scholarly journals Researching the Welfare Impact of Populist Radical Right Parties Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru D. Moise
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Welfare Impact ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Democratic Norms ◽  
The Impact

Populist radical right (PRR) parties can impact population health through multiple mechanisms, including welfare chauvinistic policies, influencing mainstream parties, and eroding democratic norms. Rinaldi and Bekker survey the literature in order to motivate a wider research agenda. They highlight results from existing studies which show the importance of looking into the impact of PRR parties on welfare policy. This commentary considers some of the areas of research highlighted by the original article, as well as other possibilities for further research. The most important of these is to expand the sample of cases to Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and South East Asia.

scholarly journals Getting the Problem Definition Right: The Radical Right, Populism, Nativism and Public Health Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin De Cleen ◽  
Ewen Speed
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Impact

Building on Rinaldi and Bekker’s scoping review of articles on the impact of populist radical right (PRR) politics on welfare and population health, this short article formulates three pointers towards a framework that might help structure future research into PRR, populist politics more generally, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other health issues. First, we discuss the centrality of welfare chauvinism to the PRR’s impact on health, taking this as a cue for a broader reflection on the importance on distinguishing between the nativist and populist dimensions of PRR politics. Secondly, we turn our attention to the potential moderating effect of the PRR’s welfare chauvinism on the welfare cuts proposed by their right-wing coalition partners, comments we see as pointing to the need to focus on nativist, populist, neoliberal and other threats to welfare policy more generally, rather than on the PRR only. Thirdly, we reflect on the paradoxical nature of welfare chauvinism – its negative consequences for the health of the ‘own people’ it proclaims to defend – as a starting point for a brief discussion of the need to consider carefully the not-so-straightforward relation between the PRR’s political rhetoric, its (impact on) policy and institutions, and the outcomes of such policy.

scholarly journals Welfare Chauvinism, Populist Radical Right Parties and Health Inequalities Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Bambra ◽  
Julia Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Short Commentary ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
State Contraction ◽  
The Impact

In this short commentary, we examine the implications of the welfare chauvinism of the populist radical right (PRR) for health inequalities by examining the international evidence about the impact of previous periods of welfare state contraction on population health and health inequalities. We argue that parties from various political traditions have in fact long engaged in stigmatisation of welfare recipients to justify welfare state retrenchment, a technique that the PRR have now ‘weaponised.’ We conclude by reflecting on implications of the rise of the PRR for the future of welfare states and health inequalities in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

scholarly journals Right Wing Politics and Public Policy: The Need for a Broad Frame and Further Research Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Labonté ◽  
Fran Baum
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Political Determinants ◽  
Radical Right Parties

Our paper responds to a narrative review on the influence of populist radical right parties (PRRPs) on welfare policy and its implications for population health in Europe. Five aspects of their review are striking: (i) welfare chauvinism is higher in tax-funded healthcare systems; (ii) PRRPs in coalition with liberal or social democratic parties are able to shift welfare reform in a more chauvinistic direction; (iii) coalitions involving PRRPs can buffer somewhat the drift to welfare chauvinism, but not by much; (iv) the European Union (EU) and its healthcare policies has served somewhat as a check on PRRPs’ direct influence on healthcare welfare chauvinism; (v) PRRPs perform a balancing act between supporting their base and protecting elected power. We note that PRRPs are not confined to Europe and examine the example of Trump’s USA, arguing that the Republican Party he dominates now comes close to the authors’ definition of a PRRP. We applaud the authors’ scoping review for adding to the literature on political determinants of health but note the narrow frame on welfare policy could be usefully expanded to other areas of public policy. We examine three of such areas: the extent to which policy protects those who are different from mainstream society in terms of race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality; the debate between free trade and protectionism; and the rejection of climate change science by many PRRPs. Our analysis concludes that PRRPs promote agendas which are antithetical to eco-socially just population health, and conclude for a call for more research on the political determinants of health.

scholarly journals Causes and consequences of the rise of populist radical right parties and movements in Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 909-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Muis ◽  
Tim Immerzeel
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Supply Side ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Supply Side Factors

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.

scholarly journals The Multifaceted Pathways Linking Populism to Ethnic Minority Health Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karien Stronks ◽  
Charles Agyemang
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Minority Health ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Interdisciplinary Teams ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
The Impact

Based on a scoping review of empirical studies accompanied by interviews with experts, Rinaldi and Bekker studied the impact of populist radical right (PRR) parties on access to welfare provisions – the latter standing proxy for population health and for health inequalities in particular. We argue that populism can impact on migrant and ethnic minority health in multiple ways, in addition to the welfare mechanism specified in that review. These include institutionalised discrimination affecting individuals’ positions in the social hierarchy, experiences of discrimination in interpersonal relationships, and a weakened legitimacy of health policies. Interdisciplinary teams that include public health scholars and political scientists should take up the challenge of understanding migrant and ethnic minority health from a systems perspective.

scholarly journals Who Deserves Welfare and Who Does Not? Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Muis
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Main Claim ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Short Commentary ◽  
Radical Right Parties

To what extent has the rise of populist radical right (PRR) parties in Europe affected welfare policies? Based on a scoping review of studies that address the relationship between PRR parties and welfare policy, Chiara Rinaldi and Marleen Bekker conclude that, due to their welfare chauvinistic positions, the participation of PRR parties in government coalitions is likely to have negative effects on the access to welfare provisions and health of vulnerable population groups. This short commentary reflects on this review article and critically examines its conclusion. It suggests some conceptual clarifications, raises some reservations about the review’s main claim, and provides some follow-up questions.

scholarly journals Issue Competition and the Social Construction of Target Populations: Alternative Suggestions for the Study of the Influence of Populist Radical Right Parties on Health Policy and Health Outcomes Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Clavier ◽  
Elisabeth Martin ◽  
France Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Good Proxy

Rinaldi and Bekker ask whether populist radical right (PRR) parties have an influence on population health and health equity. The assumption is that this influence is negative, but mediated by political system characteristics. Starting from the authors’ premise that the positions of PRR parties on welfare policies are a good proxy for health outcomes, we build on political science literature to suggest further avenues for research. The equivocal relationship between political parties and the ownership of specific healthcare, health insurance and public health issues invites studies that break down party positions relating to different health policy issues. As policy-makers use social representations of target populations to make policy decisions and anticipate the feedback these decisions might generate, it is worth studying how PRR parties influence societal, institutional and partisan perceptions of deserving and undeserving populations, even when they are not in government

scholarly journals The impact of Populist Radical Right Parties on socio-economic policies

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonce Röth ◽  
Alexandre Afonso ◽  
Dennis C. Spies
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
The Impact

Because they are now members of most Western European parliaments, Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) have the potential to influence the formulation of socio-economic policies. However, scholarly attention so far has nearly exclusively focussed on the impact of PRRPs on what is considered their ‘core issue’, that is migration policy. In this paper, we provide the first mixed methods comparative study of the impact of PRRPs on redistributive and (de-)regulative economic policies. Combining quantitative data with qualitative case studies, our results show that the participation of PRRPs in right-wing governments has noteworthy implications for socio-economic policies. Due to the heterogeneous constituencies of PRRPs, these parties not only refrain from welfare state retrenchment but are also less inclined to engage in deregulation compared with right-wing governments without PRRP participation.

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