A giant with feet of clay. A dynamic life cycle approach to the rise and fall of the Vlaams Belang

Through a study of the Belgian Vlaams Blok/Belang (VB) this paper develops a political sociology of the far right beyond static demand and supply explanations. Our argument is that conditions underlying the rise, success and decline of the VB are dynamic and interactive. These conditions relate to political opportunity structure, as well as the party’s mobilisation structure and (ethno-populist) framing. Furthermore, we argue that the relative importance of these individual conditions varied during the life cycle of the VB, which can be divided into phases of formation and breakthrough (1979-1991); success and consolidation (1991-2006); and decline (2006-2015). As the VB can in many ways be considered a typical populist radical right party which has gone through all phases of the life cycle, this paper has important implications for the study of comparable cases beyond Belgium.