Population decline crisis concept. | Image: MT.PHOTOSTOCK/Shutterstock
We examined whether democratic parties can reclaim voters from right-wing populist parties through targeted campaign strategies. Drawing on a survey experiment conducted with 3,000 respondents during the 2021 German federal election, the findings demonstrate that democratic parties can win back voters from the AfD by strategically emphasizing "wedge issues." These are topics on which AfD voters diverge from the positions of the party itself, such as social housing and welfare state policies.
Team: Violeta I. Haas, Lukas F. Stoetzer, Petra Schleiter and Heike Klüver
Publication: How do parties adapt their policies in response to foreign populists in government?
We investigate how political parties adapt their policies in response to populist parties governing in other countries. While parties often imitate the policies of ruling parties abroad, we find that populist parties in government trigger the opposite effect: a policy backlash. Populist parties face unique challenges in balancing their anti-establishment rhetoric with the practical demands of governing, leading to visible governing dilemmas and electoral vulnerabilities. Observing these challenges, parties in other countries distance themselves to avoid similar issues. Our analysis of the programmatic positions of over 200 European parties since the 1970s identifies this "foreign populist backlash effect." The findings shed light on how parties strategize during elections and highlight how this backlash limits the spread of populism across Western democracies.
Team: James F. Adams, Tobias Böhmelt, Lawrence Ezrow, Petra Schleiter