The Quest for a "Legitimate" Enemy: Contemplations on Electoral Behavior of Populist Parties in Europe - Evidence from Austria, the Netherlands and the UK

Title: The Quest for a "Legitimate" Enemy: contemplations on electoral behavior of populist parties in Europe - evidence from Austria, the Netherlands and the UK

Abstract: This research offers a new perspective on populism by analyzing electoral behavior of populist parties in contemporary Europe and attempting to answer the question of what makes them distinct. Echoing Carl Schmitt’s concept of the political, it suggests that populist parties translate pervading public concerns into “legitimate” enemies (the enemy becomes “legitimate” when it is held responsible for public concerns, thus legitimizing its existence and the politics of conflict) as part of their mass mobilization strategy. To validate this hypothesis, I developed a model of electoral behavior of populist parties, based on the theory of social construction of protest from social movement studies. Using additional data from Eurobarometer surveys, the analysis of election manifestos of populist parties was conducted in comparison with those of mainstream parties in three European countries – Austria, the Netherlands and the UK. Despite the comprehensible differences between these countries, the results verify the hypothesis of the research – in all cases populist parties used the suggested mechanism of translating public concerns into “legitimate” enemies, whereas none of the mainstream parties followed this pattern.