Anti-immigration parties and the defence of liberal values: The exceptional case of the List Pim Fortuyn

Journal of Political Ideologies

Volumn 10, Issue 3, 2005, Pages 337-354

  Akkerman, Tjitske ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

IMMIGRATION; LIBERALISM; POLITICAL IDEOLOGY;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 25444485678     PISSN: 13569317     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13569310500244354     Document Type: Article

References (95)

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26. Ph. van Praag, 'The winners and losers in a turbulent political year', Acta Politica, 1 (2003), pp. 5-23;
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28. Van Praag, op. cit. Ref. 17.
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30. Cf. W. van der Brug, 'How the LPF fuelled discontent: Empirical tests of explanations of LPF support', Acta Politica, 1 (2003), pp. 89-107.
31. Betz and Johnson, op. cit. Ref. 1, p. 324;
32. Betz op. cit. Ref. 1;
33. Cf. R. Griffin, 'Interregnum or endgame? Radical right thought in the 'postfascist' era', Journal of Political Ideologies, 2 (2000), pp. 163-178.
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36. Lega Nord,'Mozione crocifissi', 2003,
37. quoted in Betz and Johnson, op. cit. Ref. 1.
38. Hagelund, op. cit. Ref. 17.
39. W. S. P. Fortuyn, De verweesde samenleving in het informatietijuperk. De grote Pim Fortuyn omnibus (Uithoorn: Karakter Uitgevers, 2001).
40. M. Freeden, 'Is nationalism a distinct ideology?', Political Studies, 46 (1998), pp. 748-766.
41. Freeden, Ibid.
42. R. Maiz, 'Framing the nation: three rival versions of contemporary nationalist ideology', Journal of Political Ideologies, 3 (2003), pp. 251-267.
43. Griffin, 'Interregnum or endgame? Radical right thought in the 'postfascist' era', op. cit., Ref. 21.
44. Maiz, op. cit. Ref. 28.
45. M. Fennema, 'Populist parties of the right', in J. Rydgren (Ed.), Movements of Exclusion, op. cit. Ref. 1, pp. 1-24.
46. The coalition government of the Christian-Democratic Appeal (CDA), the Liberal Party (VVD) and the LPF resigned on 16 October 2002. At that time the polls indicated that the LPF did not have much electoral support left.
47. P. Pennings and H. Keman, 'The Dutch Parliamentary Elections in 2002 and 2003: The rise and decline of the Fortuyn movement', Acta Politica, 1 (2003), pp. 51-69.
48. The Liberal Party still blocked constitutional reform to introduce a national referendum law in 1996, but now has changed tack by promoting an advisory referendum about the European constitution. The party also has embraced constitutional reform to introduce a directly elected mayor. Moreover, in a recent party manifest a direct mandate for the prime minister has been proposed 'to make clear that the citizen is boss'.
49. This strategy did not prove to be very successful in electoral terms. According to opinion polls throughout 2004, the popularity of the Liberal Party has sunk to an all-time low, partly due to its lack of unity.
50. Wilders has not adopted all aspects of LPF ideology. The LPF had a moderate social-economic programme - as part of the parliamentary opposition it sometimes collaborated with the Labour Party (PvdA) - whereas Wilders has a profile in this policy area that is far right of the centre.
51. Cf. H. Pellikaan, T. v.d. Meer, S. de Lange, 'The road from a depoliticized to a centrifugal democracy', Acta Politica, 1 (2003), pp. 23-51.
52. With effect from 1 November 2004, anyone entering the Netherlands from abroad to get married must be at least 21 years old and the partner residing in the Netherlands must earn at least 120% of the minimum wage.
53. In 2006 it will become compulsory for new and old immigrants to learn Dutch at their own expense within 5 years. Anyone who does not do so will not be granted a residence permit.
54. Wilders succeeded, in May 2004, in getting a motion adopted to allow action to be taken under the civil law against mosques that commit criminal offences, such as distributing homophobic leaflets.
55. Cf. J. Bussemaker and S. Dijksma, 'PvdA bestrijdt uitwassen, niet het geloof zelf' de Volkskrant, 4-2-2005, p. 13.
56. 'Interpellatie inzake bet achterlaten van vrouwen en kinderen in Marokko. Nr. 1 Motie van het lid Hirsi Ali c.s., 7 September 2004.
57. Bussemaker and Dijksma, op. cit. Ref. 41.
58. Freeden, op. cit. Ref. 26.
59. Lucardie and Voerman, op. cit. Ref. 5.
60. T. Akkerman, 'Een land van stemmingen. Nieuwe kansen voor politiek ondernemerschap', Nederland Buitenstebinnen (Den Haag: Ministerie van VROM, 2003), p. 5.
