Absorbing the Blow

Edited by Steven Wolinetz and Andrej Zaslove

The significance of populist parties and their presence in party systems is undeniable. Parties like the Dutch Freedom Party, the French National Front, and the Five Star Movement in Italy rank among the largest political parties in their party systems. Absorbing the Blow examines the effect of populist parties on eleven European party systems. The results are mixed. The book finds that impact often depends on the influence that populist parties have had on mainstream political parties -- those that hitherto dominated party competition. In some instances, populist parties reinforce existing patterns of competition and government formation. Party systems that were bipolar continue to be bipolar. In others change occurs, either because populist parties make it difficult for mainstream parties to form coalitions that were hitherto possible, or because their presence allows mainstream parties to form coalitions that were not previously conceivable. This collection seeks to analyse the way in which mainstream parties absorb the blow of populist party activity, and concludes that populist parties are one of several factors contributing to changes in party systems.

Part One: Introduction / 1. The Impact of Populist Parties on Party Systems / Part Two: Simple and Extended Multiparty Systems / 2. The Impact of the Populist Radical Right on the Austrian Party System, Fallend and Heinisch / 3. From Limited to Extended Multipartism? The Impact of the Lijst Pim Fortuyn, the Partij voor de Vrijheid, and the Socialistische Partij on the Dutch Party System, Lange / 4. Political Achievements, Party System Changes and Government Participation, Mazzoleni / 5. Shaken, but Not Stirred: How Right-Wing Populist Parties have Changed the Party Systems in Scandinavia, Jupskås / 6. Finnish Populism: Keeping it in the Family, Arter / Part Three: Bipolar and Post-Communist Party Systems / No Longer a Pariah? The Front National and the French Party System, Ivaldi / 8. Italian Populism, Toppling and Re-Building the Party System Twice, Verbeek, Zaslove and Roodujin / 9. Earthquake or Hurricane? The Rise and Fall of Populist Parties in Poland, Bértoa and Guerra / 10. Governmental and Oppositional Populism: Competition and Division of Labour, Enyedi and Róna / Part Four: Conclusion / 11. Populist Parties and the Changing Contours of European Party Systems, Wolinetz