Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 806-829 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | European Journal of Political Research |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 4 Dec 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jul 2023 |
Abstract
In a rising number of countries, populist parties participate in coalition governments. While there exists a consensus that populism is incompatible with core tenets of liberal democracy on a conceptual level, we know much less about whether or not the participation of populist parties in government constitutes a threat to liberal democracy in practice. We study the impact of populist parties in coalition governments using a novel dataset of more than 2000 laws that were under review at the Austrian Constitutional Court between 1980 and 2021. We provide evidence that the court did not find laws passed by governments that included a populist party unconstitutional more often than those passed by non-populist governments. Our findings indicate that the Austrian Freedom Party did moderate its policy while in office. The results imply that it is necessary to distinguish policy positions in party manifestos and party rhetoric from policies actually implemented by governments.
Keywords
- constitutions, courts, judicial review, policies, populism
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
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In: European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 62, No. 3, 02.07.2023, p. 806-829.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Do populist parties in government produce unconstitutional policies?
T2 - Evidence from Austria, 1980–2021
AU - König, Jasmin Sarah
AU - Swalve, Tilko
N1 - Funding Information: Jasmin was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) ‐ GRK 2503.
PY - 2023/7/2
Y1 - 2023/7/2
N2 - In a rising number of countries, populist parties participate in coalition governments. While there exists a consensus that populism is incompatible with core tenets of liberal democracy on a conceptual level, we know much less about whether or not the participation of populist parties in government constitutes a threat to liberal democracy in practice. We study the impact of populist parties in coalition governments using a novel dataset of more than 2000 laws that were under review at the Austrian Constitutional Court between 1980 and 2021. We provide evidence that the court did not find laws passed by governments that included a populist party unconstitutional more often than those passed by non-populist governments. Our findings indicate that the Austrian Freedom Party did moderate its policy while in office. The results imply that it is necessary to distinguish policy positions in party manifestos and party rhetoric from policies actually implemented by governments.
AB - In a rising number of countries, populist parties participate in coalition governments. While there exists a consensus that populism is incompatible with core tenets of liberal democracy on a conceptual level, we know much less about whether or not the participation of populist parties in government constitutes a threat to liberal democracy in practice. We study the impact of populist parties in coalition governments using a novel dataset of more than 2000 laws that were under review at the Austrian Constitutional Court between 1980 and 2021. We provide evidence that the court did not find laws passed by governments that included a populist party unconstitutional more often than those passed by non-populist governments. Our findings indicate that the Austrian Freedom Party did moderate its policy while in office. The results imply that it is necessary to distinguish policy positions in party manifestos and party rhetoric from policies actually implemented by governments.
KW - constitutions
KW - courts
KW - judicial review
KW - policies
KW - populism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144833066&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1475-6765.12573
DO - 10.1111/1475-6765.12573
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85144833066
VL - 62
SP - 806
EP - 829
JO - European Journal of Political Research
JF - European Journal of Political Research
SN - 0304-4130
IS - 3
ER -