243:
225:"In the old days the idea of the Labour Party was defined by a series of policy positions – unilateral disarmament, exit from the European Union, opposition to the sale of council houses and nationalisation. The question then arose as to whether that range of policies were right for the current era. The whole odyssey that the Labour Party took from 1979 to 1997 was an attempt to face up to the fact that the electorate thought that these sets of policies were not things that should govern this country. Some people didn’t go down that odyssey of change and they remain as a group that is of no significance at all in the political life of the country".
354:"Our attention towards BlĂĄ Bjarne (Blue Bjarne) arose very clearly at the election in 1998, when Venstre was one seat from the prime ministership. We had during the years polled that many voters shared our basic perception that it should be worth working, but still did not vote for us on election day. They were afraid of what would happen with us in power if they became unemployed or sick. Therefore, we decided to alter our policies so that we from 2001 did not run on major tax cuts, but instead presented the tax stop. That way, there were no drastic consequences for voting for us. That policy proved to be very, very durable".
135:, which features more elaborate voting procedures and multi-member electoral districts. As there can be only one winning candidate in each electoral district in First-past-the-post elections, there is an incentive for voters to support viable candidates and not "waste" their vote on hopefuls who have little chance of success. As a result, it is much harder for smaller parties to gain representation in parliament. Ultimately, there is a tendency for two-party systems to develop, as voters coalesce around potential winning candidates. This tendency is known as
230:
ensure the future electability of the party, having learned lessons and modified policy in response to prior electoral failures. The main objective of the middle-elite, however, was to preserve the socialist ideological heritage of the party and represent its traditional core constituencies (i.e. unions and the working class), regardless of the electoral consequences. There are some inconsistencies involved, in transposing May's typology to this example. Some of the critics of the New Labour project (such as
71:
79:
174:
229:
Using May's terminology, the advocates of the New Labour approach can be regarded as the party elite, whereas the disaffected members can be viewed as the middle-elite, with the latter being more ideologically motivated and less moderate than the former. The primary concern of the party elite was to
146:
The party middle-elite consists of loyal party voters, party members, and regional or local office holders. Unlike the party elite, this stratum usually consists of volunteers and part-time members who are not as directly affected by the electoral success of the party. Since they willingly volunteer
159:
The non-elite consists of ordinary voters who occasionally give the party their support. The non-elite are not as emotionally invested in the political process as the middle-elite and are less likely to be motivated by ideological concerns. It is considered to be the least ideological of the three
208:
Many traditional supporters, however, resented what they regarded as the dilution of the ideological foundation of the party. Conversely, other senior Labour politicians argued against what they perceived to be the overly ideological policy positions of the pre-Blair era which had failed to take
107:
delegates and members of the national executive committee. This stratum usually consists of full-time professional politicians who depend on elections to safeguard or further their careers. As a consequence, they have strong incentives to prioritise electoral success over personal ideological
374:
There is a lack of consensus among political scientists over the frequency and extent to which
Curvilinear Disparity takes place. In a study by Kitschelt and Hellemans (1990), it is posited that whether Curvilinear Disparity occurs (and, if so, to what extent) depends on the degree to which
375:"ideologues... capture less highly valued positions" within a party. In an analysis of the subject by Norris (1995), however, British party elites were found on average to be more ideologically motivated than both the middle-elite and the non-elite, contrary to theoretical expectations.
470:
143:" electoral strategies that appeal to a broad range of the electorate rather than aiming for an ideological niche. While curvilinear disparity is typically associated with the Anglo-American political experience, however, it can theoretically occur in any large party.
51:. May contends that politically active people can be classified into three major strata or echelons according to their relative status within a party; party elite, middle-elite, and non-elite. Members of each divergent strata have contrasting motivations for being
323:
to the Social
Democrats. Fogh for instance made a direct translation of Labour's slogan "Time For A Change" into "Tid til forandring" that replaced Venstre's former slogan "Venstre ved du, hvor du har" ("Venstre you know where you got".
390:
BlĂĄ Bjarne was the internal way in
Venstre in which refer to the so-called safety voters; a voter group above all concerned with safety having little to no ideological preferences. Bjarne being a typical Danish
714:
526:
527:"Kavanagh, D. 2003, Party Democracy and Political Marketing: No Place for Amateurs?, paper presented to a conference on Political Communications in the Global World, at Mainz, 30-31 October 2003"
151:). The middle-elite tend to be strongly emotionally and psychologically invested in politics and seek to project their ideological convictions to the party elite and the public at large.
160:
strata, consisting of rational actors who support the party which adopts political stances closest to their own personal leanings (again, in concordance with the median voter theorem).
