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Tag Wiki 'Opinion Corridor'.
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Opinion corridor (, ) refers to a sociopolitical phenomenon that has been observed during the beginning of the 21st century in , and to some extent also in . The expression itself was originally used in 2013 by , professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, as a for the limits of what is commonly acceptable to debate.

The concept is similar to the , which assumes a sliding scale of legitimate political conversation, and to Hallin's spheres, which assumes that the press implicitly groups issues into questions of wide consensus, legitimate controversy, and deviance. The Swedish Language Council has included the word åsiktskorridor in its 2014 list of .


Overview

Background
In December 2013, political scientist described how he perceived that the space for freedom of opinion had been tightened in Swedish debates. He provided some examples of opinions that were rarely expressed despite being common throughout the population:

  • 14% of Swedes agree with limiting the rights to .
  • 40% think that Sweden should accept fewer .
  • 60% want more .
  • 50% of Swedes do not agree with allowing couples to adopt children.
  • 20% think that there should be a for .
  • 25% of all Swedes want to increase the number of wolves.
  • Almost 10% want to reduce the expenditure for .
  • 5% agree with abolishing the graduation ceremonies in churches.

Oscarsson concluded with calling for "a more moderate and respectful attitude from policymakers".

In February 2015, editor published an apology for being part of "constructing a corridor that prevented a constructive debate about migration and integration". She wrote that it was something that she started doing around 2002, when language tests were being debated and the started to become more influential. She was also afraid that Sweden's political climate would become more similar to that of .


Other observations
Erik Helmersson from wrote that Sweden has many opinion corridors in which people rarely question the norms within the group. He blames the Swedish "culture of consensus" and says the social cost for presenting an opposing view is too high. He also praises director Stina Oscarson for her new expression "test speech" and states that it's important to allow people to try new ways of thinking without being smothered by blame and insults.

has stated that she wants to "tear down the opinion corridor" and has made comparisons with totalitarian systems.


Statistical research
During the first quarter of 2015, the statistical institute conducted a survey named "Who dares to speak about their opinions?" which had a sample size of 4,348. They observed the following trends:

  • Increased hesitation in debates with people outside the usual social circles
  • People with left-wing ideologies speak more openly while those that identify themselves as nationally oriented or conservative feel that they have more limitations
  • Majorities risk being portrayed as minorities
  • is the topic in which most people feel limited


Criticism and denial
Council politician Per Altenberg from the Liberals, while not addressing the research by professor Oscarsson, denied the existence of the opinion corridor and maintained that the corridor should not be discussed in his opinion piece entitled "There is no opinion corridor".

Columnist Malin Ullgren from , while not addressing the research by professor Oscarsson, condemns the usage of the term, and describes it as a rhetorical device the uses to undermine the stability of society. She states that right-wing extremists have spent years on "systematic erosion of the limits of decency" to further their agendas and that the far right freely express their agendas.


See also
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