The Nordic agrarian parties, also referred to as Nordic Centre parties, Scandinavian agrarian parties or Agrarian Liberal parties are agrarian political parties that belong to a political tradition particular to the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

. Positioning themselves in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

, but fulfilling roles distinctive to Nordic countries, they remain hard to classify by conventional political ideology. These parties are non-

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and typically combine a commitment to

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ...

es, rural issues and political

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, and, at times,

scepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

towards the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The parties have divergent views on the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

and

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...

. Internationally, they are most commonly aligned to the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europ ...

(ALDE) and the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

. Historically farmers' parties, a declining farmer population after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

made them broaden their scope to other issues and sections of society. At this time three of them renamed themselves to Centre Party, with the Finnish Centre Party being the last to do so, in 1965. Now, the main agrarian parties are the Centre Party in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, '' Venstre'' in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, Centre Party in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

, Centre Party in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

History

Compared to continental Europe, the peasants in the Nordic countries historically had an unparalleled degree of political influence. They were not only independent, but also represented as the fourth estate in the national

diets The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe, whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both Belgium and the Netherlands derived their ...

, like in the Swedish

Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates ( sv, Riksens ständer; informally sv, Ståndsriksdagen) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to t ...

. The agrarian movement thus precedes the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

by centuries in

and

. The first of the parties, ''Venstre'' in Denmark, was formed as a liberal, anti-tax farmers' party in 1870, uniting various groups of '' bondevenner'' (friends of the farmers) which had existed since the introduction of democracy in 1849. The rest of the parties emerged in the early 20th century, spurred by the introduction of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

and

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

across the region.Arter (1999), p. 76 Finland's Agrarian League was the first to be created in 1906, followed by the Agrarian Party in Norway in 1915. The Icelandic Progressive Party was founded in 1916 as a merger of two agrarian parties. Sweden's Agrarian Party, founded in 1921, emerged from the existing

Lantmanna Party Lantmanna Party ( sv, Lantmannapartiet, , Party of the Rural People) was a political party in Sweden during the late 19th century, essentially a faction in the parliament which existed from 1867 to 1912 (though split in two 1888-1895). The Lantma ...

and its splinter groups. As the Scandinavian farming population declined, the parties moved towards becoming

catch-all A catch-all or catchall is a general term, or metaphoric dumping group, for a variety of similar words or meanings. Catch-all may also refer to: *Catch-all party, or big tent party * Catch-all email filter *Catch-all taxon Wastebasket taxon (al ...

centrist parties by capturing some of the urban electorate. The Swedish Agrarian Party renamed itself to the Centre Party in 1958. The Norwegian and Finnish parties adopted the same name in 1959 and 1965 respectively. According to a 2022 study by Magnus Bergli Rasmussen, farmers' parties and farmer representatives had strong incentives to resist welfare state expansion and farmer MPs consistently opposed generous welfare policies. After the end of Soviet rule in the

Baltic countries The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Euro ...

, the Estonian Centre Party (established in 1991) and Lithuanian Centre Union (1993) were modeled explicitly on the Swedish example. The

Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...

of the post-communist era views the Nordic agrarian parties as models, too, aiming to be a centrist catch-all party instead of a pure single-interest party of farmers.

Ideology

The parties' attitudes to the

and

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

are mixed. Whereas the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Centre Party and

are opposed to economic liberalisation, the others, most notably the Danish '' Venstre'' and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

'' Centerpartiet'', are pro-market and put a heavy emphasis on

economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate o ...

and

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

. Because of this divide, ''Venstre'' are described in some academic literature as the separate 'half-sister' of the Nordic agrarian parties. Nonetheless, all of the parties define themselves as 'non-socialist', while some also distance themselves from the label of '

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. ...

' ''(borgerlig)'', which is traditionally reserved for the conservative and liberal parties. Most of the parties have traditionally sat on the

Eurosceptic 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 ...

side in their respective countries. However, for the most part, they hold these positions due to particular policies, with an emphasis on whether they believe European policies to be better or worse for rural communities. The Centre Party in Norway is the party most opposed to

membership, having maintained that position since the 1972 referendum. The Icelandic Progressives are also opposed to membership, while the Danish '' Venstre'' is in favour of the

and

's entry into 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 pol ...

Support base

While originally supported by farmers, the parties have adapted to declining rural populations by diversifying their political base. The Finnish Centre Party receives only 10% of its support from farmers, while Denmark's ''Venstre'' received only 7% of their votes from farmers in 1998. Similarly, in Sweden, between 60-70% of farmers voted for the Center Party up until the 1988 elections, but support for the party from the traditional agricultural support base thereafter declined, and today the Center Party's base of support is mostly middle-class voters who do not engage in farming.

Parties

The current Nordic agrarian parties are: * :

Åland Centre The Åland Centre ( sv, Åländska Centern) is an agrarian-centrist political party on the Åland Islands. The party was founded by Karl-Anders Bergman in 1976. At the 2003 election, the party won 24.1% of the popular vote and 7 out of 30 seat ...

* : Venstre * : Union PartyParties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
/ref> * : Centre Party * :

* : Centre Party * : Centre Party * : Centre Party Historical Nordic agrarian parties include: * : Farmers' Party * :

Finnish Rural Party The Finnish Rural Party ( fi, Suomen maaseudun puolue, SMP; sv, Finlands landsbygdsparti, FLP) was an agrarian and populist political party in Finland. Starting as a breakaway faction of the Agrarian League in 1959 as the Small Peasants' Part ...

Similar agrarian parties outside the Nordic countries are/were: * : Estonian Centre Party * :

* :

Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union ( lt, Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga, LVŽS)The party is also known as Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union. is a green-conservative and agrarian political party in Lithuania led by Ram ...

, Lithuanian Centre Union (until 2003)

Bibliography

* * * * * Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi. 1991.
Farmer's Parties: A Study in Electoral Adaptation
'. Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands. * *

References