The "ac" code is for "adequacy-confidence"--a
data
quality measure ranging from 0 (low) to 9
(high)
Party Name and Code Number
Swedish Peoples Party, commonly called
Liberal Party, 243
Folkpartiet
Information Base and
Researchers
The information base for party politics in
Sweden consists of 575 pages from 35 documents, with 188 pages or
33 percent pertaining to the Liberal Party. Jean Jacobsohn indexed
the literature for retrieval. Eve Harris coded the
variables.
Institutionalization Variables,
1.01-1.06
1.01 Year of Origin and 1.02 Name
Changes
1900, AC7
0, AC9
The predominant view is that the Liberal
Party was formed in 1900, and a national organization was started
two years later. But an alternative perspective on the founding of
the party cites 1934, when two factions of the party, which had
split in 1923, were reunited as the Folkpartiet. Certainly during
our time period there was no name change.
1.03 Organizational
Discontinuity
0, AC9
Apart from the major split in 1923 over the
prohibition issue, which was healed in 1934 with a reunion of the
factions, the Liberal Party appears not to have been troubled by
splits or mergers.
1.04 Leadership Competition
5, AC6
Bertil Ohlin became the party leader in
1944 and remained the leader throughout our time period. There is
no specific discussion of how he was named, but our consultant
states that it was through a basically open process.
1.05 / 2.05 Legislative Instability and
Strength
Instability is .18, AC8
Strength is .25 for 1st half, AC7, and .18
for 2nd half, AC9
The Liberal Party was markedly stronger in
the Riksdag during the first half of our time period, maintaining
25 percent of the seats until 1958, when its representation
dropped almost 10 percentage points.
1.06 / 2.06 Electoral Instability and
Strength
Instability is .17, AC8
Strength is .24 for 1st half, AC8, and .17
for 2nd half, AC9
The Liberal Party suffered a progressive
decline in strength at the polls during the elections of
1952,
Governmental Status Variables,
2.01-2.07
2.01 Government Discrimination
0 for 1st half, AC9
0 for 2nd half, AC9
Like the other opposition parties to the
governing Social Democrats, the Liberal Party appears not to have
suffered any substantial discrimination by the
government.
2.02 Governmental Leadership
0 out of 7 for 1st half, AC9
0 out of 6 for 2nd half, AC9
The Liberals never entered a governing coalition, much less
claimed the governmental leader.
2.03 Cabinet Participation
0 out of 7 for 1st half, AC9
0 out of 6 for 2nd half, AC9
The Liberals were always in opposition to
the government throughout our period.
2.04 National Participation
5 for 1st half, AC5
5 for 2nd half, AC5
One source says liberal strength is
associated with the urban areas like Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Another identifies Bohuslan and Vasterbotten as traditional
strongholds. It is not regarded as strong in the
south.
2.07 Outside Origin
4, AC6
Impetus for founding of the party appears
to have come mainly from some members in the lower house who were
united on the issue of universal suffrage.
Issue Orientation Variables, 5.01-5.15
5.01 Ownership of Means of
Production
1, AC8
Liberals continually snipe at the Social
Democratic nationalization policies and generally see a bigger
role for private enterprise to play in production. But Liberals
have not made a serious attack directed toward removing basic
industries from government ownership.
5.02 Government Role in Economic
Planning
2, AC8
Liberals accept broad economic planning but
push for greater reliance upon free market forces to set
prices.
5.03 Redistribution of Wealth
2, AC6
The party has argued that citizens must be
allowed to keep more of their income. It is the heavy progressive
taxation that results in an income leveling, so this policy would
tend to counter the redistribution of wealth.
5.04 Social Welfare
3, AC9
On the matter of social welfare, the
Liberals differ mainly from the Social Democrats in the nature and
perhaps the degree of state activity, but the principle of the
welfare state is no longer challenged. Liberals favor pension
programs, public housing, and other aspects of the welfare state,
but they would allow voluntary systems a greater role in the
provision of these services.
