Politiska sekreterare i svenska kommuner: en överlevnadsstrategi för kartellpartier?

Sammanfattning: A common feature within political debate is the decline of parties as organizations. Political theorists have in general, without proper empirical investigation, embraced the idea of the freezing of party systems and of the catch-all party model as the end point of party development. This essay aims to analyze and explain the emergence and increasing amount of political secretaries within Swedish local authorities by applying Peter Mair’s cartel party theory. Few studies on this specific subject have been conducted and there are no complete records on the amount of political secretaries within Swedish local authorities. Neither are there any good, recent sources explaining what the political secretaries do and how they regard their own role in local politics. With statistical data and comments collected from a survey sent out to all political secretaries working in Swedish local authorities, this essay intends to test the hypothesis that political parties hire political secretaries to enhance their chances of survival, which widens the gap between established parties and new, smaller parties.