Why a right-wing populist party emerged in France but not in Germany: cleavages and actors in the formation of a new cultural divide

Abstract

This article analyzes why, despite similar transformations in the dimensions structuring political space since the late 1980s, extreme right-wing populist parties have emerged in some West European countries, but not in others. Two factors may affect the fortunes of these parties. First, if electorates remain firmly entrenched in older cleavages, new parties will find it difficult to establish themselves. Second, the positions of the established actors with respect to the new cultural divide that the extreme populist right mobilizes may be crucial. This article systematizes the various explanations regarding the impact of mainstream party positions on the electoral fortunes of the extreme right, and develops two new hypotheses that differentiate between the conditions that favor the entry of the extreme right, and its subsequent success. The various hypotheses are then tested in an empirical analysis of election campaigns in France and Germany, combining data on party positions as reflected in the news media with mass-level surveys. The results show that the diverging behavior of the established parties, rather than the strength of the traditional state-market cleavage, explains the differences between these two countries. More specifically, the differing strategy of the mainstream left in the two contexts has allowed the Front National to anchor itself in the French party system, whereas similar parties have not achieved a breakthrough in Germany.

The New Cultural Conflict, Polarization, and Representation in the Swiss Party System, 1975–2011

“…At the same time, these electorates display some overlap with those supporting the SVP, although this is less pronounced in 2011 than in earlier elections. These results lend support to arguments emphasizing issue ownership, which suggest that it is difficult for the established parties to compete with and crowd out the populist right once these parties are firmly institutionalized (Ellinas ; Kitschelt ; Bornschier ).…”

“…A number of new parties of the left emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Progressive Organizations (POCH), the Trotskyists, and the Greens. As elsewhere in Western Europe, but more decidedly than in other countries, the Swiss Social Democrats took up the issues of the New Left (Rennwald and Evans ; Bornschier ). Even as the smaller progressive parties receded and their voters absorbed by the Greens and the Social Democrats (Ladner ), the Swiss party system thus remained characterized by an exceptionally strong universalistic pole along the new cultural divide.…”

“…By putting issues such as the recognition of difference and equal rights for women, gays, minorities, and alternative life-styles on the political agenda, the New Social Movements of the left that emerged in the aftermath of 1968 advocated a strong equality principle. These issueswhich have been variously labeled libertarian values (Kitschelt 1994), or cultural liberalism (Kriesi et al 2006; are manifestations of universalistic values (Bornschier 2010a: 18-24;2010b), as they are emphasized in liberal political philosophy in the tradition of Rawls (1971). A number of new parties of the left emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Progressive Organizations (POCH), the Trotskyists, and the Greens.…”

The 2012 French Presidential Elections

“…This position was consistent with the polarising strategy pursued by the Left in France since the early 1980s, whereby the PS in particular had progressively moved towards the libertarian pole of the cultural axis (Bornschier, 2012), reflecting in part the structural change in its electoral support and the development of a more urban, younger, educated middle-class clientele -the so-called bourgeois bohèmes.…”

Spain: No Country for the Populist Radical Right?

“…Previous research on the electoral fortune of PRR parties in Western Europe (e.g. Ignazi 2003;Meguid 2008;Ellinas 2010;Bornschier 2012) has shown that if mainstream parties are able to include to some extent in their agendas whatever issues these new parties are trying to politicise, the mobilisation space for political newcomers is limited. Thus, patterns of party competition are relevant to understanding the electoral fate of the PRR.…”