Stine Hesstvedt

• Bergh, Johannes & Hesstvedt, Stine (2026). Kjønnsgap i stemmegivning: En tredje bølge? I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The modern gender gap in voting, in which men are more likely to vote for center-right parties than women and women tend to vote more for center-left parties, reached a new high in Norway in the 2025-election. The gender gap has never been larger in the close to 70-year history of the Norwegian National Election Study. The gap is especially large among young, Generation Z voters. We find that generational replacement contributes to a rise in the gender gap over time. This suggests that the gap may keep rising in the years to come. Though there are differences between men and women in their views on gender roles and gender equality, these attitudes are not the main drives of gender differences in voting. Rather, attitudinal differences regarding economic issues such as taxes and public spending, as well as immigration policy, accounts for much of the gender gap in voting.

• Bergh, Johannes; Hesstvedt, Stine; Karlsen, Rune & Lunde, Therese (2026). Dagsorden og sakseierskap. I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 133–154. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This chapter is about political issues in the 2025 election. The most important issues for Norwegian voters in the election, staring with the most important, were taxes, health care, foreign and defense policy, other economic issues, climate/environmental issues, immigration and education. Foreign policy and defense policy rose dramatically in importance since the last election in 2021. The last time these issues were high on the agenda was in the 1980s. Climate change and environmental issues have dramatically declined in importance, whereas economic issues were top of mind for voters in 2025. The two winners in the election, the Progress Party and the Labor Party, have high levels of issue ownership of economic issues. The Progress Party has gained in issue ownership on a number of issues since the last election, while the Conservative Party has lost.

• Aardal, Bernt; Bergh, Johannes & Hesstvedt, Stine (2026). Ideologi og polarisering. I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 71–108. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The chapter studies the ideological positions of Norwegian voters in connection with the 2025-election. The analyses build on several previous studies from the Norwegian National Election Study that map the ideological political landscape in Norway over time. Norwegian politics is multidimensional. A factor analysis reveals 6 ideological dimensions on which voters hold relatively consistent opinions. They are 1) an economic left-right scale, 2) a climate/ environmental policy scale, 3) an immigration policy scale, 4) a global-national orientation scale, 5) a religious-secular scale and 6) a center-periphery scale. We find evidence of an ideological rightwing shift in the Norwegian electorate from 2021 to 2025; voters are on average moving in the direction of parties on the right on several of these dimensions. We also see evidence of increased ideological polarization in the electorate.

• Hesstvedt, Stine & Langsæther, Peter Egge (2026). Hvem stemte hva? Sosial bakgrunn og stemmegivning ved valget 2025. I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 57–70. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This chapter analyses how social background shaped voting in Norway’s 2025 parliamentary election, examining cleavages of centre-periphery, urban-rural, class, education, age, and gender, with historical comparisons back to 1957. Drawing on Statistics Norway register data (N = 10,747) and the Norwegian Election Study (N = 1,800), the authors find growing polarization along social lines. The most striking finding is a historic gender gap among young voters: roughly 38% of men under 30 voted for The Progress Party (FrP), nearly doubling from 2021, while young women gravitated toward The Socialist Left Party (SV) and The Green Party (MDG). The Labour Party (Ap) has shifted toward an older electorate, drawing 53% of women over 70, but struggles to mobilize youth. The Conservative Party (H) have returned to their upper-middle-class roots, losing young men to FrP. Geographically, The Centre Party (Sp) remains dominant in rural areas while The Conservative Party and smaller liberal/green parties concentrate in the Oslo area. FrP broadened its appeal across regions, age groups, and educational levels, combining gains in core constituencies (young men, lower-educated voters) with

• Hesstvedt, Stine & Karlsen, Rune (2026). Penger i politikk: Holdninger til pengedonasjoner blant stortingskandidater ved valget i 2025. I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 423–447. doi: https:/cdforskning.no/cdf/catalog/book/296. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Norwegian party finance has traditionally rested on the principle that parties should be funded primarily through generous public subsidies rather than private contributions, limiting the role of external money in politics. The 2025 parliamentary election may mark a break with this model: private donations reached a historic high, and for the first time the right-wing bloc received more than the left. Drawing on the 2025 Storting Candidate Survey, party accounting data, and the 2025 Election Survey, this chapter examines how parliamentary candidates view party donations, regulation, and donor influence. We find pronounced differences along partisan and ideological lines, but also within parties: candidates from parties receiving large contributions – and top candidates in particular – regard donations as beneficial and are less inclined to see them as a democratic problem or to favor stricter regulation. Attitudes thus reflect not only ideology but also position and self-interest. Comparing candidates with voters, we find that right-wing top candidates are notably less concerned about large donations than their own voters. The findings suggest the Norwegian party finance model may be changing, raising new questions about money’s role in Norwegian democracy.

