Keywords:

populist radical right, populism, EU, immigration, agenda-settting, policy impact, UKIP

Amazon Links: ITA, USA

The present study deals with the populist radical right (PRR) parties in contemporary Western Europe, a phenomenon which in recent years has been attracting a great deal of attention in both public and academic debate.

This work has two paramount goals:

1) Conceptualising the common ideological fabric of these parties and

2) Studying the political consequences of these parties at agenda-setting level for issues of particular international relevance such as immigration and the European Union.

Table of Contents:i. Acronyms and abbreviations
ii. List of figures and table

1. Introduction
2.  Defining the Populist Radical Right (PRR)
   2.1. Ideology as a parameter for classification
   2.2. Classification issues
2.3. Towards a PRR family: major contributions
2.4. The ideological fabric of the PRR
2.4.1. A minimal definition
2.4.2. A maximal definition
2.5. Assessing the definition: PRR parties in Western Europe

3.  Theoretical framework: party competition and impact
  3.1. Models of inter-party competition
3.1.1. Positional or spatial competition
3.1.2. Revised spatial model
3.1.3. Issue or salience-based competition
3.1.4. Discussion
3.2. Understanding impact of PRR parties
3.2.1. Ownership factors for issue cooptation
3.2.2. Systemic factors for issue cooptation
3.2.3. Dynamics of PRR impact
3.3. Main variables and hypotheses
3.3.1. Dependent variable
3.3.2. Independent variables and hypotheses

4. Assessing PRR indirect impact in the UK (2005-2015)
4.1. Methodology, operationalization and case selection
4.2. The actors: UKIP and its mainstream contenders
4.3. Immigration: Explaining PPR indirect impact from 2005 to 2015
4.3.1. Reviewing the parties’ agenda on immigration
4.3.2. Gauging the agenda change on immigration
4.3.3. Testing the hypotheses for immigration
4.3.4. Discussion
4.4. The EU: explaining PRR indirect impact from 2005 to 2015
4.4.1. Reviewing the parties’ agenda on the EU
4.4.2. Gauging the agenda change on the EU
4.4.3. Testing the hypotheses for the EU
4.4.4. Discussion

5. Conclusion

Bibliography