När partier svänger - En rationalistisk analys av Centerpartiets agerande under regeringsförhandlingarna 2018/2019

Sammanfattning: The phenomenon of political parties that fluctuate on various issues is nothing new in either Swedish or other countris’ politics. Why do parties change stance on different issues and how can we understand this? The aim of this paper is to create an understanding of why the Center party's leadership acted as they did during the government negotiations of 2018/2019. The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether one can understand the Center party's decision to enter into government basis for a Social Democratic government and in such cases how, with the help of Gunnar Sjöblom's three arenas. The essay is a one-case study in which process tracing is a central method. To understand the Center party's actions during the government negotiations a rationalistic analytical model is applied to the case.