Disentangling How Populism and Radical Host Ideologies Shape Citizens' Conceptions of Democratic Decision-Making

In this article, we aim to disentangle the extent to which citizens’ conceptions of democratic decision-making are shaped by populist attitudes or rather by radical left and right host ideologies. Following recent work by Landwehr and Steiner (2017), we distinguish four modes of decision-making embedded in different conceptions of democracy: trusteeship democracy, anti-pluralism, deliberative proceduralism, and majoritarianism. Drawing on data from Austria and Germany, we show that populism and radical host ideologies tap into different dimensions of democracy. While populism is primarily directed against representative forms of democratic decision-making, preferences for deliberative procedures and majority decisions appear entirely shaped by radical left and right host ideologies. Populism thus views decision-making based on the general will of the people as the only legitimate democratic procedure, whereas radical left and right host ideologies aim at involving the relevant group(s) of citizens. Further analyses of the interactions between populist attitudes and radical host ideologies confirm that the effects of populism remain robust and thus independent of the specific manifestations of radical host ideologies. These findings help to disentangle the causes of democratic discontent and to develop possible responses through democratic reforms that specifically and separately aim to mitigate populism and radical host ideologies

The Kurz affair has uncovered the Trumpian dimension of Austrian politics

On 9 October, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resigned following a corruption scandal. Reinhard Heinisch and Annika Werner explain why the rise and fall of Kurz has parallels with the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States – and why, like Trump, we may not have seen the last of him as a key political figure

Die FPÖ - ein Phänomen im internationalen Vergleich: Erfolg und Misserfolg des identitären Rechtspopulismus

'Der Aufsatz versteht sich als Bestandsaufnahme der verzweigten Rechtspopulismusforschung. Konkret soll hier versucht werden, die Entwicklung der Haider-FPÖ als integraler Teil des neuen europäischen Rechtspopulismus zu beschreiben, dessen politische Stärken und Schwächen sich weitgehend aus den spezifischen strukturellen Eigenschaften dieses Phänomens ergeben. Nach einer eingehenden Analyse der Konvergenz rechtspopulistischer Strömungen in Richtung identitärer Programmatik wird besonders das Scheitern der Rechtspopulisten in der Regierungsverantwortung beleuchtet. Hierbei steht vor allem das strukturelle 'Mismatch' zwischen den typischen Charakteristiken dieser Bewegungen und den besonderen Anforderungen an eine Regierungspartei unter Koalitionsbedingungen im Vordergrund.' (Autorenreferat)'The essay means to present an overview of the varied approaches to the research on rightwing populism. Specifically, the objective is to document the evolution of the Austrian Freedom Party under Haider as an integral part of new European rightwing populism, whose strengths and weaknesses tend to be the product of specific characteristics of the phenomenon as such. Following a detailed analysis of the convergence of rightwing populist movements on identity politics, the remainder of the article is devoted to analyzing the failure of such parties in government. Of particular interest here is the structural mismatch between the typical characteristics that define such parties and the specific requirements for succeeding in government.' (author's abstract

An evidence-driven model of voting and party competition

In this paper we report on the development of an agent-based model (ABM) simulating the behaviour of voters and the positioning of political parties in Austria. The aim is to create what-if scenarios taking into account contextual changes, such as political crises as well as changes in parties’ policy positions and voters’ attitudes. Drawing on data from the Austrian National Election Study (AUTNES) and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), we are able to map both demand- and supply-side characteristics. We present first results of the simulation analysis of applied strategies of voters and parties. This way, we are able to create first what-if scenarios that show how results of elections would change, if voters applied different strategies when deciding which party to vote for. In developing a simulation for the case of Austria as a reference model, we lay the foundation for more universal applications of ABM in political science

The effect of radical right fringe parties on main parties in Central and Eastern Europe : Empirical evidence from manifesto data

Do radical right fringe parties affect main parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)? Using data from the Manifesto Project, we analyze the relationship between radical right fringe parties’ and main parties’ policy programs regarding sociocultural issues in six post-communist countries of CEE. Even though radical right fringe parties have participated in government in several of these countries, and in Hungary a fringe party has become the country’s second largest party, our analysis shows that the sociocultural issues in radical right fringe party manifestos do not systematically relate to the changes in main party manifestos regarding those issues. Even if some of the main parties in our study might often agree with the radical right fringe parties, our analysis shows that the latter do not directly influence the policy priorities of the main parties