5.05 Secularization of Society
2, AC5
The literature contains only one brief
reference to liberal endorsement of Christianity and humanism as
the foundation of the Swedish culture. Another source notes that
people who are both radical and religious tend to vote liberal.
The Liberals were traditionally open to nonconformists, those who
opposed the establishment of the Lutheran state
church.
5.06 Support of the Military
3, AC4
There was one reference to the Liberal's
support of strengthening defenses in the early stages of the
Korean war.
5.07 Alignment with East-West
Blocs
1, AC6
There is evidence that the Liberals
advocate an alignment with the Western countries rather than the
policy of strict neutrality. But it is not clear if this policy
would extend to military alliances.
5.08 Anti-Colonialism
0, AC3
There is no information in the literature
that states the liberal policy on colonialism, but it appears that
the party's position would be benevolently ambiguous. Our
consultant also points out that Swedes began to become interested
in underdeveloped worlds near the end of our period, later very
much so, and liberals were among the leaders here.
5.09 Supranational Integration
3, AC6
One source contends that the liberals and
conservatives had more sympathy for full membership in the EEC
than the other two parties (alliances with Scandinavia in
favor).
5.10 National Integration
AC1
No information.
5.11 Electoral Participation
AC2
There is no information available for
recent years. However, the Liberals were formed on the basis of
the extension of the franchise through universal suffrage,
although it seems that the Social Democrats rather than the
Liberals were the main beneficiaries of the enlarged
electorate.
5.12 Protection of Civil Rights
AC1
No information.
5.13 Interference with Civil
Liberties
3, AC6
Our consultant reports that the Liberals
also supported a policy of freedom of expression.
5.14 / 5.15 US--Soviet Experts Left-Right
Ratings
US says 2, center
Soviets say 2, the party composition is
varied, consisting of representatives of the upper and lower
bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie, civil servants, white collar
workers, peasants, and even workers. The politics of the party are
strongly influenced by members of the major monopolies, whose
interests the party mainly reflects.
Goal Orientation Variables, 6.01-6.55
6.00 Open Competition in the Electoral
Process
4, AC9
The Liberals have been consistently opposed
to the Social Democratic governments, but the only strategy that
the party has used has been one of open competition through
elections to win enough seats to oust them from power.
6.10 Restricting Party
Competition
0, AC9
Restricting competition has never been a
part of the liberal strategy for acquiring governmental
power.
6.20 Subverting the Political
System
0, AC9
The Liberal Party is regarded as one of the
four Swedish "democratic" parties -the Communist being the
non-democratic party--and it has no place for subversion in its
strategy.
6.30 Propagandizing Ideas and
Program
6.31--AC2. No Swedish party is credited
with operating its own newspaper, although many newspapers support
one of the major parties. The liberal press has a circulation that
equals or exceeds the combined circulation of the rest. But there
is no evidence that the Liberals do any publishing as a party
organization.
6.32--AC1. No information.
6.33--2, AC6. One source credits all
Swedish parties with passing resolutions and
statements.
6.34--2, AC4. One source credits all
Swedish parties with the publication of considerable party
literature.
6.50 Providing for Welfare of Party
Members
6.51--0, AC3. There is no direct mention
that this is not done, but it seems to be a function of the state
rather than parties in Sweden.
6.52 and 6.53--0 , AC6. Our consultant
advises that the liberals did not run employment services nor
intercede with the government for individual citizens.
6.54--1, AC4. One source says that all
Swedish parties sponsor adult education courses for the purpose of
general education.
6.55--1, AC4. One source says that all
Swedish parties sponsor a variety of recreational activities for
its members, but there was no mention of physical facilities owned
and operated by the party.
Autonomy Variables, 7.01-7.05
7.01 Sources of Funds
AC2
We know that the party gets a relatively
small proportion of its funds from dues, less than 5 percent to
cite a 1948 report. But there is no information about the sources
of funds outside party dues. One source contends that the party is
the most heterogeneous in the country, suggesting that it might
draw support from many sectors. But the information just is not
there.
