Normalizing and Absorbing the Radical Right: The Danish People’s Party

This chapter presents the results of a study of opposition to the Danish People’s Party undertaken by domestic and international actors from civil society, political parties, and public authorities. I map opposition using Bourne’s (2023) typology of opposition to populist parties, with data collected from newspapers between 1997 to 2001, and 2014 to 2019. The Danish model of democratic defence is characterized by a tolerant approach that has integrated and—over time—come to recognize the values and policies of the Danish People’s Party. The party was generally tolerated early on, despite being subject to failed attempts at ostracism by the Social Democratic-led government, and various actors using demonizing discourse and condemnation to distance themselves from it. After having established itself as support party for the Liberals-led governments in the 2000s, the Social Democrats and the centre-right parties intensified cooperation and co-optation strategies, thus recognizing and endorsing the primary policy of the Danish People’s Party, immigration. Alongside normalization of the Danish People’s Party, mainstream parties radicalized, leading civil society actors to conceive not only the Danish People’s Party as a threat to liberal values and the protection of refugees and minorities, but its governing partners as well.