Institutions and issues: explaining radical right party existence and support in Europe, 1980-2005

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This research aims to fill a major theoretical gap in the current radical right literature by examining on how institutions impact the existence of, and support for, radical right parties. Specifically, I examine the interaction between weak v. strong party system institutionalization and high v. low radical right issue saliency in order to explain variation in radical right party support in Central and Eastern Europe. In the end, I argue neither a purely institutional model nor a purely issue-based model can fully explain variation in radical right support across Central and Eastern Europe. Instead, I advocate that an interactive model which combines the effects of both party system institutionalization and issue salience better explains the overall variation in radical right party existence and support throughout Europe.