Turning to the right? The impact of the "long crisis decade" (2008-2019) on right-wing populist vote and attitudes in Europe (original) (raw)

Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?

European Journal of Political Research, 2013

The populist radical right constitutes the most successful party family in postwar Western Europe. Many accounts in both academia and the media warn of the growing influence of populist radical right parties (PRRPs), the so-called 'verrechtsing' (or right turn) of European politics, but few provide empirical evidence of it. This lecture provides a first comprehensive analysis of the alleged effects of the populist radical right on the people, parties, policies and polities of Western Europe. The conclusions are sobering. The effects are largely limited to the broader immigration issue, and even here PRRPs should be seen as catalysts rather than initiators, who are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the introduction of stricter immigration policies. The lecture ends by providing various explanations for the limited impact of PRRPs, but it is also argued that populist parties are not destined for success in opposition and failure in government. In fact, there are at least three reasons why PRRPs might increase their impact in the near future: the tabloidisation of political discourse; the aftermath of the economic crisis; and the learning curve of PRRPs. Even in the unlikely event that PRRPs will become major players in West European politics, it is unlikely that this will lead to a fundamental transformation of the political system. PRRPs are not a normal pathology of European democracy, unrelated to its basic values, but a pathological normalcy, which strives for the radicalisation of mainstream values.

The Rising of the Rightist Populist Parties in Europe

Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 2018

In this study, the rise of the rightist populist parties in the European Union (EU), especially because of the recent economic crisis, is comprehensively examined. In the study, the economic crisis and identity problems in the European Union are analyzed. The results of elections in countries such as Austria and France, and their effect on the EU elections, are subjected to analysis. The current crisis of the EU increasingly engages the people in the member and non-member nations. The European citizens hardly define themselves as EU citizens and they consider the old political movements as elitist and distant to citizens. The identity losses in Europe because of wrong policies caused by Germany and France hegemony damages the EU spirit, and as a result, the nationalist movements are getting stronger.

Electoral Support for Left Wing Populist Parties in Europe: Addressing the

European Politics and Society, 2018

Drawing on the European Electoral Study (EES) for the 2014 European Parliamentary elections, we analyse the electoral competition between left wing populist parties and their nonpopulist counterparts in the nine European countries where this type of competition has occurred. By using the EES, we hold constant the electoral level and the electoral system, the timing of the elections and the question wording. To our knowledge, this is one of the broadest comparative analyses of European left-wing populist parties so far. The focus on the competition between leftist parties draws attention to the key question of the vulnerabilities of the non-populist left vis à vis their populist competitors. We test a battery of bivariate clustered logistic models and find that the losers of globalization theories help account for left wing populist parties’ support. However, the sociodemographic profile of these supporters does not fit the mainstream view on who these losers are. Moreover, we obtain strong support for the globalization cleavage theories: citizens who hold critical attitudes towards the EU and who perceive immigration as a threat to their ‘way of life’ are more prone to support left wing populist parties than non-populist left parties. These findings apply both to the entire sample of countries and to each one of them individually. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Politics and Society on 05 Jun 2018: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23745118.2018.1482848

Muis, J., & Immerzeel, T. (2017). Causes and consequences of the rise of populist radical right parties and movements in Europe

Current Sociology, 2017

This article reviews three strands in the scholarship on the populist radical right (PRR). It covers both political parties and extra-parliamentary mobilization in contemporary European democracies. After definitional issues and case selection, the authors first discuss demand-side approaches to the fortunes of the PRR. Subsequently, supply-side approaches are assessed, namely political opportunity explanations and internal supply-side factors, referring to leadership, organization and ideological positioning. Third, research on the consequences of the emergence and rise of these parties and movements is examined: do they constitute a corrective or a threat to democracy? The authors discuss the growing literature on the impact on established parties' policies, the policies themselves, and citizens' behaviour. The review concludes with future directions for theorizing and research.

Populist Radical Right Party-Voter Policy Representation in Western Europe

Representation

In this study we assess policy representation by populist radical right (PRR) parties in ten West European countries. Going beyond aggregate left-right or socio-cultural (GAL-TAN) dimensions of political conflict, we study representation on policy issues related to the PRR parties' core ideological features nativism, populism, and authoritarianism. Analysing data from party expert and voter surveys, we find that the PRR parties provide largely unique policy positions that are congruent with their voters' preferences in terms of their opposition to immigration and the European Union. By contrast, the parties are less representative in terms of their value conservative and authoritarian positions on gay rights and civil liberties. The findings have relevance for our understanding of party strategy, voter behaviour, and the dimensionality of political competition.

Differently Eurosceptic: radical right populist parties and their supporters

Journal of European Public Policy, 2018

Since the 2008 crisis, radical right populist (RRP) party positions on European integration have hardened and/or increased in salience. But do their supporters align with them on this? And what role does Euroscepticism play in driving support for these parties? Using data from the ‘euandi’ voting advice application, we examine how close over 8000 RRP supporters in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Belgium were in 2014 to their parties on European integration and, for comparison, immigration. We find that, while they closely aligned on immigration, which remains a stronger predictor of support, they did not on European integration. We conclude, firstly, that increased salience of this issue does not necessarily lead to stronger linkages between parties and voters and that the consequences of positional congruence depend on salience congruence. Secondly, our findings suggest that RRP parties enjoy flexibility on European integration and can shift positions if necessary.

The Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Contemporary Europe

Right-wing populism has been steadily on the rise in Europe for the past decade. Nowadays, in 2019, most European countries have a national populist party either already in government or seeking to enter into government. This thesis will analyse the reasons for its emergence today. It will argue that both cultural and economic reasons have contributed to creating the conditions from which populism, as a political movement, could potentially develop and even enter into government. However, the conditions alone are not enough. The emergence of a charismatic leader, adept at populist rhetoric and using social media, gives a voice to the feelings of the people, ultimately creating a political movement and normalising far-wing ideas. The present thesis will finish with an analysis of what may happen should national populists get into government using Hungary as a case study.