scholarly journals Between strategy and protest: how policy demand, political dissatisfaction and strategic incentives matter for far-right voting

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Political Dissatisfaction ◽  
Strategic Incentives ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
European Election

AbstractWhat attracts voters to far-right parties? Emphasizing the repercussions of far-right parties' past achievements on the mobilization of voters' electoral demand, this paper develops an argument of context-dependent strategic far-right voting. Far-right parties seek to mobilize on a combination of demand for nativist policies and anti-establishment protest sentiment. Their capacity of doing so, however, critically depends on the strategic incentives they supply. My findings from a comparative analysis based on six waves of the European Election Study show that far-right parties' past attainment of legislative strength boosts the credibility of their policy appeal and broadens the scope of their protest appeal whereas their participation in government jeopardizes their capacity to mobilize on popular discontent.

Ideological voting for radical right parties in Europe

Acta Politica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Ortiz Barquero ◽  
Antonia María Ruiz Jiménez ◽  
Manuel Tomás González-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Party Systems ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Election Study ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Political Dissatisfaction ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
European Election ◽  
Ideological Voting

AbstractThe aim of this research is to examine to what extent the electoral support for radical right parties (RRPs) is driven by ‘policy voting’ and to compare this support with that of centre-right parties. Using the European Election Study 2019, we focus on six party systems: Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Our analyses reveal that party preferences for RRPs are better explained by policy considerations than by other alternative explanations (e.g. by ‘globalization losers’ or ‘protest voting’). Additionally, the results show that although preferences for both party families are mainly rooted in ‘policy voting’, notable differences emerge when looking at the role of specific policy dimensions. Overall, these findings suggest that the support for RRPs cannot be understood fundamentally as a mere reaction against economic pauperization or political dissatisfaction but instead as an ideological decision based on rational choice models.

Les élections européennes de 1989 : Analyse des résultats pour la Belgique

Res Publica ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-564
Author(s):  
William Fraeys
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Marked Rise ◽  
Capital Region ◽  
The Third ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
European Election ◽  
Walloon Region ◽  
Political Origins

Organized for the third time, the elections for the European Parliament at direct universal suffrage, in June 1989, had the following main characteristics: a still weak turnout, a progress for the socialist parties in most countries, a rather distinct rise of the Environmentalists and an indisputable rise of some far-right parties.In Belgium, the results cannot be compared exclusively with those of the 1984 European election. They must be seen in the continuation of the 1985 and 1987 general elections.Then, the main characteristics are as follows : a near disappearance of the farleft lists associated with the absence of communist lists, a very marked rise of the Environmentalists, stronger in the Walloon Region than in Flanders, a progress for the Christian lists, especially for the C.V.P. in the Flemish districts, a setback for the Flemisch Socialists and a progress for the French-speaking Socialists in comparison with the 1984 poll. This progress, however, was not important enough as to enable them to regain their 1987 level. The Liberals are experiencing a setback compared with 1987 in the three regions of the country and, as far as the P.R.L. is concerned, even in comparison with 1984 and 1985.The Volksunie is suffering a serious setback, that is certainly benefitting to the Vlaams Blok, which, however, is also attracting voters from different political origins on issues similar to those of the far right.The analysis also contains a comparison between the results of the European election and those of the election for the Council of the Brussels-Capital Region, in a set of three districts where the voters were exactly the same.

Issue Yield: A Model of Party Strategy in Multidimensional Space

2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 870-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
LORENZO DE SIO ◽  
TILL WEBER
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Multidimensional Space ◽  
Multidimensional Model ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Simple Index ◽  
Party Strategy ◽  
European Election ◽  
Issue Emphasis

Parties in pluralist democracies face numerous contentious issues, but most models of electoral competition assume a simple, often one-dimensional structure. We develop a new, inherently multidimensional model of party strategy in which parties compete by emphasizing policy issues. Issue emphasis is informed by two distinct goals: mobilizing the party's core voters and broadening the support base. Accommodating these goals dissolves the position-valence dichotomy through a focus on policies that unite the party internally while also attracting support from the electorate at large. We define issue yield as the capacity of an issue to reconcile these criteria, and then operationalize it as a simple index. Results of multilevel regressions combining population survey data and party manifesto scores from the 2009 European Election Study demonstrate that issue yield governs party strategy across different political contexts.

scholarly journals Workers’ EU political alignments during the Great Recession

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Freire ◽  
Luís Cabrita ◽  
Mariana Carmo Duarte ◽  
Hugo Ferrinho Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
The Other ◽  
Election Study ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Political Alignments ◽  
European Election ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

Using data from the European Election Study 2014, this article focuses on workers’ EU political alignments during the Great Recession. It deals with two research questions. First, how does the attitude of (manual) workers towards the EU compare to that of the middle and upper classes in the aftermath of the Great Recession? Second, when it comes to workers’ support for the EU, are there systematic differences between countries affected by the crisis? The article finds that, on the one hand, in terms of patterns of workers’ EU political alignments, there are no systematic differences between countries affected to varying degrees by the Great Recession. On the other hand, workers still feel fundamentally detached from the EU, especially when it comes to the manual workers. However, high levels of generalised detachment from the EU are not clearly translated into preferences for Eurosceptic parties, since there are high levels of vote fragmentation.

