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Restructuring party systems in Northwestern Europe: A comparative analysis of six countries

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  • Kriesi, Hanspeter
  • Hutter, Swen

Abstract

The article examines the impact of the recent crises - the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, Brexit, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine - on the structuration of party competition in six Northwestern European countries. Situating the multiple crises in a long-term perspective on the transformation of party systems, we emphasize their reinforcing effect on the structuring capacity of the new cultural divide. In some countries, this divide and its main driving forces have become so powerful in transforming the political space that we observe an emerging multi-polar pattern of party configurations. This pattern is characterized by a green new left opposed to the populist radical right on the new cultural dimension. In contrast, the center-left and the center-right, despite converging, still oppose each other on the economic dimension. Empirically, the article examines election campaigns in Austria, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, drawing on the original PolDem relational content analysis of mass media coverage published before national elections from the 1970s up to 2022.

Suggested Citation

  • Kriesi, Hanspeter & Hutter, Swen, 2026. "Restructuring party systems in Northwestern Europe: A comparative analysis of six countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue OnlineFir, pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:336640
    DOI: 10.1177/13540688261415751
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gessler, Theresa & Hutter, Swen, 2026. "Measuring party positions and issue salience with mass media and manifesto data: Comparing PolDem with Manifesto Project data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue OnlineFir, pages 1-14.
    2. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(2), pages 135-135.
    3. Hunger, Sophia & Hutter, Swen & Kanol, Eylem, 2023. "The mobilisation potential of anti-containment protests in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 812-840.
    4. Liesbet Hooghe & Gary Marks & Ryan Bakker & Seth Jolly & Jonathan Polk & Jan Rovny & Marco Steenbergen & Milada Anna Vachudova, 2024. "The Russian threat and the consolidation of the West: How populism and EU-skepticism shape party support for Ukraine," European Union Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 459-482, September.
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