Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Radical Right
- PART I UNDERSTANDING THE RADICAL RIGHT
- PART II THE REGULATED MARKETPLACE
- PART III ELECTORAL DEMAND
- PART IV PARTY SUPPLY
- 9 Location, Location, Location: Party Competition
- 10 Consolidating Party Organizations
- PART V CONSEQUENCES
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
9 - Location, Location, Location: Party Competition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Radical Right
- PART I UNDERSTANDING THE RADICAL RIGHT
- PART II THE REGULATED MARKETPLACE
- PART III ELECTORAL DEMAND
- PART IV PARTY SUPPLY
- 9 Location, Location, Location: Party Competition
- 10 Consolidating Party Organizations
- PART V CONSEQUENCES
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Previous chapters have established that the share of the national vote gained by radical right parties is not directly linked with structural trends in aggregate levels of immigration, multiculturalism, and ethnic diversity. Instead, supply-side theories suggest that parties play a critical role as active agents connecting social developments and political attitudes with voting behavior. What we have not yet had the opportunity to analyze is direct evidence for the role of party strategy. This includes (i) the ideological space created on the far right of the political spectrum by the location of the mainstream parties, (ii) where the radical right parties choose to place themselves in the same space, and also, the subject of Chapter 10, (iii) how effectively these parties build and consolidate their organizational base. Observers have commonly noted that some radical right parties emphasize core hard-right ideological values, while by contrast others characteristically prioritize vaguer populist appeals. We can see whether these strategies are an important predictor of their success. Moreover, so far we have been unable to compare whether the broader institutional context, particularly the electoral rules, affects party strategies in their choice of ideological locations. The analysis of relevant radical right parties contained in the European Social Survey 2002 has also limited the comparative analysis in another important regard, because nearly all are based in nations using proportional representation electoral systems in national contests.
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- Information
- Radical RightVoters and Parties in the Electoral Market, pp. 191 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005