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POLITICAL PARTIES.
209
the kingdom as standing high above all other political questions, while the Left, as
the opposition party, has, as a rule, adopted a negative and critical attitude.
But by the force of circumstances it was the Bight that in the end settled the
franchise dispute, after which the General Election of 1911 brought the Liberal
Party into power. The central problem for the new Cabinet was the question
of national defence; but the difficulty of harmonizing their aspirations to
alleviate military burdens whit the new aspect of world affairs, necessitating an
increase of the national power of defence, caused the removal, in 1914, of the
Liberals from their dominant place in Swedish politics. The program of the
Social Democrat party connects itself with the Marxian doctrine and at the same
time takes up the wishes of the manual workers in the politics of the day;
and even though its supporters sometimes, as in the great strike of 1909 —
though by peaceful means — have sought to set themselves above the established
rules of society, yet their disapproval of bourgeois society is, in the main, of a
theoretical kind. In practice, the Swedish Social Democrat party is a radical
section of the Left, well disposed to parliamentary work, and after its great
gains in the elections of 1914, also ready in principle to give up its negative
attitude towards taking part in the burden of government, and it has shown
itself able, to a very considerable extent, to work with the Liberals in the
struggles against the Right; on the other side, through its bourgeois leanings it
has called forth a loud-voiced opposition from its own left wing.
The sharpening of political contrasts during the last few years and the more
clearly defined division of parties under the influence of the system of
proportional representation have markedly diminished the band of non-party men or
"free lances". In the Riksdag period of 1913—14 only one or two persons in
■each chamber had not formally associated themselves with any party. After the
autumn elections in 1914 the party distribution was as follows: in the First
Chamber, the Right 89 members, against 47 Liberals and 14 Social Democrats;
in the Second Chamber, the Social Democrats 87 (64 in 1911), the Right 86
(64 in 1911), the Liberals 57 (102 in 1911). A non-political combination, to
which a certain amount of consideration may be shown by all the different
parties, is the Riksdag Temperance Group, consisting of members of both
Chambers.
The inner organization of the Riksdag parties is approximately the same.
At the commencement of a Riksdag, the various parties assemble in constituent
meetings and appoint chairmen and party-councils (förtroenderåd) with a
membership varying between 20 (United Liberal Party) and 9 (Agricultural and Civic
Party). The parties as a whole often hold party meetings with closed doors,
whose discussions and resolutions have practical gradually gained more and more
importance.
Party divisions are also much more sharply marked than before in
Local Government. The proportional system, as carried through in 1907
—09, has, amongst other things, helped to make the elections to county
•councils and town councils follow more definite party lines; and the
representatives of the three chief parties in these assemblies often associate
themselves in groups or clubs modelled on those that obtain in the
Riksdag.
The development in a democratic direction which characterizes the
political life of our times has also increased the need and importance of general
national organizations for the different parties in order to work up
public opinion, especially on the occasion of political and communal
14—133179. Sweden. 1.
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