Globalization: What is Right for the Right?

I examine how international economic conditions affect Western Europe’s welfare states by analyzing parties ’ ideological dynamics over time. Previous quantitative analyses revealed that both left-wing and right-wing parties systematically adjust their policy positions in response to economic changes associated with globalization, pointing to need to include right-wing parties in the globalization literature. Here, I examine how the Austrian and German center-right wing parties react to economic openness by tracing the parties ’ policy positions and policies over time. Furthermore, I consider how the ascent of neoliberalism has affected intra-party consensus. The hypotheses that right-wing parties have an incentive to shift their policies further to the right and hypothesis that neoliberalism has appeal as a policy paradigm for the right are tested