The New Radical-Right

MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Social Studies Department of Political Science The New Radical-Right: Analysis in Selected European States Diploma Thesis Bc. Kateřina Lišaníková Supervisor: Mgr. et Mgr. Petra Vejvodová, Ph.D. UČO: 397916 Security and Strategic Studies Master’s Full-Time Study Matriculation Year 2014 In Brno, 18. 12. 2016 Declaration of authorship I declare that I wrote the Diploma Thesis The New Radical-Right: Analysis in Selected European States by myself only and that I solely used the literature in the reference list. In Brno, 18.12. 2016 .................................................... Bc. Kateřina Lišaníková 1 Special thanks to: Ms. Petra Vejvodová for supervision of this Diploma Thesis and her valuable notes and thoughts through the whole process of writing. Also, special thanks to Mr. Rufus Latham from the SND Swedish National Data Service for providing me with requested dataset and to Mr. Alexander Gilder for language cooperation. 2 Content Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7 1. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Operationalisation ...................................................................................................... 12 1.2. Conceptualisation ...................................................................................................... 15 2. Short Overview of the Parties’ History ............................................................................. 20 3.1. Danish People’s Party .................................................................................................... 20 3.2. Sweden Democrats ........................................................................................................ 21 3. Danish People’s Party and Sweden Democrats’ Manifestos ............................................ 23 3.1. Danish People’s Party’s Manifesto ............................................................................ 23 3.2. Sweden Democrats’ Manifesto .................................................................................. 26 4. Differences Between Analysed Manifestos ...................................................................... 29 5. Public Opinion in Sweden and Denmark .......................................................................... 33 5.1. Danish Public Opinion ............................................................................................... 34 5.2. Swedish Public Opinion ............................................................................................ 43 6. Danish and Swedish Mainstream Parties’ Offer ............................................................... 54 6.1. Danish Mainstream Parties ........................................................................................ 54 6.3. Swedish Mainstream Parties ...................................................................................... 57 7. Reflection of Public Demand and Role of Mainstream Parties ........................................ 61 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 72 Reference .............................................................................................................................. 75 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 85 3 Anotace Analýza v tomto textu je zaměřena na dvě krajně pravicové strany v Dánsku a ve Švédsku: Dánskou lidovou stranu a Švédské demokraty. Nebývale rychlý úspěch a nárůst preferenčních hlasů při parlamentních volbách společně s faktem, že obě dvě strany pochází z extrémistických uskupení přinutili širokou veřejnost dojít k přesvědčení, že obě strany patří do populistické krajní pravice. Práce se proto zaměřila na zkoumání vztahu nabídky těchto politických stran v kontextu poptávky po důležitých tématech u Švédů a Dánů společně se vstupujícím elementem mainstreamových stran. Analýza došla k závěru, že se v případě Švédských demokratů jedná o stranu jednoho tématu, tedy imigrace, která nedokáže v širším měřítku uspokojit potřeby švédské populace, jíž zajímá nejvíce téma ekonomiky, zaměstnanosti a vzdělávání. Zde mainstreamové strany vstupují do vztahu nabídky / poptávky velmi nezřetelně, a to adoptováním některých restriktivních opatření v oblasti imigrace. Naopak Dánská lidová strana má postavený program na nejdůležitějším tématu pro Dány, a to sociálním státu neboli welfare state. Imigrace, zejména ze zemí Blízkého východu, je pak vnímána velmi negativně jako něco, co narušuje fungování sociálního státu. Celkově pak Dánská lidová strana představuje menší odchýlení od mainstreamového politického spektra, než je tomu u Švédských demokratů, kterým pokud nezačnou propagovat také další části svého programu stejně jako to dělají u imigračního tématu, hrozí pomalý úpadek na politické straně, neboť jejich téma plně přeberou mainstreamové strany a oni se tak stanou pro běžné Švédy nezajímavými. Abstract The analysis of this thesis focuses on two radical-right parties in Denmark and Sweden. Namely, the Danish People’s Party and the Sweden Democrats. The public has come to the conclusion that these parties are populist radical-right due to their unprecedented, rapidly increasing success in parliamentary elections and the historical background, which is rooted in the extreme right. Therefore, the text analyses the relationship between the political offerings of these parties and public demand of the Swedes and Danes alongside what the mainstream parties’ offer. The conclusion is that the Sweden Democrats are a single-issue party focused on immigration only and cannot satisfy the demand of Swedes, which is the topic of economy, employment and education. The mainstream parties step up into the demand/offer relationship very shallowly by adopting some of the counter immigration measures. Contrary, the Danish People’s Party built up its program on welfare state issues, which concern the Danes most. 4 Further, immigration, especially from the Middle East, is perceived as something that threatens the functioning of the welfare state. Overall, the Danish People’s Party represents less deviation from mainstream politics unlike the Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats may become less attractive for Swedish voters once the mainstream parties take over their key issues, if they do not start to push on other topics of their manifesto besides immigration. 5 Klíčová slova Dánská lidová strana, Dánsko, Eurobarometr, imigrace, krajní pravice, Liberální strana, Sociální demokraté, Švédsko, Švédští demokraté, Umírněná strana, veřejné mínění, volby Key words Danish People’s Party, Denmark, elections, Eurobarometer, immigration, Liberal Party, Moderate Party, public opinion, Social Democrats, Sweden, Sweden Democrats, radical-right 6 Introduction The current unprecedented immigration crisis which challenges Europe goes hand in hand with the phenomenon of the re-rising of radical-right political parties. These political parties have mostly built up their programs on the issue of the threat of refugees and try to influence voters by reminding them of the importance of nationalism. Several years ago, very few of them would have been successful with such performances. Nevertheless, in the face of current refugee waves to Europe, these parties have been more successful than ever before – some of them have even became part of the government or very strong opposition. In connection to this trend, the media has started to warn over Europe turning to the extreme right once again. Yet, the European citizens turn to these political parties as the only political subjects, which really care about their needs. Again, some scholars and media calls it populism, some people see it as awakening of Europe and punishment of the establishment, which has been ignoring the demand of citizens for the past twenty years. The new radical-right parties call the mainstream politicians the corrupted elite. Albeit there have been tendencies to isolate such parties, these new radical-right subjects gained even more power in parliamentary elections and showed the mainstream that they cannot ignore the voice of their people. Over a very short period, lots of European think-tanks have produced many articles and books summarizing current re-emergence of these radical-right parties on the old continent; however very few of them are seeking the basis of the new radical-right: what drives their success? Do they have any comprehensive manifestos to rule the countries or are they just being populist by promoting what is currently the most concerning issue in Europe? And do the mainstream parties ignore the society’s concerns by excluding the topic of immigration from their agenda? The immigration wave particularly hit Sweden and Denmark, where the success of the Danish People’s Party (DPP) and the Sweden Democrats (SD) was the most visible. Even though there are two radical-right parties in the neighbourhood countries, established at the same time, their paths significantly differ. While the Sweden Democrats remain in opposition without any ally in the parliament, the Danish People’s Party made an agreement with the governmental coalition. Nevertheless, both belong among the most successful radical-right parties in Europe. In this

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