopolitics andbiopolitics in relation to hisorganic theory of the state.[4] He also developed thecorporatist-nationalist concept ofFolkhemmet ('the people's home'), which became the single most powerful political concept in Sweden throughout the 20th century, although it was adopted by theSocial Democratic Party who gave it a more socialist interpretation.[5]
DuringWorld War II, all parties fromLeft toRight, with the exception of theCommunist Party, formed agrand coalition in theHansson III cabinet. Around 3000 people, mostly communists, were deemed enemies of the state and sent toconcentration camps during the war.[6]
In the post-war era, the centre-right parties struggled to cooperate due to their ideological differences: the agrarian populism of theCentre Party, the urban liberalism of theLiberal People's Party, and the liberal-conservative elitism of theModerate Party (the old Conservative Party). Furthermore, the Social Democrats became very popular at this time as a major centre-left party, but as it moved further to the left underOlof Palme it disenchanted many of its previous voters. In1976 and in1979, the three centre-right parties formed a government underThorbjörn Fälldin—and again in1991 under aristocratCarl Bildt and with support from the newly foundedChristian Democrats, the most conservative party in contemporary Sweden.[7]
In modern times,mass immigration from distant cultures caused a large populist dissatisfaction, which was not channeled through any of the established parties, who generally espousedmulticulturalism.[8] Instead, the 2010s saw the rise of the right-wing populistSweden Democrats, who were surging as the largest party in the polls on several occasions.[9][10] Due to its fascist roots, the party was ostracised by the other parties until 2019 when Christian Democrat leaderEbba Busch reached out for collaboration, after which the Moderate Party followed suit.[11] In2022, the centre-right parties formed agovernment with support from the Sweden Democrats as the largest party.[12] The subsequentTidö Agreement, negotiated inTidö Castle, incorporated authoritarian policies such as a stricter stance on immigration and a harsher stance onlaw and order.[13]
The late 2010s also saw the emergence of new smaller conservative parties such asAlternative for Sweden andCitizens' Coalition. A new conservative think-tank,Oikos, was founded by Sweden DemocratMattias Karlsson in 2020.[14]
A resurgence of interest in conservatism has been particularly notable among the younger generation. In the 2022 school elections inSweden, in which 80% percent of all Swedish teenagers participated, 9% voted forleft-wing parties, 21% voted forcentre-left parties, 8% voted for acentrist party, 41% voted forcentre-right parties, and 21% voted for a right-wing party.[15]
