When do they put all of their eggs in one basket? past election result, issue salience, and the nicheness of radical right-wing parties

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhen do radical right-wing parties (RRPs) become more or less niche? In other words, when do they restrict their policy platform and emphasize their core issues (e.g. immigration) more or expand their policy platform incorporating other, particularly traditional socioeconomic issues? Using data on party manifestos and public opinion in Western Europe between 1980 and 2017, we find that in response to poor election results, the parties become more niche if the salience of their core issue (immigration) is high among party supporters, but become less niche if the salience is low. This result implies that if mainstream parties can influence the salience of particular issues, they can alter RRPs’ electoral strategy. The result also implies that RRPs will either maintain or even strengthen their niche party characteristics and compete primarily on immigration issues as long as immigration stays as a salient political issue.