What Is a Multi-Religion Election System (MRES)?
The term "multi-religion election"ârepresenting the practical application of the multi-religion election systemârefers to a reform of church elections. Church elections are a practice unique to the Nordic countries, where they have introduced democracy into the Protestant denominations; other religious communities based in the Nordic countries do not hold corresponding religious elections. Sweden has freedom of religion, meaning that everyone has the right to decide for themselves which religion to belong toâor whether to belong to none at allâbut it is democracy that has granted freedom of religion to all religious communities. In a democratic country, this entails, among other things, that a refugee may be granted protection in Sweden due to persecution based on their religion. A defining characteristic of a secular state is the complete separation of state and church, as well as of religion and politics. The notionâheld by manyâthat Sweden is a Christian country and must therefore have a religious party in the Riksdag conflicts with the fundamental principle of separation mentioned above. The same applies to the idea that Sweden, as an EU member, must have a religious party in the European Parliament; this, too, runs counter to the fundamental principle of separation. Regardless of whether the "Multi-religion Election" holds official political or legal significance in Sweden, the aim is to ensure that the 78-year-old conflict between Israel and Palestine is not left for the next generation to resolveâas politicians of previous generations have done.The Multi-Religion Election System
Further Information & Resources
- Mitigate religiously framed political conflicts
- Protect minority communities and non-believers
- Prevent structural domination by any single religious tradition
- Strengthen democratic legitimacy and trust in public institutions
The Faith Representatives Chamber (FRC) as a peacebuilding measure is free from political parties and politicians and replaces the General Synod. The FRC is the highest body of all faiths, elected in Multi-Faith Elections. Multi-Religion Support is the financial model that replaces the SST Foundation and corresponding party support, independent of tax revenue.
About De Nya Svenskarna
De Nya Svenskarna is a Sweden-based, globally oriented initiative that connects religion, democracy, and peacebuilding in a new way. Starting from the Nordic experience of democratic church elections, we develop and promote the Multi-Religious Election System as a concrete conflict-resolution model.
Our work shows how democratic elections inside churches and other faith communities can strengthen youth participation, gender equality, and accountability, and how these internal reforms can support international law, human rights, and long-term peace in conflict-affected regions.
Theoretical Foundations & Core Research Questions
A multi-religion election system engages with several established research traditions, including consociationalism, electoral system design, religion and politics, and conflict resolution.
Core Questions:
- Under what conditions do existing electoral systems intensify or moderate religious cleavages?
- How can representation mechanisms acknowledge religious identities without entrenching permanent sectarian divisions?
- What forms of power-sharing are compatible with liberal-democratic principles and individual rights?
- In what ways can electoral engineering contribute to long-term peacebuilding in multireligious societies?
FrÄga partierna allt . Valet 13 sep 2026
HÀr de allra viktigaste frÄgorna:
- Folkmordet i Gaza
- Kyrkovalsreformen
- Den ofullbordade separationen mellan stat och kyrka och mellan religion och politik.
- FrÄgan huruvida det skall finnas ett religiöst kristet parti i riksdagen och andra religiösa partier i EU-parlamentet.
- Möjlighet för politiker med invandrarbakgrund att bli vald till statsminister i Sverige.
- Mellanöstern och klimatmÄlet samt Ukraina och klimatmÄlet.
- Oslo-avtalet och FN:s reform.
Global Interfaith Leadership Summit: âïž Christianity âȘïž Islam âĄïž Judaism âžïž Buddhism đïž Hinduism
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a multi-religion election system?
It is an inclusive voting framework where all recognized religious communities participate in structured, fair elections to choose their representatives or leaders. This could be implemented at local, national, or interfaith levels.
LÀs vidare om Multireligionvalsystemet ,Multireligionvalsystem ,FN:s rollspel för fred som kan lösa den 78 Är lÄnga konflikten mellan Israel och Palestina..Are religious parties present in the EU Parliament and the Swedish Riksdag?
Yes, parties like the European Christian Political Party and Sweden's Christian Democrats promote religiously-inspired values (family, education, social justice) in political debate and governance.These religious parties in the European Parliament and the Riksdag base their policies on Christianity, which represents the Christian voters religiously, while the other voters lack religious parties that represent the religious. Christianity and Judaism are two sides of the same coin, even the Jews automatically want representation through the Christians, which makes it difficult to separate the state from the church and religion from politics. This in turn constitutes the greatest obstacle to resolving the 78-year-old conflict between Israel and Palestine and to the same conflict being passed down from one generation to the next. Through a church election reform, we reform all of this so that these religious parties and others who might consider forming a religious party are only allowed to participate in the Multi-Religion Election and political parties are prohibited from participating in this election so that they get their own parallel parliament and at the same time all of these religious parties are prohibited from participating in the EU and parliamentary elections.
Can women become archbishops in all churches?
In the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia (e.g., Sweden), democratic elections made it possible for women to be archbishops. This is not possible in Catholic or Orthodox churches, which restrict leadership to men by doctrine.
LÀs vidare om Multireligionvalsystemet ,Multireligionvalsystem ,FN:s rollspel för fred som kan lösa den 78 Är lÄnga konflikten mellan Israel och Palestina..Does a Two-, Three-, or Four-State solution help without church-state separation?
No. Political arrangements must be accompanied by real separation of religion from government and politics; otherwise, religious conflicts and exclusion persist, undermining peace.