European Party Research Articles

Explaining the electoral performance of radical right parties in Europe (2008-2019): a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Although radical right parties have been extensively examined since their significant breakthrough in the European political arena in the late 80s, not enough attention has been paid to the reasons behind their unequal electoral performance (or in other words, to the cross-national and within-national variations of their success). The aim of this research is to identify the different scenarios of electoral success for radical right parties in ten European countries between 2008 and 2019. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) -a case-oriented technique which allows in-depth comparative examination and which is based on the concepts of equifinality and causal heterogeneity- we test the role of several causal conditions related to demand-side and supply-side explanations. Our results reveal four sufficient causal paths that lead to the success of these parties, which confirm that they are able to achieve relevance in quite diverse contexts. The four paths combine both demand-side and supply-side conditions, but the role of the latter is qualitative and quantitative more important. In particular, we see how radical right parties can effectively take advantage of favorable political competitive dynamics, even in the absence of a priori favorable socio-economic context. Overall, our findings run contrary to some mechanistic explanations in the literature and support the idea of conceiving the radical right parties as a complex, multiform phenomenon which requires both theoretical and methodological innovations.

Book Review: Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe

Book Review: Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe

Personal Values Priorities and Support for Populism in Europe—An Analysis of Personal Motivations Underpinning Support for Populist Parties in Europe

Several studies have shown that there are populist attitudes associated with voting for these parties, across left‐ and right‐wing ideologies. As political attitudes and opinions are rooted in people’s personal values, this study analyzes the commonalities in the values priorities of populist supporters. The values underlying the vote for populists are reflected in the ideological core of populism, the antagonistic divide between “us”—the people—and “them”—the foreigners and the elite. This article theorizes that voting for populist parties is linked with lower support for self‐transcendent values, as they express altruism, tolerance, and pluralism, contradicting the populist claims of exclusionist power of the “people” over “the others.” Evidence of this relationship is found using European Social Survey data. The study applies logistic multilevel and multinomial regression models. Findings confirm that voting for populist parties is associated with lower support for self‐transcendent values and high support in conservation values, across left and right ideologies.

An ideology-critical examination of the cultural heritage policies of the Sweden Democrats

ABSTRACT Cultural heritage is increasingly used as a political force to achieve societal goals. This is specifically noticeable in the rhetoric of right-wing nationalist parties in Europe. Cultural heritage and ‘politics of the past’ have become key tools in explicit nationalist agendas and right-wing politicians are using cultural heritage to attract disenchanted voters. But how is cultural heritage constructed through these processes? The aim of this paper is to explore the constructions and uses of cultural heritage within the Swedish nationalist party the Sweden Democrats (SD). With non-government bills formulated by the Sweden Democrats as a point of departure, the paper illustrates how an ideological fantasy is reproduced, which is based on establishing a direct connection between the party’s seemingly non-ideological ideology and ideas about an authentic Swedish cultural heritage. The latter reflects a ‘return’ to neorigorism, which refers to the belief in cultural heritage as an objective, given, and non-negotiable, phenomenon.

Depending on the web: discussing the technological support for parties' survival

PurposeIn this article, the author discusses the influence of technological development on the survival of European parties since the Second World War.Design/methodology/approachThe database comprises more than 200 parties and the political forces observed in 20 countries.FindingsThe author find that Internet users as a proportion of the population and a higher value of secure servers in an economy tend to strengthen the duration of parties since their first electoral participation.Originality/valueThis is the first paper discussing parties' survival in democratic regimens as depending on the technological development.

ON THE INTERACTION OF EURO PARTIES WITH PARTIES FROM THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES. PART 2

The article analyzes the results of cooperation of one of the leading pan-European political organizations – the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) with its partners in the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), with which ALDE has established cooperation and even accepted to become its members. The profiles of these organizations and their leaders were studied, including the results of their participation in national parliamentary, presidential and local elections, as well as interaction with other political forces of their countries to form electoral and ruling coalitions. Information is provided on when these parties became members of ALDE and what status they have today in this European Party. The main provisions of the program documents of these parties, which reflect their pro-European choice, are given. A number of resolutions adopted by the ALDE Council, which is the main governing body of this party, were considered, which concerned the situation in the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program and the support of their partner parties. It is shown how ALDE’s strategy regarding cooperation with parties from the Eastern Partnership member countries has changed depending on the results of their participation in parliamentary and presidential elections. It is noted that ALDEэs initial bet on cooperation with the former heads of these states, or well-known politicians, and the parties headed by them did not justify itself in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It is assumed that ALDE has recently changed its policy and is now betting on new parties led by young pro-European-oriented politicians, but it is not yet clear whether such a change in the paradigm of cooperation will justify itself

