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It is election time in Sweden. The political parties and their leaders have been preparing themselves since the last election to improve their success or to change a declining trend, and thereby gain valuable seats in the parliament or even get access to the most coveted positions on the political scene; those in the government. Sweden is a democracy, generally meaning that the government is elected by the people who are born there, or living there as naturalized immigrants. This is not entirely true though, as the voters actually elect for the parliament, and the parliament decides who is forming government. Before each election, certain issues are brought forward by the political parties for discussion and debating, all with the intention to convince the voters that this or that party will change and improve the life situation for specific groups of society. Preferably, these changes will have effect on large groups of voters, which makes the issue much more interesting and, of course, more valuable in terms of votes .
This year, factual matters like the qualifying period for sickness benefits or the extent of unemployment benefits are such issues. They are even more important than the question of unemployment itself as the politicians have failed to convince anyone that they have any concrete ideas or plans to tackle that specific problem. Nor are they able to find solutions in co-operation with the voters as the distance or gap between ordinary people and government and politicians seems to increase all the time. There is a tendency with "people" to consider the state as something abstract in the distance rather than something they are a part of. At election times they vote for the party they believe may accomplish something that possibly benefits their own, personal situation in some aspect, or in some cases even with a conviction based upon family tradition .
The role of the parliament and government in Sweden has changed dramatically over the last few decades. In earlier years the main duty was to administer the nation whereas today the challenge is on a totally different level. The country is facing huge problems with unemployment and an uncertain economy as the key issues. Most people are relying on the authorities to solve these problems rather than to engage themselves and take active part to understand and help finding openings. Very few believe they can do anything to change their own or other people's situation other than to cast their votes for the party that promises to provide the best safety net in terms of financial support. The reason for this is, of course, that there is no communication between politicians and ordinary people at all. The voters give their votes to people they have never met nor spoken to, yet the elected politicians are supposed to be the representatives of their voters .
Semi-political organizations like the unions have lost much of the influence they once had, and one can wonder why they are not heard in the unemployment debate more than they are. Some years ago, the shop stewards that were elected on work sites functioned as a link between ordinary people and the political scene, but Sweden was enjoying a prosperous period in those days, and the unions still had some political power. The unions of today are outdated and mostly heard of in connection with scandals of some kind, clinging tight on to old ties with the Social Democrats and contributing to the election campaign by trying to keep controversial class issues alive. There is a strong need to activate and engage people from all groups of society in the rescue action that Sweden needs, and the unions could play an important role in that respect .
It would also be encouraging to hear the major political parties plead for co-operation, ingenuity and promotion rather than fight over factual matters that tend to be of a populistic nature. The time has come to start looking forward and accept that the conditions for existence have changed, and they will continue changing. It is time for everyone to set the alarm clock, wake up and go to work . . .
