euroDictionary
The European Union is a continental project for a multilingual and multicultural democracy. Unlike other projects of such a scale, the EU does not aim to replace nation-states or to force linguistic uniformity. This brings with it a level of complexity.
There are words and concepts that are not that easy to politically translate from place to place. This page brings together some of them and aims to be an always-in-construction political dictionary for Europe.
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AÆÅ B C DÐ E F G H I J K L M NÑ OØŒ PÞ Q R Sẞ T UÜ V W X Y Z
A, Æ, Å
B
Balkanization
Pejorative term that refers to the fragmentation of an area into multiple hostile or rival independent states. The term initially referred to the post‑World War I birth of several states in the Balkan region from the dissolution of the Ottoman and Austro‑Hungarian Empires. It gained renewed popularity in the early 1990s with the breakup of Yugoslavia into several independent states.
Blackberry coalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU, SPD and BSW
→ See “German coalition names”
Bourgeois party
The term refers to parties that do not have their origin in socialism, and is mostly used in Germanic and Nordic countries. It usually includes a wide range of ideologies such as Liberals, Christian‑Democrats, Conservatives and Agrarians. The term usually excludes anti-democratic forces, even though it is sometimes used to refer to the entire non-socialist right-wing space. In political debate the term is sometimes used loosely: a non‑socialist party that shares government with socialist parties might be rejected from the bourgeois camp.
Brandmauer
[Germany]
→ See “Cordon Sanitaire”
Brandvägg
[Sweden]
→ See “Cordon Sanitaire”
Brombeerkoalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU, SPD and BSW
→ See “German coalition names”
C
Campo largo
[Italy, post-2022] Translated as “Wide Field” it references a, potential or concrete, coalition that includes the center-left Democratic Party (PD, Partito Democratico) and the syncretic Five Star Movement (M5S, Movimento 5 Stelle) as well as parties to their left and potentially parties on the center and center-right.
Cordon Sanitaire
In general terms the concept of cordon sanitaire - or sanitary cordon - is a barrier used to restrict movement into a certain area to stop the spread of infectious diseases.
In politics the term is used to designate the political barrier that democratic parties establish to separate themselves from extreme right‑wing parties seen as heirs of the fascism and nazism that destroyed Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The practical implications of the cordon sanitaire differ by country and can include the refusal of formal coalitions, the refusal of inclusion of far-right politicians in political deals, or the refusal to consider votes from far-right MPs in parliament. In Belgium's Wallonia and Brussels the cordon sanitaire is broader and includes a cordon sanitaire médiatique, in which media outlets ban far‑right politicians from appearing in interviews or debates
The cordon sanitaire was first used in Flanders in May 1989, as an agreement between Greens, Christian‑Democrats, Socialists, Liberals and Flemish sovereigntists against the far‑right Vlaams Blok.
In some places a cordon sanitaire can also exist against other parties considered extreme by the mainstream, such as Communist parties or ethnic‑minority parties.
🇩🇪 Brandmauer or Firewall
🇫🇷 Front républicain or Republican Front
🇸🇪 Brandvägg or Firewall
🇵🇹 Não é Não or No is No [post-2023]
D, Ð
E
F
Finlandization
The term refers to a smaller country structurally refraining from politically opposing a larger neighbor in order to preserve its sovereignty. It is often considered pejoratively. The origin of the term comes from Finland's relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, where Finland kept a mostly neutral position in order to avoid a conflict with its eastern neighbor. While Finland kept its democracy and freedom of speech, but self‑censorship was common.
Folkesocialisme
[Denmark, Norway] Popular Socialism is an ideological current originating in Denmark in 1956, when a split in the Danish Communist Party led by Aksel Larsen created the Socialist People’s Party (SF, Socialistisk Folkeparti), following the Danish Communist Party’s support for the Soviet Union’s actions in Hungary that year. Popular Socialism situates itself between communism and social democracy, combining Green politics, democratic values, and social justice. Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV, Socialist Left Party) in Norway adopted the same ideologic current. At the European level this ideologic current is not within the same political family: Denmark's SF joined the European Greens in 2014 while Norway's SV joined the European Left Alliance in 2025.
