Partiledareffekter i Sverige

This study will address the party leader's personal popularity effects on voters' voting behavior. To what extent are voters’ party choice influenced by the party leaders' popularity, if the electoral polls show any signs of party leader effects in the Swedish election results and whether some political parties are more sensitive to the effects of party leaders than others. The study will also highlight whether the party leader's impact on the voters' choice of party has strengthened over time. This will be examined through a descriptive study of literature based on the results of the Swedish election surveys during the period 1979 - 2006. Despite speculations that the party leader as a person can have great significance and potentially attract votes to the party, the results show that the party leader's impact on the voters' party choice, at least in Sweden, has not increased over time. It appears, however, that voting based on party leader is more common among the small group of voters who change party between elections than among stable voters. The results show some indirect party leader effects, but these effects are so small that they do not have any significant impact on election results. It is possible to determine that some parties may be more sensitive to the effects of party leaders than others. There are parties in the Swedish political system that have party leaders who are highly valued by their own party supporters, if this trend continues for these parties they may in the future to get more voters who vote for the party because of their party leader than for their policies. It has, however, not been noticed that parties would have been favored by the party leader`s popularity in elections. Research indicates that it is the party factor – and not the party leader – that is central and has a significant and decisive role in the Swedish parliamentary elections