Fiscal solidarity: The conditional role of political knowledge

2020 ◽  
pp. 146511652096775
Author(s):  
Klaus Armingeon
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
The Other ◽  
Independent Effect ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Fiscal Support ◽  
European Election ◽  
The Eu

In order to cope with the economic fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU countries hit hardest by the virus requested fiscal support from the other EU member states. Likewise, the Eurozone arguably depends on some form of a fiscal union. This international redistribution critically depends on citizens’ support. Do politically knowledgeable citizens develop preferences for fiscal redistribution that are different from those of ignorant citizens? Based on the 2014 European Election Study, this article argues that knowledge plays a limited and conditional role. It hardly exerts a systematic independent effect. Rather, it helps crystallize party cues and basic European integration values. My findings are consistent with a theory, according to which knowledge eases the process of rationalizing preferences that originate in previous basic orientations.

scholarly journals Victims of the Pandemic? European Far-Right Parties and COVID-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Wondreys ◽  
Cas Mudde
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Look Ahead

Abstract It has become received wisdom that the pandemic has “exposed” the political incompetence of far-right parties in government and that far-right parties in opposition have become its (first) “victims.” This is largely based on the generalization of one or two individual cases—most notably US president Donald Trump—who is the exception rather than the rule. This article provides a comparative analysis of far-right responses to the COVID-19 pandemic within the European Union. Based on theoretical insights from previous research, we expect the responses to reflect the main ideology and the internal heterogeneity of the contemporary far right as well as to show the increasing mainstreaming of its positions. We analyze four different, but related, aspects: (1) the narratives about COVID-19 from far-right parties; (2) the proposed solutions of far-right parties; (3) the electoral consequences of the pandemic for far-right parties; and (4) the success of far-right parties in dealing with the pandemic. Finally, in the discussion we shortly look ahead at the possible consequences of a highly likely second outbreak of COVID-19.

The Russian Black Hundreds Movement and its Place in the Past and Present of European Populist Parties and Movements: an Exercise in Comparative analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 316-334
Author(s):  
Tony Rocchi
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
European Context ◽  
History Of ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Blank Spot

The history of the prerevolutionary Russian Black Hundreds movement is an integral part of the general European history of populist parties and movements, especially of the far-right type. However, the European context of the Black Hundreds is not reflected in Russian and foreign historiography. This absence of a broader context for the study of the Black Hundreds constitutes a huge blank spot in our understanding of this complex and often contradictory political phenomenon. This article examines the groundbreaking possibilities of studying the Black Hundreds phenomenon in a European context of the history of populist parties and movements. A comparative approach to the study of the Black Hundreds movement would help us to understand many complexities of its history. By doing a comparative analysis of the Black Hundreds with other European far-right populist movements, we can trace elements of similarities and differences and determine elements of Russian uniqueness. The comparative approach helps us to avoid incorrect conclusions about the essence of the Black Hundreds movements. Incorrect conclusions include identifying the Black Hundreds with traditionalist counter-revolutionary movements from the time of the French and other democratic revolutions between 1770 and 1850 or with fascism, National Socialism and related ideologies in the 20th century. Instead, in many ways, the Black Hundreds movements were the forerunners of today’s mass European far-right populist parties and movements and even centrist and leftist populist parties. Populist parties are protest movements against traditional parties across the political spectrum. It is time to explore the Black Hundreds movement as part of the history of populism. Also through the comparative approach, one can determine the place of the Black Hundreds in the European-wide context of the history of European revolutionary, antirevolutionary, and counterrevolutionary movements, nationalism, the consolidation of ethnic and political nations, questions about the identity of individuals, strata, and societies, and the development of nationalist, separatist, autonomist, and regionalist parties and movements. Studying the Black Hundreds in a broad context has a huge current relevance and helps us to sort through the elements of mythmaking in the history of the Black Hundred phenomenon from its origins to the present day.

European Election Study, 1994

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Schmitt ◽  
Cees van der Eijk ◽  
Evi Scholz ◽  
Michael Klein
Keyword(s):  
Election Study ◽  
European Election

Arrived in Power, and Yet Still Disgruntled? How Government Inclusion Moderates ‘Protest Voting’ for Far-Right Populist Parties in Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Jasper Muis ◽  
Tobias Brils ◽  
Teodora Gaidytė
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Political Dissatisfaction

Abstract While debates about far-right populism often concentrate on Central and Eastern Europe, research on these parties predominantly focuses on Western countries. Addressing this remarkable gap, this article revisits the ‘protest voting’ explanation for electoral support for the far right. Using European Social Survey data (2002–16) from 22 countries, we show that political dissatisfaction is a stronger explanatory factor when far-right parties are in opposition, but is a less important determinant of electoral support when they are in government. Previous findings based on Western Europe – which similarly showed that the anti-elite hypothesis is less relevant when far-right parties join government coalitions – travel well to post-communist European countries. In Hungary and Poland, we even find that far-right voters have become less distrustful of national political institutions than the rest of the electorate. Our conclusion implies that anti-elite populism is context-dependent and has limited use for understanding successes of leaders such as Wilders, Salvini and Orbán.

PATTERNS OF DEMOBILIZATION: A QUALITATIVE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (QCA) OF FAR-RIGHT DEMONSTRATION CAMPAIGNS

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-284
Author(s):  
Michael C. Zeller
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Right Action ◽  
Coercive State ◽  
Causal Processes ◽  
Critical Issues

Scholarship on social movement lifecycles has focused on mobilization processes, with relatively less attention on the ends, demobilization. The intuitive connection between origins and ends has sometimes led to a conceptualization of demobilization as simply the failure to continue mobilizing, obscuring the distinct causal processes underlying demobilization. This article adds to recent studies foregrounding demobilization by studying the negative demobilization of large, far-right, demonstration campaigns. Using a subset from this population of cases—campaigns in Germany, England, and Austria between 1990 and 2015—the article applies qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to this causally complex phenomenon. I find that demobilizing is conjunctural, with evidence of four patterns: closing opportunity, coercive state repression, civil countermobilization, and militant anti-far-right action. This article addresses an important—and conspicuously ubiquitous—population of cases, far-right demonstration campaigns and presents findings that reflect on critical issues in the study of far-right sociopolitics.

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