Strong support for democracy, but concern persists

Swedish democracy enjoys almost unanimous public support, but more and more people believe it is under threat. That is according to this year’s edition of the Novus Democracy Report 2026, which points to a widening gap between citizens and decision-makers and growing concern about the future of democracy. Just over one in three Swedes say they see democracy as threatened, even though the entire population believes it is worth defending.

The report is produced in collaboration with LO, Saco and TCO (Sweden’s three main trade union confederations), Skandia and Peab.

Read the report here (in Swedish):

Download the report here (in Swedish): Novus Democracy Report 2026

The Democracy Report 2026 presented at Almedalen

For the fifth year running, we presented the Democracy Report during Almedalen Week, Sweden’s annual democracy festival on Gotland. This year’s report was presented on the Almedalen stage as part of the opening programme, together with our partners.

Watch the full seminar here on Almedalsveckan Play, it was also broadcast on SVT2 Forum on Wednesday 24 June at 9.45.

In this year’s report, we followed up questions from previous years on the state of democracy, voters’ trust in public institutions and the widening gap between citizens and politicians. At the same time, we asked new questions that are particularly relevant in an election year:

• How well informed do Swedes feel ahead of the election?
• How sure are voters about who they want to vote for?
• What would people avoid doing for fear of their opinions becoming publicly known?
• Do people trust Swedish researchers?
• Do Swedes think they would do a better job in Parliament themselves?

The report presentation by Torbjörn Sjöström was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Jan Scherman, with voices from some of Sweden’s leading business and labour market organisations.

Participants:

Sofia Rydgren Stale, Chair, Saco
Camila Buzaglo, Director of Communications, Peab
Therese Svanström, Chair, TCO
Stina Liljekvist, Head of Strategic Communication & Marketing, Skandia
Louise Olsson, First Vice Chair, LO

The Democracy Report 2026 is produced by Novus in collaboration with LO, Saco, TCO, Skandia and Peab.

The presentation from the Almedalen stage was broadcast on SVT2 on Wednesday at 9.45.

Find the session in the Almedalen programme here (in Swedish).

The Democracy Report 2026 in brief