Immigration, the ultimate wedge issue... how radical right-wing parties are influencing mainstream parties' in Western and Eastern Europe to shift immigration positions to the right.

Abstract

This thesis aimed to identify the conditions that lead to mainstream political parties shifting their positions on immigration to the right as a result of Radical Right-Wing party success. First, the study reports the outcome of three QCA analyses that compare the results of the Chapel Hill expert survey results from 2014 and 2017 for 28 mainstream parties in 10 Western and Eastern European countries. Second, using the conditions of Radical Right-Wing party success, anti-immigration public opinion, party institutionalization, and Purple Grand Coalitions which were identified in the QCA process, an in-depth case comparison was conducted by examining Sweden, Poland, Estonia, and the Netherlands. Overall, the results show that anti-immigration attitudes and Radical Right-Wing party success have a significant association with mainstream parties shifting immigration positions to the right. However, mainstream parties in Grand Coalitions― specifically, Purple Grand Coalitions experience minimal shifting to the right. This is the crucial finding of this thesis and helps explain why Germany, the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent Estonia did not shift to the right despite experiencing high anti-immigration attitudes and significant Radical Right-Wing party success. This finding has implications on future research concerning the constraining effect Purple Grand Coalitions can have on a political party’s propensity to change ideology.