Abstract
Populism as a theme is omnipresent in the academic literature. Debates in the field include the definition of populism, the populist voter, and the link between populism and democracy. Yet, few studies tackle the question of how populist parties present themselves. Focusing on the typical populist radical right-wing party, the Front National (FN), I examine which of the features of right-wing populism such as peoples’ centrism, anti-elitism, charismatic leadership, or nationalism, to name a few, are dominant in the official communications and in sympathizers’ discourse. I do this based on an analysis of all Facebook posts by this party and comments by supporters for the past 9 years. In terms of populist features, I find that the cult of personality is the defining feature that the FN has built around her leader; it is also this feature that distinguishes the FN from the mainstream parties in France. In fact, the FN couples the personality cult around Marine Le Pen with nationalism. When it comes to other populist themes such as peoples’ centrism or anti-Europeanism, these topics are not at the center of FN communications.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
To highlight, in the presidential elections, the FN gained 14.4% in 1988, 15% in 1995, 16.9% in 2002, 10.4% in 2007, 17.9% in 2012 and 21.3 in 2017. In the legislative elections, the FN score was 9.6% in 1986, 9.6% in 1988, 12.7% in 1993, 14.9% in 1997, 11.1% in 2002, 4.3% in 2007, 13.6% in 2012 and 13.2% in 2017.
For example, the FN won 27.7% of the popular in the first round of the regional elections in 2015 and 24.9% in the European elections 2014.
References
Arendt, H. 1968. Men in dark times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Aslanidis, P. 2016. Is populism an ideology? A refutation and a new perspective. Political Studies 64(1): 88–104.
Bonikowski, B., and N. Gidron. 2015. The populist style in American politics: Presidential campaign discourse, 1952–1996. Social Forces 94(4): 1593–1621.
Caprara, G.V., S. Schwartz, C. Capanna, M. Vecchione, and C. Barbaranelli. 2006. Personality and politics: Values, traits, and political choice. Political Psychology 27(1): 1–28.
Goodliffe, G. 2012. The resurgence of the radical right in France: From Boulangisme to the Front National. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hainsworth, P. 2008. The extreme right in western Europe. London: Routledge.
Ivaldi, G. 2018. The FN split: Party system change and electoral prospects. In the French party system. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Ivaldi, G., M.E. Lanzone, and D. Woods. 2017. Varieties of populism across a left–right spectrum: The case of the Front National, the Northern League, Podemos and Five Star Movement. Swiss Political Science Review 23(4): 354–376.
Kaltwasser, C.R., and P. Taggart. 2016. Dealing with populists in government: A framework for analysis. Democratization 23(2): 201–220.
Levitsky, S., and J. Loxton. 2013. Populism and competitive authoritarianism in the Andes. Democratization 20(1): 107–136.
Manucci, L., and E. Weber. 2017. Why The big picture matters: Political and media populism in western Europe since the 1970s. Swiss Political Science Review 23(4): 313–334.
Mudde, C. 2004. The populist zeitgeist. Government and Opposition 39(4): 541–563.
Mudde, C. 2007. Populist radical right parties in Europe, vol. 22, 8th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mudde, C. 2017. Populism: An ideational approach. In The Oxford handbook of populism, ed. C. Rovira Kaltwasser, P. Taggart, P. Ochoa Espejo, and P. Ostiguy, 27–47. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mudde, C., and C.R. Kaltwasser. 2013. Exclusionary versus inclusionary populism: Comparing contemporary Europe and Latin America. Government and Opposition 48(2): 147–174.
Mudde, C., and C.R. Kaltwasser. 2018. Studying populism in comparative perspective: Reflections on the contemporary and future research agenda. Comparative Political Studies 51(13): 1667–1693.
Mueller, J.W. 2016. What is populism?. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rooduijn, M. 2014. The mesmerising message: The diffusion of populism in public debates in Western European media. Political Studies 62(4): 726–744.
Shields, J. 2013. Marine Le Pen and the ‘New’ FN: A change of style or of substance? Parliamentary Affairs 66(1): 179–196.
Stockemer, D. 2017. The Front National in France: Continuity and change under Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen. Cham: Springer.
Stockemer, D., and M. Barisione. 2017. The ‘new’ discourse of the Front National under Marine Le Pen: A slight change with a big impact. European Journal of Communication 32(2): 100–115.
Van der Brug, W., M. Fennema, and J. Tillie. 2005. Why some anti-immigrant parties fail and others succeed: A two-step model of aggregate electoral support. Comparative Political Studies 38(5): 537–573.
Weyland, K. 2001. Clarifying a contested concept: Populism in the study of Latin American politics. Comparative Politics 34(1): 1–22.
Weyland, K. 2017. A Political strategic approach. In The oxford handbook of populism, ed. C. Rovira Kaltwasser, P. Taggert, P. Ochoa Espejo, and P. Ostiguy, 48. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wodak, R. 2015. The politics of fear: What right-wing populist discourses mean. London: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
See Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stockemer, D. What is right-wing populism and how does it manifest itself? An analysis of the French National Front’s Facebook posts and sympathizers’ Facebook comments. Fr Polit 17, 340–354 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-019-00082-w
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-019-00082-w