How Anti-European, Populist Parties Campaigned in the 2014 EP Election

Abstract

Over the years the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections has been facing a plethora of challenges. Amongst others, anti-European, populist parties across the EU have been gaining respectable amounts of vote shares. This study sheds light on how anti-European populist parties used classic campaign tools as well as Facebook and Twitter in their 2014 EP election campaigns. Moreover, this work addresses the role these social networking platforms have as strategic communication tools for these parties. To this end, posters, TV spots as well as Facebook and Twitter posts issued by anti-European, populist parties during the six weeks of the 2014 EP election campaign were analyzed. The campaign material originates from five populist parties; namely: FPO in Austria, FN in France, Jobbik in Hungary, SD in Sweden and UKIP in the United Kingdom.