Populist Radical Right Influence on Health Policy in the Netherlands: The Case of the Party for Freedom (PVV)

Abstract

Early evidence suggests that populist radical right (PRR) parties and their exclusionary policy agenda could be a threat to population health. In the Netherlands, the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is the main PRR party. It has been closely involved in a national coalition government (2010–2012) under a Tolerance Agreement, in which the PVV supported the minority government without formally being part of it. The aim of this case study is to analyse the standpoints and influence of the PVV – and to a smaller extent the newer Forum for Democracy (FvD) – on health policy in the areas of elderly care, curative care, public health, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The PVV’s agenda on healthcare is welfare chauvinistic, favouring increased government spending (primarily for older adults) combined with the exclusion of certain immigrant groups. During its time supporting a centre-right coalition, the PVV faced a trade-off between pursuing its electoral agenda and maintaining its position in office. The party maintained a strong focus on immigration and elderly care but conformed to the coalition at the expense of its welfare chauvinistic healthcare agenda. This resulted in liberal chauvinistic health policy, in favour of cutting welfare spending in general, with a particular focus on minorities.