Move of the men to the right

Research problem and specific questionsThe 2022 Swedish election meant historically large gender gaps in party choice.

A majority of men voted for one of the parties behind Tidöavtalet:  the Moderate Party, the Christian Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, or the Sweden Democratic Party.

A majority of women voted for one of the parties currently in the opposition: the Social Democratic Party, the Left Party, the Green Party, or the Center Party.

In this project, we investigate gender gaps in party choice and ideological left-right orientation in Sweden over a period of 70-years.

In contrast to previous research, which mostly focus on the situation of women in society and why they are more left-leaning than men, our project highlight that one of the major changes in Swedish politics is that men as a group has moved to the right of women as a group.

It is the movement of men, rather than changes among women, that lies behind today´s political gender gaps.We identify two movements to the right among men (i) one that took place in the 1970s/1980s and meant that men began to vote for the Moderate Party to a greater extent than women and (ii) one that started around 2010 and meant an increased gender difference in support for the Sweden Democratic Party.

The overall question is whether these two movements can be explained by the same theoretical starting points. Our preliminary answer is no.

We develop arguments for why these movements are distinct and test hypotheses about structural transformations in the labor market and value shifts in the public sphere.Data and methodWe build on the Swedish National Election Studies, 1956–2022, parliamentary surveys and party manifestos. We will also do experiments with citizens and politicians to tease out causality.

The method is statistical interference.Societal relevance and  utilisation One hundred years of universal suffrage in Sweden has not meant a convergence between women and men regarding political attitudes and behavior, rather the opposite.

Our project will increase the understanding of the move of men to the right of women and thereby deepen the understanding of today´s political gender gaps.

We plan for publications in international journals and a popular science book in Swedish.Plan for project realisationThe project´s main data has already been collected and analyzes of these can begin in year 1. Year 2 is devoted to the experimental studies and year 3 to the final completion of results.