A populist foreign policy? The influence of the Freedom Party on Austria’s foreign policy

Research on the nexus of populism and foreign policy has taught us much about populists’ conduct of international affairs. Yet, we still lack distinctive categories characterizing the foreign policy conceptions of populist and radical-right parties (PRRP). Furthermore, the impact of these actors on foreign policy as well as the question of how to measure this impact are still unanswered. Examining the populist and radical-right Freedom Party’s participation in the Austrian government from 2017 to 2019, and applying qualitative content analysis as well as quantitative text analysis to government programs and official press releases, this article seeks to address this research gap and to answer the following questions: (i) what are the distinctive characteristics of a PRRP’s foreign policy conception?; (ii) what impact does such a party in government have on a country’s foreign policy, at least at the rhetorical level?; and (iii) how can we measure both the characteristics and the impact? Results indicate that PRRP do not only have a rhetorical impact on a country’s foreign policy but also influence its foreign policy conduct.