LVU-kampanjen och koranbränningarna har blottat sårbarheter i den svenska opinionsbildningen med globala konsekvenser. Konflikter kring sociala myndigheters ingripanden, yttrandefrihetens och hetslagstiftningens gränser och kulturell rasism i de digitala mediernas tidevarv visar hur utsatta de svenska medierna och därmed offentligheten är för möjliga påverkanskampanjer och desinformation. Berättelserna om maktmissbruk och myndigheternas övertramp slår an strängar i konspirationsteoretiskt meningsskapande där olika samhällsgrupper ställs mot varandra. 

Den känslobaserade mobiliseringen av engagemang i sociala medier online men också symbolhandlingar offline eller IRL (in real life) ställer medierna inför ett antal utmaningar. Påverkanskampanjer utvecklar särskild kraft när de skjuter in sig på äkta och upplevda orättvisor och känslor av maktlöshet. Den journalistiska nyhetsförmedlingen hotas, men också myndighetsutövningen. Vad kan medierna lära sig av LVU-kampanjen och koranbränningar som hypermediala fenomen där den äkta och virtuella verkligheten förstärker varandra? Går det att återupprätta förtroende i den journalistiska rapporteringen? 

Across the past year a huge Twitter campaign against the Swedish social services authorities has been launched. A previous study examining Arab Diaspora online platforms in Sweden underlined that the Arab diaspora online community in Sweden was angry and hostile describing alleged abuses of Swedish social benefits. Racialization and discrimination discourses were revealed in the analysis. Racialization appeared in different levels. The “us” and “them” dichotomy appeared during disagreements. Commentators repeatedly noted their difficulties in being considered Swedish and impressions of discrimination as a result. A discussion among diaspora community construct life in Sweden between Utopia and dystopia. The current study aims at looking at the latest crisis with the social services and examine if the twitter movement in this case construct emotional mobilization and if there are other actors who contribute to the escalation abusing the situation of immigrants in Sweden. 

Can we increase students’ grasp and integration of research methods in political science, and do so in a fun way? We believe the answer is yes. In this article, we introduce the workshop-based narrative framework “The Tale of Folke Folkesson,” where students role-play as the methods expert group Linnaeus Opinion Laboratory (LOL). Through an interactive engagement with the story, students are exposed to the combined utility of various qualitative and quantitative techniques such as content analysis, survey research, experiments, and interviews. This methodological exercise enables students to recognize not only the individual strengths and weaknesses of each method, but also how one method can offset the limitations and/or amplify the benefits of another. Importantly for student learning, it does so in a fun and engaging way. Beyond introducing the narrative framework, we describe how educators can adapt the “Tale of Folke Folkesson” to meet their specific educational needs.

After reaching a peak during the 1990s, death sentences and executions havedeclined throughout the states. During this time, a steady stream of states havetaken the step to join a growing group of abolitionist states, or alternatively, have a moratorium on executions in place. In a parallel development, supportfor the death penalty among the U.S. population has equally waned. However,the trend towards a shrinking death penalty is not without its challenges. The ultimate punishment is still administered in some states, and legislation aiming to maintain the use of the death penalty continue to be proposed and enacted in state legislatures. Previous research provides a wide range of reasons explaining the current situation at state level. This compilation thesis argues that state legislatures, a hitherto less researched area in this context, play a central role in recent developments. With a lack of research on determinants for death penalty legislation, meaning both legislation that aims to limit the use ofthe death penalty and that which aims to maintain or expand it, a significant gap exists in the literature and subsequently our understanding of a declining death penalty. This thesis attempts to address this gap by contributing with fourstudies of a unique set of death penalty legislation in 38 states covering the years 1999-2018. The papers examine legislative activity in terms of both billproposals and enacted legislation, as well as the role of women legislators andthat of governors and their use of vetoes targeting death penalty legislation. Party and institutional aspects are shown to matter to the current development, but with a number of caveats depending on the type of bill and with greatdiversity between different state legislatures and their shaping of death penalty policy.

While state legislatures have been at the center of shaping death penalty statutes during the 2000s, so have governors at rare but crucial moments. The ability to issue gubernatorial vetoes has been used not only to prevent abolition from occurring, but also to bar the state from enacting legislation to expand it. However, little is known about what factors affect the likelihood of a governor deciding to veto these often highly controversial bills. This is surprising considering the pivotal role governors can sometimes play in this context, able to grant clemencies to varying degrees and also impose death penalty moratoriums. This article examines gubernatorial vetoes in the context of death penalty legislation, assessing the extent to which institutional constraints as well as individual aspects affect the use of vetoes. Empirical analysis of a unique dataset comprised of enacted and vetoed legislation pertaining to capital punishment in 38 states from 1999 through 2018 suggest that individual attributes, and to a lesser extent institutional aspects, have an effect on the likelihood of a governor issuing a veto in the legislative context of capital punishment, but that this also greatly depends on the type of bill. I argue that both individual features and institutional design are useful when examining the many varieties of capital punishment in the U.S. and how governors participate in shaping death penalty statutes.

