Scandinavia: Two-Way Drift

In Sweden and Denmark, Scandinavia's most prosperous nations, election results last week came as a jolt to the Socialists who have ruled both countries for decades. Though Swedes voted solidly for grandfatherly Premier Tage Erlander's Social Democrats, the big surprise of the election was a gain in Communist strength. The Reds not only added three extra seats to the five they already hold in the Riksdag's 233-member lower house; they were also the only party to increase their overall percentage of the popular vote.

Danish voters, by contrast, moved right, giving four new seats to the Conservatives. The ruling Social Democrats won 76 seats in Parliament, the same total they won in 1960. However, their coalition partners, the Radical Liberals, dropped one of their eleven seats, thus wiping out the government's precarious majority and forcing Premier Jens Otto Krag to form a minority administration.