Radical Right Parties in Central and Eastern Europe: Mainstream Party Competition and Electoral Fortune

Description

In Central and Eastern Europe, radical right actors significantly impact public debates and mainstream policy agenda. But despite this high discursive influence, the electoral fortune of radical right parties in the region is much less stable. It has been suggested that this may be due to the fact that mainstream competitors increasingly co-opt issues which are fundamental for the radical right. However, the extent to which such tactics play a role in radical right electoral success and failure is still a subject for debate. This book is the first to provide a systematic theoretical framework and in-depth empirical research on the interaction between discursive influence, party competition and the electoral fortune of radical right parties in Central and Eastern Europe. It argues that in order to fully explain the impact of mainstream party strategies in this regard, it is vital to widen the analysis beyond competition over issues themselves, and towards their various legitimizing narratives and frame ownership. Up-to-date debates over policies of collective identity (minority, morality and nationalizing politics) in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia serve as best cases to observe these under-researched phenomena. The analytical model is evaluated comparatively using original, primary data combined with election studies and expert surveys. Advancing an innovative, fine-grained approach on the mechanisms and effects of party competition between radical right and mainstream parties, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching the far right and European party politics, as well as political contestation and framing. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements List of abbreviations 1 The puzzle of radical right electoral fortune in Central and Eastern Europe: introductory remarks The puzzle of radical right electoral fortune Value wars and pathological normalcy: the radical right in the Central and Eastern European context Ideological diffusion, party competition, and electoral fortune: contest over meaning Towards a narrative model of radical right electoral fortune Cases and levels of comparative analysis Book overview 2 The radical right and their mainstream competitors in Central and Eastern Europe Who’s in? Inclusive definition of right-wing radicalism Who’s (barely) out? Delimitation from nearby competitors Poland: League of Polish Families vs. Law and Justice Slovakia: Slovak National Party vs. Smer Hungary: Jobbik vs. Fidesz Summary 3 Contest over meaning: theoretical framework and narrative interaction model of radical right electoral fortune The narrative context: contests over collective nationness The framing paradigm: what are issues about? Party competition: a narrative optic The narrative interaction model of radical right electoral fortune Methods of analysis 4 ‘Bulwark of Christianity’? Morality debates in Poland The narrative context: national identity, religion, and morality politics Frame identification: ‘Bulwark of Christianity’ vs. ‘Civilization of Death’ Party competition: long-lasting effects of frame takeover Summary 5 Defence against Hungarian dominance? Minority debates in Slovakia The narrative context: defensive differentiation in multi-ethnic states Frame identification: defence against Hungarian dominance and irredentism Party competition: Smer’s strategic frame takeover Summary 6 A second Trianon? Nemzetpolitika debates in Hungary The narrative context: external homelands and historical traumas Frame identification: a second Trianon trauma Party competition: narrative shifts in a spatial status quo Summary 7 Jobbik and anti-Roma minority debates The narrative context: anti-Roma debates and neglected minority policy Frame identification: anti-Roma discourse of ‘Gypsy crime’ Party competition: the political career of Jobbik’s frame Summary: the success of Jobbik’s frame and the failure of the mainstream 8 Discursive influence, party competition, and electoral fortune: comparative results and conclusions Discursive influence Party competition Synergy mechanisms and influence factors of radical right electoral fortune Conclusions Outlook Appendix A: Data scores Appendix B: Expert surveys and public opinion and election studies used Index