Fortuynism is the political ideology of Dutch politician

Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) ...

. Observers variously saw him as a political protest targeting the alleged elitism and bureaucratic style of the Dutch purple coalitions, as offering "openness, directness and clearness", populism or simply as charisma. Another school holds Fortuynism as a distinct ideology, with an alternative vision of society. Some argued that Fortuynism was not just ''one'' ideology, but contained liberalism, populism and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. Fortuyn was harshly critical of Islam and Muslim immigration to the Netherlands and was opposed to multicultural policies of the Dutch government at the time. However, some political commentators noted that ethnic and racial sentiments did not play a part of Fortuyn's ideology and in comparison to other European national-populist politicians of the era, he held socially liberal stances on matters such as

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

.Rydgren; van Holsteyn, 2005, p. 49. Following his assassination in the run up to the

2002 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on 15 May 2002.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1396 The elections were amongst the most dramatic in Dutch history, not just in terms of the electoral ...

, his party, the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popu ...

formed the second largest party in government after the election. Although the party would fade from relevance and eventually dissolve in 2008, Fortuyn is noted for influencing anti-immigrant parties and politicians in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.Dedecker wil Belgische Geert Wilders worden
'' BN DeStem'', 4 januari 2007

History

Fortuyn was assassinated in the run-up to the

after which the Pim Fortun List saw a sudden rise in support before going into decline and disbanding itself in 2008. However, the ideology of Fortuynism has continued to have an impact upon Dutch politics. Following Fortuyn's death, conservative and right-wing politicians such as

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

Minister for Integration

Rita Verdonk Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and later founder of the Proud of the Netherlands (Trots) party and businesswoman. Verdonk attend ...

gained influence and tightened some of the Netherlands' immigration policies. There were also attempts to create new ''Fortuynist'' parties ahead of the 2006 general election, which included Eén NL founded by Marco Pastors and Party for the Netherlands formed by former LPF politician and minister

Hilbrand Nawijn Hilbrand Pier Anne Nawijn (born 8 August 1948) is a Dutch lawyer and politician of the local political party Lijst Hilbrand Nawijn (LHN) in Zoetermeer. From 2002 to 2004, he served as a Member of the House of Representatives for the Pim Fortuyn ...

. These parties did not meet any success. However, other politicians such as

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

and his Party for Freedom gained traction and inherited many of Fortuyn's former supporters by focusing on some of the issues Fortuyn championed, such as stricter stances on integration and immigration. Newer political parties described as inheriting Fortuyn's influence have included

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representative ...

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections ...

and

JA21 JA21 (, backronym for Juiste Antwoord 2021, or 'Right Answer 2021') is a political party in the Netherlands, currently active in the Senate as the Nanninga Group (). It was founded in December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga after ...

founded by former LPF representative

Joost Eerdmans Bernard Johannes "Joost" Eerdmans (born 9 January 1971) is a Dutch politician, broadcaster and former civil servant who has served as Leader of JA21 since 18 December 2020, a party he co-founded with Annabel Nanninga. Elected to the House of R ...

. Outside of the Netherlands, Fortuyn also had an influence on Belgian politicians such as lawyer and

Open VLD french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = ...

member Hugo Coveliers who incorporated Fortuynism into his VLOTT party and Jean-Marie Dedecker who founded

Libertair, Direct, Democratisch Libertarian, Direct, Democratic ( nl, Libertair, Direct, Democratisch; LDD) is a conservative-liberal, libertarian, right-wing populist Flemish political party in Belgium. The party surprised commentators by winning five seats in the Chamber and ...

Ideology

Fortuynism has generally been characterized as based on " populism" by political commentators. Dutch political author

Cas Mudde Cas Mudde (born 3 June 1967) is a Dutch political scientist who focuses on political extremism and populism in Europe and the United States. His research includes the areas of political parties, extremism, democracy, civil society and Europ ...

defined Fortuynism as containing elements of liberalism, populism and nationalism. Others have defined it as opposition and a reaction to the perceived bureaucratic and elitist governing style of the purple coalitions, particularly under

Dutch Labour Party The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

Prime Minister

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Marxist during his studies and early academic career before joining the Labour Party in the 1970s. However, his views shifted to the right in response to what he saw as failed policies on crime, immigration and integration. In his 1995 book ''De verweesde samenleving'' ("The orphaned society"), Fortuyn claimed that the progressive movement of the 1960s had eroded traditional norms and values. He wrote the roles of the "symbolic father" and the "caring mother" had been lost, leaving an orphaned population without guidance, to live out a meaningless decadent existence. Fortuyn also documented much of his own beliefs and proposals in his book ''

De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars ''De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars'' (, English: ') is a political non-fiction book released by the Dutch political commentator and aspiring lawmaker Pim Fortuyn in 2002, two months prior to his assassination. In the book, Fortuyn sharply critici ...