🇳🇴 Folkesosialisme
Formateur
[Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg] In countries where the head‑of‑state has reduced powers, especially in monarchies, it is common that after elections the monarch hears all political parties and, based on that, selects a formateur based on who has the most likely chance to assemble a governing majority. The formateur is then responsible for negotiating between the parties to actually form that majority and turn it into a functioning government. Sometimes this role is preceded by an informateur, tasked by the monarch to discuss with the parties and report back on which party is better placed to secure majority support.
🇩🇰 kongelig undersøger or royal investigator
Front républicain
[France]
→ See “Cordon Sanitaire”
G
Gaullism
[France, post‑1969] Gaullism is an ideological current that is mostly prevalent in France, bringing together the perceived values of Charles de Gaulle, who was President of France from 1949 to 1969. While claims to the heritage of Gaullism exist across the political spectrum, Gaullism is a conservative ideology that is statist and focuses on French independence, mirroring de Gaulle’s political heritage: withdrawing France from NATO’s integrated military command, expelling U.S. troops from French soil and opposing the European Union’s supranational ambitions, as well as a strong, centralized presidency that uses the state to shape and guide the economy.
The party Rally of the French People (RPR, Rassemblement du Peuple Français) was founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1947 and is seen as the first Gaullist party. In 1958 the Union for the New Republic (UNR, L’Union pour la nouvelle République) was founded to directly support Charles de Gaulle. It then evolved through the years until, since 2015, being The Republicans (since 2015, LR, Les Républicains).
Gerigonça
[Portugal, post-2015] Meaning contraption, the term refers to the Portuguese government of 2015-2019 which took the form of a minority center-left PS government that established a parliamentary majority through individual confidence-and-supply government with three parties to their left - the Left Bloc, the Communist Party and the Greens. The term was initially pejorative and later reclaimed, and aimed to criticise the lack of solidity in the governing arrangement.
Articles related to Gerigonça
German coalition names
[Germany] Coalition naming in Germany is often a playful exercise, searching for flags, fruits or other objects whose colours match those of the parties involved. Below is a non-exhaustive list of coalitions in Germany with specific names.
Brombeer / Blackberry: ⚫️🔴🟣 CDU, SPD and BSW
🇩🇪 Deutschland / Germany: ⚫️🔴🟡 CDU, SPD and FDP
🇯🇲 Jamaika / Jamaica: ⚫️🟢🟡 CDU, Greens and FDP
🇰🇪 Kenia / Kenya: ⚫️🔴🟢 CDU, SPD and Greens
🥝 Kiwi: ⚫️🟢 CDU and Greens
Papaya: ⚫️🟠 CDU and FW
Spezi:⚫️🟠 CDU and FW, referencing a drink mixing cola and orange soda
🚦 Traffic light: 🔴🟢🟡 SPD, Greens and FDP
In Germany and beyond, coalitions are sometimes also referred to directly by the colours of the parties involved. For example a red‑green coalition includes a ‘red’ party - usually Social‑Democrats or Socialists - and a ‘green’ party - usually either a Green party or an Agrarian party.
Grand Coalition
The term usually refers to a governing coalition led by the two largest parties when they historically come from opposing sides of the political spectrum. Historically in post‑war Europe this has usually been between Social‑Democrats or Labour parties on one side and Christian‑Democratic, Liberal or Conservative parties on the other side. More recently the term has lost some relevance as the traditionally dominant parties have lost ground and the size differences between them have narrowed.
🇩🇪🇦🇹 Große Koalition / GroKo
🇮🇹 Governo di larghe intese or Government of broad agreement
🇵🇹 Bloco Central or Central Bloc
🇨🇿🇸🇰 Široká koalice or Broad Coalition
GroKo
[Germany] Coalition between CDU and SPD
→ See “Grand Coalition”
H
I
J
Jamaika‑Koalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU, Greens and FDP
→ See “German coalition names”
K
Kiwi coalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU and Greens
→ See “German coalition names”
L
Laïcité
[France, Belgium] While it literally translates as secularism, or the separation of state and religion, in political terms in Francophone Europe it is often understood as something broader. It is politically and socially frowned upon for politicians to make religious considerations, and office-holders are expected to refrain from publicly practicing their religion. Sometimes this extends to citizens in public roles, such as clerks in public offices or students in public schools. Nonetheless, enforcement can be uneven: public expressions of Christianity are usually tolerated more than those from other religions.
