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Show 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in the number of niche political parties concerned with a specific issue or cluster of highly related issues such as, but not limited to, immigration or ethnic minorities (radical right parties), decentralization/regional autonomy (ethnoterritorial parties), anti-European Union (EU) (Euroskeptic parties), and the environment (green parties) that compete in Western European elections (Abedi 2002; Abedi and Lundberg 2009; Golder 2003; Meguid 2005; Meguid 2008). A similar trend, toward the emergence and development of more niche parties, is now apparent in many Central and Eastern European states as well (Bustikova 2014; Mudde 2007). The growing presence of niche parties is a consequence of the decline in traditional party alignment, and, subsequently, these new challenger parties themselves contribute to the decline (Dalton 2007; Dalton and Wattenberg 2000; Garzia 2013; Poguntke 2011). Moreover, these niche parties warrant scholarly attention, not only because they exist, but also due to their success at the ballot box, whether on a local, national, or supranational level. In some countries, such as the Netherlands, France, and Denmark, niche parties have demonstrated substantial electoral appeal and influenced political debates, government formation, and public policies. In other words, the |
