At the beginning of 2010, Sweden and Denmark were governed by centre-right coalitions. Considering that the Scandinavian countries are often seen as a bastion of social democracy, this may appear surprising, but liberal and conservative parties have always played an important role in the politics of both countries. While centre-right governments are still very much the exception to the social democratic norm in Sweden, centre-right participation in or control of government has been more frequent in recent years compared with the situation before 1970.