The Breakthrough of Another West European Populist Radical Right Party? The Case of the True Finns

Government and Opposition

Volumn 45, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 484-504

  Arter, David ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 77956915585     PISSN: 0017257X     EISSN: 14777053     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2010.01321.x     Document Type: Article

References (68)

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2. 'Professori Martikainen: Oikeistopopulismi teki läpimurron Suomeen', Helsingin Sanomat, 27 October 2008. Also, the television interview with Tuomo Martikainen, Ylen, Ykkösaamussa, 29 November 2008.
3. C. Cochrane and N. Nevitte, 'Support for Far-Right Anti-Immigration Political Parties in Advanced Industrial States: 1980-2005', paper presented at the 4th General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research, Pisa, Italy, 6-8 September 2007.
4. 'Thors huolissaan perussuomalaisten ulkomaalaisvastaisuudesta', Helsingin Sanomat, 19 October 2008.
5. C. Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
6. P. Taggart, 'New Populist Parties in Western Europe', West European Politics, 18: 1 (1995), pp. 34-51.
7. T. Soini, Maisterisjätkä, Helsinki, Tammi, 2008, p. 84.
8. In 2007 for example, the former SMP MP Lea Mäkipää's candidacy in the Pirkanmaa constituency contributed substantially to the election of the musician and celebrity Pertti 'Veltto' Virtanen. At the 2008 local government election, the 66-year-old Pentti Kettunen was elected on a substantial vote in the Kainuu district, having previously been an SMP MP, its long-serving organizational secretary for northern Finland and for seven years Veikko Vennamo's political secretary. 'Kainuun vaaliveturiksi Smp:n entinen kansanedustaja', Helsingin Sanomat, 28 October 2008.
9. Soini has written that he would not have felt the same urgency to join the SMP if Vennamo had not laid the burden of the political malaise of the 1970s firmly at Kekkonen's door. 'I became a Vennamo supporter and an opponent of Kekkonen and my instinct has not changed since.' Soini, Maisterisjätkä, p. 148.
10. For a discussion of the various types of self-censorship practised by the political class during the period of 'Finlandized politics', see E. Salminen, Vaikeneva valtiomahti?, Helsinki, Edita, 1996.
11. D. Arter, 'From a Contingent Party System to Party System Convergence? Mapping Party System Change in Post-War Finland', Scandinavian Political Studies, 32: 2 (2009), pp. 221-39.
12. The number of PS respondents, however, was very small.
13. Finnish voters are obliged to vote for an individual candidate and cannot simply vote for a party list.
14. Å. Bengtsson and K. Grönlund, 'Ehdokasvalinta', in H. Paloheimo (ed.), Vaalit ja demokratia Suomessa, Porvoo, WSOY, 2005, p. 237.
15. T. Anttila, 'Veretön pääministeritaisto', in V. Pernaa, M. K. Niemi, and V. Pitkänen (eds), Mielikuvavaalit, Keuruu, Otava, 2007, pp. 118-19.
16. A. Schedler, 'Anti-Political-Establishment Parties', Party Politics, 2: 3 (1996), pp. 291-312.
17. A. Abedi, Anti-Political Establishment Parties: A Comparative Analysis, London, Routledge, 2009, p. 12.
18. Soini, Maisterisjätkä, p. 162.
19. A. Ware, 'The United States: Populism as Political Strategy', in Y. Mény and Y. Surel (eds), Democracies and the Populist Challenge, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, pp. 101-19.
20. J. Bergh, 'Protest Voting in Austria, Denmark and Norway', Scandinavian Political Studies, 27: 4 (2004), pp. 367-89.
21. Mény and Surel, Democracies and the Populist Challenge, p. 11.
22. M. Canovan, 'Taking Politics to the People: Populism as the Ideology of Democracy', in Mény and Surel, Democracies and the Populist Challenge, pp. 25-44.
23. P. Ignazi, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 30.
24. P. Taggart, 'Populism and the Pathology of Representative Politics', in Mény and Surel, Democracies and the Populist Challenge, p. 70.
25. R. Heinisch, 'Success in Opposition - Failure in Government: Explaining the Performance of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Public Office', West European Politics, 26: 3 (2003), p. 93.
26. T. S. Di Tella, 'Populism into the Twenty-First Century', Government and Opposition, 32: 2 (1997), pp. 191-3
