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From dissent to cohesion

Immigration policy shift and intra-party dynamics in the Danish Social Democratic Party

Bibliographic Data

ID6316009
AuthorsSuat Alper Orhan (0000-0001-9379-0256, Europa-Universität Flensburg, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume31
Issue3
Pages537-548
Publication date2025-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13540688241234785
OpenAlexW4392165795
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited40

The high saliency of immigration presented social democratic parties with a strategic quandary on reconciling different values and expectations. Danish Social Democratic Party stood out as it shifted to restrictive policies while achieving intra-party cohesion and avoiding major internal strifes. This article investigates the factors behind Social Democrat immigration shift and intra-party cohesion, focusing on a timeframe between 2005 and 2019 by combining an analysis of Social Democrat immigration policies with insights from 12 interviews with party elites. Comparing varying strategies, ideological inclinations, and support, I explore the intra-party actors’ perceptions, constraining and permissive influences of intra-party dynamics, development and reconstruction of new ideological frameworks and factional alignment. Findings highlight the importance of intra-party dynamics on shifting policies in immigration for social democratic parties, providing further insights on how the Social Democrat party elite navigated the policy shift while ensuring intra-party cohesion from electoral, ideological and organisational perspectives

Cohesion (chemistry · Danish · Democracy · Dissent · Immigration · Immigration policy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social democracy · Social Democratic Party · Sociology · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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Unique citing works4
Citations per year4
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4

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