Authoritarian Populism Index.

The Authoritarian Populism Index is developed by Timbro.

Timbro is the leading free market think tank in the Nordic countries. Our mission is to promote and disseminate ideas supporting the principles of free markets, free enterprise, individual liberty and a free society. Timbro was founded in 1978 by Sture Eskilsson and the Swedish Employers’ Association, a precursor to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.  Since 2003, Timbro is financed by the Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation.

 

International outreach and translation supported by Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Atlas Network.

luxembourg

Populism Rank: 28

Summary

Voter support for radical left in last election (2023): -2.3 %.
Voter support for radical right in last election: +1 %.
Populist or radical parties in government (March 2024): none
Number of radical or populist MEP:s (2019): 0/6.

01 Speakers

Luxembourg is one of the six founding nations of the EU and has, despite its small size, had considerable influence over European politics over the years. Until the 1980s, Luxembourg basically had a four party system, consisting of the Socialist Worker’s Party (LSWP, social democrats), the Christian Social People’s Party (CSP, christian democrats), the liberal Democratic Party (DP) and, finally, the Communist Party (KPL).

The marxist-leninist KPL took part in the first all-inclusive post war government but from 1947 and onwards it remained in opposition. The KPL saw its best election results in the 1940s and 1960s, after which it lost support. Its last MP was elected in 1999 and the party has not had any influence on national politics in the last decades.


Dei Lenk (DL) was formed in 1999, originally with KPL as a founding member. It has come to be the leading radical left party in the country. The party’s ideas are founded on socialism and anti-capitalism, combined with progressive social politics and euroscepticism. It has never been part of a governing coalition.

Fred Keup, party leader of ADR.

The radical right has never been particularly strong in Luxembourg. The National Movement was an unsuccessful far right party which dissolved after failing to enter parliament in the late 1980s and mid 1990s.

 

The most right-wing party in Luxembourg today is the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR). It was founded in 1987 as a single-issue party, focusing on pension reform, but later broadened its politics. The ADR is economically liberal while conservative on social issues. It is the most eurosceptic party in the country, except for DL. The ADR has been represented in parliament since 1987 but has never been part of any government. 

 

ADR is classified as a right wing populist party in several studies and is included in this index as well. It clearly contains many elements of an anti-establishment party. Even though the ADR is more eurosceptic and critical of immigration than other parties in Luxembourg, it should be underlined that it is quite moderate even on those issues compared to other national conservative parties in Europe. The ADR wants to strengthen the status of the Luxembourgish language and wants deep institutional reform, favouring a Swiss-style direct democracy. During the pandemic, it was very critical against the government, arguing that the restrictions constituted unacceptable limits to personal freedom. 

 

The current leader of ADR, Fred Keup, has been described as more radical on immigration and multiculturalism than his predecessor. Keup was the informal spokes-person of the successful no-campaign in the 2015 referendum on whether to extend voting rights to non-citizens, a major victory for the party. Keup was elected party leader in 2022. His profile on X contains one message: “stop woke ideology”.

EP elections

Number of authoritarian or populist MEP:s (2019): 0/6

 

CSV, DP, LSAP and the Greens are the only four parties that have ever won seats in the European Parliament. Although reaching 10 percent of the votes in the 2019 election, ADR failed to gain a seat. On the European level, ADR is a member of the ECR while DL is a member of the GUE-NGL.

DL summary

Economics: LEFT
Social issues: PROGRESSIVE
EU: SOFT EUROSCEPTICISM
Democratic credibility: HIGH

ADR summary

Economics: RIGHT-WING
Social issues: CONSERVATIVE
EU: SOFT EUROSCEPTICISM
Democratic credibility: HIGH

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