The South Schleswig Voters’ Association a minority-, regional- or lifestyle party? Martin Klatt, PhD. Associate Professor of Contemporary History Dept. of Border Region Studies Sønderborg

Danish-German border until 1864

A short history  1867: Schleswig annexed into Prussia – Nort Schleswig Voters’ Association represents the Danish majority in North Schleswig politically in the Reichstag and the Prussian Diet  1920: today’s border drawn after two plebiscites – two symmetrical minorities remain  German minority: Schleswigian Party/NSDAP-N  Danish Minority: Schleswigian Association

After 1945: a new plebiscite?  Aim: secession/reunification with Denmark  National conflict  British occupation administration accepts a party aside from the minority‘s cultural association in 1948  Secession must not be named in the program 4

Election posters, 1948

”Heimat” – movement under the Danish flag in South Schleswig Election posters SSW, 1950

Success?  ”Landtag” elections 1947 – 33 % in South Schleswig, but a majority of the local population (East German refugees)  Local differences: strong in the cities, weak in rural areas  Since then: votes declined

Political settlement in 1955  Case: 5% threshold clause in German elections (representation in Federal and State parliamens require min. 5% of the votes)  German Constitutional Court: no decisive vote  Political solution: Danish-German negotiations on a minority settlement in 1955 result in an exemption of the 5% threshold clause

Minority political participation  2-string:  Political party (SSW and SP)  Municipal, county, state and national/federal level (if successful)  Cultural organization (SSF and BdN)  Lobbying at national and European level  Difference:  SP suborganisation of BdN  SSW parallel organisation to SSF

A Regional Party – new agenda?  SSW’s program: ”Heimat” and Scandinavia  Decline of votes stopped in the 1970’s, since then expansion  New program in 1981: environmental issues, adapting to societal trends  SSW – nordic lifestyle party attracting left wing liberals

”From against each other to with each other”  A new, multicultural narrative:  Minorities are an enrichment to our region  Minority and majority profit from each other

Minorities as regionauts  Common policymaking on minority issues  ’Regionalist’ political agenda in election campaigns since the 1950’s  Seemingly successful for SSW since the 1970’s  Seemingly successful for SP in the 2009 municipal elections

SSW and ”big politics”  SSW plays the regional and the ”Scandinavian” card  Bundestag?  2005: SSW agreed not to join, but to support SPD-Green government in SH – failed anyhow  Election campaign in all of Schleswig- Holstein, not only South Schleswig, at the 2012 Landtag elections

SSW in power  Nov. 2010: SSW’s candidate wins the direct election as Lord Mayor in Flensburg, South Schleswig’s largest city  June 2012: SSW joins a coalition government with the Social Democrats and the Green Party in Schleswig-Holstein

Everything fine?  Many voices against SSW joining a government  Abuse of exemption from 5 % threshold  Contradicts the status of minority party  Leading members of the Young Conservatives (”Junge Union”) filed a complaint at the Schleswig-Holstein constitutional court  Free Democratic Party (right liberals) also argue that only max. one seat in the Landtag should be exempted from the 5%-threshold  The ”ethnic card” is used (”Dänenampel”)  But so far the government works smoothly

SSW – a left-wing liberal party?  Two major program points dominate in retoric:  Support for the minority (financial issues)  Regional policy  Election results  Geographical shift south – but core remains South Schleswig  Solidarity by the minority – but also voters from outside the core minority