Kommun- och landstingsfullmäktigeundersökningen (KOLFU) 2012

KOLFU is a survey directed to all members of the 20 regional/county councils and 290 municipal councils in Sweden (in total about 13,500 individuals). KOLFU was conducted for the first time in 2008 and the second time in 2012. The total number of respondents in 2012 was 10,491. KOLFU was administrated by researchers from University of Gothenburg, while the company Detector AB was responsible for the field work. The survey was carried out within the project "Swedish politicians [Svenska politiker]". Mikael Gilljam was the project leader and David Karlsson the project coordinator. KOLFU comprise questions about the councillors' social background, attitudes towards political issues, views on democracy and political work in their own municipalities and regions. Purpose: The aim of KOLFU is to survey Swedish local and regional politicians' views on democracy and politics. The KOLFU-survey was mainly conducted through a web-survey. The field work was carried out in the following way: In phase one, e-mail addresses to as many councillors as possible were assembled. In an e-mail, the respondents were given the opportunity to respond to the questionnaire on the Web. Councillors who lacked an e-mail address were sent a paper questionnaire by post. Councillors with e-mail addresses could also ask to be sent a postal questionnaire. Respondents received repeated reminders through e-mail, postal mail and via telephone.KOLFU är en undersökning som riktar sig till samtliga fullmäktigeledamöter i Sveriges 20 landsting och 290 kommuner (totalt cirka 13 500 personer). KOLFU genomfördes för första gången 2008-2009 (KOLFU 2008) och andra gången 2012-2013 (KOLFU 2012). Antalet faktiska respondenter 2012 - exklusive bortfallet - var 10,491 . KOLFU 2012 genomfördes av forskare vid Göteborgs universitet medan företaget Detector AB svarade för fältarbetet. Undersökningen genomfördes inom ramen för projektet Svenska politiker. Forskarteamet bestod av Mikael Gilljam (projektledare) och David Karlsson (projektsamordnare). I KOLFU ingår frågor om ledamöternas sociala bakgrund, deras åsikter i politiska frågor, deras syn på demokratins spelregler och det politiska arbetet i den egna kommunen och landstinget. Syfte: Kommun- och landstingsfullmäktigeundersökningen (KOLFU) genomförs för att undersöka svenska kommun- och landstingspolitikers syn på demokrati och politik. KOLFU-undersökningarna genomfördes huvudsakligen som e-enkäter. Fältarbetet har varit upplagt på följande sätt: I en första fas samlades e-postadresser in till så många ledamöter som möjligt. I ett e-brev fick respondenterna därefter möjligheten att via en länk besvara enkätundersökningen på Internet. Ledamöter som saknar e-adress fick en postenkät till hemadressen. Det gällde även ledamöter som särskilt bad om att få besvara enkäten på detta sätt. Ledamöter som inte svarade fick upprepade påminnelser via e-post, brev och telefonsamtal

