Two peas in a pod? : A comparative idea and ideology analysis of the Moderate Party and the Social Democrats in modern times

This study is about the two largest and longest existing parties in Sweden, The Social Democrats, and The Moderate Party. These two parties have two different classical ideologies as their foundation which are socialism and conservatism. The question is then, have these political parties deviated from their classical ideological background? Moreover, if the parties’ positions are compared with the new scale GAL-TAN, are they more similar or dissimilar compared to when comparing the ideologies? The essay will present an explanation on what the new scale GAL-TAN is and then discuss the scale compared to the ideologies. The conclusion is that when the two parties are compared with their ideology, The Moderate Party has deviated the most from conservatism. The Social Party still follows socialism but with a modern adaptation. However, The Moderate Party has more in common with socialism than the Socialist Party has with conservatism. Moreover, the two parties’ position on the GAL-TAN-scale is very close but, The Moderate Party’s position is stronger because they focus more on individualism