Social Media and Political Communication of Youth Political Organisations in Slovakia, Czechia and European Level: A Cross-Case Analysis

This is an exploratory cross-case analysis of political communication strategies of selected youth political organizations on the social network Facebook. The main objectives of this paper are to capture the topics and frequency of posting of Youth Political Organization on Facebook. Secondary, the study aims to capture the analytical approach categories/objectives: themes and actors. It focuses on the 3-month period from December 2020 to February 2021. Relevant youth political organizations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic are compared with youth political organizations operating at the European level. The organizations either belong directly to the kin political party or have the status of a supporting organization. At the European level, they are also affiliated to a European political party or are a supporting organization of a European political party. The data source is the official profiles of youth political organizations on the social network Facebook. Data processing is based on content analysis of published posts. Content analysis focuses on topics, the frequency of topics, the occurrence of keywords in the overall set of posts, and identifying attitudes to topics. The obtained data are evaluated by descriptive statistics. The presentation of the data is supplemented by tables, including graphical processing using the Voyant Tools text analysis tool. Key findings indicate that COVID-19 pandemic is the most communicated topic both on national and European level. Czech and Slovak cases seek to gain support or create conflict based on selected topics, while European level forms an area of cooperation among organizations.

Climate change experiences raise environmental concerns and promote Green voting

Public support is fundamental in scaling up actions to limit global warming. Here, we analyse how the experience of climate extremes influences people’s environmental attitudes and willingness to vote for Green parties in Europe. To this end, we combined high-resolution climatological data with regionally aggregated, harmonized Eurobarometer data (34 countries) and European Parliamentary electoral data (28 countries). Our findings show a significant and sizeable effect of temperature anomalies, heat episodes and dry spells on environmental concern and voting for Green parties. The magnitude of the climate effect differs substantially across European regions. It is stronger in regions with a cooler Continental or temperate Atlantic climate and weaker in regions with a warmer Mediterranean climate. The relationships are moderated by regional income level suggesting that climate change experiences increase public support for climate action but only under favourable economic conditions. The findings have important implications for the current efforts to promote climate action in line with the Paris Agreement.

Vanguard or business-as-usual? ‘New’ movement parties in comparative perspective

The recent success of new movement parties in Europe brought the attention of party politics scholars to this hybrid party type. There are still many under-analysed theoretical and empirical aspects related to their organization and this article aims to show that despite sharing older movement parties’ traits, these ‘new’ movement parties introduce for the first time a unique combination of plebiscitarian intra-party democracy and party leadership empowerment. The implications of these findings are twofold: first, despite promoting intra-party democracy mainly through new digital tools, the main function of party membership is that of cheerleading; second, the leadership exercises strict control over the organization, thus restricting bottom-up ‘voice’ from the rank-and-file.

The role of political parties in multi-level environmental governance in the European Union and Germany

The subject of the study is the involvement of political parties in multi-level environmental governance in the European Union, using Germany and its federal states as an example. This article describes the theoretical and practical foundations of multi-level governance. The place of European parties and their national member parties from Germany in the institutional system and decision-making process of environmental policy has been defined. For practical illustration, the climate policy guidelines of Germany’s main national parties (the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Alternative for Germany, the Free Democratic Party of Germany, the Left and the Alliance 90 / The Greens) and their European affiliations (the European People’s Party, the Party of the European Socialists, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, the European Green Party and the Party of European Left) were compared with an emphasis on the new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The unique opportunity for parties to participate in environmental policymaking at all key levels, which is not limited to parliamentary institutions has been highlighted. Appointments to environmental positions at different levels often correlate with membership of the most environmentally oriented parties, although the level of environmental involvement may differ between national parties and their European affiliations. Among other things, this has to do with participation in governing coalitions and dependence on a senior partner in them, as shown by the examples of the Bundestag and the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg. The final decision depends heavily on the unity of the coalition at federal and state level, whereas in the European Parliament there is a great differentiation of opinions, which allows even the most influential European People’s Party to be blocked from voting.

