The reluctantly active altruist: On becoming a councillor in Sweden

What are the reasons for joining a political party in Sweden? Why do some members take a further step and register as candidates for political parties in local parliament elections? These questions are important in light of dwindling party membership which has now decline so much in Sweden, that it is half that of the early 1990s. The questions are equally important given the increasing difficulties political parties locally are experiencing in finding a sufficient number of candidates to stand for local election, especially given the demands of the office of councillor. To evaluate these issues, we conducted a survey of local government officials in Sweden. The study is based on 169 survey responses from municipal politicians. Three main results emerged from the survey: First, the results do not support the notion that social status, career ambitions and material rewards drive participation in political parties. Rather, a sense of civic duty has a strong impact. Second, the importance of recruitment cannot be exaggerated. Many respondents cited their recruitment as a main factor that spurred their participation. Third, our results indicate that active local party members would describe themselves as ‘reluctantly active altruists’, driven by civic duty and recruited by others. A minority of respondents became active on their own initiative, and a majority got involved in party politics after being recruited by parties. The paper sets out these results and explores what the findings mean for the continued existence and effective function of political parties in local government.