7.02 Source of Members
5, AC6
Sources state that the Liberal Party
membership is about 100,000. Although some sectarian organizations
are strong supporters of the Liberals, the membership of these
organizations has not affiliated with the party itself. Membership
therefore is entirely direct.
7.03 Sources of Leaders
1 (sector 03), AC3
Not enough information is available about
party leaders in general or party members in Parliament in
particular to allow coding of this variable with precision and
confidence. One statement asserts that the early leaders almost
without exception were members of the professions--teachers,
journalists, and lawyers. Therefore this is the sole basis of the
coding.
7.04 Relations with Domestic
Parties
5, AC5
The literature speaks frequently of the
Bourgeois Parties acting in opposition to the Social
Democrats--particularly after 1958, when the Center Party left the
governing coalition. The Liberals therefore are regarded for the
purposes of this code as engaging in a parliamentary alliance with
the Conservatives and later also the Center Party in opposition to
the Social Democrats. The Communists, with a few seats in the
Riksdag, of course would not be included in this
alliance.
7.05 Relations with Foreign
Organizations
4, AC6
The Liberals are affiliated with the
Liberal International, but not much is known about the nature and
extent of their participation in this organization.
Organizational Complexity Variables,
8.01-8.07
8.01 Structural Articulation
10, AC6
The literature tends to discuss party
organization for Swedish parties generally rather than
specifically, so there is not much detail for each party. But the
Liberals do have a national convention of from 100 to 400
delegates which meets annually. It also has a National Committee
of from 25 to 60 members that is selected in part by the
convention and in part by the district organizations, which
generally follow the electoral districts for Riksdag
representation. There is also a smaller Executive Committee of
from 7 to 20 members, but its selection is not clear. The party
also has a party organization within Parliament, but this, too, is
not discussed at length.
8.02 Intensiveness of
Organization
4, AC5
The lowest unit of organization for the
Liberals is the Party Local, based in one or two parishes in the
rural areas and subdivisions of larger towns. Assuming that there
are about 1,000 of these local organizations as the literature
indicates, there must be several thousands of voters per local,
which would classify the basic unit in the branch or ward category
according to our codes.
8.03 Extensiveness of
Organization
5, AC5
The party certainly does not have thorough
coverage of the country with its local organizations, which appear
to be scattered in the south, including Stockholm. It is possible
that the local organizations do not cover an area with more than
2/3 of the population, which would suggest lowering the code, but
adequate data are not available to support this.
8.04 Frequency of Local
Meetings
3, AC4
One source mentions that most local
organizations meet only once a year. Apparently, this applies to
the Liberal Party.
8.05 Frequency of National
Meetings
AC1
No information.
8.06 Maintaining Records
6, AC4
It seems that all the major parties engage
in extensive publication activity. There is no mention at all that
the Liberals maintain any type of archive to support research, and
it appears that their membership lists are not
outstanding.
8.07 Pervasiveness of
Organization
3, AC6
The Liberals are credited with having a
small but active youth group ( the FPU) and a women's group (the
FPK).
Organizational Power Variables, 9.01-9.08
9.01 Nationalization of
Structure
3, AC5
There is no clear statement about the
relative influence of the parliamentary organization in comparison
to the National Committee. The party chairman is also head of the
executive group in Parliament, and it is likely that he works
closely with the parliamentary group in planning and executing
party policy. Within the Liberal Party, there is some basis for
more decentralization, for the district organizations have a
direct hand in the selection of the National
Committee.
9.02 Selecting the National
Leader
AC2
There was no opportunity to judge the
process for choosing the party leader in our time period, for the
leadership in the Liberal Party did not change. The party congress
appears to have that power, but the information is insufficient to
judge.
