Liberalism:

"Liberals generally support activist government from economic policy to civil-rights policy, though they are likely to oppose government action when it is perceived as threatening civil liberties (freedom of speech, privacy, etc.). Liberals believe that government must play an active role in creating equal opportunity through antidiscrimination laws; through affirmative action programs; and through various grants to disadvantaged individuals, organizations, and municipalities. Their commitment to governmental activism has often focused on the federal government because of its superior financial resources and because of its power to promote equal treatment for all Americans, no matter which state they reside. Liberalism represents a general commitment to the welfare state and public assistance programs for the least advantaged. To this extent, liberals often see taxes as a means of redistributing wealth. Liberals believe that all levels of government have the responsibility to prevent and punish marketplace practices that hurt consumers and threaten the environment. Likewise, government, through its budgetary policies, has a role to play in stimulating the economy and in producing jobs, especially during recessions. In foreign and defense policy, liberals have usually supported an American stance that is less dependent on the military and on unilateral action and more based on negotiations, arms reduction, and multilateralism (especially through the United Nations)"
 

Neoliberalism:

"Increasingly prominent since the economic downturn of the 1970s and the budget deficits of the 1980s, neoliberals are less likely to favor new federal government programs and regulation than other liberals. They prefer government action that provides incentives (through tax policy and subsidies) to the private sector to solve social and economic problems. Neoliberals are also more likely to encourage state and local cooperation with federal objectives than to advocate federal intervention".
 

Left-wing:

From the 1930s to the 1960s the American left was relatively united by a preference for socialist and Marxist economics (state ownership or common ownership and redistribution of wealth to create conditions of economic equality), by their opposition to American "imperialistic" foreign policy initiatives, and their efforts to rid America of its racism. With the demise of communism and the increasingly conservative trend of American politics, the left has splintered into a variety of movement, each with its own emphatic critique of American society. These movements would include the following: the radical feminist critique of gendered power and patriarchal oppression; the radical environmentalist critique of the alleged American (Western) ethos of acquisitiveness and exploitation that ends in the rape of nature; the cultural left's critique of the dominant European cultural ethos that has marginalized the identities of people of color and minority linguistic and ethnic groups. The socialist roots of the American left are still in evidence, but have themselves been marginalized to the fringes of the left wing.
 
 
Conservatism:

Conservatives defend minimal government, mainly that which is necessary to defend the American people from foreign aggressors, to maintain conditions of law and order, and to protect the American people from immediate and proven threats to their health and safety. (Some refer to this conservative view of the responsibilities of government as the "night watchman state.") They have commonly supported the growth of the defense establishment while opposing the growth of federal (and state) social programs. They believe that the economy functions best and benefits most Americans when it is free from cumbersome government regulations and management. Many conservatives have made peace with some of the programs of the welfare state (Social Security, Medicare) but oppose their further growth (and in some cases would like to see them scaled down). Conservatives have in recent decades sought to privatize a number of government functions they believe are better left to the private sector, have sought to deregulate the economy, and have sought to return many federal domestic programs to state governments. There is a split among conservatives today about economic policy: Supplysiders advocate across-the-board tax cuts (even a flat tax that does away with scaled rates according to income) and capital gains tax cuts that they believe will stimulate economic growth and crate a rising tide of prosperity; fiscal conservatives, on the other hand, most worried about budget deficits, are reluctant to slash government revenues and instead emphasize downsizing existing programs. Conservatives are cautious about government efforts to promote civil rights because of their alleged effect of creating special rights for minority grouops and because of their interference with private (business and individual) decisions, though most conservatives now support the enforcement of antidiscrimination laws and regulations. Most conservatives, with the exception of libertarians, believe that individual liberties must be balanced against government responsibilities to maintain law and order and to defend core American values (e.g., the flag) or Judeo-Christian values (e.g., voluntary prayer in schools). Conservatives have supported a foreign policy that vigorously advances Americans' interests abroad and American prestige--unilaterally if necessary. In the post-Cold War world, they are concerned about the undermining of American sovereignty by multilateral organizations (e.g., the United Nations) and about American interventions based strictly on humanitarian considerations (e.g., Somalia).
 
 

Neoconservatism:

Like neoliberalism, neoconservatism traces its roots to the 1970s. Neoconservatives brole with liberalism over the war in Vietnam (which most liberals opposed and neoconservatives supported) and over liberals' attachment to the welfare state. Neoconservatives, less enamored of the free market than conservatives, nevertheless oppose many welfare programs because of the dependency and alleged character flaws that such programs have created among low-income Americans. Still, the support many other policies of an activist government. Neoconservatives call for a restoration of the virtues of individual responsibility and community obligations that they believe have been eroded by liberal policies. They are advocates of the cultural and moral traditions of Western civilization and urge the dtrong defense of these traditions in public and private life. This includes a strong American national defense and foreign policy on behalf of Western values or freedom, democracy, and capitalism--and on behalf of American interests.
 
 

Religious Conservatives (or Christian conservatives or the Religious Right):

While religious conservatives have supported much of the economic program of other conservatives, their emphasis is on morality and on what they see as the assault on Judeo-Christian morality by a secular, hedonistic liberalism. Religious conservatives believe that America was founded on and owes her greatness to Judeo-Christian principles. They argue that the family has been especially beseiged by the secular liberal world view in education and in the media. Some conservatives, more concerned with economic issues and defense issues than moral issues, have been at odds with the religious conservatives, especially on the abortion issue.
 
 

Right wing:

The right wing includes a variety of groups that are united in their suspicion of the forces of modernity, which, they believe, have eroded individualism or constitutionalism or private property rights or Christianity or the white race's "rightful" status. They believe that the federal government has established a tyranny over the individual and that American sovereignty has been destroyed by affiliation with the United Nations and other alliances. Some right-wing groups are based on an ideology of racial supremacy. Some are anti-Semitic. In recent years, several right- wing groups have come to believe that armed resistance to various sources of oppression has become necessary.

1998 Swedish National Elections
Ware's Typology/ Electorate Percentage/ Seats in Riksdag