Sweden's Social Democratic Workers' Party
Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | S, SAP |
Leader | Stefan Löfven |
Secretary-General | Lena Rådström Baastad |
Parliamentary group leader | Anders Ygeman |
Founded | 23 April 1889 |
Headquarters | Sveavägen 68, |
Student wing | Social Democratic Students of Sweden |
Youth wing | Swedish Social Democratic Youth League |
Women's wing | Social Democratic Women in Sweden |
Religious wing | Religious Social Democrats of Sweden |
Membership (2017) | 89,000 |
Ideology |
Social democracy |
Political position | Centre-left |
European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
Nordic affiliation | SAMAK |
Colours | Red |
Riksdag |
113 / 349
|
European Parliament |
5 / 20
|
County councils |
572 / 1,597
|
Municipal councils |
4,364 / 12,780
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Swedish Social Democratic Party, (Swedish: Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti, SAP; literally, "Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden"), contesting elections as the Arbetarepartiet–Socialdemokraterna ('The Workers' Party – The Social Democrats'), usually referred to just as the 'Social Democrats' (Socialdemokraterna); is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The current party leader since 2012 is Stefan Löfven; he has also been Prime Minister of Sweden since 2014.
Founded in 1889, a schism occurred in 1917 when the left socialists split from the Social Democrats to form the Swedish Social Democratic Left Party (later the Communist Party of Sweden and now the Left Party). The symbol of the SAP is traditionally a red rose, which is believed to have been Fredrik Ström's idea. The words of honour, as recorded by the 2001 party programme, are "freedom, equality, and solidarity."
The Social Democratic Party's position has a theoretical base within Marxist revisionism. Its party programme interchangeably calls their ideology democratic socialism, or social democracy, though few high-level representatives have invoked socialism since Olof Palme (prime minister 1969-76, and again 1982-1986, assassinated 1986). The party supports social welfare provision paid for by progressive taxation. The party supports a social corporatist economy involving the institutionalization of a social partnership system between capital and labour economic interest groups, with government oversight to resolve disputes between the two factions. In recent times, they have become strong supporters of egalitarianism, and maintain a strong opposition to discrimination and racism.