Overview

The first half of the 20th century saw the rise of political organizations characterized by clearly identifiable ideologies rooted in local communities, the so-called mass parties; however, this organizational model is now widely assumed to belong to the past. Citizens are seen to disengage from party politics, and in an age of mass and new social media, old as well as new parties can reach out to the electorate without the need for extensive face-to-face interaction. However, the mass party model has proven to be resilient and indeed successful among several populist radical right parties (PRRPs), which criticize established parties precisely for having lost touch with ordinary citizens. Through an analysis of party structures and interviews with 125 PRRP elites and 100 active members, this book investigates why and how several contemporary PRRPs in Western Europe adopt this supposedly outdated mass party organizational model. It considers four populist radical right mass party organizations in Belgium, Finland, Italy, and Switzerland, and reveals that party elites consider the mass party model advantageous to their party's electoral goals, organizational functioning, and survival. Populist Radical Right Parties in Action shows how a collective sense of efficacy is key in keeping activist members motivated to invest time and effort in party activities, despite them experiencing stigmatization and getting few concrete benefits in return. Based on its findings, the book re-evaluates conventional wisdom of party organization theory and shows how traditional forms of party organization adapt to changing political contexts and communication environments. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations