| OCR Text |
Show 131 For example, one of them is VVD, the current governing liberal party who is trying to be a bit critical on Europe because they feel the heat of Wilders. But they still want to stay in the EU and in Europe because their electorate is for the business people and they would hate VVD and say, ‘We got out of the Euro.' They will get some business on their back. (2014) Responding to niche party successes, especially ones that may blindside mainstream parties, came up in my interview with Marit Maij, an MP for the Labor Party (PvdA) in the Netherlands. She mentioned one instance in particular, [The] LPF [List Pim Fortuyn - an MCCP niche] victory in 2002 - well, for one that the number of votes that we comfortably always thought that we would have were not all of a sudden out there anymore … It wasn't floating, let's say from the Christian Democrats to the Liberals which there was always a natural number of people that were floating … All of a sudden, they would go to extremes and this is something that we never expected. (2014) She went on to describe her party's takeaway from the rise of the LPF, "This is something I think that we have learned. We need a more personal and more stronger leadership and that we cannot take voters for granted" (2014). Leadership, in taking a short detour, is a feature also mentioned by the GreenLeft. As Bas Eickhout explains "Most of the time, the popularity of your party leader, which is the head of list of the national lists, is determining 90% of the outcome of your elections" (2014). Perhaps finding a way to incorporate this as a feature is an avenue to consider for future research. Additionally, mainstream parties shift their platforms based on the socioeconomic conditions, another type of result. Mainstream parties may not adjust based on how much niche parties emphasize minority containment, for example, but they will react to actual levels and inflows of foreigners. The same is true, across the models, for levels of air pollution, the percent of electricity from fossil fuels, the unemployment level, and how much of the workforce is employed in services. Some of these conditions, like rising unemployment and a growing minority presence and flow in a country, are expected to |
