Between Ideology and Strategy: Analyzing Party Rhetoric and Positional Adaptation in European Politics

Abstract

Understanding when, how, and why political parties deploy specific rhetorical strategies has become increasingly urgent as populist and radical parties reshape European politics. This panel examines the strategic and ideological factors that drive party communication and positional adaptation, employing cutting-edge computational text analysis methods to analyze millions of speeches, parliamentary debates, and party documents across multiple countries and time periods. The panel addresses key questions about the relationship between party ideology, internal cohesion, institutional context, and rhetorical choices. It investigates how populist actors frame contentious policy domains such as climate change and European integration, revealing the interplay between "thin" populist ideology and "thick" left-right orientations. The analysis extends to examining what factors such as party affiliation, government status, electoral proximity influence politicians' strategic deployment of populist rhetoric in formal parliamentary settings. Additionally, the panel explores how internal party unity on European integration shapes mainstream parties' competitive responses to radical right challengers, and whether European integration itself functions as a polarizing force among different voter constituencies. Moving beyond traditional parliamentary arenas, the panel also examines how populist radical right parties navigate the challenge of transnational outreach, engaging with non-resident citizens in contexts where expatriate communities represent both opportunities and constraints. By integrating large-scale computational analysis with qualitative methods including interviews and document analysis, the panel reveals the complex calculus behind party positioning.

Title	Details
Populist radical right parties abroad? Analysing how they engage with non-resident citizens	View Paper Details
When do Politicians Use Populist Rhetoric? Evidence from Italy	View Paper Details
Does Europe divide? Affective Dynamics of Polarization in Lithuania	View Paper Details
Contesting the Green Deal: An Investigation of the Populist Discourse of Discontent Towards EU Climate Policies in Italy.	View Paper Details
United We Stand Still? Party Unity and Positional Accommodation on European Integration	View Paper Details