Studentföreningen Spartakus i Linköping 1969-71 : en kvalitativ studie av dess politiska verksamhet och relationer

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to examine the politics and activities of the Social Democratic students´ association Spartakus. Their relationships and political and ideological differences towards the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) and the remaining parts of the Social Democratic youth organisation (SSU) in Linköping during 1969-1971 are examined. To fulfil this aim I have studied relevant literature and interviewed people who were active in Spartakus, as well as people from SSU and SAP in the municipal during the period. I have also studied written material produced by the students´ association itself during the period. The theoretical frame of reference consists of Dahl´s theory on a democratic political order, and party theories like the mass party theory of Duverger, theories from Sjöblom, Panebianco, Lipset and Tingsten and also Gidlund&Möller´s theory about different kinds of party members. The results of the thesis shows that Spartakus originally was a traditional Social Democratic students´ association whose relations towards its party and SSU were working well. However new active members who were very much inspired by the left-wing views that were spreading during that period. They changed Spartakus into a club that was very active, radical and critical towards the party, with a goal to bring the social democratic party politically further to the left. Spartakus acted during a couple of intense years, but when they used communist rhetoric to try to take control over SSU in the region and with governmental critics bid defiance towards the democratic order of the party, these organisations had had enough. The most left-wing part of Spartakus was made to leave the party and their positions on the boards of SSU.