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Title	Explaining the electoral fortunes of niche parties in Europe: the winning formula: selective opportunism?
Publication Type	dissertation
School or College	College of Humanities
Department	Philosophy
Author	Humphreys, Carrie Ruth
Date	2016-12
Description	Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in the number of niche parties that are concerned with a specific issue or cluster of highly related issues such as minority containment/cultural protection and the environment in the countries of Western Europe. A similar trend is also now apparent in many Central and Eastern European states. While the creation of niche parties is not, by itself, necessarily of great importance to a party system, what is important is when these parties exhibit success at the ballot box. The electoral fortunes of niche parties can have important effects on party systems by upsetting mainstream party relationships and long-standing governing coalitions, and influencing public policy. Thus, the central question of this project is under what conditions do niche parties achieve electoral success? This dissertation provides a better understanding of how institutions, strategy, and socioeconomic conditions explain variations in the electoral fortunes of niche parties. More specifically, this project expands upon the strategic explanation, by incorporating agency for niche parties, and tests the strategic interaction model, one that looks at how the strategies of mainstream and niche parties play out in a given institutional and socioeconomic context. Employing a mixed-methods research design of statistical analysis and in-depth interviews from Denmark, France, Hungary, and the Netherlands, the results reveal, for example, that the electoral fortunes of niche parties are often not enhanced through avenues such as participating in an electoral alliance or governing coalition, and that voters and mainstream parties seemingly respond to niche parties and issues based on different factors.
Type	Text
Publisher	University of Utah
Subject	Election strategy; Electoral success; Europe; Niche political parties;European Studies; Political science
Dissertation Name	Doctor of Philosophy
Language	eng
Rights Management	© Carrie Ruth Humphreys
Format	application/pdf
Format Medium	application/pdf
ARK	ark:/87278/s61017zn
DOI	https://doi.org/doi:10.26053/0H-PAR1-D900
Setname	ir_etd
ID	1349271
Reference URL	https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s61017zn

Page Metadata

Title	Page 181
Format	application/pdf
Setname	ir_etd
ID	1349452
OCR Text	Show 168 • national parks, soil banks, etc.; environmental improvement. Agriculture and Farmers: Positive (703): Specific policies in favor of agriculture and farmers. Includes all types of agriculture and farming practices. MCCP categories • National Way of Life: Positive (601): Appeals to patriotism and/or nationalism; suspension of some freedoms in order to protect the state against subversion; support for established national ideas. • Law and Order: Positive (605): Enforcement of all laws; actions against crime; support and resources for police; tougher attitudes in courts; importance of internal security. • Multiculturalism: Negative (608): Enforcement or encouragement of cultural integration; otherwise as 607, but negative. Note, 607 reads "Cultural diversity, communalism, cultural plurality and pillarisation; preservation of autonomy of religious, linguistic heritages within the country including special educational provisions." • Restrictive Citizenship: Positive (2022): Favorable mentions of restrictions in citizenship; restrictions in enfranchisement with respect to (ethnic) groups. • Multiculturalism pro Roma: Negative (6081): Negative mentions of cultural autonomy of Roma. Institutional Independent Variables Threshold: The effective threshold (percent of the total vote required to win a seat in the parliament). Source: Pippa Norris, Radical Right (2005); Database of Political Institutions (DPI2012); Electoral System Change in Europe since 1945 (ESCE), and Gallagher and Mitchell (2009). Electoral system: The type of electoral system (a series of three dichotomous variables). 0 = System other than PR, 1 = PR (proportional representation) 0 = System other than mixed, 1 = mixed 0 = System other than majoritarian/plurality, 1 = majoritarian/plurality Source: Pliet and Renwick, Electoral System Change in Europe since 1945 (ESCE); The Electoral Knowledge Network (ACE) Federalism: Does the country have a federal system? 0 = no 1 = yes Source: Comparative Political Dataset (CPDS) European Parliament election results: The percent of the total votes received by niche parties in the most recent (yet still preceding) election for the European Parliament, a type of second-order election.
Reference URL	https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s61017zn/1349452