Parliamentary Representation and the Normalization of Radical Right Support

Abstract

How do stigmatized political preferences become normalized? I argue that the parliamentary representation of the radical right normalizes radical right support. Radical right politicians breach established social norms. Hence their supporters have an incentive to conceal that support. When the radical right enters parliament, however, its voters are likely to perceive that their views have been legitimized, becoming more likely to display their private preferences. I use three studies to test this argument. Study 1 employs a regression discontinuity comparing the underreport of voting for radical right parties (RRPs) above and below thresholds of parliamentary representation. Study 2 compares how much individuals report liking RRPs in post-electoral surveys depending on interview mode. Study 3 employs a difference-in-differences that looks into the underreport of UKIP vote before and after entering parliament. The results support the argument and highlight the role of political institutions in defining the acceptability of behaviors in society.

Does Radical-Right Success Make the Political Debate More Negative? Evidence from Emotional Rhetoric in German State Parliaments

“…Our results also run contrary to a body of research showing that radical-right success can normalize behavior and preferences associated with the far right (Bischof & Wagner, 2019;Bursztyn et al, 2017;Valentim, 2021). The likely explanation for this difference lies in the different incentives facing citizens and politicians.…”

“…The likely explanation for this difference lies in the different incentives facing citizens and politicians. For citizens, radical-right success can present an opportunity to publicly reveal previously stigmatized preferences (Valentim, 2021). For politicians, instead, it can present an opportunity to highlight their commitment to democratic norms in an effort to mobilize voters.…”

“…In observing that mainstream politicians tend to use positive emotions, MPs inclined to use negative emotional appeals in their discourse might refrain from doing so because that is not the modal form of communication in the political debate. Radical-right politicians may change this situation because of their characteristic norm-breaching rhetoric, which previous research has found to normalize stigmatized behavior (Bursztyn et al, 2017;Valentim, 2021). Social norms regulating the political debate are, in many ways, similar to the ones regulating other realms of social life (Bernick & Wiggins, 1983), and hence one might expect radical-right success to erode them as well.…”

“…Radical-right politicians are becoming increasingly successful across the world. Their success has been shown to shift the policy positions of the remaining candidates (Abou-Chadi & Krause, 2018), polarize the electorate (Bischof & Wagner, 2019), put new issues in the political agenda (Hobolt & De Vries, 2015), and normalize previously stigmatized behavior (Bursztyn et al, 2017;Valentim, 2021). One of the most distinctive characteristics of radical-right candidates is their rhetoric, which makes extensive use of negative emotions (Widmann, 2021).…”

“…Finally, a growing literature has focused on how norms regulating the political space can erode (Alvarez-Benjumea & Winter, 2020;Bursztyn et al, 2017;Valentim, 2021). One central question in this literature has been the role of radicalright success in normalizing individual-level behavior associated with the radical right.…”