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▪ Abstract Swedish political science has a long pedigree. The Johan Skytte professorship of discourse and politics was established at Uppsala University in 1622, although political science teaching and research did not begin until the 1860s. Today, the discipline is represented at all 10 Swedish universities and at a number of other centers for higher education. Early Swedish political science gravitated toward constitutional law, history, and philosophy. In principle, the discipline today deals with all possible aspects of politics; as far as domestic politics research is concerned, special emphasis has been given to analysis of ideas, local politics, interest organizations, and political parties, as well as public administration and public policy. Contacts with the outside world have been close; different worldwide theories and methods have successively been incorporated. The relations between the discipline and the surrounding Swedish society have also been close and the reputation and visibility of the discipline fairly high.

The Swedish political system, as it has developed during the twentieth century, is of a traditional parliamentary type. There are regular elections to parliament, the Riksdag; the cabinets have all been dependent on the Riksdag regardless of whether they have been minority or majority governments; the same five parties have competed for parliamentary seats for 70 years, with a few more parties recently appearing on the stage. But there have also been provisions in the constitution for the kind of direct democracy that referendums constitute. The referendum has been regarded as a complementary although exceptional feature of the traditional national decision-making process, and to date five referendums have been held.

Franz Urban Pappi, 'Parteiensystem und Sozialstruktur in der Bundesrepublik', in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 14:2, 1973, pp. 191-213. Franz Urban Pappi and Michael Terwey, 'The German Electorate: Old Cleavages and New Political Conflicts', in: D6ring, Herbert/ Smith, Gordon (editors), Party Government and Political Culture in Western Germany, (London: Macmillan, 1982), pp. 174-96. Helmut Unkelbach, Grundlagen der Wahlsystematik, (G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1956).

Swedish research on politics during the fifteen year period 1960–1975 has not been confined to the departments of political science in Sweden. Research of this kind has also occurred in other university departments as well as outside the universities. However, the major portion of the country's political research has taken place within the framework of political science.