The Hobbyhorse of the Party for the Animals

Can a small, new political party increase the attention to nonhuman animal welfare? This paper traces the effect of the Party for the Animals on the Dutch parliament. This was the first animal advocacy party to enter parliament. After this relatively small, new political party entered the Dutch parliament, attention to agriculture and animal welfare increased markedly. Because of timing of the change and the absence of alternative explanations, it is very likely that the Party for the Animals caused the change. The paper also identifies the underlying mechanism of the change in attention: a conflict between established political parties and the new political party about the framing of the debate on agriculture.