'' which criticized many of the policies of the purple coalitions and instead argued for a reduction in state bureaucracy, improvements to the health system, restrictions on immigration and stricter

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

policies. Fortuyn also favoured greater direct democracy, including elected mayors, police chiefs and an elected head of state. In foreign policy, Fortuyn and his party supported Dutch participation in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and were not opposed to the principle of European integration in theory, but opposed what they saw as the excessive bureaucracy and threat to national sovereignty posed by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Fortuyn also proposed ending Dutch participation in the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...

and the

Schengen agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

. Other commentators have noted opposition to Islam, multiculturalism and immigration as forming a significant part of Fortuynism. In August 2001, Fortuyn was quoted in the ''Rotterdams Dagblad'' newspaper saying, "I am also in favour of a cold war with Islam. I see Islam as an extraordinary threat, as a hostile religion." He also argued that if legally possible, he would not allow any more Muslim immigrants into the Netherlands. However, Fortuyn also maintained that he did not oppose immigrants on the basis of their ethnic background and supported a pluralistic society in theory, but opposed what he saw as an unwillingness to integrate and a rejection of Dutch secular liberal values within existing Muslim communities.

Jens Rydgren Jens Rydgren (born 1969) is a Swedish writer, political commentator and a professor of sociology, at Stockholm University. Specialising in research of political sociology, for many years he has studied populist right-wing parties. In 2002 he defen ...

noted that while Fortuyn used anti-immigration rhetoric, he did not position himself as a far-right nationalist or a supporter of racial

ethno-nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various polit ...

, and as such Fortuyn differed from other European national-populist leaders at the time. Instead, Fortuyn sought to defend Dutch values such as tolerating gay rights (Fortuyn was openly homosexual and an outspoken supporter of gay rights himself) which he saw as threatened by immigration. Fortuyn's ideas also differed from the more socially conservative and traditional values stances espoused by other nationalist politicians through holding liberal opinions regarding same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. Fortuyn's party also won support from some ethnic minority voters and included candidates from immigrant backgrounds on its list for the 2002 election.Rydgren; van Holsteyn, 2005, p. 49. Political scientist

Rudy Andeweg Rudolf Bastiaan "Rudy" Andeweg (born 28 February 1952) is a former Professor of Empirical Political Science at Leiden University. He has written on political psychology, voting behavior, political elites, political leadership, comparative politic ...

noted that Fortuynism can also be defined by the following positions: Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 * Civil liberties *

Classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...

Criticism of Islam Criticism of Islam is broadly defined as criticism of the Islamic religion in its beliefs, principles, and/or any other ideas attributed to Islam. Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written disapprovals came fr ...

* Deregulation * Direct democracy *

Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

* Freedom of speech *

Laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

Separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

Small government Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...

Women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

Reception

Prior to Fortuyn's assassination, other Dutch politicians and journalists, particularly on the left, criticized Fortuyn and his ideas as extremist or racist, with some comparing Fortuyn's stances to that of European far-right politicians such as

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of ...

and

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

. An explicit comparison with Le Pen was made by Ad Melkert, the former leader of the Labour Party who stated 2002: "If you flirt with Fortuyn, then in the Netherlands the same thing will happen as happened in France. There they woke up with Le Pen, soon we will wake up with Fortuyn."

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

leader

Paul Rosenmöller Paul Rosenmöller (born 11 May 1956) is a Dutch television presenter, politician, and former trade unionist. Between 1989 and 2003, he was member of the Dutch House of Representatives for GroenLinks ('GreenLeft') and was party leader from 1994. S ...

claimed Fortuyn's policies were "not just

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

but

extreme right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

". Some commentators such as columnist Jan Blokker attempted to draw parallels between Fortuyn and Dutch hard-right politicians such as Hans Janmaat. Following Fortuyn's death, some opponents of Fortuyn including Rosenmöller,

Thom de Graaf Thomas Carolus "Thom" de Graaf (;''Thomas'' in isolation: . born 11 June 1957) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. He is the Vice-President of the Council of State since 1 November 2018. De Graaf attended the C ...

, and Melkert have objected to what they think is a harsher political and social climate, especially towards immigrants and Muslims, as a result of Fortuyn's legacy. Fortuyn himself strongly disputed comparisons drawn between him and Dutch or foreign far-right leaders, contending that he was mislabeled and accused the Dutch political establishment of endangering his life by demonizing him and his beliefs. Following Fortuyn's death, Dutch political leaders such as former Prime Minister

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied H ...

retrospectively expressed agreement with some of Fortuyn's criticisms of the purple coalitions and multiculturalism. Other commentators, such as former Muslim feminist author

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politicia ...

and journalist Douglas Murray have defended some of Fortuyn's beliefs. Fortuyn's book ''Puinhopen'' also inspired Flemish politician

Geert Bourgeois Geert Albert Bourgeois (; born 6 July 1951) is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which he founded in 2001, who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously served as the Minister-Pr ...

to write ''De puinhoop van paars-groen'' (''The wreckage of purple-

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

'') in 2002 which featured similar critiques of Belgian politics, particularly accusations of misgovernment against the

Verhofstadt I Government The Verhofstadt I Government was the federal government of Belgium from 12 July 1999 to 12 July 2003. It was the first government headed by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD). It consisted of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD), the Fre ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Eponymous political ideologies Right-wing populism Conservatism in the Netherlands Liberalism in the Netherlands Dutch nationalism LGBT rights in the Netherlands