Method & limitations — position matrix

1. Why does this page exist?

Many claims about political positions rely on debates, interviews or press releases. We instead show how members actually voted in the chamber, where legislation is decided.

2. How are key votes selected?

• We start with committee reports directly related to the topic; for migration these include SfU, JuU, AU and UbU.
• We include one principal vote per report, usually the main proposal or a decisive reservation.
• A vote counts only when at least the three largest parties have a clear party line.
• The list is published openly on the index page, so the selection can be scrutinised and challenged.

3. How is the score calculated?

For each key vote, the editorial team identifies which response (Yes, No or Abstain) represents a more restrictive position. This follows the substance of the government bill or committee report, not an editorial judgment about whether the proposal is good or bad.

• +1 when the party line matches the more restrictive response.
• −1 when the party line matches the opposite response.
• 0 for an abstention or a missing party line.

The total is normalised to [−1, +1] and placed on a five-point scale: Very open → Open → Mixed → Restrictive → Very restrictive.

4. What the page does not say

• The scale does not say whether a policy is desirable; it only describes its direction.
• It covers chamber votes, not motions, speeches or committee initiatives.
• It cannot show how a party would have voted on proposals that never reached the chamber.
• Individual departures are shown for each key vote; in stage 1, a member otherwise inherits the party position.

5. Known limitations

• The sample is small, around 10–15 votes per topic, and is therefore sensitive to individual selections.
• Some committee reports combine several issues. We select the principal proposal, but nuance may be lost.
• For parties with few members on a committee, the party line is less representative.
• The full dataset and our categorisation are available through /en/dataset.

6. Sources

• data.riksdagen.se — votes, speeches and motions (CC0).
• Committee reports at riksdagen.se.
• Our curated key-vote list and code are linked from the footer.

7. We welcome objections

If an important vote is missing or a categorisation is wrong, contact the editorial team via /en/about. Every change is documented in /en/changelog.