• Bergh, Johannes; Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum; Hesstvedt, Stine; Karlsen, Rune & Magin, Melanie (2026). Konflikt og mobilisering: En ny fase i norsk politikk? I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 511–524. doi: 10.23865/cdf.296. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the book and discusses what explains the outcome of the 2025 Norwegian parliamentary election. The chapter highlights five central explanations: i) an ideological shift to the right, ii) increased voter turnout with partisan consequences, iii) the growing importance of economic concerns, iv) the role of foreign and security policy, and v) the media’s influence on voter’s political priorities. The chapter concludes by discussing what the 2025 election tells us about broader trends in Norwegian politics in the 2020s.

• Geiss, Stefan; Tønnesen, Hedvig; Karlsen, Rune; Magin, Melanie; Aalberg, Toril & Hesstvedt, Stine (2026). Medieeffekter og stemmegivning: Hvordan påvirket mediene velgerne? I Bergh, Johannes & Haugsgjerd, Atle Hennum (Red.), Konflikt og mobilisering. En studie av stortingsvalget 2025. Cappelen Damm AS. ISSN 9788202923822. s. 303–323. doi: 10.23865/cdf.296. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This chapter examines whether the media influenced which issues voters considered important in the 2025 Norwegian parliamentary election, and whether this mattered for vote choice. Drawing on theories of agenda-setting, issue ownership, and priming, the analysis combines panel survey data from the first four waves of the Election Campaign Study with an automated content analysis of approximately 3.5 million sentences from over 200 news outlets, debate programs, social media platforms, search engines, and AI chatbots. The analysis proceeds in two steps. At the aggregate level, the media agenda and the voter agenda show only a moderate correspondence: media emphasized foreign policy issues such as Gaza and Ukraine, while voters prioritized taxation, health, and climate. At the individual level, we construct personalized news diets for each respondent and track the same voters across the campaign. We find clear agenda-setting effects for less obtrusive issues such as the economy, defence, taxation, and foreign policy. A path model further demonstrates a priming effect: media exposure shifts voters’ issue priorities, which in turn shifts vote intention toward parties associated with those issues. Even in a fragmented media landscape, media content meaningfully shaped electoral choice.

• Stubager, Rune; Langsæther, Peter Egge & Hesstvedt, Stine (2026). Still Going Strong? The Social and Political Relevance of Class Identification Over Time in Four Countries. Comparative Political Studies. ISSN 0010-4140. doi: 10.1177/00104140251414034. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  According to influential theories of modernization and individualization, social class has ceased to be relevant to citizens and their political behaviour in Western countries; class has been proclaimed ‘dead’. The argument is particularly strong at the subjective level where people are thought to no longer identify with social classes let alone relate this identification to politics. Using time-series election study data covering many decades combined with manifesto data from the US, Britain, Denmark, and Norway, we challenge this view and show that levels of class identification have been stable. The relationship between class identification, attitudes to redistribution and vote choice has, however, changed but this appears to result more from political parties’ varying polarization on economic and social issues than from the demise of class in voters’ minds.

• Christensen, Johan & Hesstvedt, Stine (2025). The Role of Experts in Policymaking. I Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Allern, Elin Haugsgjerd; Braut-Hegghammer, Målfrid & Rasch, Bjørn Erik (Red.), The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198888581. s. 497–517. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198888581.013.0026. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This handbook provides a comprehensive examination of Norway’s political institutions, electoral politics, public policymaking, and international relations. As the introductory chapter highlights, Norway is a highly consolidated, homogeneous, corporatist, and consensus-orientated democracy having faced rapid economic growth, significant government access to massive oil revenues, deindustrialization, public-sector expansion, increasing cultural pluralism, and economic inequality, as well as growing party system fragmentation and the decline of the once dominant Social Democratic Party. Each chapter offers foundational knowledge about the present Norwegian system while presenting state-of-the-art overviews of key issues and findings drawn from the most relevant research in their respective fields. Additionally, the chapters provide original analyses of more specialized topics or trace historical developments and overarching trends. The handbook is designed primarily for scholars and students specializing in the covered topics, but it is also intended to serve a secondary readership that includes politicians, journalists, and other individuals interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Norwegian politics. The authors, selected for their in-depth knowledge and expertise as well as their proven track record of publishing research in highly ranked international outlets, offer valuable insights into the different aspects of Norwegian politics. Although the primary focus is on research within political science, contributions from disciplines such as public law, history, and education science are also included. This diverse set of authors brings extensive expertise and presents the chapters in an accessible manner, making this handbook an indispensable resource for understanding Norwegian politics.

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• Brekke, Jan-Paul; Fladmoe, Audun; Hesstvedt, Stine & Wollebæk, Dag (2026). Holdninger til innvandring, integrering og mangfold. Integreringsbarometeret 2026. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. ISSN 9788277638867. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Integreringsbarometeret er den mest omfattende undersøkelsen av holdninger til innvandring og integrering i Norge. I rapporten ser vi på utviklingen fra 2005 og frem til i dag. Samtidig gir vi helt nye innsikter om blant annet holdninger til flyktninger og arbeidsinnvandrere, om hva befolkningen mener fungerer i integreringen, samt i hvordan synet på innvandringspolitikk henger sammen med synet på andre politikkområder.

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