Archive 1/2017

Abstract

During recent decades, populism and populist political parties have become an integral part of European party systems. With the growing number of successful populist challengers and stabilization of their electoral support in many countries both in the Western and East-Central European countries, an important question has arisen: what is the impact of populism on the political landscape in Europe? This question was addressed by the 2nd Prague Populism Conference which took place in May 2016. It was organized by the Institute of International Studies at Charles University and the Heinrich Böll Foundation in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. To understand the impact of populism on the political landscape, various researchers from all around the world discussed the growing success of populist parties and movements from a theoretical point of view and as case studies in individual European countries (60 researchers from 20 countries presented their research and findings, including the key note speeches by Michael Freeden, Paul Taggart, and Reinhard Heinisch). The present issue of the Czech Journal of Political Science consists of selected papers presented at the conference.

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Anna-Maria Schielicke
TU Dresden, Germany
e-mail: Anna-maria. schielicke@tu-dresden.de

Julia Hoffmann
TU Dresden, Germany
e-mail: Julia.ho mann@tu-dresden.de

Abstract

At the end of 2014, a right-wing populist movement named PEGIDA emerged in Germany, starting in Dresden. Whereas branches of this movement disappeared within a few months all across the country, the movement in Dresden persists. This article seeks to uncover the attitudes behind this movement. Derived from literature regarding the voting of right-wing populist parties in Europe we built an analytic model considering group-focused enmity, political disenchantment, distrust in media, right-wing attitudes, fears of extremism, foreign domination as well as of economic decline, as conceivable predictors of support for PEGIDA. With a time lag of twelve months, we conducted a two-wave web survey with inhabitants of Dresden within a representative, recruited, online panel. Our results show that the most important factors driving the support for PEGIDA are hostility against foreigners, fears of foreign domination, distrust in the media and right-wing attitudes. However, political disenchantment and fears of economic decline do not play a role in explaining the support for PEGIDA.

Key words

populism; right-wing populism; Germany; PEGIDA; group-focused enmity; political disenchantment; media criticism; right-wing attitudes; web survey; panel study; binary-logistic regression analysis

Attila Antal
Eötvös Loránd University
e-mail: antal.attila@ajk.elte.hu

Abstract

This study aims to explore the political theoretical background of governing populism in Hungary. It has been argued here that the political success of Viktor Orbán’s Governments are based on mixing three main political theoretical pillars: 1) the concept of the Political elaborated by Carl Schmitt; 2) the Weberian concept leader democracy; 3) and political constitutionalism. What is common in these three tendencies is the promise of repoliticisation. I will elaborate in this study that elitist populism and illiberal democracy are the two core concepts which can synchronize and converge the various (and sometimes contradictory) political theoretical backgrounds of Orbán’s regime. I also put forward here that the populist promise of political leadership is inherently false, because instead of repoliticisation, populist forces monopolize political representation and liquidate political responsibility.

Key words

political theory; Orbán’s government; Hungary; populism; elitism; the political; leader democracy; political constitutionalism; illiberal democracy

Emilia Zankina
American University in Bulgaria
e-mail: ezankina@aubg.edu

Abstract

The growing success of populist parties from across the political spectrum in Europe calls for an examination of the link between populist parties and voters and the new (if new indeed) cleavages that such parties exploit. Scholars have pointed to the erosion of traditional cleavages as one reason for the success of populist parties. Such analysis fits well with the established democracies of Europe but has little application in the East European context. Traditional cleavages have taken root in few places in Eastern Europe before communist takeover and became even less relevant following four and a half decades of communist rule. With the fall of communist regimes across Eastern Europe, the only meaningful division within society was that of anti-communists and supporters of the old regime. Similarly, concepts of Left and Right had (and to a great extend continue to have) little relevance in the East European context where the Left came to be dominated by former communist parties and the Right engulfed an ideologically incoherent opposition. The stronger the former communists were (such as in Bulgaria and Romania) the more fragmented the Right was, as it was the only available space for political competition. The present paper aims to examine voter support for populist parties in Bulgaria and analyze on the cleavages that those parties exploit or create. Thus, the paper examines the impact of populist parties on the political landscape in terms of the changes that those parties result in in voter behavior and cleavage formation. The paper utilizes exit-poll surveys, focusing on voter demographic profiles and the mobility of the vote. The findings indicate that populist parties are most successful in mobilizing non-voters when they first appear, but that their support quickly wanes afterwards. At the same time, there is voter mobility from one populist party to a newer populist party, which makes for a prolong trend of populist politics.

Key words

voters; populism; cleavages; Eastern Europe; Bulgaria

Benjamin Biard
Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
benjamin.biard@ uclouvain.be

Abstract

This article assesses the influence of radical right populist parties on policy-making in Europe. Much scientific research has been conducted on populism, theoretically and empirically, through different facets: their history, their leaders, their discourses, or their electorate. Yet the populist phenomenon has barely been studied by policy analysts by policy analysis. What influence do populist parties have on policy-making? This question is crucial since these parties are on the rise in Europe and are often perceived as dangerous for democracy. This article investigates the case of the Swiss ‘Schweizerische Volkspartei’ (SVP) and analyzes its influence on the policy-making in a typical ‘radical right populist’ issue: law and order. The SVP has always been a member of the federal government and even became the first Swiss political party at the Lower House in 2003. In addition, its electoral weight was strengthened in the recent elections of 2015. To assess its influence, SVP electoral pledges (2011–2015) are qualitatively traced through the institutional arenas, thanks to a document analysis, interviews conducted with elected officials and direct observations. The study suggests that the SVP can influence policy-making in the law and order sector. However, this influence significantly evolves according to the policy-making stage under analysis. Only an indirect influence can be exercised by the SVP in order to fully translate its electoral pledges into decisions.

Key words

populism; radical right populist parties; political influence; policy-making; law and order; Switzerland; democracy

Abstract

Bourbeau, Philippe (2011/2013). Securitization of Migration. A Study of Movement and Order. New York: Routledge, 166 pages.

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Myers, Brian R. (2015). North Korea's Juche Myth. Busan: Sthele Press, 300 pages.

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Abstract

Kuhn, Theresa (2015). Experiencing European Integration. Transnational lives and European Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 208 pages.

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