How Does Party Leadership Manage Internal Dynamics When Intra-Party Disagreement Occurs? A case study on the Swedish Social Democrats during their shift towards a restrictive migration policy

Abstract

After the 2015 migration crisis and the Swedish Social Democrats' subsequent shift towards restrictive migration policies, the leadership faced critique within the party as members voiced their concerns. However, after the 2017 Social Democratic congress, the critique was replaced by the members' praise. Therefore, this study explores how the party’s leadership managed to convince the members and navigate the internal arena. The aim is to identify what strategies the leadership employed and how the strategies changed by the circumstances (context) surrounding the congresses. To answer the questions, the thesis conducts a text analysis on the party’s congress protocols in 2017, 2019 and 2021, identifies five leadership strategies and categorises them in an analytical table. The thesis utilises the strategies as a theoretical framework alongside party behaviour and agency perspectives to understand how circumstances affect leadership. The results show that the leadership defused intra-party disagreement using strategies such as compromise, co-option and a solidaric rhetoric. The leadership also referred to external threats to convince members that policy changes were necessary. The congress contexts did affect what strategies the leadership used, and it was often due to external factors such as electoral threats and the migration crisis, but some internal contexts also affected the leadership and demonstrate that leaderships adapt. The results contribute to the subject of intra-party dynamics by opening the “black box” of political parties