Acceptance of Inequality in the Social Democratic Welfare State: Income Differences, Welfare Chauvinism, and Populism in Sweden

The study examines two dimensions of inequality acceptance in Sweden: income differences and welfare chauvinism, as well as their association with populist attitudes. Based on original survey data collected from 2019 to 2022 (three pooled cross-sections, random samples of the adult population), the study reveals substantial social (by class) and political (by partisanship) divides regarding how redistributive ambitious and socially inclusive the welfare state should be, challenging assumptions of strong sociopolitical consensus. Welfare chauvinism is found to be more politically divisive than approval of income differences, with the sharpest divides emerging in the exclusivist conceptions of social rights and welfare deservingness held by voters of the non-mainstream (radical) right party, the Sweden Democrats. The results suggest that conflicts over inclusivist versus exclusivist conceptions of social rights and welfare deservingness could become central in Swedish politics, potentially shifting away from the universalist principles that underpin its social democratic welfare state model.