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| (The rest of this section must be rewritten: It suffers from the tyranny of models. The author of |
(The rest of this section must be rewritten: It suffers from the tyranny of models. The author lacks real knowledge of the policy of the party and tries to draw a picture of the party based on a somewhat minarchist model. The real difference between FrP and the traditional policies is not that FrP wants to remove publicly funding of welfare good, but that it want to remove the government monopoly on the production of publicly funded welfare goods.) | ||
| The economic policy is based on the idea that the market is its best ruler. A market with as few hindrances as possible should channel the ] where it is needed, without intervention from the state with laws or taxes. | The economic policy is based on the idea that the market is its best ruler. A market with as few hindrances as possible should channel the ] where it is needed, without intervention from the state with laws or taxes. | ||
Revision as of 05:09, 27 August 2005
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The Progress Party is a right-wing political party of Norway. It was founded on April 8, 1973 at a famous address held by the rugged individualist and popular public speaker Anders Lange. The party adopted its current name in 1977. In the 2001 parliamentary elections, it was the third largest party, with 14.6 percent of the votes and 26 seats. The current chairman is Carl I. Hagen.
The name of the party in Norwegian is Fremskrittspartiet, and is abbreviated as Fr.p..
The founding
The founder, Anders Lange, intended the party to be more like a protest movement than a regular political party. The protest was directed against what was perceived to be an unacceptably high level of taxes, subsidies, and regulations, against government interventionism, and against the social democrat "nanny state" (Norwegian: formynderstaten).
It started under the name of Anders Lange's Party for strong reductions of taxes, charges and government intervention or the Anders Lange Party, or ALP.
The objective of Anders Lange was to remind the Conservative Party of Norway of its commitment to rightist values of individual liberty, civil society, and private property rights. According to Lange, the "socialist" government had grown too big, and the conservative party didn't seem to be bent on rolling back "big government". On the contrary, the conservatives had increased taxes and had done nothing to make government smaller, in Langes view.
Elective support - Storting
| Year | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 5.0 | 4 |
| 1977 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 1981 | 4.5 | 4 |
| 1985 | 3.7 | 2 |
| 1989 | 13.0 | 22 |
| 1993 | 6.3 | 10 |
| 1997 | 15.3 | 25 |
| 2001 | 14.6 | 26 |
The election in 1973 gave Anders Lange 5 percent, and four seats in the Norwegian parliament.
In the parliamentary election in 1989 it got 13 percent and became the third largest party in Norway. It started to get some responsible position locally, but was still largly insignificant locally. In 1990 it got the chairman of Oslo, the capital city of Norway.
Because of inner tension, the 1993 election halved the party (6.3 percent and 10 representatives). See Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993. And, in 1994, four representatives of the "libertarian wing" broke out, formed an independent group in parliament, and founded a party more ideologically consistent libertarian, the Fridemokratene.
The election in 1997 gave Frp 15.3 percent, and again it was the third largest party. See Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997.
In the local election in 1999 the very popular local Progress Party leader Terje Søviknes was elected mayor i the Os municipality in Hordaland. 20 municipalities got a deputy mayor from the Progress Party.
Before the election 2001, Fr.p. enjoyed a high level of popular support in 1999-2000. But its support fell back to 1997 levels at the election, following both internal scandals (the then second vice-chairman of the party, Terje Søviknes, was involved in a sex-scandal) and the emergence of new inner tension. This time several so-called "populist" local representatives (Oslo) and parliamentarians resigned from the party. Some so-called "soloists" where suspended, as Vidar Kleppe, who was suspended for two years, or expelled, as Jan Simonsen. The populists formed a party called The Democrats, with Vidar Kleppe as chairman and Jan Simonsen as vice-chairman.
In the Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001, Fr.p. lost its advance on polls, but maintained its position from the 1997 election, and got 14.6 percent and 26 members in the parliament.
