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Danish People's Party

Danish People's Party

Overview
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 which is frequently described as right-wing populist
Right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...

 by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...

. Since the Parliamentary election in 2001
Danish parliamentary election, 2001
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first...

 the party has supported a government consisting of the Liberal
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...

 and Conservative
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...

 parties, and these were in power until the election in 2011 (where a coalition of center-left parties won). While not being a part of the cabinet, the Danish People's Party maintained a close cooperation with the 2001–2011 government parties on most issues. In return for their parliamentary cooperation, the party required support for their political stances.
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Quotations

"Judaism, because of its Jesus-negating teachings, is an apostasy and blasphemy." (MP Jesper Langballe, Kristeligt Dagblad, (November 3, 1999))

"Islam is a plague upon Europe." (MP Jesper Langballe, Speech from the podium of Danish Parliament (May 31, 2002))

"Let me say it clearly: Muslims should live in Muslim-Country, and this is not here." (MEP Mogens Camre, Danish People's Party's annual meeting (September 19, 2004))

"We should withdraw from UN Refugee Convention and we should block EU's Charter for Fundamental Rights which is directed against the Europeans. We must change the Alien's Law, and if need be we must change both the Danish Constitution and Penal Law so that it becomes possible to defend democracy and to send political-religious rebels, criminals and parasites out of the country. This is the final call." (MEP Mogens Camre, Horsens Folkeblad (May 18, 2004))

"Islam has been a terrorist organisation from its very beginning." (MP Martin Henriksen, Politiken (December 2, 2005))

"Where Christianity rules, matters are related to the love of the tings that one holds dear. On the other hand, where Islam rules, matters are related to a higher selfrightousness which logically culminates in an all consuming hatred and a scary urge to exterminate other people." (MP Søren Krarup, Berlingske Tidende (February 2, 2005))

Encyclopedia
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 which is frequently described as right-wing populist
Right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...

 by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...

. Since the Parliamentary election in 2001
Danish parliamentary election, 2001
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first...

 the party has supported a government consisting of the Liberal
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...

 and Conservative
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...

 parties, and these were in power until the election in 2011 (where a coalition of center-left parties won). While not being a part of the cabinet, the Danish People's Party maintained a close cooperation with the 2001–2011 government parties on most issues. In return for their parliamentary cooperation, the party required support for their political stances.

The party's expressed goals are to protect the freedom and cultural heritage of the Danish people, including the family, the Monarchy and the Church of Denmark
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, Church of Denmark or Danish National Church, is the state church and largest denomination in Denmark and Greenland...

, to enforce a strict rule of law, to work against Denmark becoming a multi-ethnic society by limiting immigration and promoting cultural assimilation of admitted immigrants, to maintain a strong welfare system for those in need, and to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth by strengthening education and encouraging people to work, and to protect the environment and natural resources.

Despite some public and media ridicule, the party's popularity has grown since its inception, taking 25 seats in the 179-member Folketinget in the 2007 parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 2007
The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

 (13.8% of the vote, remaining the third largest party in Denmark.) They received 12.3% of the vote in the 2011 Parliamentary election, and this marked their first decline compared to earlier elections, although they maintained the position as the third largest party.

Early years (1995–2001)


The Danish People's Party was founded on 6 October 1995, after Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...

, Kristian Thulesen Dahl
Kristian Thulesen Dahl
Kristian Thulesen Dahl has been a member of the Folketing for Danish People's Party since 1994. He is the party's spokesman on finance. He is Knight of the Dannebrog.-External links:...

, Poul Nødgaard and Ole Donner broke out from the Progress Party
Progress Party (Denmark)
The Progress Party is a political party in Denmark, which was founded in 1972. Its founder, the former lawyer Mogens Glistrup, gained huge popularity in Denmark after he appeared on Danish television, showing that he paid 0 % in income tax...

. Its first national convention was held in Vissenbjerg
Vissenbjerg
Vissenbjerg is a town in central Denmark with a population of 3,130 , located in Assens municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the island of Funen. The most famous resident is a former international football player Lars Elstrup....

 on 1 June 1996, where Pia Kjærsgaard was unanimously elected as the party's chairman. The party was established in protest over the "anarchistic
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 conditions" of the Progress Party, and its "all or nothing" policies. It was initially seen by many as a "clone" of the Progress Party, but this was soon proved false. In a struggle to be respected as a responsible party able to cooperate with others and distance it from the conditions in the Progress Party, the leadership of the party struck down criticism from its members by means of expulsions. The party saw a highly centralized party leadership as necessary, as it would not tolerate internal conflicts and disagreements with the official strategy.

