Chasing the Other \u201cPopulist Zeitgeist\u201d? Mainstream Parties and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism

Michael Bayerlein

doi:10.1007/s11615-021-00299-x

Abstract

This article answers the question of why certain European mainstream parties have changed their policy positions on the GAL-TAN (Green/Alternative/Libertarian vs. Traditional/Authoritarian/Nationalist) dimension in recent years. I argue that these changes can be explained through the electoral success of new right-wing populist parties and the ideological proximity of conservative mainstream parties towards these parties. These arguments were tested with econometric models of mainstream parties’ policy positions in 11 Western European democracies between 2002 and 2019. The results indicate that mainstream parties chase the other “populist zeitgeist” by changing their policy positions on the GAL–TAN dimension in response to the electoral success of right-wing populist parties. Mainstream parties respond to this threat by closing the distance to these parties on the GAL–TAN dimension. However, this responsiveness is largely constrained to conservative mainstream parties. The findings have important implications for understanding mainstream party responsiveness towards rivalling right-wing populist parties.

Highlights

In recent years, several European mainstream parties1 have turned towards more nationalist policy positions, with the Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) campaigning for tightening the national asylum law in the 2017 Austrian national election, the British Conservative Party leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union (EU), and the Danish Venstre (V) closing the borders to control the inflow of migrants, to name only a few examples
The results indicate that mainstream parties chase the other “populist zeitgeist” by changing their policy positions on the GAL–TAN dimension in response to the electoral success of right-wing populist parties
Several European mainstream parties1 have turned towards more nationalist policy positions, with the Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) campaigning for tightening the national asylum law in the 2017 Austrian national election, the British Conservative Party leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union (EU), and the Danish Venstre (V) closing the borders to control the inflow of migrants, to name only a few examples

Summary

Introduction

Several European mainstream parties have turned towards more nationalist policy positions, with the Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) campaigning for tightening the national asylum law in the 2017 Austrian national election, the British Conservative Party leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union (EU), and the Danish Venstre (V) closing the borders to control the inflow of migrants, to name only a few examples. 543), according to which it is a thin ideology that considers society to be “separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, ‘the pure people’ versus ‘the corrupt elite.’” The defining characteristic of right-wing populist parties is that they take strong conservative and nationalist positions and emphasise traditional cultural and moral values, national self-interest and identity, and authority (Rydgren 2005) This makes RWPPs a new party type because they combine the issues of old radical right-wing parties with new right-wing GAL–TAN positions and a populist rhetoric that centres around the alleged failure of “the elites” to address the policy preference of “the people” on the GAL–TAN dimension (Zaslove 2008). I estimate econometric models concerned with the responsiveness of 25 mainstream parties on the GAL–TAN dimension towards the electoral success of RWPPs in 11 European countries between 2002 and 2019

The GAL–TAN Dimension in the European Policy Space

Mainstream Parties and the Other “Populist Zeitgeist”

Operationalisation and Data

Results

Robustness of Results

Conclusion