Since entering parliament in 2010, the radical-right Sweden Democrats have moved from being a political outsider to becoming the second-largest party in the 2022 national elections and acting as supporting party to the mainstream (centre-)right-wing government. The collaboration between Swedish mainstream (centre-)
right-wing parties with the radical-right Sweden Democrats is unprecedented in the Swedish parliamentary context, which was long considered immune to the rise of the radical right.339 This development raises questions about the extent to which the rise of the Sweden Democrats was accompanied by changes in the Swedish mainstream (centre-)right-wing parties and potential implications for the Social Democratic Party.
To address these questions, we briefly introduce the Sweden Democrats and aspects of the political and societal context that we deem most relevant to understanding the rising influence of the Sweden Democrats.
We then analyse whether and to what extent the above-described political developments are accompanied by a transformation of the Swedish mainstream (centre-)right-wing parties in selected political positions, their relationship with the Sweden Democrats and their relationship with key institutions of liberal democracy. We
conclude with an outlook on potential implications for the Social Democratic Party.