Mattias Gunnarsson

My research interests are political ideology, political parties and party systems, particularly in the Scandinavian/Nordic countries, but also in Europe at large. Teaching Above all, I have been teaching political theory, political history of ideas, political philosophy and ideology within the module Political Ideas in Political Science 1 in both Kalmar and Växjö. I have also taught Swedish and comparative politics as well as Public Administration, in particular linked to the EU or political parties. Furthermore, I also teach the course European Integration in a Global Order which is given for exchange students and students following the European studies program in Växjö. Previously, I have also been involved in other courses with a focus on the EU and Europe. Research My research concerns how parties compete to win the votes. In my dissertation, I study election manifestos of parties from Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1970 to today to see what they contain, if the content changes, and if so, what is changing and how. Based on this, it is possible to examine changes in the party system and the competition between the parties over voters' votes. Among other things, I try to answer the question whether the parties will be more similar to each other ("moving to the center") and what the reason for such a movement could most likely be, if the election manifestos were more ideological in the past, and if the parties have become vaguer or clearer in their promises.