61. It should be noted in this context that Fortuyn was anything but consistent in his views; sometimes he did not take the slightest notice of the principle of equality before the law. Cf. P. Hilhorst, de Volkskrant 6-5-2003.
62. See J. E. Ellemers, 'Het fenomeen Fortuyn. De revolte verklaard' Jaarboek 2002 Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen (Groningen: DNPP, 2002), p. 254.
63. In 1995, the slumbering debate took a new turn when intellectuals affiliated to the Labour Party (PvdA) joined in. In 1998, the extreme right party, Centre Democrats, lost all its seats in parliament because the Liberal Party had picked up the issue of immigration in its election campaign. Van der Brug, et al., op. cit. Ref. 15.
64. J. Rydgren and J. van Holsteyn, 'Holland and Pim Fortuyn: A deviant case or the beginning of something new?', in J. Rydgren (Ed.), Movements of Exclusion, op. cit. Ref. 1, pp. 41-59.
65. B. Prins and B. Slijper, 'Inleiding' Migrantenstudies, 4 (2002), pp: 194-211.
66. See about French nationalism: A. D. Smith, National Identity (Las Vegas, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1991);
67. R. Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992);
68. J. Godechot, 'The new concept of the nation in its diffusion in Europe', in O. Dann and J. Dinwiddy (Eds), Nationalism in the age of the French Revolution (London: Hambledon Press, 1988) pp. 13-27;
69. E. J. Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780 (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1990);
70. J. Snyder, From Voting to Violence. Democratization and Nationalist Conflict (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000) pp. 154-169.
71. See Condorcet, Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrès de l'esprit humain. (Paris: Flammarion, 1988).
72. See J. Mill, Selected Economic Writings. (Edinburgh, 1966) Chapter 1, 5;
73. J. Majeed, Ungoverned Imaginings (Oxford, 1992).
74. See Montesquieu, Persian Letters (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985);
75. T. Akkerman, Women's Vices, Public Benefits. Women and Commerce in the French Enlightenment (Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis, 1992).
76. D. Pels, De geest van Pim. Het gedachtegoed van een politieke dandy (Amsterdam: Anthos, 2003), p. 195.
77. W. S. P. Fortuyn, De verweesde samenleving (Uithoorn: Karakter Uitgevers, 2002).
78. W. S. P. Fortuyn, De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars (Uithoorn; Karakter Uitgevers, 2002).
79. I b i d
80. A. Zaslove, 'The dark side of european politics: unmasking the radical right', Journal of European Integration, 1 (2004), pp. 61-81.
81. The social-economic programme of the LPF is not entirely neo-liberal. The LPF is in favour of a market orientation in the healthcare system, reducing the tax burden, deregulation, and solving the financial deficit. Yet, the LPF is also in favour of redistribution of incomes and against privatisation of public goods and services. In fact, the LPF is less market-oriented than the main Dutch parties of the right. Pellikaan et al., op. cit. Ref. 38.
82. See Pels, op. cit. Ref. 57;
83. E. van Ree, 'Fortuyns natie', De Groene Amsterdammer, 6 April 2002.
84. M. Fennema, 'Het publieke debat na 11 september'. De Gids, 3 (2002), pp. 790-800.
85. W. S. P. Fortuyn, De islam is een achterlijke cultuur, De Volkskrant, 9-2-2002.
86. 'LPF wit contract voor immigranten' NRC Handelsblad, 3-4-2004.
87. Geert Wilders has emphasized that he was not aiming at integration, but assimilation. Haagse Post, 4 Feb. 2004.
88. Fennema, op. cit. Ref. 63.
89. 'Kruisridder tegen moslimfundamentalisme', NRC Handelsblad, 3-5-2004.
90. J. Eerdmans and E. Schreijen, 'Neutrale staat is een grondrecht', de Volkskrant, 3-3-2004.
91. O. Verhaar, 'Nederlands pragmatisme versus Franse principes? Nationaal beleid ten aanzien van de hoofddoek en gezichtssluier' Krisis 4 (2004), pp. 58-78.
92. VVD-Tweede Kamerfractie, Beleidsnotitie integratie van niet-westerse migranten in Nederland, 21-2-2004.
93. T. Akkerman and L. Bos, 'Analyse van het integratiedebat', Research Paper, Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam.
94. That is not to say that the Christian-Democrats have not compromised. In order to prevent the emergence of 'black schools', restrictions regarding the maximum percentage of children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been introduced that make it practically impossible to found Islamic schools.
95. Cf. Rydgren and Holsteyn, op. cit. Ref. 50.