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which is why it is productive to consider the interplay between international trends and
national traditions in this field (Swanson & Mancini, 1996; Pfetsch, 2001; Nord, 2001a;
Plasser & Plasser,2002).

The objective of this chapter is to describe and analyse the political communications
processes in Sweden and the degree of professionalisation in terms of specialisation of
tasks, the increased use of experts and the management of the campaign (Lilleker &
Negrine, 2002). Following an introduction about both the political system and media
systems in Sweden, a discussion about the probable causes of the changing natures of
communication practices at both national and party level is offered.The last part of the
chapter is dominated by a discussion about the concept of professionalisation in
Swedish communication practices and its possible explanations and effects.

FROM STABILITY TO VOLATILITY – IN MEDIA AND POLITICS
Sweden was not the first democracy in the world,but can probably be described as one
of the most stable. From the full emergence of democracy around 1920 the same five
political parties – the Social Democrats, the Conservatives, the Liberals, the Centre Party
and the Leftist/Communist Party – formed the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, for
about 70 years. Even more astonishing, one single party, the Social Democrats, has
dominated Swedish politics during this same period.The Social Democratic Party ruled
for an uninterrupted period of 44 years from 1932 to 1976. Political power has shifted
somewhat in recent decades, but the Social Democrats still dominate the political
scene and have been in power for the last ten years. From an international perspective
this one-party dominance in a multiparty democratic system is unique, and the
powerbase has relied both upon a strong relationship with the labour union movement
and a regular pattern of class-based voting behaviour in Sweden (Hadenius, 1995;
Holmberg,2000).
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
At the present time, political stability has not disappeared from Swedish politics, even if
it is much harder to achieve due to crosscutting cleavages. Opinion shifts are more
dramatic than ever. A huge majority of the political parties have reached historical all-
time lows or all-time highs in voting results during the four most recent elections in
Sweden: 1998 (national parliament), 1999 (EU parliament), 2002 (national parliament)
and 2004 (EU parliament).

Thus, the former political stability is to some extent challenged by a more volatile
public opinion (Asp & Esaiasson, 1996; Holmberg, 2000).These changes must be viewed
from a societal context where the welfare state, characterised by a huge public sector
and high taxes,has gradually been replaced by more market-oriented policies based on
the conditions of the international economy. This process has been more evident and
thorough since Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, and has not been affected
by the referendum decision of 2003 to stay outside the single currency area.

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