The populist radical right

Populist radical right (PRR) parties have long been characterised as ‘men’s parties’ due to the overrepresentation of men among their voters and grassroots members. While the gender gap among voters has been extensively investigated, little is known about the extent to which women participate at the grassroots of these parties. My book examines this by asking: How does gender shape the experience of PRR party membership? To do so, it looks both at the ‘supply-side’ of PRR party membership, assessing whether women and men differ in their motivations for joining, motivations for staying, and participation in party activities; and the ‘demand-side’, exploring if PRR parties adopt distinct recruitment and retention strategies for women and men. I focus on three PRR parties which have had profound influence on the politics and societies of their countries: the Bharatiya Janata Party in India, the League in Italy, and the Sweden Democrats. The book draws on a vast collection of original qualitative and quantitative data which includes interviews with over 100 party members and officials from the three parties, in addition to membership surveys of thousands of members of the League and the Sweden Democrats. Arguing that women PRR grassroots members play a central role in the organisational development, electoral expansion and growing normalisation of the populist radical right, this volume casts light on one of the defining political phenomena of our century.

Many of today’s most prominent populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet we know little about these organisations and how they and their members support their parties. This book, which is not only the first to examine PRR youth wings but is the first in English to look at youth wings of any ideological type, focuses on their structures and agents. Specifically, it considers their organisational features, their relationships with the senior party, their international networks, and their leaders and grassroots members. Covering 10 PRR youth wings from across Europe, and based on extensive interviews, survey data, and document analysis, it finds that youth wings are not merely peripheral future-oriented entities but are central and influential components of their parties in the here and now. The book thus offers a unique window on how youth wings are both supporting the PRR today and helping build the PRR of tomorrow.

Transnational cooperation on the populist radical right is on the rise. From the USA to India, populist radical right (PRR) parties are increasingly adopting a discourse which juxtaposes a transnational ‘us’ with a transnational ‘them’. While scholars have looked primarily at nativism, and in particular Islamophobia, as the glue that links these actors transnationally, this paper investigates new issues on which they are mobilising in the transnational arena. Specifically, it asks: What issues do PRR party actors discuss at transnational events? I argue that due to the increasing heterogeneity of PRR politics in terms of policy issues, actors involved, and venues for transnational socialisation, the PRR transnational discourse should have become more diverse and encompass ‘newer’ issues, especially outside the context of the European Parliament (EP). To test this, I draw on an original corpus of over 300 speeches of PRR party actors at transnational events which occurred between 2013 and 2024. Using Structural Topic Models, I find that the transnational populist radical right has moved beyond nativism and increasingly mobilises on issues like the family and foreign policy. In addition, the only events in which PRR parties still debate mostly traditional topics are those organised by PRR EP groups.

To what extent does women’s participation in populist radical right (PRR) parties contribute to their normalisation? I argue that the election of women MPs should normalise support for PRR parties both on the short term, thanks to the media spotlight around the gender composition of a newly elected parliament; and on the long term, through the behaviour of these women in national parliaments. Using longitudinal aggregate data (2000-2022) on 63 European PRR parties, I test whether the proportion of women PRR MPs elected is correlated with increased PRR normalisation in post-poll surveys in the same election year and in the following election year. The analysis provides strong support for my argument, and especially for the short-term effects of women’s election. These findings illustrate that women MPs play a pivotal role in the normalisation of the populist radical right.