Measures of Populism in the CHES 2017 Dataset

Populism is a fuzzy concept in world politics; it can take many shapes and colors, thus evading rigorous definition. Using expert evaluations provided in Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) 2017 data, we try to identify features that predict populism and to characterize various European parties on a populism scale. As a byproduct, we find that experts have often diverging opinions on a party’s stance on various issues. Keywords: populism, CHES 2017, EU politics

Общеевропейское политическое пространство: от идеи к реальности

The article examines the processes of formation and institutionalization of the pan-European political space as an important element of the political system of the European Union. The main theoretical approaches to the study of this problem are presented. The analysis of the Europeanization process and its possible influence on the formation of this space is given. The attitude to this process on the part of the EU political elite, as well as ordinary European citizens, is shown. It is demonstrated that the political institutions of the European Union and the European integration itself influence the political culture, the formation of a common European identity of citizens and their political attitudes. The basic principles and elements of the pan-European political space, including pan-European institutions, political parties, mass media, etc., are described, particularly from the perspective of proponents of various description models, inter alia the models of liberal representation, participatory democracy and deliberative democracy. The main aspects of the evolution of the European Union party and political system, which is an important element of the pan-European political space, are presented. It has been noted that since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the European parties have significantly increased their role and influence in the pan-European political system. An attempt is made to understand how the elements and models interact with each other, what the positions of specific European parties and their factions in the European Parliament are considering the future EU development. The importance of successful implementation of the “Spitzenkandidaten principle” was specified, which will allow the European party leaders and their election manifestos to become better known and understood not only by politicized voters, but also by a majority of the electorate. The role and influence of the media and cultural sphere on the formation of this space are analyzed.

Towards the essence, importance and rethinking of the phenomenon of party government in European representative democracies.

The article is devoted to analyzing the nature and attributes of party government and party governance in European representative democracies, in particular at the background of the relationship between the state, parties and civil society. As a result, attributes have been identified that indicate the expediency of forming party governments for representative democracies, but also some defective manifestations of party government and alternatives to party government have been outlined. On this basis, it is stated that party governments are the “standard” of representative democracies among European countries, although they are or may be characterized by both immanent and congenital defects and distortions associated with the phenomenon of party patronage, the difference between political and bureaucratic components of governance, “decline” or “crisis” of the concept and phenomena of party in Europe, etc. In other words, it is specified that visually, constructively and by the nature of parliamentary support, party governments have been and remain predominant ones in European representative democracies, but they have more and more obvious alternatives, including in the format of non-party and semi-party governments.

The Transnational Networks of the European Radical Populist Right and the Beacon of Hungarian Illiberal Democracy

Radical right parties in Europe have been in negotiations since 2018 in order to form a single, unified group in the European Parliament. Today, there are two competing caucuses: one, which is considered the “extreme right” by European standards; and another, which is a collection of far-right, Euroskeptic parties. A unified caucus would challenge the leadership of mainstream conservatives and Christian Democrats in the Parliament and be a show of strength by the radical right. For those who are at the origin of this attempt, namely Marine Le Pen from the French National Rally and Matteo Salvini, leader of the Italian Lega, the goal is also to mainstream their ideology by reaching an alliance with the Hungarian Fidesz party and the Polish Law and Justice Party. Both have become the beacons of illiberal democracy and role models for Western parties that used to be labeled “extreme right” and in need of a break from their past. However, tactical as well as ideological issues have, so far, prevented this unification of the radical right from becoming a reality.

Evrostranke u sistemu predstavničke demokratije Evropske unije - u traganju za identitetom

The Lisbon Treaty stipulates that the functioning of the European Union will be based on representative democracy. The main bearers of representative democracy should be political parties, in this case European political parties. Therefore, the subject of this paper is the position of European parties in the political system of the European Union. The basic question is whether the Europarties are able to contribute to the democratic functioning of the political system of the European Union and thus build their recognizable identity. If we take into account the existing constitutional order of the European Union and the place of political parties in it, it is obvious that they are not able to contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the political will of the Union citizens.