Fr.p. had run a campaign promising to unseat the Labour government of Jens Stoltenberg, and kept that promise by supporting the new minority government of Kjell Magne Bondevik, although the three parties in that coalition declined to govern together with Fr.p., since their policies were considered to be unacceptably populistic in a number of points.
In 2002 it regained its position on polls. For a short while it even became the largest party, with a strong lead in December 2002. It has since fallen behind the Norwegian Labour Party.
The local election in 2003 was a breakthrough for the party as a political player in Norwegian municipalities. In 30 municipalities the party gained more votes than any other party, but contrary to common practice it only succeeded in seizing the position as mayor in 13 of the 30 municipalities. The Progress Party has participated in local elections since 1975, but until 2003 the party has only gained the mayoral position twice. The Progress Party vote in Os—the only minicipality that elected a Progress Party mayor in 1999—increased from 36.6% in 1999 to 45.7% in 2003. The party gained ground across the country, but more so in municipalities where the party had the mayor or the deputy mayor.
Until now (Jan. 2004) it has contended for the position as the second largest party with the Norwegian Conservative Party and the Socialist Left Party. Currently (Jan. 2005), it has been stable at just below 20 percent on the polls, since January 2004.
Party leaders
- Anders Lange
- Eivind Eckbo (interim)
- Arve Lønnum
- Carl I. Hagen became the chairman of Frp in 1978, and has been practically uncontested. There has never been a really strong opposing candidate. Hagen has been determined to build up a strong party organization, and to move his party into the mainstream of Norwegian politics. Under his leadership Frp has played an increasingly important role in the Politics of Norway. In 2003 he declared that he was going to withdraw as chairman in 2006. His expected successor is the current vice-chairman, the economist Siv Jensen.
Political Platform
The platform of FRP for 2001–2005 starts off with these general principles:
- The Progress Party is a libertarian party. It builds on the Constitution of Norway, Norwegian and western traditions and cultural heritage with a basis in the Christian outlook on life.
- The main objective of the Progress Party is strong reduction in taxes, charges and government intervention.
- The fundament of the Progress Party's view of society is the belief in and respect for the uniqueness of the individual human being, and the right of the individuals to self-determination over their own life and economy.
(The rest of this section must be rewritten: It suffers from the tyranny of models. The author lacks real knowledge of the policy of the party and tries to draw a picture of the party based on a somewhat minarchist model. The real difference between FrP and the traditional policies is not that FrP wants to remove publicly funding of welfare good, but that it want to remove the government monopoly on the production of publicly funded welfare goods.)
The economic policy is based on the idea that the market is its best ruler. A market with as few hindrances as possible should channel the capital where it is needed, without intervention from the state with laws or taxes.
The Progress Party is also known for supporting a more restrictive view of Norwegian immigration policies, which may be rooted in the mistrust in the state's capability of solving social problems efficiently.
The duties of the state according to the Progress Party are:
See also
- Politics of Norway
- Carl I. Hagen
- Neoliberalism
- Right-wing politics
- Libertarian perspectives on immigration
References
- The Norwegian Progress Party: Building Bridges across Old Cleavages by Tor Bjørklund and Jo Saglie, Norwegian Institute for Social Reseach, PDF file.
- Predestined parties? organizational change in Norwegian political parties, by Knut Heidar and Jo Saglie. The Causes and Consequences of Organisational Innovation in European Political Parties at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Grenoble, April 11, 2001.
- Jensen likely to take over Progress Party, from Aftenposten, October 6 2003.
- Descriptive article on the Progress Party by Aslak Bonde, political journalist of Aftenposten.
- Carl I. Hagen's controversial speech at Levende Ord; the text is hosted on an openly anti-muslim, right-wing site.
- Hagen: all terrorists are muslim, from Aftenposten, August 26, 2005.
External links
- Fremskrittspartiet (Norwegian) Official site of the Norwegian Progress Party.
- Fremskrittspartiet ungdom (Norwegian) Official site of the Norwegian Progress Party, Youth.
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