@inbook{49e2db0ef93547b7bfd5d3e7cabe8080,
title = "Mainstream parties, the populist radical right, and the (alleged) lack of a restrictive and assimilationist alternative",
abstract = "Are populist radical right (PRR) parties the only alternatives for voters seeking restrictive and assimilationist outcomes? Or is a mainstream choice available? Popular opinion and social media commentaries often criticise mainstream parties for facing in the same liberal and multicultural direction. The parties and elections literature equally suggests a convergence of policy positions and the disappearance of any significant differences between parties. This edited volume is an attempt to challenge such perceptions and conclusions. By systemically coding manifestos for seventeen mainstream and six PRR parties in Western Europe, the book explores positional differences between mainstream and niche contender over three key elections (2002 -2015). The findings indicate more choice than initially expected but these restrictive and assimilationist options are usually in close proximity to each other and typically less intense than those of the PRR. This can help explain the continuous growth of the PRR despite the presence of a mainstream alternative. Yet party system dynamics also matter. Contributing authors thus investigate a number of arguments in the precarious relationship between mainstream parties, the electorate, and the PRR as well as between different mainstream parties. ",
keywords = "mainstream parties, radical right-wing parties, populist radical right, immigration, integration, Elections",
author = "Pontus Odmalm and Eve Hepburn",
year = "2017",
month = apr,
day = "26",
doi = "10.4324/9781315199757",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781857438314",
series = "Europa Regional Perspectives",
publisher = "Routledge",
pages = "1--27",
editor = "Pontus Odmalm and Eve Hepburn",
booktitle = "The European Mainstream and the Populist Radical Right",
address = "United Kingdom",
}