Nakon oluje: stranački sustavi u Južnoj Europi nakon eurokrize

For years, the countries of Southern Europe have struggled with the consequences of the sovereign debt crisis. Under external pressure they enacted harsh austerity measures which resulted in shaken trust in the European Union, new protest movements and the entrance of new political parties in legislatures and governments. A decade later, this paper poses the question whether the storm of the European sovereign debt crisis has left an impact on Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The article focuses on changes on the macro-level and analyzes party system changes with the help of data from the CMP/MARPOR dataset. The paper deals with changes in the attitude towards the European Union, the position on the left-right scale (RILE), as well as economic and welfare policy. The analysis has shown a weak decrease in positive attitudes towards the EU in Italy, a moderate leftward shift of the Spanish party system, as well as a moderate decrease in positive attitudes towards the role of the state in the economy in the Greek case. In conclusion, one can say that ten years after the European sovereign debt crisis it is not possible to speak of drastic party system change in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and that external pressure has not succeeded in having an impact on the fact that Southern European party systems are, in general, titled towards the left.

ON THE INTERACTION OF EURO PARTIES WITH PARTIES FROM THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES. PART 1

The article analyzes the results of cooperation between two leading pan-European political organizations – the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES) with their counterparts in the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), except Azerbaijan. It is considered with which political forces and why the EPP and the PES have established interaction and even accepted them into their membership. The profiles of these political organizations were studied, including the results of their participation in the national parliamentary and presidential elections and interaction with other political forces of their countries on the formation of ruling coalitions. Information is provided on when these parties joined, respectively, the EPP and the PES, and what status they have today in these European structures. The main provisions of the resolutions of the governing bodies of the EPN and the PES concerning the situation in the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program and the support of their partner parties in these countries are presented. It shows how the foreign policy course of the Eastern Partnership member countries changed after political organizations that closely cooperate with their European counterparts came to power. It is noted that in almost all of these countries there has recently been a steady desire to strengthen political and economic partnership with the European Union and Western countries in general. And only one country. Georgia is still trying to maintain a balance in relations with Western countries and Russia. Key words: European parties, party system, Eastern Partnership program, elections.

Not the Far-Right Only: Which Parties Occupy the Niche of Cultural Protectionism in the EU Countries?

In the 2010s many moderate parties in Europe began to use the agenda of the far-rights, competing with them on the same field. This article is devoted to the problem of inter-party competition in European countries amidst the rise of far-right parties. We also intended to check if the far-right profile is the same for all EU countries. To achieve the goal of the study, we used two databases on party positioning - MARPOR (Comparative Manifesto Project) and CHES (Chapel Hill Expert Survey). The study revealed that the consolidated family of the far-rights exists only in the countries of North-Western Europe, while in the countries of East-Central Europe the agenda of the far-rights is less consolidated and regionally heterogeneous. The mainstream competitors of the far-rights included mostly conservatives in North-Western Europe, and various parties, including the Social Democrats, in East-Central Europe. The study confirmed the hypothesis about the serious influence of the far-rights on mainstream politics. At the same time, it questioned the traditional approach which attributes the far-right profile only to far-right parties and ignores both regional differences and the factor of spatial competition.

Trumpism and the European Far Right: An Analysis of Trumpism’s Impact on the Post-2016 AfD, Lega Nord, and Fidesz

The paper aims at investigating the relationship between Trumpism and the European far-right parties. The combination of shared ideological cores with the confrontation of similar “enemies” has resulted in the creation of an unprecedented relationship, wherein Trump takes the role of “international godfather” and inspiration for the European far right. To examine this relation, the paper focuses on references to Donald Trump and his policies and statements from 2016 to 2020 in the discourse of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Hungarian Civilian Alliance (Fidesz), and Lega Nord (Lega). The examination of the discourse of the three parties about security, immigration, foreign policy, and corruption shows that these parties have utilised Trumpism in three manners. Firstly, they have employed Trumpism to normalise certain pre-existing far-right ideologies and practices within their national and European context. Secondly, they have emulated Trump’s discourse and policies to capitalise on his popularity and support their national endeavours. Thirdly, they have used Trump’s fight and ideas to justify national measures, beliefs, criticism, or political goals. This paper thus aims to establish the leitmotifs governing the use of Trumpism by European far right to set the framework for future more critical analyses and a better understanding of this unprecedented relationship.

European Party Politics in Times of Crisis

European Party Politics in Times of Crisis