In Sweden, Populist Nationalists Won on Policy, but Lost on Politics
The far-right Sweden Democrats have long pushed to reduce immigration. Now they’re getting what they wanted—and it’s costing them voters.
Never mind the headlines: Sunday’s election in Sweden was a major setback for the far right. The populist-nationalist Sweden Democrats may have seen their percentage of the vote increase from 13 percent in 2014 to just shy of 18 percent this year, but they and many experts anticipated a much higher share; some even predicted that they would become the largest party in the country. Such an outcome would have been in keeping with their history of rapid growth, of more than doubling their previous tally in every election since 1998. Instead, they posted unexpectedly
