Party system change and coalition politics in the European Union

This chapter sets out the analytical framework of the volume, engaging with three strands of literature: post-Rokkanian cleavage theory, the conceptualisation of Far-Right Parties (FRPs) and coalition politics within EU institutions. It questions the “populist radical right” label, arguing that nativism, authoritarianism and populism are hard to operationalise and wrongly presuppose a cohesive party family. It posits instead that the radicalism of FRPs depends on their coalition potential and on liberal-democratic constraints. It then analyses all roll-call votes cast by individual MEPs during the ninth parliamentary term (2019-2024), coding each vote as +100, 0 or −100 and measuring inter-group distances by policy area. The results identify coalition patterns and three possible FRP strategies: isolation, convergence and two-bloc polarisation.