Responses to Parties Challenging Democracy and their Consequences: a Cross-National Comparison

The emergence of extremist or populist political parties in democratic countries brings varied responses from governments, elites, and traditional parties. Some countries have chosen to legally ban these parties from organizing or competing in elections; others have sought to limit their influence and exclude them from government coalitions; still others have accepted them as legitimate governing partners. This paper aims to present a framework for analysis to these questions: what is viewed as a threat to democracy? How can we classify the various responses to challenges to democracy? Empirically, what are the consequences of these responses for the party system, the future electoral fortunes of these parties, and citizen attitudes to the issues promoted by them? In order to investigate this last question, we will rely on cross-national data.