Article2012

A populist Zeitgeist ? Programmatic contagion by populist parties in Western Europe

Matthijs Rooduijn · Sarah L. de Lange · Wouter van der Brug

410 citations0/0 files storedParty Politics

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Populism, Right-Wing Movements Electoral Systems and Political Participation Political Theory and Democracy

Abstract

In this article, we examine the programmatic reactions to the rise of populist parties. It has been argued that populism is not necessarily the prerogative of populist parties; it has been adopted by mainstream parties as well. The article investigates whether populism is contagious. On the basis of the results of a content analysis of election manifestos of parties in five Western European countries (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom), we conclude that the programmes of mainstream parties have not become more populist in recent years. We find no evidence that mainstream parties change their programmes when confronted with electoral losses or successful populist challengers. Yet, we do find that populist parties change their own programmes when they have been successful: Their initial success makes them tone down their populism.

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References

1984Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology.1990Basic Content Analysis 2004The Populist Zeitgeist 2007Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe 2005On Populist Reason 1989Political parties: organization and power 2001Clarifying a Contested Concept: Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics 2008Populist radical Right parties in Europe

Cited by

2014Do mainstream parties adapt to the welfare chauvinism of populist parties?2015Flank attacks 2013The Nucleus of Populism: In Search of the Lowest Common Denominator 2016Expressing or fuelling discontent? The relationship between populist voting and political discontent 2015The psychological roots of populist voting: Evidence from the United States, the Netherlands and Germany 2017Left and right populism compared: The British case 2013The Mesmerising Message: The Diffusion of Populism in Public Debates in Western European Media

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