Tracing a Political Cleavage: The Wolf Issue in Sweden

Abstract

In 2009, Sweden allowed licensed wolf (canis lupus) hunting for the first time in 45 years. After record number of media attention and threat of legal action from the EU, the licenced hunt stopped, but protective hunting continued – as did the polarisation in public debate. This article will analyse how the wolf issue relates to the three main cleavage elements and to what extent the elements align. It provides an empirical investigation of the wolf issue, applying the three-step cleavage model on the 2010 Swedish National Election Study data. Our results show, first, that we can identify specific group features among persons with negative wolf attitudes (structural difference); second, that the wolf issue loads (if weakly) at a second non-economic dimension connecting to issues of self-determination and globalisation (attitudinal difference); and third, that this second dimension affects voting for the Greens and the Centre party (institutional difference). However, when controlling for both dimensions in the third step, the wolf issue alone has a lesser impact. Thus, the wolf issue may currently be seen as a so-called position divide, although with a future potential to serve as cleavage catalyst if mobilised in connection with aspects of self-determination and globalisation.