Social Democratic Party (Iceland)

Social Democratic Party
Alþýðuflokkurinn
ChairmanOttó N. Þorláksson (first)
Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson (last)
Founded12 March 1916
Dissolved5 May 2000
Merged intoSocial Democratic Alliance
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
International affiliationSocialist International
Colours  Red
Election symbol
A
Website
jafnadarmenn.is (archived)

The Social Democratic Party, officially the People's Party (Icelandic: Alþýðuflokkurinn), was a social-democratic[1][2] political party in Iceland.

It was founded in 1916, as the political representation of the trade unions of Iceland.[3]

History

In 1920, its first member of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, Jón Baldvinsson was elected.

The party would contest elections to the Althing with little success until 1934, when the party obtained 10 parliamentary seats. Iceland shifted towards a proportional representation system later that year which political scientist Amel Ahmed attributes to the rising electoral threat that the Social Democratic Party posed to the Independence Party and Progressive Party.[4]

Between 1926 and 1940, the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International.[5]

The party led the government of Iceland three times, first in 1947–1949 under Stefán Jóhann Stefánsson, then in 1958–1959 under Emil Jónsson and finally under Benedikt Sigurðsson Gröndal in 1979–1980.

Its longest participation in government was with the Independence Party from 1959 to 1971.

The Social Democratic Party was succeeded in 2000 by the Social Democratic Alliance, a centre-left party with a wider political base created by the merger of the Social Democratic Party with the National Awakening, the People's Alliance and the Women's List.

Party chairmen

Election results

Election Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
October 1916 903.5 6.8
1 / 40
 Increase 1 Steady 6th Opposition
1919 949 6.8
0 / 40
 Decrease 1 Increase 4th Extra-parliamentary
1923 4,912.5 16.2
1 / 42
 Increase 1 Increase 3rd Opposition
1927 6,097.5 19.0
5 / 42
 Increase 4 Steady 3rd Opposition
1931 6,197.5 16.1
4 / 42
 Decrease 2 Steady 3rd Opposition
1933 6,864.5 19.2
5 / 42
 Increase 1 Steady 3rd Opposition
1934 11,269.5 21.7
10 / 49
 Increase 5 Steady 3rd Coalition
1937 11,084.5 19.0
8 / 49
 Decrease 2 Steady 3rd Opposition
1942 (Jul) 8,979 15.4
6 / 49
 Decrease 2 Decrease 4th Opposition
1942 (Oct) 8,455 14.2
7 / 52
 Increase 1 Steady 4th Opposition
1946 11,914 17.8
9 / 52
 Increase 2 Steady 4th Coalition
1949 11,937 16.5
7 / 52
 Decrease 2 Steady 4th Opposition
1953 12,093 15.6
6 / 52
 Decrease 1 Steady 4th Opposition
1956 15,153 18.3
8 / 52
 Increase 2 Increase 3rd Coalition
1959 (Jun) 10,632 12.5
6 / 52
 Decrease 2 Decrease 4th Minority
1959 (Oct) 12,909 15.2
9 / 60
 Increase 3 Steady 4th Coalition
1963 12,697 14.2
8 / 60
 Decrease 1 Steady 4th Coalition
1967 15,059 15.7
9 / 60
 Increase 1 Steady 4th Coalition
1971 11,020 10.5
6 / 60
 Decrease 3 Steady 4th Opposition
1974 10,345 9.1
5 / 60
 Decrease 1 Steady 4th Opposition
1978 26,912 22.0
14 / 60
 Increase 9 Increase 3rd Coalition
1979 21,580 17.4
10 / 60
 Decrease 4 Decrease4th Opposition
1983 15,214 11.7
6 / 60
 Decrease 4 Steady 4th Opposition
1987 23,265 15.2
10 / 60
 Increase 4 Increase 3rd Coalition
1991 24,459 15.5
10 / 63
 Steady 0 Steady 3rd Coalition
1995 18,846 11.4
7 / 63
 Decrease 3 Decrease 4th Opposition

References

  1. ^ Haas, Melanie; Niedermayer; Stöss, Richard (2006). Die Parteiensysteme Westeuropas. Springer-Verlag. p. 268. ISBN 9783531141114.
  2. ^ Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC 1256593260.
  3. ^ Bergmann, Eirikur; Einarsson, Eiríkur Bergmann (2014). Iceland and the International Financial Crisis: Boom, Bust and Recovery. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 34. ISBN 9781137332004.
  4. ^ Ahmed, Amel (2012). Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dominance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139382137. ISBN 9781139382137. S2CID 153171400.
  5. ^ Kowalski, Werner (1985). Geschichte der sozialistischen arbeiter-internationale: 1923–1919. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften (in German).

Further reading

  • Busky, Donald F. (2000). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 71–72. ISBN 9780275968861.


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