This year is election year here in Sweden. Sunday night SVT (national TV) arranged and broadcasted the first in a long series of party debates.
If you are curious about the political party system we have, you can read about it here. In short we have a “red” (read: left) and a “blue” (read: right) side competing against each other in this election.
I found the debate both interesting and highly entertaining. The political aspect of it all – what was debated, who stands where on which issues – was interesting, but what captivated me the most was the tone and rhetorical tools that were used. (That might have something to do with me being a psychology teacher and the fact that I am at the moment discussing social perception and influence in one of my classes.)
Of course there’s nothing new about politicians using body languages and rhetorics to avoid questions and trying to gain approval, but this was the first time I watched a Swedish political debate and considered this particular aspect of it.
The general impression the debate left on me was that Swedish politicians have become (just like many other parts of society) so much more Americanized. This debate reminded me a lot of the debates I have seen from American elections and (yes, I’m going there) the ones I’ve seen on the show West Wing. It might just be a false impression but I’ve always felt that Swedish politicians were less preoccupied with social perception and more preoccupied with social issues. I have a strong feeling that politics now, more than ever, are more about sending the right vibes to the voters and winning the election, than actually having an agenda, a plan or taking a stand on a certain issue. I asked around at work today and it seems I’m not the only one to have this impression.
The target group of voters for the debate were women. Any and every topic brought up by the moderator was turned to be about women or was made to look like it was viewed from women’s perspective: Taxes was all about female nurses’ salaries; the issue of immigrants’ unemployment was steared towards the unfair disadvantage women in general have when it comes to getting a job and so on for most issues.
Apart from that, I also noticed that the words “financial crisis” were very popular with all party representatives. Let me put it this way: Had it been a Saturday night and we would have made a drinking game out of it, I wouldn’t have been able to stand by the end of it.
All in all the debate was interesting. I’m excited to see what the next one will hold.
Good Socks 