scholarly journals The Causal Effect of Radical Right Success on Mainstream Parties’ Policy Positions: A Regression Discontinuity Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 829-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarik Abou-Chadi ◽  
Werner Krause
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Potential Confounder ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Policy Shift

This article investigates how the success of radical right parties affects the policy positions of mainstream parties. We do this using a regression discontinuity approach that allows us to causally attribute mainstream parties’ positional changes to radical right strength independent of public opinion as a potential confounder. Making use of exogenous variation created through differences in electoral thresholds, we empirically demonstrate that radical right success, indeed, causally affects mainstream parties’ positions. This is true for mainstream left as well as mainstream right parties. These findings make an important contribution to the broader literature on party competition as they indicate that other parties’ behavior and not only public opinion plays a crucial role in explaining parties’ policy shift.

scholarly journals The Radical Right as Niche Parties? The Ideological Landscape of Party Systems in Western Europe, 1980–2014

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 84-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Wagner ◽  
Thomas M Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Niche Parties ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

The emergence of the radical right as a strong competitor to mainstream parties has fundamentally reshaped patterns of competition in many European party systems. In this article, we systematically explore changes to the ideological landscape in Western Europe by examining whether there has been programmatic mainstreaming of radical right parties due to (a) accommodation to and (b) moderation by radical right parties. We examine positions and salience on liberal-authoritarianism and the salience of economic issues using manifesto data from 68 parties in 17 countries. Our findings provide empirical support for a rightward shift in European party systems: on liberal-authoritarianism, mainstream left and right parties have increased their emphasis and moved to the right. Yet radical right parties have generally remained niche competitors; they are increasingly extreme and more focused on liberal-authoritarianism. Our analysis has important implications for understanding party systems, party competition and citizen representation in Europe.

scholarly journals Organized for Parliament? Explaining the Electoral Success of Radical Right Parties in Post-Communist Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Werkmann ◽  
Sergiu Gherghina
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Party Organization ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Electoral Performance

Over the last three decades a great deal of research has been carried out in an attempt to explain the electoral performance of radical right parties in Europe. Most approaches concentrate on demand-side determinants and have some limitations. We compensate for these shortcomings and focus on the context of party competition and supply-side determinants (consistency of ideological discourse, functioning party propaganda, the continuity of the leader in office and strong party organization) to explain the electoral success of radical right parties in post-communist Europe. We conducted our analysis at party level in nine radical right parties in four countries from Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania) between 1990 and 2014. The bivariate and multivariate (ordinal logistic regression) analyses draw on unique data collected from primary and secondary sources.

Party Systems and Radical Right-Wing Parties

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Kitschelt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Strategic Interaction ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Issue Ownership ◽  
Initial Rise ◽  
Radical Right Parties

This chapter presents an introduction to different theories of party competition, as exemplified by the substantive puzzle of radical right-wing partisan rise. The first task, however, is to conceptualize radical right party fortunes within the context of competitive party systems. The next three sections discuss the initial rise of radical right parties through three lenses: spatial theories of party competition, institutional and historical mediators of current competitive opportunities for radical right entry, and non-spatial theories of party competition based on valence and issue ownership. This is followed by a report on research about the ongoing strategic interaction between radical right parties and their competitors after the former’s initial rise to electoral prowess. The chapter concludes with several general synthesizing hypotheses about the life cycle of political parties, with the radical right’s rise and possible future demise being a particular application.

