Governance and academic freedom

The plan is divided here: it wants to protect teachers' autonomy against bureaucratic control regimes and universities' independence, which supports parts of the counter-proposal. But the fundamental commitment is that social skewing in university admissions should be broken and that users and employees should be given increased influence, which speaks against abolishing quotas and against a board that removes student organisations' role. Overall, the plan rejects the demand.

• break social skewing in admissionsdecisive»sociala snedrekryteringen till högskolan behöver brytas, bland annat« (party programme ↗)“social skewing in university admissions needs to be broken, among other things”
• user and employee influence»kan kompletteras med anställdas, boendes och brukares frivilliga« (party programme ↗)“can be complemented with employees', residents' and users' voluntary”
• teachers' autonomy»medan de byråkratiska kontrollregimer som kringskär lärarnas autonomi som pedagoger aktiv« (party programme ↗)“while the bureaucratic control regimes that restrict teachers' autonomy as educators active”
• universities' independence»Vänsterpartiet vill värna universitetens oberoende och finansiering och höja studiestödet så att fler kan välja att vidareutbilda sig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to protect universities' independence and funding and increase study support so that more people can choose to continue their education.”

flags: planen_pekar_bada_hall

The plan sees teaching as teamwork that is based on respect for both the teacher's role and the students' responsibility and influence over their own work, which speaks against moving all decision-making about course literature from the board and student organizations to the teacher alone. The plan moreover requires that social skewing in university admissions is broken, while the counter-proposal wants to abolish quotas in the name of meritocracy. That the state guarantees research freedom is a counter-consideration but does not carry the entire counter-proposal. The plan therefore speaks against the requirement.

• teaching as teamworkdecisive»Undervisning är ett lagarbete, som ska bygga på respekt både för« (party programme ↗)“Teaching is teamwork that should be based on respect for both”
• student influence»Studerande, barn lika väl som vuxna, ska ha rätt till trygga arbetsmiljöer och« (party programme ↗)“Students, children as well as adults, should have the right to safe working environments and”
• break social skewing»Den sociala snedrekryteringen till högskolan måste brytas« (party programme ↗)“Social skewing in university admissions must be broken”
• research freedom»ansvar att garantera forskningens frihet och att trygga grundforskningen.« (party programme ↗)“responsibility to guarantee research freedom and to ensure basic research.”

The counter-proposal wants to shift responsibility for course literature from student organizations to teachers and abolish quotas in higher education. The plan requires instead that student and doctoral student influence is secured, sees quotas as a tool for gender equality and wants to broaden recruitment. The support for academic freedom in the plan does not outweigh this, so the plan rejects the request as a whole.

• secured student influencedecisive»studenters och doktoranders inflytande och« (party programme ↗)“student and doctoral student influence and”
• quotas as a gender equality tool»Könskvotering till bolagsstyrelser behövs« (party programme ↗)“Gender quotas on corporate boards are needed”
• broadened recruitment»Vi eftersträvar en bred rekrytering till högre« (party programme ↗)“We pursue broad recruitment to higher”
• academic freedom and gender equality»Den akademiska friheten ska värnas och« (party programme ↗)“Academic freedom shall be valued and”

The plan makes academic freedom a cornerstone and requires that independent institutions of higher education independently conduct education with freedom to shape it themselves. The counter-proposal's requirement for instructor responsibility for course materials and stronger collegial involvement in governance strengthens precisely that freedom from within academia. Eliminating quotas and testing anonymous applications aligns with the requirement that people be evaluated as individuals, not based on gender or group membership.

• academic freedomdecisive»Den akademiska och konstnärliga friheten liksom den fria kulturen är grundbultar i ett vitalt civilsamhälle.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Academic and artistic freedom, as well as free culture, are cornerstones of a vital civil society.”
• institutional independence»Högre utbildning och fria lärosäten ska självständigt kunna bedriva högkvalitativ forskning och utbildning.« (party programme ↗)“Higher education and independent institutions should independently be able to conduct high-quality research and education.”
• freedom to shape education»med frihet att själva utforma utbildningen« (party programme ↗)“with freedom to shape education themselves”
• evaluation of the individual»I ett liberalt samhälle behandlas vi utifrån de individer vi är« (party programme ↗)“In a liberal society we are treated as the individuals we are”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan makes academic freedom a guiding principle, wants to protect it in the constitution, and give universities a new governance form with greater autonomy from government. The counter-proposal's requirement for increased teaching freedom, greater university autonomy, and collegial leadership thus aligns directly with the plan's line, as does each university determining for itself based on quality requirements. Meritocratic admission follows from the plan's requirement that quality shall be decisive.

