3 - The Entry of Populist Radical Right Parties into Local Power

Summary

This chapter introduces the cases of populist radical right parties in local government in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland that are the empirical focus of the book. It outlines the contextual background to their entry into local government, showing the multiple pathways they took to attain power. To do so, the chapter first considers long- and short-term contextual factors that led to an increased demand for populist parties in localities that had previously been strongholds of the centre-left. Then the chapter turns to the electoral campaigns, and the internal and external supply-side factors behind the populist radical right successes. It also considers the strategic position of these localities for the central parties, and the central-local party relations during the campaign. Finally, it details the election results and the subsequent formation of governments, including the formation of coalitions and allocation of executive responsibilities. Ultimately, the chapter shows the different forms of ‘local power’ that populist radical right parties held after their election victories in these cases and the reasons behind the cross-national differences.