Svensk valundersökning 1994

This is the thirteenth election study carried out in Sweden in connection with a Swedish general election. Many of the questions are replications of questions asked in one or several of the previous surveys, but there are also a number of questions not asked before. The interview included questions on how much the respondent takes part of political matters in mass media; political interest in general and political discussions among family and friends; important issues when deciding how to vote; opinion on which of the smaller parties will receive at least 4% of the votes; and preferred formation of the government after the election. There were also a number of questions on the opinions of the political parties regarding: employment, environment, taxes, the Swedish economy, energy and nuclear power, foreign affairs and security policy, social safety, child care, EU, refugees, law and order, equality between men and women, and education. Political parties, party leaders and other key politicians, and different groups and organizations were to be placed on a scale ranging from strongly dislike to strongly like. The respondents also had to state how much confidence they had in Swedish politicians and to give marks from -5 to +5 for different formations of government during the two last decades. They also had to indicate what they considered most important to fight against, unemployment or inflation, and to state their opinion on nuclear power. Furthermore there were a number of questions concerning a Swedish EU-membership: the opinion of the respondent, reason for being for/against a Swedish membership, opinion of different political parties. Other questions dealt with the kind of society preferred and how worrying for the future one considered following things to be: environmental damage, economic crise, situation in Russia, increasing number of refugees, unemployment, increasing violence, the risk of Sweden being included in a war, and the risk of Sweden being less democratic. The respondent also had to place people in general on three different scales concerning selfishness, trustworthiness, and knowledge what is best for themselves. The respondent also had to place herself/himself on all these scales. A number of questions dealt with party preference; vote in the September elections and at the EU referendum; things important when choosing party; votes in earlier elections. As in earlier election studies the respondent had to place the political parties on a political left-right scale. In this survey the political parties also had to be placed on a green dimension scale, a EU-opinion scale, a refugee acceptance scale, and a equality between men and women scale. The respondent also had to place herself/himself on all these scales. Purpose: Explain why people vote as they do and why an election ends in a particular way. Track and follow trends in the Swedish electoral democracy and make comparisons with other countries.This is the thirteenth election study carried out in Sweden in connection with a Swedish general election. Many of the questions are replications of questions asked in one or several of the previous surveys, but there are also a number of questions not asked before. The interview included questions on how much the respondent takes part of political matters in mass media; political interest in general and political discussions among family and friends; important issues when deciding how to vote; opinion on which of the smaller parties will receive at least 4% of the votes; and preferred formation of the government after the election. There were also a number of questions on the opinions of the political parties regarding: employment, environment, taxes, the Swedish economy, energy and nuclear power, foreign affairs and security policy, social safety, child care, EU, refugees, law and order, equality between men and women, and education. Political parties, party leaders and other key politicians, and different groups and organizations were to be placed on a scale ranging from strongly dislike to strongly like. The respondents also had to state how much confidence they had in Swedish politicians and to give marks from -5 to +5 for different formations of government during the two last decades. They also had to indicate what they considered most important to fight against, unemployment or inflation, and to state their opinion on nuclear power. Furthermore there were a number of questions concerning a Swedish EU-membership: the opinion of the respondent, reason for being for/against a Swedish membership, opinion of different political parties. Other questions dealt with the kind of society preferred and how worrying for the future one considered following things to be: environmental damage, economic crise, situation in Russia, increasing number of refugees, unemployment, increasing violence, the risk of Sweden being included in a war, and the risk of Sweden being less democratic. The respondent also had to place people in general on three different scales concerning selfishness, trustworthiness, and knowledge what is best for themselves. The respondent also had to place herself/himself on all these scales. A number of questions dealt with party preference; vote in the September elections and at the EU referendum; things important when choosing party; votes in earlier elections. As in earlier election studies the respondent had to place the political parties on a political left-right scale. In this survey the political parties also had to be placed on a green dimension scale, a EU-opinion scale, a refugee acceptance scale, and a equality between men and women scale. The respondent also had to place herself/himself on all these scales. Syfte: Förklara varför väljare röstar som de gör och varför val slutar som de gör. Spåra och följa trender i svensk valdemokrati och göra jämförelser med utvecklingen i andra länder

Folkomröstningsundersökningen 1994

In conjunction with the referendum on Swedish membership of the European Union (EU) an election study was carried out in collaboration between Statistics Sweden and the Department of Political Science at Göteborg University. All interviews were carried out before the day of the referendum, November 13 1994. The interview included questions on how much the respondent had been taking part of EU-issues in daily papers; political interest in general and interest in the EU-issue in particular; opinion on the EU, and if there had been some changes in the opinion during the last year. For all political parties the respondent had to state if the party supported ´yes´ or ´no´ in the referendum, and furthermore the respondent had to place the parties on a scale ranging from ´very negative´ to ´very positive´ towards a Swedish membership of the European Union. Other questions dealt with how a Swedish membership of the EU should affect a number of fields; opinion on a European federal state; and opinion on referenda in general. A number of questions dealt with the respondent´s knowledge of EU; probable outcome of the Swedish and Norwegian referenda respectively, and knowledge of the actual outcome of the Finnish referendum; attitudes towards EU among the surroundings, and the importance of other people´s attitudes and arguing for one´s own attitude; and how one plans to vote in the referendum. Besides the EU-specific questions the interview included questions on attitudes toward the various political parties; opinion on a number of topical questions; confidence in Swedish politicians; type of society one ought to go in for in the future; activities to influence political decisions; and own experiences of the tightening Swedish labour market. There are also information about education, occupation, trade union affiliation, marital status, and knowledge of languages. After the referendum the respondent had to answer a mail questionnaire, including questions on actual vote; when one decided how to vote; if one had been watching the concluding TV debate; and if the attitude towards a Swedish membership had been altered during the campaign. Purpose: Explain why people vote as they do and why an election ends in a particular way. Track and follow trends in the Swedish electoral democracy and make comparisons with other countries.I samband med folkomröstningen om svenskt medlemskap i den europeiska unionen, EU, genomfördes en valundersökning i samarbete mellan SCB och statsvetenskapliga institutionen vid Göteborgs universitet. Samtliga intervjuer genomfördes före dagen för folkomröstning den 13 november. Intervjun innehöll frågor om hur mycket man tagit del av EU-frågor i dagstidningar; politiskt intresse och intresse för EU-frågan; åsikt i EU-frågan samt om inställningen förändrats under senaste året. Respondenten fick ange vilket alternativ i folkomröstningen de olika politiska partierna stöder samt på en skala 'mycket negativ-mycket positiv' placera partierna efter deras inställning i EU-frågan. Andra frågor handlade om vad ett svenskt medlemskap i EU skulle innebära inom olika områden, vilken inställning man har till en europeisk förbundsstat och inställning till folkomröstningar. Ett antal frågor berörde respondentens kunskap om EU; vilken sida man tror kommer att vinna i Sverige respektive Norge och vilken sida som fick flest röster i Finland; omgivningens ställningstagande i EU-frågan och vilken betydelse andras ställningstagande och argumentering haft för det egna ställningstagandet; samt hur man tänker rösta i folkomröstningen. Förutom de EU-specifika frågorna innehöll intervjun även frågor om inställning till de olika politiska partierna; inställning i ett antal aktuella frågor; förtroende för svenska politiker; samhällstyp man bör satsa på i framtiden; aktiviteter för att påverka beslut i samhället; och egna erfarenheter av det försämrade läget på svensk arbetsmarknad. Bakgrundsfrågorna innehåller uppgifter om utbildning, sysselsättning, facklig organisationstillhörighet, civilstånd och språkkunskaper. Respondenterna fick i en enkät utsänd efter folkomröstningen bland annat ange hur man röstat, när man bestämde sig, om man sett slutdebatten i TV och om inställningen till svenskt medlemskap förändrats under kampanjen. Syfte: Förklara varför väljare röstar som de gör och varför val slutar som de gör. Spåra och följa trender i svensk valdemokrati och göra jämförelser med utvecklingen i andra länder