• constitutionally protected academic freedomdecisive»Den akademiska friheten ska ges skydd i grundlagen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Academic freedom shall be protected in the constitution.”
• individual academic freedom»Individuell akademisk frihet ska vara en bärande princip för all offentlig verksamhet inom forskning och högre utbildning.« (party programme ↗)“Individual academic freedom shall be a guiding principle for all public activities in research and higher education.”
• increased autonomy for universities»De akademiska lärosätenas oberoende ska värnas och statliga lärosäten ska ges en ny myndighetsform, som ger större autonomi från regeringsmakten.« (party programme ↗)“The independence of academic institutions shall be protected and state institutions shall be given a new governance form that provides greater autonomy from government.”
• university self-determination»Varje högskola bestämmer själv, utifrån kvalitetskraven, vilka utbildningar som erbjuds och hur utbildningen bedrivs.« (party programme ↗)“Each university decides itself, based on quality requirements, which programmes are offered and how education is conducted.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan demands that universities and colleges enjoy a great degree of self-determination in relation to the state and that they themselves shall be able to design admission criteria, and that freedom of thought is a prerequisite for successful knowledge seeking. The counter-proposal's demands for increased teaching freedom, abolished quotas, meritocratic admissions and collegially characterized governance follow from these commitments. The plan likewise gives schools great freedom to design their own teaching.

• educational institutions' self-determinationdecisive»högskolor ska åtnjuta stort mått av självbestämmande i förhållande till staten.« (party programme ↗)“colleges shall enjoy great degree of self-determination in relation to the state.”
• own admission criteria»Vidare ska det finnas stora möjligheter för enskilda universitet och högskolor att själva utforma antagningskriterierna till utbildningarna och« (party programme ↗)“Furthermore, there shall be great opportunities for individual universities and colleges to themselves design admission criteria for education and”
• freedom of thought»Tankens frihet är en förutsättning« (party programme ↗)“Freedom of thought is a prerequisite”
• freedom to design teaching»till kvalitetskrav, ska de ges ett stort mått av frihet att« (party programme ↗)“to quality requirements, they shall be given a great degree of freedom to”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto establishes that academic freedom should be better protected and that research should be free from political interference, and the party programme wants strong and independent universities. The counter-proposal's requirement for increased teaching freedom, abolished quotas, meritocratic admission and strengthened collegial leadership follow that line. The plan's explicit no to quotas and requirement that quality should guide points in the same direction.

• academic freedomdecisive»Vi måste bättre värna den akademiska friheten i Sverige och se till att forskningen står fri från politiska pekpinnar och möjliggöra banbrytande forskningsresultat.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We must better protect academic freedom in Sweden and ensure that research is free from political interference and enable groundbreaking research results.”
• independent universities»Sverige ska ha starka och självständiga lärosäten« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should have strong and independent universities”
• no to quotas»Vi säger därför bestämt nej till storskaliga experiment med kvotering, lottning eller tvångsbussning av elever.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We therefore firmly say no to large-scale experiments with quotas, lotteries or forced bussing of students.”
• meritocracy and quality»Kvalitet och internationell konkurrenskraft ska vara styrande för den högre utbildningen.« (party programme ↗)“Quality and international competitiveness should be guiding for higher education.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto establishes that political control of higher education should decrease and academic independence increase, and criticises that political control and ideologically-marked values shape research and academia. The counter-proposal's demands for collegial leadership, the teacher's responsibility for course literature and abolished quotas are directly in line with this and with the plan's opposition to discrimination based on gender. The plan also wants to give teachers increased authority in their professional role.

• reduced political controldecisive»Den politiska styrningen av högre utbildning ska minska och akademins självständighet öka.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Political control of higher education should decrease and academic independence increase.”
• criticism of values-based control»Allvarlig kritik har riktats mot att politisk styrning och ideologiskt präglade värdegrunder i hög grad präglar forskning och akademi.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Serious criticism has been directed at the fact that political control and ideologically-marked values substantially shape research and academia.”
• no quotas»Motverka diskriminering och särbehandling p.g.a. kön« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Combat discrimination and discrimination based on gender”
• strengthened teacher role»Ge lärare ökade befogenheter och bättre ställning i sin yrkesroll« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give teachers increased authority and better status in their professional role”