The impact of principal party strategies on the radical right: In search of a silver bullet?

Since the 1980s, many Western European countries have witnessed the rise of the radical right. Much has been written on the ideology of these parties, the tactics they adopt, the sorts of people that vote for them, and the reasons behind their electoral success. The growing electoral success of these parties represents a serious electoral challenge to major political parties or ‘principalparties’ and yet comparatively little has been written on how principal parties respond to the radical right and even less so on the impact that this has on the electoral success of radical right parties. Indeed, what has been written tends to focus on either a small number of parties or a particular party family. What is thus far lacking is a comprehensive comparative account of how principal parties have responded to the radical right and to what extent these strategic responses have been successful. This thesis seeks to address this gap by adopting a multi-method approach that combines cross-case comparative analysis with qualitative case studies in order to identify the various strategies that principal parties employ and the degree of success, if any, they have. By building on the existing literature, it develops an enhanced model of party competition which is subsequently tested in an mvQCA analysis and two in-depth, qualitative case studies: France and Sweden. In doing so, this thesis will identify what strategies principal parties adopt, how successful they are, and whether or not a ‘silver bullet’ exists that can be employed against the radical right