Do populist parties support referendums? A comparative analysis of election manifestos in Europe

Gherghina, Sergiu; Pilet, Jean‐Benoît

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102419

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…As a recent study illustrates, some political parties support referendums more than others in their election manifestos. 68 We expected that this could influence the attitudes of their MPs towards direct democracy. Empirical tests show a small and non-significant statisitcal effect on these MPs' support for referendums.…”

Section: The Style and Focus Of Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parliamentarians' Support for Direct and Deliberative Democracy in Europe: An Account of Individual-Level Determinants

Gherghina¹,

Close²,

Carman³

2023

comp polit

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The increasing critique of representative democracy and its institutions determined reformers to consider the direct and deliberative processes as potential solutions to bridge the gap between elites and citizens. Substantial research investigates the functioning of these alternative models of democracy, but surprisingly little attention is paid to politicians’ perspectives and preferences for these reforms. This article fills this gap through an analysis of parliamentarians’ support for referendums and deliberative debates. It uses individual level data from the PartiRep Comparative MP Survey in fourteen European countries to identify individual-level determinants of legislators’ support. The findings reveal distinct explanatory factors of support for deliberative and direct reforms, which have important implications for democratic reform since elected representatives’ preferences strongly influence the type of innovation adopted.

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Section: The Style and Focus Of Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parliamentarians' Support for Direct and Deliberative Democracy in Europe: An Account of Individual-Level Determinants

Gherghina¹,

Close²,

Carman³

2023

comp polit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This would be a consequence of their populist strategy and discourses, which binarise a critique of democracy opposing the people to all the devil elites and call to retrocede power in politics back to ordinary citizens. Our knowledge on this aspect has improved in recent years, thanks to the development of the study of parties' electoral manifesto in one or several European countries (Brummel 2020;Pascolo 2020;Gherghina and Pilet 2021). Gherghina and Pilet (2021) show for instance that, although references to referendums were more common in the programs of populist parties, both populist and non-populist parties were supportive of a greater use of the tool, nuancing a bit the idea that radical parties would have the main grip on the promotion of direct democratic tools.…”

Section: Support For Referendums Among the Parties (And The Represent...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ideological Drivers Behind the Support for the Use of Direct Democracy among Voters and Parties of Benelux Countries

Paulis¹,

Rangoni²

2023

Politics of the Low Countries

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The use of referendums has become increasingly popular among both voters and parties. Yet, despite the diffusion of direct democracy in Europe during the last decades, referendums remain not a very common policy instrument in Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). We establish that this trend could be attributed to a large consensus among mainstream (especially right) parties and voters against the use of direct democracy. Moreover, we confirmed the well-established line of demarcation with radical ideologies, which convey overall more support on the use of referendums than their mainstream counterparts. Additionally, and probably reflecting this new line of cleavage, we show that support for referendums among the voters relate to left-wing economic position, but also with culturally right-wing view. Overall, this article questions the relevance of the traditional leftright divide to explain support for direct democracy, as well as the capacity for (some) parties to align with their voters in terms of democratic demands.

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“…According to Mudde (2007: 152) “virtually all populist radical right parties call for its introduction or increased use.” Empirical analyses display a slightly more nuanced picture: Best (2020; see Table 1) shows that more than three-quarters of PRRPs advocate direct democracy. Gherghina and Pilet (2021) show that 45% of manifestos of populist parties mention the issue and that the number of claims has increased over time. Two studies demonstrate that PRRP MPs are more likely to favor direct democracy than other MPs (Junius et al, 2020; Núñez et al, 2016).…”

Section: The Issue Of Direct Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

A policy like no other? The populist radical right challenge in the field of democracy reform

et al. 2022

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The literature on the populist radical right has underlined the party family’s influence on a variety of issues, such as immigration, welfare, and the EU. However, scholars have hardly studied its influence in the field of democracy reform, even though populist radical right parties strongly criticize how democratic systems currently function. In an exploratory and qualitative study of four cases, we analyze the adaptation (or lack thereof) of mainstream parties to populist radical right parties’ challenge in the field of democracy reform in Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, focusing on direct democracy. In contrast to other policy issues, we find limited adaptation of mainstream parties in the field of democracy reform: Instead of being a driver on democracy reform, the populist radical right is merely a fellow passenger. Where it has an effect, that effect is mostly negative, turning mainstream parties away from direct democracy.

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Do populist parties support referendums? A comparative analysis of election manifestos in Europe

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

Parliamentarians' Support for Direct and Deliberative Democracy in Europe: An Account of Individual-Level Determinants

Parliamentarians' Support for Direct and Deliberative Democracy in Europe: An Account of Individual-Level Determinants

The Ideological Drivers Behind the Support for the Use of Direct Democracy among Voters and Parties of Benelux Countries

A policy like no other? The populist radical right challenge in the field of democracy reform

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