This paper examines how radical right party success impacts mainstream parties' policy positions.
Using a regression discontinuity approach, we address whether these positional changes reflect causal effects beyond public opinion.
Key Finding: The study demonstrates that radical right electoral success does influence mainstream parties' policies.
* Methodology: Leveraging exogenous variation from differing electoral thresholds allows for causal attribution of mainstream policy shifts to the presence and strength of radical right competitors, not just reflecting voter preferences.
* Scope: This effect is observed across different types of mainstream parties – both left-leaning and right-leaning ones appear to adjust their positions in response.
This work contributes significantly by highlighting that political competition involves active adjustments from multiple party actors.
| The Causal Effect of Radical Right Success on Mainstream Parties' Policy Positions. A Regression Discontinuity Approach was authored by Tarik Abou-Chadi and Werner Krause. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2020. |