Europaparlamentsvalundersökning 1995

Sweden joined the European Union on the 1st of January 1995, and the first election to the EU-parliament was held on the 17th of September 1995. As in connection with all general elections and referenda held in Sweden since 1956, an election study was carried out. The main subject of the survey was the European Union and the respondent's attitudes toward the Swedish EU membership, but the survey also includes a number of questions asked in one or several of the Swedish election studies. General questions about politics included exposure to news in different media; interest in politics; opinion on political parties and their party leaders; trust in Swedish politicians; opinion on the social democratic government; party preferences; placement of respondent and the political parties on a political left-right scale. Furthermore the respondents had to state their opinion on a number of currently debated issues. The respondents had to give their opinion on a number of EU-related issues such as a united Europe; the future Swedish relation to EU; confidence in decisions made within EU; and a development of EU towards a federation. Respondents also had to place themselves as well as the major political parties on scales showing if they were for or against a Swedish EU-membership, if they were for or against a common European currency, and if they were for or against the abolition of borders between nations. A number of questions dealt with the election to the EU-parliament such as participation; issues important for the decision how to vote; when the respondent decided how to vote; most important reason to vote; knowledge of candidates; opinion on the different candidates; and exposure to the election campaign. Nonvoters were asked about the reason not to vote, and voters were asked if they used the possibility to vote for a specific person. Demographic item include gender, age, marital status, children, education and occupation. Purpose: Explain why people vote as they do and why an election ends in a particular way. Track and follow trends in the Swedish electoral democracy and make comparisons with other countries.Den 1 januari 1995 blev Sverige medlem i den Europeiska unionen och det första svenska valet till EU-parlamentet hölls den 17 september 1995. Liksom vid alla allmänna val och folkomröstningar hållna i Sverige sedan 1956 genomfördes en valundersökning i samband med detta val. Det huvudsakliga ämnet för undersökningen var Europeiska unionen och respondenternas inställning till det svenska EU-medlemskapet, men undersökningen innehåller även ett antal frågor som ställts i en eller flera av de tidigare svenska valundersökningarna. Bland de allmänna frågorna om politik ingick exponering för nyheter i olika medier, intresse för politik, inställning till politiska partier och deras partiledare, förtroende för svenska politiker, inställning till den socialdemokratiska regeringen, partipreferens, respondentens och de politiska partiernas placering på en politisk vänster-höger skala. Dessutom fick respondenterna yttra sig om ett antal aktuella frågor i den politiska debatten. Bland de EU-relaterade frågorna ingick inställning till ett enat Europa, Sveriges relation till EU, förtroende för beslut fattade inom EU, samt inställning till en utveckling av EU mot en federation. Respondenterna fick även placera sig själva och de stora politiska partierna på skalor som visar om de var för eller emot ett svenskt EU-medlemskap, om de var för eller emot en gemensam europeisk valuta, och om de var för eller emot ett avskaffande av gränserna mellan nationer. Ett antal frågor handlade om valet till EU-parlamentet såsom deltagande, frågor viktiga för beslutet hur man skulle rösta, när den svarande beslutat hur man röstar, viktigaste skälet att rösta, kunskap om kandidaterna, inställning till de olika kandidaterna; och exponering för valkampanjen. Icke-röstande tillfrågades om orsaken varför man inte röstat, och de som röstat tillfrågades om de använde möjligheten att personrösta. Demografiska bakgrundsuppgifter innefattar kön, ålder, civilstånd, barn, utbildning och yrke. Syfte: Förklara varför väljare röstar som de gör och varför val slutar som de gör. Spåra och följa trender i svensk valdemokrati och göra jämförelser med utvecklingen i andra länder

Svensk valundersökning 1988

This study is part of the collection of Swedish election studies fielded continuously since 1956. Many of the questions are replications of questions asked in previous election studies, but there is also a number of questions not asked in previous surveys. In this study the respondent had to look 10-15 years ahead and to give predictions for the environmental situation, living standard, equality and freedom in Sweden. The respondents were asked how they voted and to give the most important reasons to why they voted on that particular party. They also had to answer how important the following things were for their choice of party: the party´s line of action is good for the respondent´s occupational group; the party has a good party leader; the respondent feels like an adherent of the party; the party´s policy in questions discussed lately is good; the party people are competent and can lead the country; the party´s ideology is good; the respondent always votes with that party. The respondent were asked how they voted at the last two general elections. Respondents who were not voting at the same party were asked for the reason of change, and respondents who voted at the same party were asked if they ever thought of changing party. Purpose: Explain why people vote as they do and why an election ends in a particular way. Track and follow trends in the Swedish electoral democracy and make comparisons with other countries.Valundersökningen 1988 ingår i serien svenska valundersökningar. Sedan 1956 har en valundersökning genomförts i samband med riksdagsval och folkomröstningar i Sverige. Många av de frågor som ställdes i studien är replikeringar av frågor som ställts i tidigare valundersökningar, men det finns också ett antal frågor som var nya 1988. Respondenterna ombads bland annat förutsäga situationen för miljön, levnadsstandarden, jämställdheten och friheten i Sverige 10-15 år framåt i tiden. Man tillfrågades också om hur man röstat och de viktigaste anledningarna till att man röstat på detta parti. Man fick även ange hur viktigt följande var för partival: att partiets handlingslinje är bra för respondentens yrkesgrupp, att partiet har en bra ledare, att man känner sig som anhängare till partiet, att partiet för en bra politik i aktuella frågor, att partiet har kompetenta representanter som kan leda landet, att man alltid röstar på detta parti. Respondenterna tillfrågades hur man röstat vid de två senaste valen. De som bytt parti tillfrågades om orsakerna till att man bytt parti och de som röstade på samma parti tillfrågades om man någon gång funderat på att byta parti. Syfte: Förklara varför väljare röstar som de gör och varför val slutar som de gör. Spåra och följa trender i svensk valdemokrati och göra jämförelser med utvecklingen i andra länder