The formation of the party represented a shift in the Nordic right-wing populist scene. The party was the first successful parliamentary party in the Nordic countries to relate philosophically more closely to the French Nouvelle Droite
Nouvelle Droite
Nouvelle Droite is a school of political thought founded largely on the works of Alain de Benoist and GRECE .-Etymology and history:...

, than to the previous "milder" Nordic form of right-wing populism. More specifically, the Danish People's Party represented a synthesis of three political currents: the Christian right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...

 related to the periodical Tidehverv, an intellectual Nationalist right from the Danish Association (Den Danske Forening) and conservative populists from the Progress Party.

In 1997, the party won about 7% in the municipal elections, and did very well in traditional left-wing municipalities, potentially rivaling the Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Denmark)
The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark...

. By 1998, the party had 2,500 registered members. The party made its electoral debut in the 1998 Danish parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 1998
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 11 March 1998. The Social Democratic Party-led government of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen remained in power in a very close vote that required several recounts. The right-wing parties led by Venstre had been expected to win. Venstre leader Uffe...

, winning 13 seats and 7.4% of the vote. The party was however left with no influence in regard to the formation of a government, and it was generally largely kept out in the cold, particularly as it was considered to not be stuerent (i.e. not acceptable or "housebroken").

Conservative-Liberal coalition (2001–2011)


In the 2001 election
Danish parliamentary election, 2001
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first...

, the party won 12% of the vote and 22 seats in parliament. It became the third largest party in the parliament, giving them a key position, as they would have a parliamentary majority together with the Conservative People's Party
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...

 and Venstre
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...

. The Danish People's party was favoured by these parties, as it had supported the Venstre candidate for Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a Danish politician, and the 12th and current Secretary General of NATO. Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 27 November 2001 to 5 April 2009....

, during the election campaign. Eventually, it gave its parliamentary support for a Conservative-Liberal coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Rasmussen, in exchange for the implementation of some of their key demands, first and foremost stricter policies on immigration. The party had a key role in writing the rules and conditions for immigration in the immigration law that was established by the government in May 2002, which it called "Europe's strictest".
In the 2005 election
Danish parliamentary election, 2005
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Venstre and the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the Danish People's Party...

 the party further increased their vote, and won 13.2% of the vote and 24 seats. By young first-time voters the party showed even more popular, receiving one fifth of their votes. The party continued to support the government, and developed a broader policy base, as it made welfare policies its core issue, together with immigration policies.

In 2006, the party's popularity rose dramatically in opinion polls following the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...

, at the expense of the Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Denmark)
The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark...

. The average of all monthly national polls showed the Danish People's Party to gain seven seats in parliament from January to February, with the Social Democrats losing an equal amount. This effect, however, somewhat waned with the falling media attention to the cartoons controversy.

In the 2007 parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 2007
The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

, the Danish People's Party won 13.9 % and 25 seats, and again continued to support the Conservative-Liberal government. Thus, in every election since its founding the party has had a steady growth, although the growth rate has stagnated somewhat in recent years. Parties in the political centre, particularly the newly founded New Alliance
New Alliance (Denmark)
The Liberal Alliance is a classical liberal political party in Denmark. Founded in 2007 as the New Alliance , the party was the first new major Danish political party in a decade...

 had sought to become the kingmaker and be able to isolate the immigration policies of the DPP, but eventually failed.

In the 2009 elections for the European Parliament
European Parliament election, 2009 (Denmark)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in Denmark was the election of the delegation from Denmark to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009. The number of Danish MEPs elected was 13...

 the prime candidate for the party, Morten Messerschmidt
Morten Messerschmidt
Morten Messerschmidt , LL.M., is member of the European Parliament for the Danish People's Party. He won his seat in a landslide in the 2009 elections with 284,500 personal votes....

, won his seat in a landslide with 284,500 personal votes (most votes for any single candidate by any party); thus giving the party a second seat (which went to Anna Rosbach Andersen). The party made a breakthrough from its previous results in European elections, more than doubling its vote to 15.3%, and receiving 2 MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

s.