Lead Candidates
The term refers to a party’s main candidate in an election, usually its candidate to lead the government that emerges from that election. In the European elections, the lead candidates are the individuals selected by the pan‑European political parties to represent them, their ambitions, and their policies in a campaign at the European level. As the 2009 Lisbon Treaty introduced a direct link between European elections and the selection of the head of the European executive – the President of the European Commission – pan‑European political parties have since run in European elections with their own lead candidates.
🇪🇺🇩🇪🇦🇹 Spitzenkandidat
🇳🇱🇧🇪 lijsttrekker
🇫🇷🇧🇪 candidat tête de liste
🇮🇹 capolista
Articles related to Lead Candidates
Lijsttrekker
[Netherlands, Belgium]
→ See “Lead Candidate”
M
N, Ñ
Não é Não
[Portugal]
→ See “Cordon Sanitaire”
O, Ø, Œ
P, Þ
Papaya coalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU and FW
→ See “German coalition names”
Populism
While there are definitions of the concept of ‘populism', the real meaning when used is highly dependent on context. In the European context it has mostly been used to refer to radical-right and far-right forces, while since the 2008 crisis it has also been used for radical-left movements. It is often used as a pejorative.
Academics Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser use the following definition:
A thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic camps, the “pure people” versus “the corrupt elite,” and which argues that politics should be an expression of the general will of the people. [Mudde, Cas, and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Populism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2017.]
In other words, populism is not a full ideology by itself, but one that can be attached to a more core ideology. This means that a populism can be anything on the political spectrum.
The opposites of populism are elitism - where “the elite” are seen as superior to "the people" - and pluralism - where society is seen as divided into a diverse set of social groups all with legitimate interests.
Q
R
S, ẞ
Spezi coalition
[Germany] Coalition between CDU and FW
→ See “German coalition names”
Spitzenkandidat
[European Union, Germany, Austria]
→ See “Lead Candidate”
Syncretic
The left-right spectrum has been the most historically stable and easy to understand of comparing political parties. Nonetheless there are parties that challenge that spectrum in a way that makes them extremely difficult to place. They combine issues, policies and/or worries of the left and the right in a way that doesn't place them in the center of the spectrum, but instead outside the spectrum. This usually happens in new political parties that have a great capacity of adaptability and flexibility, potentially due to the lack of a stable electorate. One often mentioned modern example is Italy's Five Star Movement (M5S, Movimento 5 Stelle) in its period between its foundation in 2009 and its constituent assembly in late 2024 when it expelled Beppe Grillo from leadership positions.
T
Tidöpartierna
[Sweden, post-2022] Tidöpartierna, or the Tidö parties, refers to the four right‑wing parties in Sweden: the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats. The term refers to the Tidö Agreement (Tidöavtalet), the first formal right‑wing alliance in Sweden to include the far‑right Sweden Democrats. The agreement was signed in October 2022 and led to the Kristersson government, a coalition of the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, backed in parliament by the Sweden Democrats
Traffic light coalition
[Germany] Coalition between SPD, Greens and FDP
→ See “German coalition names”
U, Ü
V
Venstre
[Denmark, Norway] Venstre translates directly as ‘left’, but it is the name of liberal parties in both countries: Venstre in Denmark and Norway and Radikale Venstre in Denmark. Denmark’s Venstre was founded in 1870 and Norway’s Venstre in 1884. At the time, the parties were founded as opposition platforms to the left of the ruling Right - or Høyre/Højre - advocating liberalism, parliamentarism, expanded democracy and resistance to an establishment dominated by the Church. Today the Venstre parties are center‑right, with socialists to their left and conservatives to their right.
W
X
Y
Z
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