« Integraciòn de los partidos de la extrema derecha en los parlamentos regionales de Alemania, Austria y Francia », vol. 1, n° 2, 2001, p. 289-311.

International audienc

« Integraciòn de los partidos de la extrema derecha en los parlamentos regionales de Alemania, Austria y Francia », vol. 1, n° 2, 2001, p. 289-311.

International audienc

« Integraciòn de los partidos de la extrema derecha en los parlamentos regionales de Alemania, Austria y Francia », vol. 1, n° 2, 2001, p. 289-311.

International audienc

« Institutional inclusion and exclusion of extreme-right parties in Austria, Germany and France », p. 133-149.

International audienc

« Institutional inclusion and exclusion of extreme-right parties in Austria, Germany and France », p. 133-149.

International audienc

« Institutional inclusion and exclusion of extreme-right parties in Austria, Germany and France », p. 133-149.

International audienc

Rethinking conversion : beyond the religious and the secular

This article seeks to pinpoint some of the consequences of the secularization process – conceived as the dissociation of religion from both state politics and culture – with the aim of broadening the conceptualization of conversion. Conversion is therefore considered to be a social fact beyond the religious and the secular, for which the concept of 'trans-formation' is employed in order to grasp this phenomenon. The concept of trans-formation posits processes of conversion as shifts from intimate convictions to public values. From this perspective, based on a pragmatic sociology of values, religious conversions are put forth as one possible way to qualify trajectories that the concept of trans-formation aims to comprehend. The article ends by considering the status of religious convictions in comparison with convictions otherwise qualified

How established parties reduce other parties’ electoral support:The strategy of parroting the pariah

In every democracy, established political parties are challenged by other parties. Established parties react in various ways to other parties’ presence. A key hypothesis in the relevant literature is that established parties can decrease another party’s electoral support by parroting it, i.e. adopting its core policy issue position. This article argues, and demonstrates empirically, that this hypothesised effect mainly occurs in the event that a critical prerequisite is in place. Parroting a party decreases its support only if that party is ostracised at the same time. The article classifies a party as ostracised if its largest established competitor systematically rules out all political cooperation with it. Analysing 296 election results of 28 West European parties (1944–2011), evidence is found for a parrot effect – however, concerning ostracised parties only. On several occasions established parties have substantially decreased another party’s support by simultaneously parroting that party and ostracising it