Immigration


The party holds that Denmark is not naturally a country of immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, and that it has never been so. The party also does not accept a multi-ethnic transformation of Denmark, and rejects multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

. Party leader Pia Kjærsgaard has stated she does "not want Denmark as a multiethnic, multicultural society", and that a multiethnic Denmark would be a "national disaster". The party seek to drastically reduce non-Western immigration
Opposition to immigration
Opposition to immigration is present in most nation-states with immigration, and has become a significant political issue in many countries. Immigration in the modern sense refers to movement of people from one nation-state to another, where they are not citizens. It is important to distinguish...

, oppose islamisation, and favour cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...

 of immigrants. In 2010, the party proposed to put a complete stop to all immigration from non-Western countries, a continuation of a proposal the month before to toughen the 24 year rule
24 year rule
The 24 year rule is a rule in Danish immigration law meant to cut down forced marriages and family reunification immigration.The rule has four requirements...

.

Cooperation with the Conservative-Liberal coalition government resulted in the implementation of some of their key demands, most importantly strong restrictions in immigration policies, which have resulted in what it described as Europe's strictest immigration laws. The new government enacted rules that prevented Danish citizens and others from bringing a foreign spouse into the country unless both partners were aged 24 or over, passed a solvency test showing the Dane had not claimed social security for 12 months and could lodge a bond of 60,011 kroner (about 10,100 USD). One declared aim of this was to fight arranged marriages. These new rules had the effect that while about 8,151 family reunification
Family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well....

 permits were granted in 2002, the number had fallen to 3,525 by 2005. Some social benefits for refugees were also cut by 30-40% during their first seven years in the country, ordinary unemployment benefits being replaced by a reduced "start-up aid". Whereas the government coalition's declared aim with this was to improve integration by inciting people to work, immigration spokesman Søren Krarup
Søren Krarup
Søren Krarup is a Danish pastor, writer, politician and Member of Parliament for the Danish People's Party from 2001....

 of the Danish People's Party has expressed his content in that the start-up aid has decreased the number of economic refugees greatly, showing them that "one does not find gold in the streets in Denmark".

Other domestic


The party wants to improve conditions for the elderly and disabled, and stricter punishments for crimes such as rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

, sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...

, reckless driving and cruelty to animals. It supports grants for specific research into terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

, Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...

 and cold-war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 history, and an increased defense spending. It also wants to maintain the Danish monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

 and the current Danish constitution
Constitution of Denmark
The Constitutional Act of Denmark is the Kingdom of Denmark's constitution, or fundamental law. Originally verified in 1849, the last revision was signed on 5 June 1953 as "the existing law, for all to unswerving comply with, the Constitutional Act of Denmark".-Idea and structure:The main...

, and to abolish the blasphemy clause and 'hate speech' clause in the Danish criminal code
Danish penalty law
The Danish Penal Code also known as The Danish Criminal Code is the codification of the central legal text and makes up the foundation of criminal law in Denmark.-History:The Penal Code is law number 126 of April 15, 1930 with later amendments...

.

Foreign


The party opposes a cession of Denmark's sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

 to the EU, wants to maintain the Danish krone
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark consisting of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It is subdivided into 100 øre...

, and opposes the accession of Turkey to the European Union
Accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey's application to accede to the European Union was made on 14 April 1987. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963...

. The party supports Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in its conflict with Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 and the US-led War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

. The party seeks international recognition of Taiwan, supports Taiwan in its disputes with China and supports a free Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. The party also supports harsher criticism of, and sanctions against, totalitarian regimes and dictatorships (especially communist and faux-Islamic regimes). In 2007, the party opposed the Danish government's plan to recognise the independence of Kosovo, and maintained the territorial integrity of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

.

Controversies


Throughout the history of the Danish People's Party, its leaders have sought popularity through controversial polarising stances that have resonated with the electorate but shaken the established political order:

The changes to Denmark's immigration laws drew some criticism from the former social democratic
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...

 government of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...

 and the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

's human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 commissioner. In a response to the criticism from the Swedish government, Pia Kjærsgaard said: "If they want to turn Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

 or Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

 into a Scandinavian Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

, with clan wars, honour killings and gang rapes, let them do it. We can always put a barrier on the Øresund Bridge."