Política latinoamericana comparada

La política latinoamericana desde una perspectiva comparada ha adquirido en los últimos tiempos una mayor centralidad e importancia dentro de las ciencias sociales, generando la necesidad de reflexionar acerca de su desarrollo histórico, su estado actual y su derrotero futuro. Política Latinoamericana Comparada es un libro que busca realizar un aporte en este sentido, acercando múltiples vías de entrada y análisis de la temática, ya que conjuga miradas panorámicas, diagnósticos regionales y perspectivas ancladas en la observación de realidades nacionales, proponiendo un escenario común en el cual dialogar, debatir y encontrar puntos de encuentro y de fuga entre especialistas.Fil: Geary, Mirta. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Lucca, Juan Bautista. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina.Fil: Pinillos, Cintia. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Fanelli, Lucrecia. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales.Fil: Schreiner, Federico. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Perbellini, Melina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Fernández, Elías. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Ruiz, Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina.Fil: Orta, Melisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina.Fil: Kestler, Thomas. Würzburg University; Germany.Fil: Lauth, Hans-Joachim. Würzburg University; Germany.Fil: Mohamad-Klotzbach, Christoph. Würzburg University; Germany.Fil: Borrell, Mariana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Heinisch, Reinhard. Universidad de Salzburgo; Austria.Fil: Gugliano, Alfredo Alejandro. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil.Fil: Rodrigues, Priscila. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil.Fil: Batlle, Margarita. Universidad Externado, Colombia.Fil: Cascante, María José. Universidad de Costa Rica.Fil: Basabe-Serrano, Santiago. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Ecuador.Fil: Caballero Santos, Sergio. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; España.Fil: Graziano, Paolo. Universidad Bocconi, Italia.Fil: Vidal de la Rosa: Godofredo. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana; México.Fil: Duarte Recalde, Liliana Rocío. Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”; Paraguay.Fil: Camerlo, Marcelo. Universidad de Lisboa; Portugal.Fil: Malamud, Andrés. Universidad de Lisboa; Portugal.Fil: Chasquetti, Daniel. Universidad de la República; Uruguay.Fil: Castiglioni, Rossana. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile

"Change and Continuity: The Adaptation of Austrian Consociationalism To New Realities"

[From the Introduction]. Over the past decade and a half Austria experienced no less than two exogenous shocks and one endogenous shock, each of which was capable of throwing into turmoil the country’s political and economic system as it had existed since the end of World War II. The collapse of the Iron Curtain, Austria’s integration into the Single European Market, and the rapid rise of the radical populist right threatened the existing socio-economic and political fabric precisely because the country had always been regarded as a model of ultra-stability. Yet, unlike, for example, the Italian Partitocrazia, where the end of the Cold War triggered a complete collapse of the ancien regime, Austria’s political arrangements survived into the late 1990s. Even thereafter, the system managed to adapt, preserving several of its key elements. Unlike fellow corporatist Sweden, whose economy and economic system underwent a major crisis in the 1990s, Austria emerged from the difficult process of internationalization without a similar disruption. Instead, change came gradually and largely in an organized fashion. Moreover, unlike Germany, Austria’s large northern neighbor, most important trading partner, and erstwhile role model, the Alpine nation continually managed to combine low unemployment with a reasonably solid economic performance. Since 1999, Austria surpassed (West) Germany in terms of per capita economic output, while maintaining unemployment at rates lower than most OECD countries. Although the jobless rate never exceeded 4.5% (even in the recent recession), the Austrian government managed to presented a balanced budget by 2001; a goal which had seemed unattainable just a few years earlier. Moreover, compared with Germany, Austria boosts a higher per capita purchasing power (€17,699 vs. 17,087), lower corporate taxes (25% vs. 39%), longer working hours (1750 vs. 1786), and a better earnings-to-productivity ratio (1:1.8 vs 1:1.2). In fact, when adjusted for purchasing power parity, Austria, along with Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, is now among the richest member states of the European Union, surpassing even such successful economies as Sweden, Finland, and Belgium. A cross-national study released in 2005, which compared 1207 regions in 25 EU countries, found that five of the top 20 areas were located in Austria. Overall, the Alpine Republic took the second rank after only Ireland. Yet, Austria’s relative success at adapting itself to new political and economic realities was neither a foregone conclusion nor free from severe problems and moments of crisis. Only five years ago, Austria found itself under political sanctions by its 14 EU partners and faced an uncertain political future. This paper is an attempt to provide an overview of Austria’s coping mechanisms and seeks to explain their considerable success. Furthermore, the article also argues that the simultaneity of three major challenges - integration, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of the radical right - each served to stabilize certain components of the Austrian model at a critical juncture, while other elements were undergoing a necessary transformation. In many ways, the different shocks not only induced change but also served to mutually reinforce the Austrian system enough to allow for both a gradual and sequential adaptation