Family Values and Populist Parties: The Cases of Niki and AUR

Over the last decades, the rise of post-materialist values has had significant consequences for what could be classified as traditional or materialist values, as populist parties have attempted to instrumentalise political opportunities. Moreover, when the discussion turned to women's rights regarding abortion and LGBTQI rights, populists allied with the Church, supporting traditional values. The 'populist parties-Church' alliance is a dynamic that is particularly pronounced in countries with high levels of religiosity and susceptibility to populist politics. This is evident in countries such as Greece and Romania, which are predominantly Christian Orthodox nations where the Church exerts significant influence over social and political life. In the context of family values, the Church actively opposes measures that seek to liberalise rights, instead aligning itself with political parties that share its conservative stance. In recent years, new political opportunities have emerged as ultra-religious parties have debuted in Greece and Romania. The Greek 'Niki' (Victory) and the Romanian 'AUR' are two such parties that entered the political arena after 2020. These parties have made the defence of Christian faith and family their primary focus, forming a powerful alliance to counter the post-materialist shift with traditional values. Considering this observation and the phenomenical similarities between the parties, the current research will question, 'How are family values presented in the parties' manifestos?' Answering this question will help us further explore how similar religious backgrounds can mobilise rhetoric that acknowledges a specific core of family values when ultra-religious populist parties use them. The data will be collected from the parties' manifestos and official announcements and will be accessible on their websites. The applied methodology is constructivist grounded theory, and MAXQDA will help categorise, analyse, and visualise the data.