IDEOLOGICAL COUNTERHEGEMONY AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTH: DECODING EUROPMEAN LEFT-POPULIST PARTIES' ELECTORAL PERFORMANCE POST-FINANCIAL CRISIS 2018

Abstract

Left-populist parties in Europe saw an increase in relevancy after the financial crisis of 2008. However, while some enjoyed electoral successes, others did not have such fortune. The rises and falls of left-populist parties have nevertheless been overlooked and under-theorised, with theories taking left-populism either as part of a larger populist trend, neglecting the key differences between left- and right-populist parties, and with the lack of a general theoretical framework to examine and predict left-populist parties’ electoral performance. This paper proposes a framework that considers different perspectives on left-populist parties’ electoral performances. Applying the framework on eight case-studies around left-populist parties in Spanish and Greek elections, this paper argues that a decline in neoliberal ideological hegemony – associated with the proximity of elections with different social movements – combined with a rising discontent against the political establishment were the necessary conditions for left-populist parties’ successful electoral performance. The sufficient condition would, however, require a clear distinction between short-term and long-term electoral performances. On top of the two necessary conditions above, in short-term, left-populist parties needed to pursue both an inclusive, non-class-essentialist ideology as well as a flat organisation with inclusive and participatory practices. In the long-term, the sufficient conditions similarly include an inclusive ideology, but also require the left-populist parties to build strong, hierarchical and complex grassroots organisations.