Localism as a Strategy: Strategic Adaptation by Populist Radical Right Parties in Italy and France

As populist parties broaden their support base and enter government, new challenges arise, requiring fresh strategic approaches. To reach new groups of voters, populists must balance overcoming a radical reputation while maintaining their core base. Transitioning from opposition into government, they seek to deliver on their distinctive promises while managing the new demands of office. We argue that adopting a “localist” focus in policy offers particular advantages to populist parties during this phase of maturation and the associated balancing acts. This paper examines two cases of populist radical right parties - the Lega in Italy and the Rassemblement National in France - seeking to expand their support into new geographical areas previously dominated by centre-left parties (Tuscany and Nord-Pas-de-Calais), while entering local government there for the first time. Theoretically, we integrate the literature on symbolic policy-making with research on the boundary-making function of identity, conceptualising “localism” as an identity-centred policy strategy with significant political consequences. Drawing on party documents and elite interviews, we conduct a qualitative analysis of the policies of the Italian and French populist radical right local governments, in order to identify the distinct forms of localism adopted by both parties. We argue that the Rassemblement National successfully adapted its party ideology to the local context, generating distinct advantages and sustaining successes locally with broader positive political repercussions, whereas the Lega’s attempt at such a localist adaptation faltered. This paper shows how localism functions as a strategy to forge bonds with local populations, overcoming prior political allegiances through identity-based appeals. Examining policies through this lens helps to explain the divergent fortunes of populist parties in municipal electoral politics and contributes to our understanding of their successes and failures in local governance.