Coping with Radical Populist Competition in European Party Systems

Abstract

Extant comparative research on populist radical right parties places much emphasis on their ideological characteristics and the reasons for their success or failure at the polls. Traditionally, instead, less attention has been devoted to the impact of these parties on national political systems. The rise of new radical right parties (e.g. Vox in Spain, AfD in Germany) and the transformation of old ones (e.g. the French National Rally, the League in Italy) once again raise the questions: What are the effects of populist radical right parties on the political system in which they operate? To what extent can these parties influence the choice and strategies of other political parties? Under which conditions do they succeed in changing the framing of public problems and the content of policy agendas? This panel seeks to further this research by looking at the impact of the radical right on party competition and policy-making across Eastern and Western Europe. Specifically, the panel invites papers providing a substantial addition to the research on the consequences of the radical right on: a) the positions, strategies and alliances of mainstream political parties; and b) the content of public and policy agendas on ‘traditional’ (e.g. immigration, law and order) as well as ‘new’ far-right issues (civil rights, climate change).

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