The Transnational Dimension of Right-Wing Populism: A Comparative Analysis of the Nordic Countries

Right-wing populist parties connect transitionally more than some decades ago. This is also the case in the Nordic region, where right-wing populist parties – the Progress Party, Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats and the True Finns – have emerged as fairly institutionalized and influential political forces in recent years. We analyze the extent to which this development been facilitated by transnational linkages. More specifically, following Schain et al. (2002), we look at whether a right-wing populist party in one country has have contributed to the success of a right-wing populist party in another country by (a) providing economic and human resources, (b) serving as role-models in terms of ideology, organization and strategy, and/or (c) facilitating processes of becoming an acceptable party. Regarding the two latter mechanisms, we distinguish between direct and indirect cross-national diffusion effects. We combine unique data from autobiographies of current and previous party leaders, interviews with key party officials and a complete set of party magazines published since the late 1990s.