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Supply-Side Determinants of the Anti-Immigration Party Vote in Europe

Elections
Political Competition
Political Parties
Populism
Voting
Immigration
Electoral Behaviour
Voting Behaviour
S60
Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen
Tampere University
Joost van Spanje
Royal Holloway, University of London


Abstract

Chair: Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen, Professor (acting), University of Tampere Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen’s main research interests lie in the fields of political trust, electoral behaviour and radical right. She has published extensively of these topics for instance in European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics, Scandinavian Political Studies and the European Political Science Review. Co-Chair: Joost van Spanje, Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam Joost van Spanje specialises in political, legal and media reactions to new political parties in established democracies. His work has been published in journals such as the European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics and Political Communication. This Section focuses on supply-side determinants of radical anti-immigration party vote. Contributions advance theoretical and conceptual understanding of mechanisms affecting both the vote share of the anti-immigration parties and its variation across countries and over time. Supply-side approaches have traditionally been scarcer in the literature than demand-side studies although the interest in them has increased since the 1990s. Increasing interest is mainly due to the fact that demand-side approaches analysing the changes in the socioeconomic structure are particularly weak in explaining the differences between the countries (e.g. Norris 2005). In the Section, more attention is paid to parties as strategic actors, the political system itself and the constraints that the society at large poses for the anti-immigration party vote. Supply-side explanations have concentrated on the political opportunity structure, the role of the media, national tradition of related political movements in the country and the strength of party organisation and political leadership. This Section brings together a diverse set of theoretical and methodological approaches. It consists of five Panels, each assessing the impact of the most important supply side factors on the anti-immigration party vote and providing new insights to the field. Panel 1: Political opportunity structures and anti-immigration parties Chair: Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, University of Bergen The political opportunity structure refers to the political, economic and social determinants of a particular society, on which the parties themselves do not necessarily have a direct influence. The interest in exploring political opportunity structure in radical right populist studies has largely been directed at three sets of factors: to the opportunities and constraints the platforms and strategies of mainstream parties provide for the anti-immigration parties, the openness of political institutions for new political actors and legal constraints affecting the parties. The Panel discusses what factors should be included to the political opportunity structure of anti-immigration parties and how to operationalise it. Panel 2: Media and anti-immigration parties Chair: Matthijs Rooduijn, University of Amsterdam Media can affect the anti-immigration party performance in several ways. It may exaggerate a local success which escalates to the national elections, or it may capitalise questions related to the issues important for anti-immigration parties, such as immigration, or fuel anti-elitism of the citizens by discussing political scandals. Media may focus not only on parties and on their issues but also on their leaders, giving them more or less visibility and bad press or good evaluations. The Panel provides both comparative and case studies that discuss how media can either intentionally or unintentionally increase the anti-immigration party vote or constrain these parties’ success. Panel 3: Leadership, party organisation and the anti-immigration party vote Chair: David Arter, University of Tampere Leadership is often seen as factor fuelling the success of anti-immigration parties or at least it may function as a catalyst of it when such parties are building their support base. The party leaders are also often seen as a glue that keeps the often competing ideological fractions together. Recently the interest in the strength of the party organisation has been increasing as an explanatory factor. The Papers of the Panel discuss the extent to which and the circumstances under which leadership and organisation matter for anti-immigration parties’ performance in the electoral and parliamentary arenas. Panel 4: Ideological party space and anti-immigration parties Chair: Wouter van der Brug, University of Amsterdam With regard to anti-immigration parties’ electoral success it is often claimed and sometimes shown that the position of moderate right parties are important. One of the reasons why some anti-immigration parties fail while others succeed is in their competitors’ behaviour in general, and proposed policies in particular. The degree to which the centre right copies, takes on or downplays immigration issues and its effects on anti-immigration party electoral performance is topic of discussion of this Panel. Panel 5: Elites’ responses to the presence of anti-immigration parties Chair: Paul Taggart, University of Sussex Anti-immigration parties, wherever and whenever they emerge, evoke strong reactions from the elites. These include political responses such as cordons sanitaires, social responses such as dismissing members from certain jobs, media responses such as stigmatisation, and legal responses such as party bans. The occurrence of these reactions as well as their causes and consequences are being discussed in this Panel.
Code Title Details
P203 Legitimacy, Populism, and Anti-immigration Parties View Panel Details
P221 Media and Anti-immigration Parties View Panel Details