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Every nation believes it is exceptional, and some of them actually are. In the decades after World War II, Sweden’s Social Democrats created a middle-class socialist paradise called the Folkhem, “the People’s Home.” Exceptional in its level of taxation and spending even for Western Europe, it became the gold standard for welfare-state social democracy. That era ended in Sunday night’s elections with a double shock.
Not only did the Social Democrat-led alliance fail to win its customary majority; the right-wing alliance is now radically altered, too. It may still be fronted by the center-right Moderates, but its largest component is now the hard-right Sweden Democrats. The margin between the left and right blocs may be as tight as a single seat, and it is unlikely to be wider than three; final confirmation won’t come until after Wednesday, when the votes of expats and late-arriving mail-in ballots are counted. But the taboos that governed political affiliation in what was until very recently a high-consensus, highly conformist society have been breached.
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