Bourgeois party

"Bourgeois party" (German: bürgerliche Partei) or "bourgeois camp" (German: bürgerliche Lager) is a political term used in Europe, which can refer to a conservative or right-leaning liberal party, and is in contrast to the socialistic "left-wing camp" (German: linken Lager). The term is mainly used when the main left-leaning forces are social democrats and socialists, and the main right-leaning forces against them are liberals and conservatives; it is rarely used when the main left-leaning forces include liberals.

In the political landscape of the Germanic language region, traditional bourgeois parties are as follows:

• Germany: Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Free Democratic Party
• Austria: Austrian People's Party, NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
•  Switzerland: FDP.The Liberals, Swiss People's Party, The Centre

Parties which adopted term in their name include:

•  Switzerland: Bourgeois Party of Switzerland (German: Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz)
• Austria: Bourgeois Democrats (German: Bürgerliche Demokraten)
• Denmark: New Bourgeois (Danish: Nye Borgerlige), Bourgeois Alternative (Danish: Borgerligt Alternativ), Bourgeois Centre (Danish: Borgerligt Centrum)

In Germany

In the German-speaking media, conservative and right-liberal as well as liberal-conservative parties abroad are often referred to as "bourgeois parties" (bürgerliche Parteien).^[1][2][3]

In the mid-1980s, Heiner Geißler, then secretary-general of the CDU, introduced the camp theory to the West Germany. Within the newly formed four-party system, Geißler described the center-right parties CDU/CSU, and FDP as the bourgeois camp, and the SPD and Greens as the "left-wing camp". In Germany, the opposite expression of "left-wing camp" is preferred as "Bourgeois party" rather than "right-wing camp" in order to exclude far-right politics from the mainstream right-leaning forces.^[4][5] The Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right political party founded in 2013, calls itself a "bourgeois [party]", which is criticized and generally unacceptable.^[6][7]

See also

• Bürgerblock-Regierung
• Conservatism in Germany
• Liberalism in Germany
• List of major liberal parties considered right

References

1. Oliver Meiler (2020-07-10). "Berlusconi könnte auf politische Bühne zurückkehren" (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-17.
2. Germany, Nordbayern. de (2020-07-09). "Paschal Donohoe wird neuer Eurogruppenchef" (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-17.
3. "Michael Martin von der bürgerlichen Partei neuer Premier von Irland". derStandard.de. 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
4. Reker, Stefan (November 1995). "Machtpoker in Bonn". FOCUS Online. Focus Online Archiv. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
5. Jungholt, Thorsten (2017-06-19). "Jeder will mit jedem können". Welt Online. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
6. Peitz, Dirk (2019-09-02). "Die selbst ernannten Bürgerlichen". Die Zeit. Zeit Online. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
7. Reinhard, Michael (2019-09-04). "Warum die AfD keine bürgerliche Partei ist". mainpost.de. Retrieved 2020-12-21.