The popularity of DPP


Since its founding, the party gained electoral support in the first three elections. While opposition to mass immigration and Islamification is central to the aims of the party, other issues are thought to have added to the popularity of the party:
  • Ideological Novelty: The DPP combines support of the welfare state, and particularly benefits for pensioners, with strongly conservative policies on immigration and law and order. As such it is distinctive from the mainstream parties and offers policies which appeal across the traditional right-left dividing line. Polls have shown that a great deal of the party's voters are former Social Democrats, concerned with the decline of the welfare state. An analysis by the trade union SiD after the 2001 election stated that among unskilled workers aged under 40, 30% voted for DPP and only 25% for the Social Democrats.
  • Decreased importance of "economic cleavage": Several authors believe that the political "cleavages" of European societies have changed over recent decades. (Hout et al. 1996) 55–56). Contemporary Western European democracies are characterized by two major cleavage dimensions: the economic cleavage dimension, which pits workers against the capital, and which concerns the degree of state involvement in the economy, and the socio-cultural cleavage dimension, which is about issues such as immigration, law and order, abortion, and so on. (Rydgren ) Rydgren believes that DF has become increasingly popular as the economic cleavage's importance has dropped, alienating many working class voters from their traditional parties such as the Social Democrats.
  • Euroscepticism
    Euroscepticism
    Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...

    :
    In Denmark, only two parties have been against all new EU treaties throughout their existence. Those parties are DPP and the left-wing Enhedslisten. Whereas most politicians favour a more dominant EU, public opinion is broadly skeptical and in favour of the nation state keeping its powers. Referendums brought the rejection of the Maastricht treaty
    Maastricht Treaty
    The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...

     and the Euro
    Euro
    The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

    . The DPP has managed to harness this scepticism more effectively than the left-wingers.
  • Outspokenness (populism): Some analysts believe that Pia Kjærsgaard
    Pia Kjærsgaard
    Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...

    , a former home care assistant for elders, appeals well to the 'common man
    Common man
    Common man may refer to:*Common people*Champion of the Common Man*"Common Man progrum" on sport hosted by Dan Cole*The cartoon character by R K Laxman, The Common Man*The Common Man , the 1975 French film...

    ' because she is different from the traditional political class of economists and academics. In combination with her critical stance towards non-Western immigration and Islam, this has given her strong support among workers and lower middle class voters. Danish political commentators generally acknowledge that Pia Kjærsgaard and her party maintain clear and direct stances on the most central political issues of the party , and have been able to set the agenda more than the size of the party would make one expect.


An interesting feature, compared to other Danish parties, is that the Danish People's Party is usually underrepresented by about 1-1.5 % in opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...

s. Election researchers have suggested that the party's voters may be less interested in politics, and therefore declining to talk to pollsters, or that voters are reluctant to reveal non-politically-correct
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...

 opinions to pollsters.

Parliamentary elections

Election # of seats won # of total votes % of popular vote
1998
Danish parliamentary election, 1998
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 11 March 1998. The Social Democratic Party-led government of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen remained in power in a very close vote that required several recounts. The right-wing parties led by Venstre had been expected to win. Venstre leader Uffe...

13 252,429 7.4%
2001
Danish parliamentary election, 2001
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first...

22 413,987 12.0%
2005
Danish parliamentary election, 2005
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Venstre and the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the Danish People's Party...

24 444,205 13.2%
2007
Danish parliamentary election, 2007
The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

25 479,532 13.8%
2011 22 436.726 12.3%

European Parliament elections

Election # of seats won # of total votes % of popular vote
1999
European Parliament election, 1999 (Denmark)
The European Parliament election of 1999 in Denmark was the election of MEP representing Denmark constituency for the 1999-2004 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1999 European election...

1 114,865 5.8%
2004
European Parliament election, 2004 (Denmark)
The European Parliament election of 2004 in Denmark was the election of MEP representing Denmark constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 13...

1 128,789 6.8%
2009
European Parliament election, 2009 (Denmark)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in Denmark was the election of the delegation from Denmark to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009. The number of Danish MEPs elected was 13...

2 357,942 15.3%

External links


Dansk Folkeparti - Official site