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Understanding Populist Party Organisation pp 159–187Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

6 The Norwegian Progress Party: Between a Business Firm and a Mass Party

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology ((PSEPS))

Abstract

Fremskrittspartiet (FrP) [The Progress Party] in Norway is among the most successful and oldest right-wing populist parties in contemporary Europe. The party was founded as a fairly insignificant and unstable entrepreneurial issue party in 1973. Contrary to expectations, it has been able to persist in the electoral arena for more than four decades.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Duverger (1963) observed that parties tended to be either internally created by factions in parliament or externally created by organized groups in civil society, most notably trade unions.

  2. 2.

    The merger was not without organizational drawbacks. Most notably, the party was unable to field candidates in the capital, Oslo, in the 1975 local elections.

  3. 3.

    Janda also includes the nationalization of structure, control with communication, and leadership concentration as indicators of centralization. Though they might be important as well, they will not be discussed here.

  4. 4.

    In some accounts, Eivind Eckbo is listed as the party chairman between Lange and Lønnum, but he was only acting leader.

  5. 5.

    Overview of political parties’ income provided by the Ministry of Local Government and Modernization (Norway Statistics 2015b):

  6. 6.

    The local branch in Oslo was also highly skeptical about the new strategies of the party leadership and its attempt to control the nomination processes.

  7. 7.

    The title of party’s deputy leader changed from ‘vice chairman’ to ‘vice leader’.

  8. 8.

    Delegates may propose new bills at the congress, but this is neither the normal procedure nor part of the party culture.

  9. 9.

    The only two incidents are one MP from the Labour Party in 1992 and one MP from the Conservative Party in 2001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Anders Ravik Jupskås

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  1. University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Reinhard Heinisch

  2. University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Oscar Mazzoleni

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Jupskås, A.R. (2016). 6 The Norwegian Progress Party: Between a Business Firm and a Mass Party. In: Heinisch, R., Mazzoleni, O. (eds) Understanding Populist Party Organisation. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58197-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58197-6_7

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