Parties’ responses to economic globalization: What is left for the left and right for the right

Do parties adjust their economic policy positions in response to the inter-national economy? I explore how international economic conditions affect Western Europe’s welfare states by quantitatively analysing parties’ ideological dynamics over time. Considering the convergence–divergence argument of the globalization literature, I evaluate the hypothesis that economic openness motivates parties to adjust their economic policies. My empirical analyses reveal that both left-wing and right-wing parties do indeed systematically adjust their positions in response to economic changes associated with globalization. However, the results contradict the neoliberal convergence argument, as parties shift in varying direc-tions in response to different indicators of openness. Importantly, the differences between left-wing and right-wing parties ’ responses are not statistically significant, pointing to the importance of including right-wing parties in the globalization literature. KEY WORDS ideology international economy left-wing parties neoliberalism party positioning right-wing partie