Partikonkurrens i en tid av förändring- En förklarande fallstudie om Socialdemokraternas migrationspolitik

Sammanfattning: As the Sweden Democrats established its position in the Swedish party system by gaining 5,7 percent of the public vote in 2010, the other parties in the system were required to react. Along with the fact that the public interest in migration grew immensely during the refugee wave in 2015, this study’s aim is to investigate how the Social Democrats as the largest party in Sweden reacted to this change in the political climate. Theories show that established parties, when being met with competition from a niche party, will have as an alternative strategy to adjust their own policy in the direction of the new party as well as of public opinion in order to preserve their support. The research question was studied with quantitative methods, using votes in the Swedish parliament as indicators of the Social Democratic policy and surveys from European Social Survey to demonstrate public opinion, or the median voter. By analyzing the policy shifts of the Social Democrats in relation to the changes in public opinion, the investigation found that the party have in fact altered their stance on migration, in the same direction as the Sweden Democrats as well as the public opinion.