9.03 Selecting Parliamentary
Candidates
3, AC9
By all accounts, the district party
organizations select their own candidates. The selection process
is usually dominated by the local leaders, although there is
provision for the rank and file to place names in
nomination.
9.04 Allocating Funds
2, AC5
For all the democratic parties in Sweden,
funds are claimed to be collected primarily at the local level and
transmitted upwards to the national organization. But this
probably applies most directly to party dues, and the collection
of contributions is not discussed in the literature. Moreover, the
Liberal Party obtains most of its support from the contributions
rather than the dues.
9.05 Formulating Policy
5, AC6
Our literature file contains no information
on this variable, but our consultant advises this
code.
9.06 Controlling Communications
0, AC4
The Liberals do not have any party
newspaper under their own control, and there was no mention of a
regular magazine or periodical publication, although the party
seems to publish a good deal of more fugitive material. Note,
however, that there are more newspapers in the country oriented to
the Liberal Party than to any other, but these are not under the
control of the party organization.
9.07 Administering Discipline
0, AC4
We know that there is no formal provision
for administering discipline within the parties generally, but
conformity of deputies is induced through the bestowal of Riksdag
committee positions.
9.08 Leadership Concentration
3, AC4
Although Ohlin was leader of the Liberal
Party throughout our time period, there is little evidence that
his leadership was so complete that he could run the party. There
were references to meetings of Liberal Party leaders to solve
party problems. It seems that Ohlin must get support from other
notables within the party in order to effectively bind the
party.
Coherence Variables, 10.01-10.06
10.01 Legislative Cohesion
.80, AC3
There are no tabulations of Riksdag votes
to use in making this estimate. There was one incident of a
Liberal Party member tabling his vote, rather than voting with his
party, which enabled a Social Democratic pension program to carry.
The deviant member did not appear to be the subject of later party
discipline, and it is therefore thought that occasional deviations
occur. But better data could result in a different
code.
10.02 Ideological Factionalism
2, AC3
A reference was made to right and left
voting tendencies among the voters who commonly vote liberal, and
this difference is assumed to have some counterpart among the
party workers and leaders. But the literature does not speak about
such divisions within the party generally.
10.03 Issue Factionalism
1, AC7
There are clearly lively discussions over
issues within the Liberal Party, but no special issues are
identified as serving as the basis for factionalism.
10.04 Leadership Factionalism
0, AC7
In the absence of contests to Ohlin's
leadership of the party during our time period, it appears that
there has been no substantial leadership factionalism nor even
major disputes about his leadership abilities.
10.05 Strategic or Tactical
Factionalism
0, AC7
No discussion of strategic or tactical
factionalism has occurred within the literature, but following our
time period there certainly was consideration of the formation of
a bourgeois opposition party to contest Social Democratic
domination of the government.
10.06 Party Purges
0 for 1st half, AC9
0 for 2nd half, AC9
There were clearly no purges within the
Liberal Party.
Involvement Variables, 11.01-11.06
11.01 Membership Requirements
3, AC8
There definitely was a paid Liberal Party
membership which was estimated variously from 100,000 to
150,000.
11.02 Membership Participation
2, AC3
There really is little information on which
to base this code other than the general characterization that the
rank and file members in the parties are not that active but that
they do display some interest in the party activities. The code
certainly could be wrong.
11.03 Material Incentives
0, AC3
Because the Liberal Party has been out of
government power for so long and could not offer much in the way
of material rewards, material incentives are assumed to be lacking
for most militants.
11.04 Purposive Incentives
2, AC3
Surely some of the militants, estimated
here as half, must be motivated by purposive incentives in the
form of opposition to the Socialism practiced by the Social
Democrats. Our consultant also suggests that church and temperance
ideas may be operative incentives.
11.05 Doctrinism
0, AC3
There is no mention of party doctrine, and
it is assumed that there is no basis for doctrinism within the
party.
11.06 Personalism
0, AC3
There was no contention in the literature
that Ohlin exercised charismatic leadership over party
militants.