Sverigelöftet - Hur legitimerar Liberalerna sitt samarbete med Sverigedemokraterna?

Sammanfattning

Sverigelöftet - How Do the Liberals Legitimise their Cooperation with the Sweden Democrats? This study examines how political legitimacy is constructed through strategic communication in relation to politically controversial collaborations. Through a qualitative text analysis, the study examines how the Swedish political party Liberalerna strategically communicates and legitimises its decision to collaborate with Sverigedemokraterna through the political agreement Sverigelöftet. The collaboration is particularly interesting due to Sverigedemokraterna’s historical association with right-wing populism and Liberalerna's previous opposition to such cooperation. The study draws on a poststructuralist perspective and combines Suchman’s legitimacy theory, Entman’s framing theory and Carol Bacchi's WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) approach to analyse how political problems and solutions are constructed in communication. The empirical material consists of publications from Liberalerna’s official website and Instagram account published during the two weeks following the announcement of Sverigelöftet in March 2026. The findings show that Liberalerna constructs legitimacy by framing Sweden as characterised by uncertainty and instability. Through recurring references to responsibility, stability and cooperation, Sverigelöftet is presented as a necessary and politically responsible decision rather than an ideological shift. Overall, the study demonstrates how framing functions as a strategic communicative tool through which political actors can shape public understanding and construct legitimacy around politically controversial collaborations.