High-Profile Research Programmes
A significant part of the research at the Department of Political Science is conducted within our major research programmes. It is internationally recognized research on voters and elections, corruption and the quality of government, democracy and democratization, governance and local development, as well as studies on large-scale collective action.
Swedish National Election Studies (SNES)
Our high-profile research on elections, voters, and Swedish representative democracy spans more than six decades. Since 1956, we have conducted a National Election Study for every Swedish national election, referendum, and European Parliament election as part of the Swedish National Election Studies (SNES). The purpose of the research conducted within SNES is to deepen our understanding of how Swedish representative democracy functions. Why do voters cast their votes as they do, and why do elections produce the outcomes they do?
Read more on the programme’s website: Swedish National Election Studies
The Quality of Government Institute (QoG)
The QoG Institute is one of the world’s leading research centres in the field of corruption and quality of government. Its research focuses on corruption and the importance of trustworthy, impartial, uncorrupted, non-discriminatory, and competent public institutions. A central question is how high-quality political institutions can be created and maintained. The Institute also studies the effects of governance across a range of policy areas, including health, the environment, social policy, and poverty.
Read more on the institute’s website: The QoG Institute
Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is an international research collaboration that has developed a multidimensional approach to measure democracy as objectively and accurately as possible. V-Dem looks at principles of democracy that are far more complex than the mere presence of free and fair elections. We distinguish between five different principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian.
Read more on the institute’s website: V-Dem
Governance and Local Development Institute (GLD)
Why are some societies able to provide safe and secure environments, good education, adequate health care, and other factors that promote human development, while others fail to do so? The Governance and Local Development Institute (GLD) focuses on the local factors driving governance and development. The program is dedicated to international collaboration and scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant research in an effort to promote human welfare globally.
Read more on the institute’s website: GLD