The populist radical right in government: The structure and agency of success and failure

Abstract

Since the 1990s populist radical right (PRR) parties have experience considerable electoral success. With political success the PRR has also gained formal political power by participating in coalition governments in Austria, Switzerland and Italy, as well as informal power, by supporting center-right governments in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. This article examines the conditions that shape the success and failure of PRR in their attempts to transition from opposition to government. The article focuses on four cases: three successes – the Swiss People's Party, the Lega Nord and the Danish People's Party and one failure – the Austrian Freedom Party. In order to explain the success and failure of the PRR in government, this articles combine insights from structure and agency approaches. Structural approaches focus on three aspects of the party environment: the PRR's electoral success relative to other parties; policy convergence between PRR and established parties; and the growing numerical importance of the PRR for coalition formation, especially within the context of close elections and, in some cases, bipolarizing party systems. However, the article argues that the structural approach, on its own, does not explain the electoral success and failure of the PRR parties in government. In order to explain success and failure in government, insights from agency approaches are required. Three criteria are crucial: ‘keeping one foot in government and one foot out’, maintaining control over their policy agenda, and a well-organized party.