PhD Thesis Defence by Katarzyna Maria Kochlöffel
This thesis examines the transition of Radical Right Populist (RRP) parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from radical niche to political mainstream, and the impact of this process on their electoral potential. RRPs regularly cross electoral thresholds, and their agenda is part of the CEE mainstream discourse. However, not all RRPs achieve consistent electoral success. While some secure stable and high support, others stay at the edge of the electoral threshold. The existing literature fails to explain the varying electoral outcomes of RRPs and overlooks the impact of the changing party competition environment related to their mainstreaming process on their electoral outcome. This thesis argues that the RRPs’ mainstreaming process has a Janus-faced quality. It offers an opportunity by normalising the radical agenda in the political debate and presents a threat related to the rise of new competitors, such as mainstream parties accommodating the RRP agenda and the emergence of the new RRPs encouraged by weaker systemic constraints for their activity. Thus, RRP mainstreaming is not merely an advantage but a condition that these parties can either exploit or fail to leverage. This thesis introduces a dynamic, sequence-based model of RRP electoral success. It qualitatively analyses the interaction between political and discursive opportunity structure, party competition environment, and RRP strategies as factors influencing their election potential during pre-mainstreaming, early mainstreaming and late mainstreaming phases. The analysis is based on the cases of Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS) from Poland and the Slovak National Party (Slovenská Národná Strana; SNS) from Slovakia, and control cases from the Czech Republic and Hungary. It shows that three elements distinguish successful from unsuccessful party strategies: the ability to influence the party-competition environment by enforcing the rhetorical and institutional mainstreaming of RRPs; the capacity to shape the main axis of political competition in line with electoral needs and the stage of RRP mainstreaming; and the ability to credibly expand programmatic and ideological breadth, ranging from mainstream positions to the radical right. Ultimately, this thesis explores how RRPs navigate the risks and opportunities generated by their integration into the mainstream politics.
Katarzyna Maria Kochlöffel is a PhD researcher at the European University Institute. She holds a BSc and MA from Jagiellonian University in Kraków. During her PhD, she has also been a visiting researcher at Central European University in Vienna and Charles University in Prague. Her research contributes to debates on the evolving dynamics of party competition in Central and Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on the mainstreaming of radical right populist parties. Her work engages with broader discussions on populism, democratic transformation, and political competition, combining party strategy-oriented approach with attention to institutional and discursive conditions.
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