How do Far-Right Parties Influence Change in Mainstream Political Parties’ Positions on the Question of Europe? An Analysis of United Kingdom Independence Party, Alternative für Deutschland and Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs

The thesis seeks to provide a greater understanding as to how far-right parties influence the change of mainstream party positions and/or framing of the question of Europe. The analysis is restricted to the last thirty years, covering the period between 1990 and January 2020 and provides a bridge between the literatures on party competition, far-right parties and Euroscepticism. Challenging the notion that mainstream parties display similar positions on the question of Europe, it argues that mainstream parties vary in their pro-EU positions. By putting forward a typology of mainstream party Europhilism, the thesis establishes that mainstream parties have changed their positions on the question of Europe.

To explain the far-right party influence on the change of mainstream party positions and/or framing of the question of Europe, the thesis applies a novel theory-testing process-tracing mechanism to three individual cases: United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ). These parties share significant ideological similarities, yet the country contexts are different. While a pro-EU consensus is said to exist within Germany, Austria and particularly the UK show less support for the EU. Therefore, while the country contexts are different, the process-tracing mechanism applied to all three cases is similar.

The thesis finds that far-right parties influence the change of mainstream party positions and/or framing of the question of Europe. While electoral success is important, it is not enough on its own to explain the influence of far-right parties on mainstream party positions and/or framing. As such, this research has identified the media, public opinion and electoral success as important variables which help to conceptualise an explicit mechanism through which far-right parties can influence mainstream parties.