Populists and the Parties that Oppose Them

• In Event: Populism, Nationalism and Backsliding: How Oppositions and Minorities Respond

Abstract

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What positions and strategies are adopted by parties opposing incumbent populists? After winning elections and forming governments, populist parties can remain quite resilient at the ballot box in subsequent elections for many reasons, including their attractive social welfare policies, their appeals to voters who feel unfairly treated, and their dramatic campaigns vilifying minorities and immigrants. In this paper, we explore the variation in how opposition parties respond. Using the Chapel Hill Expert Survey data, we show that opposition parties adopt different positions and strategies when responding to incumbent populists and their attempts to concentrate power. In the Czech Republic, parties opposing the ANO-led government bandwagon—largely taking illiberal and strongly anti-immigrant positions. In Hungary, though parties opposing the Fidesz government all espouse socially liberal positions, they rarely and weakly cooperate. In Poland, parties opposing the PiS government maintain heterogeneous positions on both economic and social issues yet coordinate by forming electoral coalitions. We compare these strategies to those adopted by parties opposing populists elsewhere in Europe and the world to analyze under what conditions opposition parties compete most effectively with incumbent populists at subsequent elections.

Authors

• Courtney Blackington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Milada Anna Vachudova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill