Bloc Politics and Parliamentary Speeches in the Swedish Riksdag

How do political blocs form, consolidate, and dissolve? And can we trace these dynamics through the language of parliamentary debate? We address these questions by analyzing speeches in the Swedish R...

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Politics and Religion in Secular Societies: The Prominence and Framing of Religion in Nordic Election Campaigns

This study examines the prominence and framing of religion in election campaign communication in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Although the rise of populist radical right parties and the continued pres...

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Livelihood, Language or Self‐Identification? The Shifting Base of Sámi Representation in Finland

Against the backdrop of (i) the Finnish Eduskunta's enactment in June 2025 of a contentious change in the voting rules for elections to the Sámi Parliament and (ii) the publication in December 2025 o....

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Corporate Political Access Across Europe: Evidence From Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands

The political power of business is central to the analysis of contemporary democracies. Recent research has documented an increasing presence of corporations in some political systems. However, there...

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Populist Governance in Sweden and Its Impact on State‐Civil Society Relations From CSOs' Perspective

This article examines the impact of populist governance on state–civil society relations in Sweden, a country traditionally marked by collaborative relations and democratic stability. Focusing on ref...

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People or Experts? A Study on Public Preferences for Participatory Democracy and Expert Governance in the Context of Climate Policymaking in Sweden

The failure of governments worldwide to meet the climate targets of the Paris Agreement has sparked a debate about different decision-making practices. While some scholars advocate participatory prac...

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The Application Paradox: How National Officials Perceive Their Role When Applying EU Law

In multilevel orders such as the European Union (EU), national agencies are responsible for applying laws and policies emanating from multiple institutional levels. This article examines how senior o....

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Beyond the Ivory Tower? Security Studies Scholarship in Denmark and Norway

This article examines how academic national security expertise in Denmark and Norway translates into public visibility and engagement opportunities. While a largely US-centred literature on the pract...

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Preaching to the Unconverted: How Politicians Attacking the Media Influence Citizens' Evaluation of News Credibility

In the contemporary digital information landscape, the dissemination of news is frequently intertwined with critiques from political figures. Populist politicians, especially, have used social media ....

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Between Liberal and Illiberal Visions of Society: Elite–Voter Ideological Congruence in Finland

This study addresses a research gap in the scholarship on elite–voter linkages by focusing on ideological issue congruence between party elites and voters on a liberal–illiberal scale. Prior research...

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Why Some Want Something for Nothing: Three Explanations for Unfunded Spending Demand

Several studies have documented ‘something for nothing’ (SFN) attitudes among citizens: preferences for increased government spending and lower taxes. Such a demand for unfunded public spending may g...

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The Politics of School Choice in Scandinavia: Why so Stark Differences?

Since the 1980s, Scandinavian countries have pursued performance-oriented education, yet only Sweden and Denmark adopted school choice reforms—while Norway stood apart by not introducing it. Sweden p...

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Gamson's Law in the City Hall: The Populist Radical Right and the Dilemma of Allocating Municipal Portfolios in Sweden

Does the proportional distribution of office payoffs between coalition partners, known as ‘Gamson's Law’, hold at the local level? And can the inclusion of a populist radical right (PRR) party in a c...

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Asymmetric Influence: Politicians Can Fuel but Not Dampen Conflict

Research from the deeply polarized United States suggests that the impact of elite communication is asymmetrical: antagonistic messages often heighten divisions, while positive appeals fail to dampen...

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Narratives in the Farm Animal Welfare Policy Process

Traditional boundaries between policy areas are being challenged as farm animal welfare raises controversies. In this article we use data from the consultation process for a new white paper from the ...

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The Epistemic Habits of Danish Populists: Objectivity, Legitimacy and Evidence

Epistemic conflicts and disagreements characterise our political debates, as consensus surrounding what qualifies as legitimate knowledge in political settings becomes increasingly difficult to maint....

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Political News Consumption and Media Source Preferences During Election Campaigns: A Rolling Cross‐Sectional Analysis

This study examines political news consumption patterns among Icelandic voters during the 2021 parliamentary election campaign, tracking developments on a daily basis leading up to election day. Whil....

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Distinct From the Nordic Revolving Door? The Before and Post‐Appointment Employment of High‐Ranking Political Aides in Finland

The movement of political aides to the Finnish government between businesses or lobbyist organisations and government roles—the revolving door—has been debated since the 2000s. That scrutiny has incl...

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Rally‐Round‐the‐Flag: The Case of COVID‐19 in Denmark

Rally-round-the-flag describes a situation where voters rally behind their government and leader in the fight against an external enemy. The COVID-19 pandemic was such an external enemy and Danish vo...

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The Sole Effect of Double Standards—How Public Scandalization of Political Hypocrisy Influences Citizens' Democratic Trust and Engagement

Political hypocrisy is popularly understood as the discrepancy between what an individual says they believe one ought to do, and what they themselves actually do. Political hypocrisy is thus often li...

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Swedish Members of Parliament's Perceived Ability to Act on Climate Change

This study explores how Swedish politicians perceive their ability to influence climate policy in relation to their ideals of political representation. Through in-depth interviews with nine Swedish m...

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Gender and Support for Climate Change Policies: The Case of Offshore Wind Farms

Women express stronger environmental concern and more pro-active climate change attitudes, but whether gender differences translate to gaps in policy preferences is less known. Attitude gaps might no...

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The Impact of Three Crises on the Hegemony of Finland's Nuclear Power Elite

Finland is a homogenous corporatist country characterised by a tight-knit, consensus-seeking nuclear power elite that has had a close relationship with Russia for decades. The Finnish nuclear power e...

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Normative Governance for Green Policies: Exploring the Practices of Civil Society

Societal norm formation is crucial in shaping collective action on global challenges such as climate change. This study explores the norm-building role of civil society organizations (CSOs) by examin...

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The Politics of Statutory Extensions of Collective Bargaining in Norway

By extending collective wage agreements through the force of law, states can prop up dwindling collective bargaining. This is a common policy in Continental Europe, but less so in Scandinavia. Norway...

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Institutional Responses to Threats and Harassment of Academics: Evidence From a Survey Among Political Scientists in Norway

In an era marked by increasing polarization, academics face growing risks of harassment and threats, particularly when engaging in politically sensitive research or public discourse. This study inves....

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Citizen Engagement on Social Media Government Pages: Insights From Nordic Municipalities

This article explores the adoption and use of social media at the local level, focusing on how communication managers (or administrators) in Nordic municipalities leverage platforms such as Facebook,...

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Self‐Reliant Citizens, Market Deregulation, and Labour Flexibility: The Case of Finnish Entrepreneurship Strategy (2000–2022)

Since 2000, entrepreneurship has come to occupy a central position in Finnish policy, praised not simply as a form of work but as a disciplinary ethos that places increased responsibility on the indi...

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