Populist Rhetoric and Nativist Alarmism

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Barbara Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
German Politics ◽  
Close Affinity ◽  
Chapel Hill ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
European Parties ◽  
Radical Right Parties

Using the 2017 Chapel Hill Expert Survey of party positions, this study compares the AfD with other European parties outside the political mainstream across several ideological/attitudinal dimensions. The paper explores the changing character of European party systems and multiple axes of party competition. It regards populism and nativism as distinct political phenomena, but as ones that are symbiotic and coupled together provide a particular powerful narrative. The paper finds that the AfD shares a close affinity with radical right parties in Europe but also emerges as one of Europe’s most populist and nativist parties. This explains the AfD’s affiliation with the Identity and Freedom Group in the European Parliament; it also supports the argument it is the blend of populist anti-elitism and nativist alarmism that has made the AfD the potent force in German politics that it is today.

scholarly journals Parliamentary Representation and the Normalization of Radical Right Support

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402199715
Author(s):  
Vicente Valentim
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Mode Study

How do stigmatized political preferences become normalized? I argue that the parliamentary representation of the radical right normalizes radical right support. Radical right politicians breach established social norms. Hence their supporters have an incentive to conceal that support. When the radical right enters parliament, however, its voters are likely to perceive that their views have been legitimized, becoming more likely to display their private preferences. I use three studies to test this argument. Study 1 employs a regression discontinuity comparing the underreport of voting for radical right parties (RRPs) above and below thresholds of parliamentary representation. Study 2 compares how much individuals report liking RRPs in post-electoral surveys depending on interview mode. Study 3 employs a difference-in-differences that looks into the underreport of UKIP vote before and after entering parliament. The results support the argument and highlight the role of political institutions in defining the acceptability of behaviors in society.

The radical right in post-communist Europe. Comparative perspectives on legacies and party competition

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Bustikova ◽  
Herbert Kitschelt
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Ethnic Composition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Minority ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
Social Policy Reform ◽  
Radical Right Parties

What role do legacies of past mobilization under late communist rule play in the success of the radical right parties in Eastern Europe? This article considers two major legacies: the legacy of national-accommodative communism and the legacy of patrimonial communism. We investigate the effect of welfare retrenchment on vote support for radical right in 2000s. Social policy reform retrenchment in universalistic welfare systems has a highly incendiary potential for political conflict and radical parties. In countries with a legacy of national accommodative communism, early differentiation of major parties on socio-cultural issues and strategies of social policy compensation kept reform losers at bay, which limited voter success of radical parties. Highly polarized patrimonial regimes, on the contrary, are the most fertile breeding ground for the radical right due to the high levels of inequality and dissatisfaction resulting from a rapid dismantling of the welfare state. The ethnic composition of countries plays an important role in the radical right mobilization as well. Radical right parties benefit from a situation in which the titular majority faces a small ethno-cultural minority.

Social Class and the Changing Welfare State Agenda of Radical Right Parties in Europe

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Afonso ◽  
Line Rennwald
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter explores the importance of the welfare state as a political issue for radical right parties. It considers the role of the class setup of parties, party competition, and issue salience as possible determinants of welfare state positions. Based on an analysis of voter profiles and the economic agendas of right-wing populist parties in recent years, it finds that while the welfare state tends to gain in importance for a number of right-wing populist parties, there is no mechanistic relationship between voter profiles and the welfare position of parties. Where the welfare state is an important issue for radical right parties, they tend to defend the welfare state and take a pro-redistribution position.

scholarly journals Religion on the rise again? A longitudinal analysis of religious dimensions in election manifestos of Western European parties

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406882093800
Author(s):  
Jakob Schwörer ◽  
Belén Fernández-García
Keyword(s):  
Party Politics ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Election Manifestos ◽  
Religious Dimensions ◽  
European Parties ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Religious Elements

Several scholars suggest that religion is on the rise in party competition due to the upswing of radical right parties presenting themselves as defender of Christianity against a Muslim threat. The lack of comparative and longitudinal studies calls for a systematic investigation of parties’ religious references in order to know whether religion indeed is on the rise in party politics. Conducting a partially computer-based quantitative content analysis of 71 election manifestos in five countries since the 1980s, we provide empirical evidence that religion is recently gaining salience in party competition. The study reveals that we are experiencing the evolution of a new religious cleavage originating from the exclusion of Islam and resulting in an emphasis on Christian roots and values and in a strategic use of secular arguments by the radical right. The findings further suggest that mainstream parties responded to these religious discourses by incorporating religious elements in their own election manifestos.

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