Tillit och engagemang i civilsamhället går ofta hand i hand. Men är det deltagandet i sig som föder tillit eller är det tilliten som leder till engagemang i civilsamhället?

Denna rapport utgör en forskningsöversikt över litteratur som undersökt förutsättningar, möjligheter och utmaningar för hållbart boende i form av bygg- och bogemenskaper. Byggemenskaper är kollektiva projekt där deltagare aktivt bidrar till att skapa sitt framtida boende, med varierande grad av privat och gemensamt utrymme. Bogemenskaper är kollektiva boendeformer med varierande grad av gemenskap, deltagande och styrning. De kan inkludera gemensamma ytor, aktiviteter och tjänster, och de har ofta sociala mål som miljö, integration och hållbarhet.

I dag är bygg- och bogemenskaper relativt marginella fenomen på den svenska bostadsmarknaden. Men de skulle kunna vara en del i ett svar på några av våra största samhällsutmaningar. En sådan utmaning är den åldrande befolkningen och de sociala och ekonomiska följder den kommer att få för Sveriges kommuner och regioner. Bogemenskaper har visat sig kunna erbjuda en slags medelväg mellan individuellt boende och institutionsboende som kan bryta social isolering, erbjuda ömsesidigt stöd och skapa en känsla av sammanhang särskilt för äldre.

En stor ödesfråga kopplat till byggande och boende är klimatkrisen. Bogemenskaper har också visat sig kunna minska de boendes miljö- och klimatavtryck genom att resurser och utrymmen delas. Byggemenskaper har dessutom visat sig vara ett sätt för miljömedvetna personer att försöka bygga mindre miljöbelastande bostäder åt sig själva genom innovativt användande av ny teknik. Både bygg- och bogemenskaper kan organisera och tillvarata engagemang i miljö- och klimatfrågor, och dessutom kan de i bästa fall verka som ”skolor i miljötänkande” och som skyltfönster för miljö- och klimatsmarta boendeformer.

Syftet med denna rapport är att sammanställa existerande kunskap om bygg- och bogemenskaper för att skapa en mer sammanhållen bild av potential och begränsningar för dem i relation till dessa utmaningar. Rapporten försöker besvara följande frågor:

• Vad kännetecknar bygg-och bogemenskaper?
• Vilka samhällsvisioner knyts till bygg- och bogemenskaper?
• Vad kännetecknar de som deltar i bygg- och bogemenskaper?
• Vilka typer av hinder stöter bygg- och bogemenskaper på?

Rapportens resultat visar att det finns många argument för att det ligger i samhällets intresse att verka för fler bygg- och bogemenskaper. Det som framför allt talar emot bygg- och bogemenskaper är att de huvudsakligen verkar attrahera en begränsad del av befolkningen. De som deltar i bygg- och bogemenskaper är vanligtvis socialt engagerade, ofta mer högutbildade och något äldre än allmänheten, och de är mindre heterogena än samhället i övrigt vad gäller etnisk och kulturell bakgrund. Den stora utmaningen för

politiska ambitioner om att öka antalet bygg- och bogemenskaper är därför att finna sätt att göra dem tillgängliga och attraktiva för fler och bredare grupper i samhället. Därutöver stöter byggemenskaper ofta på hinder vad gäller till exempel finansiering, byggnormer som är dåligt anpassade, och krångliga beslutsprocesser.

This study examines the link between women’s representation in national parliaments and their possibility to participate in civil society. Utilizing panel data from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset, covering 1975–2019, we investigate how the presence of women in parliaments influences the possibility for women to participate in civil society, especially in non-liberal democratic settings. The results indicate a positive association post-1990, coinciding with an international emphasis on civil society and a rise in women’s parliamentary representation in both liberal democracies and autocratic regimes. The study however highlights that in hybrid and autocratic regimes, increased female representation can also be used to project a gender-equal image without genuine democratization intentions. These findings suggest a correlation between the increase in women in parliaments and greater opportunities for their participation in civil society, but do not imply that the results reflect processes towards democracy. The findings contribute to understanding women’s possibilities in non-democratic regimes and underscores the need for further qualitative analysis to fully grasp the implications of these trends.

