Long has it been a picture of the municipal policy is characterized by consensus and conflicts. Unlike on the national level where the tone is often very spaced and meningsmotståndarna heckling each other with the epithets.

But now, researcher Louise Skoog, university of Gothenburg to the idealized image of the kommunpolitikernas everyday life is not true. In a recent doctoral thesis she hits fixed to konfliktnivån at the local level has increased since the 1950s.

– It is now at almost the same level as on the national level. I believe that local councillors and municipal officials need to get more knowledge about how the conflicts and how they can be handled in a better way, ” says Louise Skoog.

among the news articles on the web also clearly shows that the pitch between lokalpolitikerna is higher. Some examples:

A local politician calls a fullmäktigekollega for the ”fucking bitch” during a meeting. On one occasion stated to a politician have called a colleague for ”sosseluder” and ”sossefnask”. A fritidspolitiker accused of having mordhotat an opponent but says himself that it ”acted on a discussion with the high-pitched, in which both parties expressed abusive towards each other”.

the Conflict has always been there, even if they became all the more clear when kommunpolitiken from the 1960s became more and more partipolitiserad.

Louise Skoog has long been interested in the relations between the political parties and then it became natural to study their importance, ” she says. How do they look like? How are they? And what significance do they have on political life in the country’s municipalities?

” When I started watching it here, I was often the reaction is that, at the local level, there are no conflicts. Which characterized all by consensus. But I did, and it also reaffirms the many people who work in the municipalities, that this is not true.

” So I went back to the 1860’s to study how the political life at local level developed. Conflicts have always been there, even if they became all the more clear when kommunpolitiken from the 1960s became more and more partipolitiserad, ” says Louise Skoog.

she has used interviews, documents, books and a questionnaire survey directed to all of the country’s local councillors. On the basis of this material she has since studied what if the causes of local conflicts – and what the consequences might be.

Louise Skoog is different on the two types of conflicts: åsiktskonflikter and conflicts, which depends on how the politicians behave towards each other. Åsiktskonflikterna becomes greater when the parties are further apart from each other in various issues.

– Differences in opinions and conflicts that have their basis in such complicates the possibility for partiföreträdarna to get through their policies. But when politicians behave disrespectful to each other, for example, by insults, it becomes a clear demotivator.

Louise Skoog is a researcher at Gothenburg university. The Västlänken railway tunnel has been a hot political issue. Photo: press photos and a TT

In one of the studies included in this thesis show Louise Skoog to confrontational behavior reduces their own influence, and also public influence. The possibilities to get a hearing for their own party’s proposal actually increases if a politician performs decent against their opponents.

– A konfliktbeteende can create a negative climate in which the parties clearly marks the boundaries between themselves and actively opposing each other’s opportunities to exert influence and enforce their policy proposals. An environment where clear views are expressed but is balanced with a respectful conduct strengthens democratic values and poses no obstacles to the political work.

According to Louise Skoog is conflict an important element in a democracy because voters can easily perceive where the political parties stand in various issues.

– It is a mechanism that makes democracy work well, the differences between the different views becomes apparent.

go over a limit, treat each other disrespectful, and may even start to offend each other, it can damage the credibility of the entire democratic system, says Louise Skoog.

– There is no democratic value to appear disrespectful, there are no points in it. Yet it happens now and then, which is reflected in my research.

local politicians recognize themselves in what I write about. They tell about their own experiences and I think that there is much to learn from these stories.

the Image of the politicians just bickers, behaving badly towards each other and arguing about things that don’t really matter can have a big impact, ” says Louise Skoog.

” It threatens to undermine democratic legitimacy.

” It could be that in a debate fight about the formal issues that do not have any meaning in the context, bitching about small things and so on.

” Just that I can’t be gleaned from the material which my thesis is based on. But I know from conversation with a local politician that there is.

Louise Skoog mean that politicians representing different parties and have different views should make the effort to treat their opponents with dignity and respect. There is no win-win, ” she says. Both the voters, democracy which actually is also the politicians themselves.

– It is something that is unfortunately not included in my thesis, but is something I am still pondering over. I can imagine that it may impact the way someone behaves towards one. It can lead to anxiety and fear, to not feel so good.

A climate of respektlösthet can, in worst case, mean that some politicians are reluctant to debate and put forward its own proposal, think Louise Skoog on.

spill over on the public and lead to politicians becoming vulnerable to threats and violations by individuals who are not sitting in the municipal councils or other local decision-making assemblies.

” I have had reactions after my thesis from a local politician who recognise themselves in what I write about. They tell about their own experiences and I think that there is much to learn from these stories.

Louise Skoog has for several years studied public administration, both in the basic studies at university and now also in his doctoral thesis. Which included several different topics such as business administration, political science, and how the authorities and the political system.