Business Reponses to Populism in Denmark

Abstract

Abstract This chapter shows how organized business elites in Denmark have responded to the populist party, Danish People´s Party [Dansk Folkeparti] (DPP) on anti-migration policies, welfare state reforms, and the EU. The chapter builds on the argument by Feldmann and Morgan that business elites will respond to populism using voice or loyalty, but rarely exit. It moreover employs their distinction between soft voice and loud voice, and explicit vs. implicit loyalty. Surveying the period since the establishment of DPP, the chapter identifies both loud voices and implicit loyalty of business in Denmark. Loud voice by business going against DPP’s policies on restricting labour migration when they affect labour supply negatively. Implicit loyalty to the DPP’s policies pertains to welfare chauvinism when refugees and migrants have seen their benefits and eligibility reduced. Even though the material interests and cultural values of business and the DPP rarely coincide, the relationship between organized business elites and the DPP is relatively pragmatic and peaceful. The chapter ends by discussing the emergence of a new welfare state chauvinist coalition across business elites and mainstream parties that hitherto had been opposed to the anti-globalism of the populist parties.