Evolutionen av Miljöpartiet

In the electoral manifesto ́s of the Swedish green party (Miljöpartiet) there is a substantial visible decrease of their emphasis on green polices, shown by using analytical tool created by the Manifesto Project. This essay aims to explain the observed decrease by utilizing Anthony Downs` rational-choice/competition theory on political party strategies. The methodology used is a most-similar design that tests the theory for two comparable cases, the manifestos for the elections in 1988 and 2014. The study tests for variables related to Downs` theory, primarily economic status, institutional theory and political experience. The analysis shows that the only variables that change between the two respective cases are related to the theory. This leads to the conclusion that Downs ́ theory can explain the observed decrease in relation to the underlying logic of the most-similar design methodology