The aim of this article is to analyse what different types of populist communication styles emerged during the 2014 European Parliament election campaign and under which conditions political parties selected specific populist communication styles. To do this, a comparative quantitative content analysis of press releases in the run-up of the latest European Parliament elections has been conducted for parties in France, Germany, Austria and Greece. The article presents a definition of populism based on the contemporary academic discourse, which focuses on the transnational nature of the European political field. It is shown that populist party communication is more pronounced on the fringes of the political spectrum and in countries struggling with severe macroeconomic difficulties. Contrary to intuitive expectations, the perceived populist rhetoric of exclusivity in the context of the European sovereign debt crisis, which is identified as a central feature of right-wing populism, barely takes place within populist party communication.
AalbergTEsserFReinemannCet al. (eds) (2017) Populist Political Communication in Europe. New York: Routledge.
2.
AlbertazziDMcDonnellD (eds) (2008) Twenty-first Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
3.
AslanidisP (2015) Is Populism an Ideology? A Refutation and a New Perspective. Political Studies64: 88–104.
4.
BakkerREdwardsEEHoogheLet al. (2015) 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey, Version 2015.1. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Available at: www.chesdata.eu (accessed 28 December 2015).
5.
BarrRR (2009) Populists, Outsiders and Anti-Establishment Politics. Party Politics15 (1): 29–48.
BartoliniS (2005) Restructuring Europe: Centre Formation, System Building and Political Structuring between the Nation-state and the European Union. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
8.
BetzH-G (2015) The Revenge of the Ploucs: The Revival of Radical Populism under Marine Le Pen in France. In: KriesiHPappasTS (eds) European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press, pp.75–90.
9.
BörzelTARisseT (2000) Who Is Afraid of a European Federation? How to Constitutionalise a Multi-level Governance System. In: JoergesCMényYWeilerJHH (eds) What Kind of Constitution for What Kind of Polity? Responses to Joschka Fischer. Florence: European University Institute, pp.45–59.
10.
BrubakerR (2011) Economic Crisis, Nationalism, and Politicized Ethnicity. In: CalhounCDerluguianG (eds) The Deepening Crisis. Governance Challenges after Neoliberalism. New York; London: New York University Press, pp.93–108.
11.
BruterM (2005) Citizens of Europe? The Emergence of a Mass European Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
12.
CanovanM (1999) Trust the People! Populism and the Two Faces of Democracy. Political StudiesXLVII: 2–16.
13.
DechezellesSNeumayerL (2010) Introduction: Is Populism a Side-Effect of European Integration? Radical Parties and the Europeanization of Political Competition. Perspectives on European Politics and Society11 (3): 229–236.
14.
DöringHManowP (2015) Parliaments and Governments Database (ParlGov): Information on Parties, Elections and Cabinets in Modern Democracies. Available at: www.parlgov.org (accessed 16 March 2016).
HalikiopoulouDNanouKVasilopoulouS (2012) The Paradox of Nationalism: The Common Denominator of Radical Right and Radical Left Euroscepticism. European Journal of Political Research51 (4): 504–539.
17.
HartlebF (2012) European Project in Danger? Understanding Precisely the Phenomena ‘Euroscepticsm, Populism and Extremism’ in Times of Crisis. Review of European Studies4 (5): 45–63.
18.
HartlebF (2013) Rechtspopulisten als Krisengewinnler in West-und Osteuropa?Gesellschaft Wirtschaft Politik62 (1): 69–80.
19.
HeineS (2010) Left versus Europe? The Ideologies Underlying the Left’s ‘No’ to the Constitutional Treaty in France and Germany. Perspectives on European Politics and Society11 (3): 313–332.
20.
HerrmannRKBrewerMB (2004) Identities and Institutions: Becoming European in the EU. In: HerrmannRKRisseTBrewerMB (eds) Transnational Identities: Becoming European in the EU. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.1–24.
21.
HoogheLMarksGWilsonCJ (2002) Does Left/Right Structure Party Positions on European Integration?Comparative Political Studies35 (8): 965–989.
22.
International Monetary Fund (2014) 2014 Artivle IV Consultation – Staff Report; Press Release; and Statement by the Executive Director for France. IMF Country, Report No. 14/182. Available at: www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2014/cr14182.pdf (accessed 18 December 2016).
23.
JagersJWalgraveS (2007) Populism as Political Communication Style: An Empirical Study of Political Parties’ Discourse in Belgium. European Journal of Political Research46 (3): 319–345.
24.
KitscheltHMcGannAJ (1995) The Radical Right in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
25.
KriesiHPappasTS (2015a) Populism in Europe during Crisis: An Introduction. In: KriesiHPappasTS (eds) European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press, pp.1–19.
26.
KriesiHPappasTS (eds) (2015b) European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press.
27.
KriesiHGrandeELachatRet al. (2006) Globalization and the Transformation of the National Political Space: Six European Countries Compared. European Journal of Political Research45 (6): 921–956.
28.
LutzWKritzingerSSkirbekkV (2006) POPULATION: The Demography of Growing European Identity. Science314 (5798): 425–425.
MuddeC (2004) The Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition39 (4): 541–563.
31.
PappasTS (2014) Populism and Crisis Politics in Greece. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
32.
PappasTSKriesiH (2015) Populism and Crisis: A Fuzzy Relationship. In: KriesiHPappasTS (eds) European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press, pp.303–325.
33.
PauwelsT (2011) Measuring Populism: A Quantitative Text Analysis of Party Literature in Belgium. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties21 (1): 97–119.
34.
PriesterK (2012) Wesensmerkmale des Populismus. Aus Politik Und Zeitgeschichte62 (5–6): 3–8.
35.
ReungoatE (2010) Anti-EU Parties and the People: An Analysis of Populism in French Euromanifestos. Perspectives on European Politics and Society11 (3): 292–312.
36.
RooduijnMPauwelsT (2011) Measuring Populism: Comparing Two Methods of Content Analysis. West European Politics34 (6): 1272–1283.
37.
RooduijnMde LangeSLvan der BrugW (2012) A Populist Zeitgeist? Programmatic Contagion by Populist Parties in Western Europe. Party Politics20 (4): 563–575.
38.
RooduijnMAkkermanT (2015) Flank Attacks: Populism and Left-right Radicalism in Western Europe. Party Politics23: 193–204.
39.
ScharpfFW (1999) Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
40.
TaggartPA (1998) A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Contemporary Western European party Systems. European Journal of Political Research33 (3): 363–388.
41.
TaggartPA (2000) Populism. Buckingham; Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
42.
VasilopoulouSHalikiopoulouDExadaktylosT (2014) Greece in Crisis: Austerity, Populism and the Politics of Blame. Journal of Common Market Studies52 (2): 388–402.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
