| OCR Text |
Show 62 Niche Party Commitment to the "Big" Issue Niche parties face choices such as determining the duration and degree of commitment to their issue(s) and the breadth/direction of their platforms. As discussed in Chapter I, niche parties are, at their creation, dominated by a core issue or cluster of highly-related issues. Over time, however, this is subject to change as party leaders may choose to broaden their platforms and offer more strategic assurances to be more attractive to voters and as a potential coalition partner (Meyer and Wagner 2013, 1251). For example, a niche party focused on minority containment may also have to engage economic policy by offering assurances that it will not dismantle the welfare state if elected. Niche parties have to be careful because if voters see them deviating too much from their niche issue, they risk being punished electorally (Adams et al. 2006). On the other hand, the niche party may stay equally or more committed to its core issue. Other options include finding an entirely new niche or, for environmental niche parties especially, selecting a different focus within the niche to maintain or boost relevancy.16 For example, many environmental niche parties in Western Europe emerged in the 1980s in opposition to nuclear waste and its related issues. Through the years, however, as the public has become more aware of global warming and the dangers posed by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, environmental niches have had the option to add this issue to its platform, ignore the issue, or replace the previous emphasis on nuclear waste for global warming.17 In sum, all of these decisions may make the niche party a 16 There are several examples of parties who started in one niche (economic or ethnoterritorial) and switched to the MCCP niche like the Danish Progress Party and Belgian Flemish Interest. While these parties are not included in this project, this is an avenue of inquiry to explore at a later date. 17 A similar trend could develop among the MCCP niche parties competing in Eastern European states. These states have primarily been centers of emigration and thus the MCCP niche parties seek to contain ethnic minorities. As this changes, so too could the focus to, say, immigrants. |
