Campaigning in Radical Right Heartland

Immigration and ethnic diversity are contentious political issues in contemporary Europe. Both increasingly structure the campaigning strategies of political parties. This book provides insights into the processes driving party politicization. It presents findings from the heartland of the radical right studying competition on migration and diversity in Austria since the 1970s. It reveals how parties adapt their electoral priorities to changes in the party system and the socio-structural conditions. The findings document the evolution of a new dimension of political competition and how niche parties can impact on mainstream party politicization in the electoral arena.

Oliver Gruber is post-doctoral researcher and lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the Universities of Vienna and Innsbruck.