Populists in Government: Normal or Exceptional?

Abstract

How is government affected by including populists in a governing coalition? We investigate if populist political parties behave ‘normally’ when they attain power, or if they govern differently from mainstream political parties. Empirically, we use survey data from 282 ministerial advisers from three cabinets in Norway. Our conclusion is that populists govern normally on some governance dimensions and exceptionally on others. Populists in office had ample professional experience, adhered to collegial decision making and thought the bureaucracy delivered quality and was politically responsive – on a par with the non-populists. However, populists differed from non-populist politicians in their contact patterns and their communicative concerns. That populists in this context belong to a party with a long history of parliamentary representation (Norway's Progress Party) suggests elements of exceptionalism are things one should expect to find in practically all populist parties that attain power.

Going Local, Going Mainstream? Ethnographic Study of Two French Cities Governed by the Rassemblement National

“…While 'inclusion-moderation' theories (Tepe 2019) suggest a moderating effect, other empirical findings present a more nuanced picture (Akkerman et al 2016;Caiani and Graziano 2022;Zulianello 2019). They demonstrate that de-radicalization is not an automatic process but depends on multiple factors, such as the party's political tradition and strategies (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2010;Bartha et al 2020), internal organization and leadership (Bernhard 2020;Zaslove 2012) and the power balance between radical and mainstream forces in coalitions (Askim et al 2022;Capaul and Ewert 2021).…”

The Three Faces of Populism in Power: Polity, Policies and Politics

“…Fred Paxton (2022) offers another view on how the policy influence of populism in power can be measured, pointing out ‘differential consequences’ experienced by local communities under populist governments. Finally, Jostein Askim et al (2022), on the Norwegian case, show the importance of investigating the consequences of populist inclusion in government along not one, but several dimensions. While populist executive politicians can be similar to other executive politicians along some dimensions, on others they can differ to a greater extent.…”

“…For example, in his article Vittori (2022) stresses the role played by not only the duration of populism in power, as suggested by the extant literature, but also the numbers of years out of government, in the influence of populist parties once in power. Similarly, Askim et al (2022) argue that the exceptionality of the Norwegian case is linked to the fact that populists in this context belong to a party (Norway's Progress Party) with a long history of parliamentary representation. Similarly, Kenneth Roberts (2022) adopts a historical comparison to account for the differential polarization effects of populism in power in different regions of the world (US, Europe and Latin America).…”

“…Finally, in their contribution focusing on Norway, Askim et al (2022) investigate how government is affected by including populists in a governing coalition: are they tamed when they obtain power, or do they maintain their outsider sentiments? By using survey data from 282 ministerial advisers from three cabinets in Norway, the study shows that when governing, populists are normalized on some governance dimensions and remain exceptional on others.…”

How Do Mainstream Parties Justify Their (Un)willingness to Rule with Populist Parties? Evidence from Twitter Data

“…First, the voters may have shuffled the cards so that no numerical majority is possible without a populist party, or there may be a lack of alternative partners that are willing to join the coalition (Andeweg et al 2011; Döring 1995). Mainstream parties often face a choice between a ‘grand coalition’ with traditional parties or ruling with populist parties (Askim et al 2021). Second, trade-offs between the experience, reliability and aptitude of populist parties once in office may guide mainstream parties' motives.…”