When Populism meets Government: The Social Policy Impact of the Radical Right in Europe

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The rise of populist radical right parties (PRRPs) can be witnessed across most European democracies. We possess powerful theoretical elaborations on the causes of this electoral shift, but we still know very little about its consequences for the largest part of government activity: the welfare state. This is what the present research project will study. Its principal objective is to identify and explain how European PRRPs influence social policies when they are in government, i.e. their social policy impact. With this research agenda I aim to address a substantial literature gap and contribute to an informed public debate about how the perhaps most dynamic partisan force of our time connects citizens to the exercise of political power. The project compares the social policy impacts of the Austrian FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs), the Danish DF (Dansk Folkeparti), the Hungarian Fidesz (Magyar Polgári Szövetség), and the Swiss SVP (Schweizerische Volkspartei). It starts from the assumption that voter coalitions and issue-saliences are central to the policy preferences of PRRPs. But the extent to which PRRPs can influence the policy output according to their policy preferences should rest on cabinet shares and the number/strength of veto possibilities. The analysis of this intersection between (1) policy preferences and (2) political capacities forms the theoretical framework of the present research project.