The Claus Hjort doctrine () or Hjort doctrine () is a political strategy for Danish right-wing parties of the blue bloc, which holds that such parties must embrace the welfare state and restrain tax cuts to succeed in parliamentary elections.
The doctrine was devised in 2001 and has primarily been applied to Venstre. It has contributed to four right-wing election victories from 2001 to 2015.
Doctrine According to the doctrine, the Danish center-right party Venstre should not talk about tax cuts leading up to an election, as it deters Danish voters. Instead, it should embrace the welfare state and advocate for a more restrained tax policy. Furthermore, Venstre should mimic whatever the Social Democrats want for the welfare state, but in a more liberal manner.
The liberal element holds that even though it is the Danish state that delivers social benefits, the citizens should have a say in what is being delivered. The idea of the doctrine was that Venstre should be a guarantor of welfare in the Danish voters' view as a response to the Social Democrats' saying that it is either "welfare or tax cuts". As such, in political communication, the voter should get the perception that Venstre is politically close to the Social Democrats and left of center. As a result, redistribution issues would lose their importance in the voters' conscience so that Venstre could instead focus on other issues, such as Immigration policies.
Kontraktpolitikken The Kontraktpolitikken () was another political strategy, which can be argued to be an element in the Claus Hjort doctrine. The strategy was used while Venstre held power and holds that Venstre's political communication should include the party's promise not to interfere with the welfare state. The strategy was developed to eliminate questions about the size of the welfare state under the VK government of 2001–2011, so voters, who had traditionally voted left-wing, could get the desired immigration policies.
In alignment with this strategy, a popular slogan of Venstre was , which can be translated as "you know where Venstre stands". Additionally, in a speech to the Folketing in 2002, the Venstre Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, mentioned his kept promises:
Criticism Kontraktpolitikken has since been criticized for making it harder to make necessary policy shifts between elections, while also making it impossible to take unpopular decisions.
History
Before 2001
In the early 1990s, Anders Fogh Rasmussen wrote From Social State to Minimal State, wanting the Danish state to have less influence. Nevertheless, the 1990s became dominated by the Social Democrats, and a new political doctrine had to be used by Venstre. Based on the acknowledgement that Danish voters were content with the welfare state, Rasmussen decided to move towards the center with regard to economic policies, thereby abandoning the idea of a minimal state. As such, the Claus Hjort doctrine was devised in 2001, named after the former party secretary of Venstre, Claus Hjort Frederiksen. The doctrine has also been called the Fogh-Hjort doctrine.
2001–2022 In the subsequent election in the same year, Venstre received its best result ever with 31.25% of the votes. In the election campaign, Venstre only promised a tax stop () instead of tax cuts. Venstre continued to hold power throughout the 2000s, which was secured by the use of the Claus Hjort doctrine. From 2001 to 2022, the doctrine contributed to four right-wing parliamentary victories. Nonetheless, in the so-called climate election of 2019 election, 57% of Danes saw climate change as the most important issue, while only 27% said the same about immigration, which was an important component of the doctrine.
2022–present
During the 2022 election, Venstre strictly followed the doctrine, refusing to cut in public spending. However, the Conservatives went directly and intentionally against the doctrine, promising to remove the (special tax for high-income people). Claus Hjort Frederiksen commented in response to this approach:
Throughout the election campaign, Hjort Frederiksen criticized the Conservatives, calling their strategy a "loser strategy" and saying they did not contribute positively. The Conservatives went from polling 16.7% to an election result of 5.5%. Meanwhile, the left-wing red bloc ended up receiving a majority in parliament at that election; nevertheless Venstre joined government with the Social Democrats, with cuts becoming a part of the (government programme). This was against the Claus Hjort doctrine, and according to Danish journalist Jakob Elkjær, the doctrine should also be upheld while in power , as moderate and centrist voters will punish liberal right-wing economic policies.
See also
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