242:
112:
whose primary motivation stems from their desire to be re-elected. As rationally self-interested politicians interested in vote maximisation, members of the political elite adopt
628:
147:
their free-time to political activism and campaigning, the middle-elite often tend to hold more deeply embedded ideological beliefs than both the party elite and non-elite (or
654:
824:"Claus Hjort Frederiksen om sin egen doktrin fra 2001: »Man kan aldrig vinde regeringsmagten på en plan om massive skattelettelser og nedskæringer i velfærden«"
458:
John D. May (1973), 'Opinion
Structure of Political Parties: The Special Law of Curvilinear Disparity', Political Studies Volume 21 Issue 2, Pages 135 - 151
533:
797:
286:". This caused a deviation from several parts of Venstre's ideological basis including Fogh repudiating many of the views expressed in his own 1993 book
197:
approach involved tailoring the "political brand" of the party to suit the preferences of the electorate. These preferences were chiefly ascertained by
583:
Clarke, C. as quoted by
Stadlen, N. (2006, December 7). Brief encounter: Tony Benn - Audio Podcast. Retrieved August 4, 2007, from Guardian Unlimited.
221:, who was a supporter of Tony Blair and served as a minister in his government, described the difficulty in appeasing disaffected members as follows:
116:
viewpoints in order to appeal to the median voter. These assumptions are in line with other established theories in political science, including the
189:
shifted towards a market-oriented approach to political campaigning. This caused an ideological fissure within the party between advocates of the
316:
205:. In effect, market-oriented campaigning assisted the Labour Party in making its policies consistent with the preferences of the median voter.
848:
697:
507:
Maurice
Duverger (1972). Factors in a Two-Party and Multiparty System in Party Politics and Pressure Groups. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
929:
214:
593:
Seyd, Patrick and
Whiteley, Paul (1992). Labour's grass roots: the politics of party membership. p100. London: Oxford University Press
288:
457:
781:
752:
934:
366:
from the Social
Democrats lost his majority and Fogh became new prime minister in which office he continued until april 2009.
924:
359:
347:
263:
259:
715:"Den borgerlige krise: Foghs transformation af Venstre var unødvendig og svækkede det borgerlige Danmark på langt sigt"
132:
139:. In this kind of political landscape, in which there are two viable political parties, party elites tend to favour "
279:
582:
127:
electoral systems. In these systems, the highest polling candidate is elected to represent each single-member
258:
After the so-called 'blue bloc' (a coalition of conservative and economic liberal parties) had lost both the
343:
320:
234:), for example, were members of parliament and therefore theoretically part of the party elite themselves.
67:
refers to the disparity in radicalism between the middle-elite and both the party elite and the non-elite.
331:
criticised in 2000 a lack of ideological edge stating that the party base had not been properly involved.
96:
516:
Lees-Marshment, J. (2001). The
Marriage of Politics and Marketing. Political Studies, 49(4), pp. 692-713.
271:
92:
907:
Norris, P. (1995). "May's Law of
Curvilinear Disparity Revisited". Party Politics, Vol. 1, No. 1, 29-47
744:
412:
363:
275:
117:
312:
124:
100:
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to fundamentally change its strategy. In essence, Venstre largely gave up convincing voters about
603:
440:
128:
113:
52:
32:
777:
748:
693:
432:
267:
186:
136:
20:
424:
104:
70:
63:
The three strata are: The Party Elite, The Middle-Elite (or Sub-Leaders) and the Non-Elite.
335:
148:
40:
629:"Den borgerlige krise: 20 år med for mange fokusgrupper og for lidt politisk nytænkning"
177:
Tony Blair in 2002 during his prime ministership. The man who moved Labour to the right.
428:
218:
210:
109:
897:
Kitschelt H., Hellemans, S. (1990). "Beyond the European Left". Duke University Press.
873:
798:"Den borgerlige familie taber igen: Skal 'Hjort-doktrinen' droppes eller genopfindes?"
78:
918:
906:
559:
477:
444:
304:
202:
849:"Én lille gruppe danskere har været afgørende for valgresultatet år efter år - TV 2"
123:
The concept of "the median voter" is usually applied to political systems featuring
283:
413:"Opinion Structure of Political Parties: The Special Law of Curvilinear Disparity"
173:
823:
293:
198:
16:
Political science theory on the ideological extremity of political party members
328:
300:
194:
190:
182:
436:
773:
251:
231:
44:
319:. Fogh applied Gould's analysis for Labour to Venstre and the analysis for
55:
and calibrate their ideological stances to differing extents as a result.
655:"Partiet Venstre har gjort de borgerlige vælgere mere venstreorienterede"
563:
282:' policies, especially on welfare with important exceptions such as the "
247:
193:
approach and traditional supporters. In terms of electoral strategy, the
140:
498:
Downs, Anthony (1957). An Economic Theory of Democracy. Harper Collins.