For the last two decades, the death penalty in the US has steadily declined. During this time, governors have at rare but crucial moments participated in shaping the death penalty in their respective states by issuing vetoes. Gubernatorial vetoes have in some cases been used not only to prevent abolition from occurring, but also to bar the state from enacting legislation to expand it. However, little is known about what factors influence the decision to veto these often very controversial bills. Analysis of a unique dataset of death penalty bills covering years 1999–2018 suggests that a governor’s individual attributes, as well as institutional factors, have an effect on the likelihood of a veto in the legislative context of the death penalty, with different aspects of time in office, experience and partisanship being of particular relevance.

This article dives into the ongoing debate on how to address concerns of personal safety and respect online, as well as consequences for exposure to polarizing and in various ways harmful information, while at the same time safeguarding the democratic essentials of freedom of expression and participation. It does so by examining the issue from a less common angle, namely who governs the Internet and the platforms where much of the toxic material appears. By applying a model of free speech regulation conceptualized by legal scholar Jack Balkin (2018a, 2018b), the article explores different theoretical future scenarios of Internet governance involving three main players, namely governments, private companies, and speakers. The analysis finds that depending on which player is at the forefront, the outcomes from the standpoint of participation and freedom of speech may be drastically different. While there is potential for transformation that can enable more ownership, transparency, and agency for citizens and news media, some potential paths will place ever-increasing control over the interests of users.

Today’s ever evolving media landscape offers a multitude of ways to consume and spread political information and opinions, especially in election times. Yet in this diverse media ecosystem, not all communication occurs in the public sphere. This study explores how the 2018 Swedish national election was discussed in a less accessible international online space associated with alt-right ideology and profoundly offensive content, with focus on how political positions were debated and expressed. The analytical approach applied sees participants in the discussions as members of an electronic tribe, which in turn is situated along an influential, yet often overlooked, hybridized flow of communication that defies previous models of analysis. Results suggest that while support for right-wing political parties and politics is prevalent on the site and is expressed using a common protocol, positions are also debated internally, sometimes adopted only to later be abandoned, highlighting the non-fixed, fleeting aspects of online existence.

Election interference poses a threat to nations around the world. Potential negative effects include depressed public participation in the political process and elections, artificially exaggerated polarization among different groups in society and a decrease in trust among voters for the election system and in the long run, democracy itself. While different forms of interference in the election process is not a new phenomenon, the advent of the Internet has facilitated interference via digital means, originating either outside the nation’s borders or from within. Sweden is no exception to being a subject of attempts of election interference, even though its election system is generally regarded as trustworthy and of a high standard. This study focuses on the 2022 Swedish election and the perceived threats of electoral interference via digital means, as well as claims of interference having taken place, as discussed in Swedish media. The results show that while Swedish media reported on both threats ahead of the election, as well as claims of different forms of interference having taken place, the integrity of Sweden’s election system seems to have remained intact. Of primary concern are issues that can be connected with attempts of interference that have a domestic angle, pertaining primarily to the spread of disinformation online about alleged election fraud. 

Relatively similar death-penalty eligible crimes can render drastically different outcomes in different US states. The understudied role of state supreme justices is key to understanding this issue, particularly justices' political influences. This study explores the linkage between electoral politics and judicial voting behavior, using models that include judge-related as well as case-related variables. It covers three US states and analyzes a total of 388 death penalty opinions (2,696 individual justice votes).

The death penalty has existed in a state of steady decline for the last two decades, during which state legislatures have been at the center of abolition efforts. Successful abolition is, however, very rare in contrast to how often death penalty repeal bills are introduced across state legislatures, year after year. Indeed, abolition is not a sudden event, but may be many years in the making. Research on the early phases of this process, where the groundwork for enacted legislation is laid, is nevertheless limited. This chapter explores patterns of death penalty bill introductions across all active death penalty states from 1999 to 2018, providing not only an overview of legislative activity at state level but also an analysis of potential factors fueling the activity. It argues that individual legislators play a significant role in the current trend of increased legislative support for a restricted, if not entirely abolished, death penalty, evident both in terms of persistency over time and cooperation across party lines. It also problematizes partisan aspects of legislative activity in the context of legislation on capital punishment.

Not only did a pandemic break out in 2020. There was also an outbreak of a so-called “infodemic” of previously unforeseen magnitude, as information regarding the new corona virus, both accurate and inaccurate, rapidly flooded the Internet. Among the false and misleading information that quickly started to spread, three themes were among some of the most commonly occurring: the origin of the virus, alternative medical advice, cures and treatment and the vaccine. This paper discusses the three themes based upon recent research, and argues that they were each fairly predict-able. Not only was the demand for information regarding the new virus enormous – and understandably so – but the groundwork for misinformation on the differ-ent themes had already been laid. Some of the false information therefore got off to a flying start. The paper concludes that remedies to address this kind of infor-mation suffer from the inherently very high level of uncertainty that follow signifi-cant health emergencies, which in turn sets the bar very high in terms of accurately addressing false claims.

