Fifteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

What explains the rise of populist parties in Europe? The literature predominantly considers the negative economic effects of neoliberal policies adopted by established political parties on the middle class as the key cause. That is, the political establishment’s inability to offer any reasonable solution to worsening economic conditions is assumed to drive protest voting for anti-establishment parties. We identify the negative political impact of neoliberal policies as an equally important factor: By defining economic policy as a technical issue that requires special expertise, proponents of neoliberal policies effectively exclude “ordinary” people from participating in economic and political debates. In return, populist politicians have successfully framed the supporters of these neoliberal policies as “the corrupt elite.” Focusing on Central and Eastern Europe whose weaker economies and political institutions have been fertile ground for increasing populism, we employ an original dataset measuring the relative electoral success of populist parties in 11 EU-member countries in the region since 1990 and examine the conditions under which these parties are able to achieve electoral breakthroughs. Our analyses suggest that worsening economic conditions have a limited impact on the rise of populism as anti-establishment parties perform considerably well in elections during times of economic growth. Instead, the increase in perceived levels of corruption turns out to be the main determinant of populists’ electoral success. These findings are supported by case studies of various EU-member countries indicating that populist leaders successfully blame corruption on established political parties’ neoliberal policies and define themselves as “fighters for true democracy.”