New Zealand’s increasingly dangerous level of political vitriol

A long thin country, marked by its diversity of landscapes. A small population, outflanked by bigger and more powerful neighbours. An increasingly multicultural society with a significant indigenous group. It could be New Zealand. But it’s Sweden. Like New Zealand, Sweden long had a tradition of personal, retail politics in which politicians rub shoulders with voters as apparent equals. That’s what one expects in a small country. But there is one big difference between Sweden and New Zealand. Sweden has suffered not one, but two political assassinations. The first, in 1986, was the murder of then Prime Minister Olof Palme. The...