<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Are right-wing populist parties fundamentally different from other types? This article explores one aspect of what we call the exceptionalist thesis. The thesis could be applied to a wide range of party characteristics, but here we focus on leadership. In this context, our case study is of the Sweden Democrats (SD). First, we examine how SD selects its leader. Second, we assess how leadership works in practice in SD, especially regarding party management. We also review how this leadership style has gone down with voters. We mix our own interpretation of these data with other scholars’ assessments. Generally, we find little evidence, at least in this exploratory inquiry, to support the exceptionalist thesis.</p></abstract>

Are right-wing populist parties fundamentally different from other types? This article explores one aspect of what we call the exceptionalist thesis. The thesis could be applied to a wide range of party characteristics, but here we focus on leadership. In this context, our case study is of the Sweden Democrats (SD). First, we examine how SD selects its leader. Second, we assess how leadership works in practice in SD, especially regarding party management. We also review how this leadership style has gone down with voters. We mix our own interpretation of these data with other scholars’ assessments. Generally, we find little evidence, at least in this exploratory inquiry, to support the exceptionalist thesis.

Right-Wing Populist Party Leadership in Sweden: One of a Kind or one of the Crowd?

Polish Political Science Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Are right-wing populist parties fundamentally different from other types? This article explores one aspect of what we call the exceptionalist thesis. The...

Right-Wing Populist Party Leadership in Sweden: One of a Kind or one of the Crowd?

Published Online: Dec 16, 2019

Page range: 24 - 40

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2019-0002

Keywords
political parties, party leadership, right-wing populism, Sweden Democrats, Sweden

© 2019 Niklas Bolin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Right-Wing Populist Party Leadership in Sweden: One of a Kind or one of the Crowd?

Published Online: Dec 16, 2019

Page range: 24 - 40

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2019-0002

Keywordspolitical parties, party leadership, right-wing populism, Sweden Democrats, Sweden

© 2019 Niklas Bolin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
political parties, party leadership, right-wing populism, Sweden Democrats, Sweden