Mainstreaming the rebellion? The diversity of anti-establishment normalization strategies in comparative perspective

Anti-establishment politics has itself become an established sight. Capturing the diversity of this mercurial phenomenon nonetheless remains challenging. This is particularly the case once we consider that older and newer anti-establishment parties (AEPs) alike may attempt to normalize their promise of fundamental political change in order to broaden their electoral appeal. This paper explores the diversity behind this strategic communication. Using an original dataset of electoral campaigns by radical right, left and 'centrist' AEPs during 23 elections in 8 countries across Europe 2010-2019 we directly measure how these different actors have actively positioned their promises to bring about fundamental political change in relation to current mainstream principles and vis-à-vis established party politics. We find that AEPs gauged their anti-establishment appeal, attempting to normalize their political supply across and within both these dimensions. Using OLS regression we also find that these normalization strategies were positively and significantly associated with stronger electoral appeal even when correcting for substantive party characteristics. At the same time, the effects of normalization strategies on both dimensions varied for the radical right and left. The findings are important to better understand the diversity, dynamic and impact of anti-establishment politics on European representative democracies in the recent turbulent decade.