Conceptualizing Extreme Right Parties’ Impact on Immigration

Notwithstanding being the most studied party family in Western Europe, research over the ERPs’ impact on their domestic political systems continues to be considered scarce and limited in terms of scope (Mudde, 2013). To overcome this shortcoming, this paper proposes a comparative qualitative research strategy to evaluate ERP impact on immigration at the domestic level. This proposal includes a tripartite framework drawing on the following analytical dimensions: interparty competition, public opinion, and policy development. This research strategy proposes an interdisciplinary approach combining ERP literature and immigration studies, as the insularity of these two strands of political research hampers a broader understanding of this political process. The comparative qualitative research strategy developed in this paper is based upon the literature on case studies. A small-N research design enhances the assessment of ‘whether and how’ ERP impact took place instead of providing a quantitative estimate of how much casual weight can be associated to the ERPs. Thereby, this paper examines the advantages of employing the proposed research strategy to develop the study of ERP impact on immigration as well as its potential pitfalls. Lastly, this paper explores the relationship between the comparative scope of this research strategy and the understanding of the causal factors that promote the observation of ERP impact on immigration.