Populist Radical Right Parties in the Nordic Region: A New and Distinct Party Family?

Abstract

The N ordic countries are no longer characterized by a stable five‐party system. Not only have small C hristian parties and G reen parties emerged in most countries, so‐called ‘populist radical right parties’ have also been increasingly successful in recent decades. This article examines to what extent the populist radical right parties in the N ordic countries represent a new party family. Based on various and original data, including archive material, interviews with key representatives, party manifestos and expert surveys, the processes of deciding party names, the development of transnational linkages and ideological transformation are analyzed. The article demonstrates that even though the D anish P eople's P arty, the T rue F inns and the S weden D emocrats have different historical legacies, they have converged ideologically (i.e., socioeconomically centrist and socioculturally authoritarian), adopted similar names and are on the verge of becoming a more formalized transnational actor. The P rogress P arty in N orway is better seen as a hybrid between a populist radical right party and a more traditional conservative party. The findings challenge several classifications in the extensive literature on populist radical right parties. Most importantly, the T rue F inns should be included as a populist radical right party, whereas the N orwegian party should be treated more carefully. Furthermore,N ordic populist radical right parties are no longer – if they have ever been – so‐called ‘neoliberal populists’. Finally, the findings suggest a re‐freezing of the N ordic party systems in which a phase of divergence has been replaced by a phase of convergence.