Mainstreaming of European populist parties? An analysis of the mainstreaming thesis through the diversification of populist policy agendas

This research aims to analyse the hypothetical mainstreaming of populist parties as a consequence of their electoral growth and their participation in government institutions. Inspired by the differentiation between niche and mainstream parties in the literature, the mainstreaming of populist parties will be analysed through two mechanisms: i) the thematic diversification of their policy agendas; and ii) the emphasis on economic issues. By diversifying their policy agendas and paying greater attention to economic issues, populist parties can signal to voters that they are capable of dealing with a wide range of problems and of meeting the responsibilities that government requires. At the same time, and especially in the case of the populist radical right, emphasising other issues outside the dimension in which they usually compete could serve to de-radicalise their image without having to change their positions on their core issues (e.g., immigration). To this end, this research will analyse a sample of European populist parties using the Comparative Manifesto Project database.