This study investigates how migration patterns between rural and urban areas relate to social class and political party preferences in Sweden, using data from the 2021 SOM survey. The analyses reveal that individuals from different backgrounds have distinct migration patterns. Individuals who grew up in rural areas but moved to cities have significantly different political preferences than individuals who grew up and still reside in rural areas. The results indicate that KD and SD mainly attract rural voters, while L, MP, M, and V primarily attract urban residents. Individuals with certain characteristics are likelier to choose specific types of residential areas and have political preferences typical for their area of choice. This suggests a geographical sorting of different groups into rural and urban areas and a geographic political divergence (in support of SD, KD) and convergence (in support of C, S, L, M) in party preferences.

This special issue of Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift explores the political divide between urban and rural areas, reflecting on how geographical differences impact political behavior and voter preferences. In the past decade, several studies have highlighted the territorial dimension as a significant political cleavage, finding that rural vot-ers, places hit hard by economic globalization, as well as those residing in peripheral regions, often hold different values and are more likely to support populist and radical right parties compared to urban voters. The various contributions in this issue analyze and discuss various factors that may explain urban-rural differences in Sweden, such as uneven economic and demographic development, education levels, and population composition based on foreign background, and how political decisions reshape urban and rural landscapes through investments or closures of services. The issue also illustrates trends in political polarization across the urban-rural divide in Sweden.

In Sweden, the anti-establishment party, the Sweden Democrats, has seen growing support in the past four parliamentary elections. This rise is thought to be part of a broader trend where disenchanted voters in remote areas increasingly back anti-establishment parties. The present study investigates whether residing in a rural or peripheral district within a municipality increases the individual likelihood of voting for the Sweden Democrats in local elections. Drawing on a unique survey with respondents nested in 49 municipalities and approximately 1800 districts, the findings reveal that living in rural and peripheral districts increases the probability of supporting the Sweden Democrats in local elections even when accounting for individual- and context-level variables. Additionally, the results demonstrate that individuals in rural districts within non-rural municipalities are significantly more likely to vote for Sweden Democrats in local elections. This is explained as being driven by concerns about access to services and lack of optimism about the local development.

This study examines the extent to which engagement within civil society relates to various forms of social trust among residents in local communities that received varying shares of asylum seekers during the European refugee crisis of 2015 to 2017. The study is based on a representative survey collected from individuals within 36 local Swedish communities that received very different shares of asylum seekers. The result suggests that engagement in civil society organizations moderates community trust under conditions of increased diversity. Outgroup trust varies with the share of asylum seekers only among those not involved in civil society. The results also suggest that involvement in civil society does not moderate generalized trust if the share of asylum seeker varies.

Intergroup contacts can occur in many different places but are often studied only limited to a specific context. This study contributes with data that taps intergroup contacts that occur in both the private and the public sphere, using data from a large-scale survey directed towards individuals nested within 36 different municipalities and over 1,250 different neighborhoods with varying levels of visible minorities. The results also showed that just using the mere frequency of intergroup contacts is not sufficient to understand its association with community trust. Intergroup contacts that occurred in the neighborhood and in civil society organizations had a statistically significant association with community trust, while intergroup contacts that occurred in schools/workplaces and at home did not. The results also indicated that the neighborhood context moderated the impact of intergroup contacts. Whether contacts generated negative experiences mattered. Negative experiences mattered more for community trust especially for those who lived in diverse neighborhoods. The results indicated an asymmetry between the importance of positive and negative experiences of intergroup contacts for community trust.

In several countries, local parties have increased their share of votes in local elections. This development has received limited scholarly attention compared to the immense interest paid to the fates of national level anti-establishment parties. Against this backdrop, we ask if something distinct characterizes those who choose to vote for genuinely local alternatives compared to other anti-establishment voters. Sweden is taken as the case in focus, a country where local parties have grown in numbers and strength throughout the past three decades. We view local parties as a part of a broader ‘anti-establishment’ family, and we explore if their voters a) are similar to those who vote for the most pronounced anti-establishment party in Sweden (Sweden Democrats), or b) if local party voters are a distinct anti-establishment category in their own right. Drawing on a survey data from 49 Swedish municipalities, we find that local party voters indeed distinguish themselves from both Sweden Democrat's voters and voters for the old and established parties, thus making them a distinct anti-establishment voter category of their own. These voters distrust their local politicians but at the same time are civically engaged.

I detta kapitel beskrivs översiktligt de aktörer som finns inom och utanför den representativa demokratins institutioner på lokal nivå i Sverige samt relationen mellan dessa olika aktörer. Med aktörer menas här såväl enskilda individer som organisationer på lokal nivå.