The journalistic framing of politics as a game, as opposed to focus on the issues, has long been discussed in terms of consequences for potential voters and in the long run, democracy. Research shows that the game frame is especially prevalent in highly market-driven media systems such as in the United States, but that it also appears, albeit to a lesser degree, in systems marked by a mix of public service and commercial media, such as Sweden. This paper examines news stories in both US and Swedish media, covering the well-publicized 2020 Democratic primary election in order to elucidate patterns of journalistic framing. The results indicate that the game frame is indeed in frequent use in both systems, and that with notable exceptions, when it comes to a foreign election such as a US primary, Swedish media focuses less on the issues compared to a selection of US media.

Claims of election fraud have appeared in connection with a number of national elections in recent years, even in countries that have generally been considered as democratic role models. The spread of disinformation regarding elections can lead to an erosion of trust for the process of electing democratic leaders, and can also be indicative of declining trust in the entire political system and its institutions, posing a challenge for a cohesive, democratic society(Berlinski et al., 2023).

The Nordic countries are not exempt from seeing a claims of election fraud and other types of disinformation proliferate in connection with elections appear in recent years (see e.g.Akerbæk & Skiphamn, 2021; Kaati & Shrestha, 2023; Runge, 2019). Yet in the context of disinformation about elections, even specifically claims of fraud, the issue in the Nordics pales in comparison to that of in other countries. In the U.S. for example, accusations of election misconduct are not new (Filindra et. al., 2023), but erupted most dramatically after the 2020 election. The highly publicized events of January 6th, 2021 made it clear that a large number of individuals believed very strongly in a conspiracy having taken place that had caused former President Donald Trump to lose the election.

Based upon developments in recent years, experiences in the Nordics and the U.S. in the context of online narratives of election fraud thus seem like polar opposites. However, online narratives and conspiracies proliferate online without regard for national borders. Extreme platforms where such conspiracies are spread are frequented by different kinds of users from different parts of the world, and can even end up appearing in far more mainstream settings (e.g. Åkerlund, 2021). This paper aims to examine the phenomenon of a form of conspiracy contamination across national borders, where an online narrative regarding elections beingrigged spreads from one national context to a wholly different one. The case under examination is Sweden and the study comprises the last two national elections, i.e., 2018 and 2022, in order to see any kind of effect of the U.S. conspiracy narrative regarding the election on Swedish online discussions. The platforms that will be examined are Flashback and 4chan.

Covert online operations aiming to affect another country’s election and overall political stability constitute a serious threat to liberal democracies. Sweden and other Nordic countries have fared relatively well in this regard, yet research shows how mere exposure to different types of accusations of elections being rigged can have negative effects on voters’ faith in democratic norms (Albertson & Guiler, 2020). The study highlights the importance of domestic discussions being open to foreign influence, even though no efforts of organized election interference are carried out.

Relations across the Atlantic have weathered many storms since the end of World War II. A Cold War has come and gone, internal and external challenges appeared and faced, colored by the political leadership at the time. Yet as Europe-U.S. relations have continued to transform and adapt, fears have been raised that the most recent U.S. election is causing tension serious enough to upend the very foundation on which the transatlantic partnership rests. For example, Donald Trump’s unilateralist and protectionist rhetoric, conveyed in remarkable confrontational manner stand in stark contrast with his predecessor Barack Obama’s multilateral approach to solving global problems. However, can the advent of one U.S. president singlehandedly threaten the relationship which has prevailed for over 70 years? While possible ramifications have yet to fully form after only two years in office, a closer look at the current president’s verbal actions so far can however provide insight. With basis in a constructivist approach, this paper provides a content analysis of public statements relating to Europe by U.S. presidents from the 1960s and onwards with the aim of capturing the U.S. narrative surrounding the transatlantic relationship expressed over time. Results indicate that the image of a wronged, unfairly treated U.S., particularly when it comes to trade and security, is the most prevalent in Donald Trump’s antagonism towards Europe, but also that similar arguments have appeared before.

While the death penalty in the U.S. is generally described as existing in a state of overall decline, legislative battles not only over whether the policy should be repealed, but also if it should be expanded, continue. Often assumed to be a battle along partisan lines, neither history nor current developments at state level provide convincing support for such an assumption. Another layer of assumptions has also been made regarding women legislators and capital punishment. Women legislators are generally caught between a perception of on the one hand, lacking the ability as lawmakers to handle the violent threat posed by crime, while on the other hand, being particularly credible due to a perceived heightened ability of caring for others and being compassionate. In practice, women legislators should thus be involved in legislation that could be considered as far too lenient, or focused primarily on only one area, such as the rights of the defendant. Capital punishment however, I argue, does not follow generalized notions on what constitutes a “women’s issue” and subsequently how women legislators handle this type of oftentimes very controversial legislation. Based upon a unique dataset comprising legislation relating to the death penalty collected from each death penalty state during the years 1999-2018, analyses of the content of bill proposals and well as patterns of women’s sponsorship of such are conducted and related to the institutional and partisan state context. Results indicate that women legislators throughout the states do indeed introduce bills with the aim of protecting vulnerable groups, yet these bills have drastically different outcomes that defy easy categorization along gender, as well as, partisan lines.