The Divided and lost? Strategies of center-right parties to challenge right-wing populism in Finland, Sweden, and Germany Strategies of center-right parties to challenge right-wing populism in Finland, Sweden, and Germany research project examines the internal divisions within Western European centre‑right parties and how these divisions influence party strategies, especially in relation to right‑wing populist parties. The project includes three case countries: Finland, Germany and Sweden.
The project is led by FIIA Senior Research Fellow Sanna Salo. The project is funded by the Kone Foundation.
Political cleavages are changing as the so‑called sociocultural divide has emerged alongside the traditional left–right divide. Sociocultural issues – questions of identities, borders and migration – have been particularly politicised by right‑wing populist parties. However, these cleavages have mainly been studied at the party‑system level, while less attention has been paid to how they operate within parties. This is a particularly acute issue for centre‑right parties. On the one hand, right‑wing populist parties threaten the vote shares of the centre‑right, creating pressure for cooperation. On the other hand, centre‑right parties are typically divided on sociocultural issues, with conservative and liberal wings sometimes drifting far apart.
The project focuses on how the internal divisions of centre‑right parties shape their strategies towards the far right: for example, whether an increased influence of the conservative wing within a party affects its willingness to cooperate with the far right.
The project examines:
- What strategic choices the National Coalition Party (FIN), the Moderate Party (SE) and the Christian Democrats (DE) have made regarding cooperation with right‑wing populist parties between 2011 and 2028, and how these strategies have evolved over time.
- What internal processes have preceded these choices.
- What ideas and interests of internal party actors are reflected in these choices.
The project is carried out entirely at FIIA and it involves, in addition to Sanna Salo, Leading Researcher Tuomas Iso‑Markku. The project will produce peer‑reviewed articles for high‑level international scholarly journals. It employs qualitative, systematic comparison as its research method.
The project began in November 2023 and will end in 2028.