Right-wing Populist Parties in Office: Doomed to Failure?

Focusing on three parties in Italy and Switzerland – the Northern League, the People of Freedom and the Swiss People’s Party – this presentation discusses whether right-wing populists are indeed doomed to failure in office as many scholars and commentators have claimed. Based on extensive original research and fieldwork in the two countries, we show that, in some cases, populist parties can indeed survive the pressures of government, achieving key policy victories, but also making concessions without losing the support of either the voters or those within their parties. Finally, we argue that party organization plays a crucial role in populist success and that research needs now to reflect the fact that many right-wing populist parties in Europe are not episodic, but have been built to last.