This study aims to examine the existence of populism in campaign speeches held by the Swedish party the Social Democrats in the election years 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 in Almedalen. By attempting to answer if there is any populism in the party´s speeches, and if the populism has increased over the years, the essay will analyze the speeches using a qualitative text analysis and a descriptive idea analysis. Based on the study of the theory, ideal types have been created to be applied to the speeches.
The study´s definition of populism is created by Mudde and Kaltwasser (2017).They mean that populism is a communication style used in politics. This study’s results show that there is populism in the Social Democrats speeches held in Almedalen. The results also show that various amounts of populism have existed in the speeches over the years.