213:, for example, famously described Labour's 1983 election manifesto as "
48:
241:
172:
77:
69:
292:
in which he had argued for limited government and in favour of
108:
convictions. Members of the party elite are viewed as being
334:
This shift became known as the so-called Hjort doctrine (
692:. Harpers Ferry: Stryker-Post Publications. p. 72.
39:. The theory posits that the rank and file members of a
31:
is a theory conceived in 1973 by political scientist
278:positions and instead embraced large parts of the
471:"Partierna och demokratin efter medlemsnedgĂĄngen"
299:Several sources describe Venstre deputy mayor of
352:
223:
47:than both the leadership of that party and its
768:Mylenberg, Troels; Steensbeck, Bjarne (2009).
8:
246:Anders Fogh Rasmussen who made Venstre more
82:Curvilinear Disparity in a two-party system.
342:) named after the party's party secretary
604:"DR Nyheder Online - Folketingsvalg 2001"
350:Hjort described the strategy as follows:
772:(in Danish) (1st ed.). Copenhagen:
743:(in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen:
690:Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe
270:decided in 1999 under the leadership of
403:
383:
254:in 2006 during his prime ministership.
37:Opinion Structure of Political Parties
209:account of wider public opinion. Sir
7:
25:special law of curvilinear disparity
215:the longest suicide note in history
822:Foldager, Christian (2022-08-22).
741:FOGH Historien om en statsminister
429:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1973.tb01423.x
289:From Social State to Minimal State
14:
874:"Anders Fogh Rasmussen | lex.dk"
560:"Foot's message of hope to left"
489:researchgate.net, december 2015.
358:Following the next election in
346:. During the campaign for the
74:Curvilinear Disparity Diagram.
1:
713:Ă…gerup, Martin (2020-07-02).
653:Ă…gerup, Martin (2020-07-06).
627:Ă…gerup, Martin (2020-07-01).
266:the main centre-right party,
804:(in Danish). 2 November 2022
91:The party elite consists of
688:Thompson, Wayne C. (2008).
468:Magnus Hagevi, Karl Loxbo.
133:proportional representation
131:. This system differs from
951:
930:Political science theories
739:Kragh, Anne Sofie (2004).
678:East et al (2003), p. 140.
411:May, John D. (June 1973).
558:Mann, Nyta (2003-07-14).
362:incumbent prime minister
309:The Unfinished Revolution
307:, gifting Fogh a copy of
238:The Danish Venstre Party
181:Under the leadership of
169:The British Labour Party
935:Political party systems
855:(in Danish). 2022-10-16
344:Claus Hjort Frederiksen
370:Analysis and criticism
356:
264:1998 general elections
255:
227:
178:
83:
75:
348:2022 general election
272:Anders Fogh Rasmussen
245:
176:
93:members of parliament
81:
73:
65:Curvilinear disparity
45:ideologically extreme
925:Political ideologies
747:. pp. 203–224.
539:on 23 September 2010
364:Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
118:median voter theorem
125:First-past-the-post
97:governing executive
35:in his publication
256:
179:
129:electoral district
84:
76:
53:politically active
699:978-1-887985-95-6
417:Political Studies
327:The County Mayor
276:classical liberal
95:, members of the
21:political science
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280:Social Democrats
101:party candidates
43:tend to be more
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311:by advertising
240:
171:
166:
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149:floating voters
110:rational actors
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41:political party
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219:Charles Clarke
217:". Similarly,
211:Gerald Kaufman
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137:Duverger's law
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801:
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718:
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607:
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553:
541:. Retrieved
534:the original
521:
512:
503:
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482:. Retrieved
478:the original
464:
453:
420:
416:
406:
386:
373:
357:
353:
339:
333:
326:
317:Philip Gould
308:
298:
294:free markets
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201:studies and
187:Labour Party
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36:
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880:(in Danish)
830:(in Danish)
802:Altinget.dk
770:Præsidenten
721:(in Danish)
661:(in Danish)
635:(in Danish)
250:addressing
199:focus group
87:Party elite
33:John D. May
919:Categories
884:2022-11-24
859:2022-11-25
834:2022-11-25
808:2022-11-24
725:2022-11-24
665:2022-11-24
639:2022-11-24
613:2022-11-24
569:2008-09-13
484:2021-07-29
398:References
329:Carl Holst
305:Søren Pind
301:Copenhagen
252:Parliament
195:New Labour
191:New Labour
183:Tony Blair
105:convention
774:Gyldendal
608:www.dr.dk
445:146137982
437:0032-3217
313:executive
232:Tony Benn
155:Non-elite
29:May's Law
564:BBC News
284:tax stop
248:centrist
164:Examples
141:big tent
114:moderate
543:18 July
268:Venstre
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336:Danish
49:voters
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537:(PDF)
530:(PDF)
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441:S2CID
391:name.
379:Notes
778:ISBN
749:ISBN
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545:2012
433:ISSN
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