Som maskrosfrön i vindarna: En kvalitativ studie om challengerpartiet Miljöpartiets förändring vid regeringsmakten.

Sammanfattning: Title: Som Maskrosfrön i Vindarna - En Kvalitativ Studie om Challengerpartiet Miljöpartiets Förändring vid Regeringsmakten. Course: STVAK04 statsvetenskap: kandidatkurs Author: Oskar Jonson Supervisor: Esther Calvo Keywords: Miljöpartiet, green parties, challenger parties, mainstream parties, Swedish politics, political entrepreneurs, issue entrepreneurship. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis paper is to provide a deeper understanding for what is happening to a challenger party when it receives a government position for the first time. Because most prior research on the topic of challenger parties is about when they still are challenger parties, i.e. before government experience, there is a lacking knowledge on when they transition from being a challenger party to a mainstream party. Methodology: This thesis paper uses a qualitative, descriptive case study. This method provides a good opportunity to witness the change in the selected case of Miljöpartiet on a detailed and deep level. The method aims to describe what is going on inside the party and provide a basis for potential explanations for this apparent change. Theoretical perspectives: The main theory providing support to this thesis paper is the theory from Catherine E. De Vries och Sara B. Hobolt on challenger parties. This theory was selected together with other theories on politcal behaviour. The purpose of these theories is to understand challenger parties and political behaviour to comfortably perform the analysis. Empirical foundation: The selected empirical foundation comes from the Green Party’s congressional protocols with associated documents. These documents are available to the public at the National Archives of Sweden or for the Green Party’s members on their digital member forums. Results: The study observes the change inside the selected challenger party and confirms the hypothesis that this challenger party would change with its position in government. Using the theories and logical deduction this thesis paper also begins the process of explaining why this change happens.