Explaining the Success of Neo-Liberal Populist Parties: The Case of Lijst Dedecker in Belgium

Abstract

Neo-liberal populist parties, like Forza Italia or Lijst Pim Fortuyn, aim to reverse the trend towards big government and state intervention while at the same time defending the ‘ordinary people’ against an allegedly ‘corrupt elite’. While it is possible to distinguish neo-liberal populism from the populist radical right, it is less clear whether the causes of their electoral successes might be differentiated as well. This article attempts to explain the unexpected breakthrough of the neo-liberal populist Lijst Dedecker (LDD), a new party which gained representation in the Belgian parliament in 2007. It is argued that LDD profited from an electoral opportunity structure – that is, an ideological gap between the mainstream parties, which had converged to the centre, and the Vlaams Belang on the radical right – and the populist appeal from its charismatic leader. Both the populist radical right and neo-liberal populism seem to profit mainly from the same breeding ground.