27. R. R. Barr, 'Populists, Outsiders and Anti-Establishment Politics', Party Politics, 15: 1 (2009), p. 44.
28. J. Jagers and S. Walgrave, 'Populism as Political Communication Style: An Empirical Study of Political Parties' Discourse in Belgium', European Journal of Political Research, 46: 3 (2007), pp. 319-45.
29. R. Eatwell, 'Introduction: The New Extreme Right Challenge', in R. Eatwell and C. Mudde (eds), Western Democracies and the New Extreme Right Challenge, London and New York, Routledge, 2009, p. 12.
30. K. A. Luther, 'Electoral Strategies and Performance of Austrian Right-Wing Populism, 1986-2006', Keele European Parties Research Unit Working Paper 24, Keele University, 2007, p. 7.
31. Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, pp. 29-30
32. K. Abts and S. Rummens, 'Populism Versus Democracy', Political Studies, 55: 2 (2007), pp. 405-24.
33. Ignazi, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe, p. 30.
34. F. Decker and F. Hartleb, 'Populism on Difficult Terrain: The Right- and Left-Wing Challenger Parties in the Federal Republic of Germany', German Politics, 16: 4 (2007), pp. 434-54.
35. bts and Rummens, 'Populism versus Democracy', p. 418.
36. Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, p. 22.
37. J. Rydgren, 'The Sociology of the Radical Right', Annual Review of Sociology, 33 (2007), pp. 12.1-12.22.
38. The party literature studied is as follows: 'Oikeutta kansalle. Perussuomalainen Puolueen Yleisohjelma. Olen Perussuomalainen', Hyväksytty 1 puoluekokouksessa 26.11.1995 Kokkala; Perussuomalaisten eurovaaliohjelma 1999: Perussuomalainen kriitisenä Euroopassa; Perussuomalaisten lähiajan tavoiteohjelma - Oulu 17.6.2001; Perussuomalaisten eduskuntavaaliohjelma 2003. Uusi suunta suomelle - korjauksia epäkohtiin; Perussuomalaisten lähiajan tavoiteohjelma - Lappeenranta 2003; Perussuomalaisten lähiajan tavoiteohjelma - Kokkola 2005; Perussuomalaisten eduskuntavaaliohjelma 2007. Oikeudenmukaisuuden, hyvinvoinnin ja kansanvallan puolesta! - Ikaalainen 13.8.2006; Perussuomalaisten EU-vaaliohjelma 2009. Suomalaisena Euroopassa- kansanvallan puolesta.
39. Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, pp. 43-8.
40. E. O'Malley, 'Why is there no Radical Right Party in Ireland?', West European Politics, 31: 5 (2008), pp. 960-77.
41. Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, p. 130.
42. There are only 8,000 Catholics in Finland. Unto Hämäläinen, 'Henki voitti materian', Helsingin Sanomat, 14 June 2009.
43. Erkki Havansi, 'Perussuomalaiset ovat arvokonservatiiveja', Helsingin Sanomat, 11 June 2009
44. Esko Helle, 'Arvokonservatiivit sulautunevat oikeistoon', Helsingin Sanomat,16 June 2009.
45. Plainly, Tony Halme's descent into drugs, depression, extended sick leave from parliament and ultimate suicide early in 2010 was not the role model with which the PS wanted to be associated!
46. E. Ivarflaten, 'What Unites Right-Wing Populists in Western Europe?: Re-examining Grievance Mobilization Models in Seven Successful Cases', Comparative Political Studies, 41: 3 (2008), p. 18.
47. E. Kestilä, 'Is there Demand for Radical Right Populism in the Finnish Electorate?', Scandinavian Political Studies, 29: 3 (2006), p. 175.
48. For a good discussion of the facts and figures on immigration in Finland, see Mervi Virtanen, 'Maahanmuuton faktat tiedettävä', Helsingin Sanomat, 17 August 2009.
49. H. Paloheimo and T. Raunio, 'Suomen puolueiden nykytila ja tulevaisuuden haasteet', in H. Paloheimo and T. Raunio (eds), Suomen puolueet ja puoluejärjestelmä, Porvoo, WSOY, 2008, p. 213.
50. In his Kornhauser-inspired analysis of the SMP's breakthrough, written shortly after the 1970 earthquake election, Sänkiaho traced the sources of the alienation he viewed as underpinning support for Vennamo-ism to the shift from a traditional to mass society - that is, the anomic impact of accelerated industrialization and urbanization. R. Sänkiaho, 'A Model of the Rise of Populism and Support for the Finnish Rural Party', Scandinavian Political Studies, 6 (1971), pp. 27-47
51. For a rather polemical analysis of the SMP's success in 1970, which emphasizes the way all the parties had failed the smallholders, whose standard of living had fallen, see E. Poutiainen, Melkoisen kovaa leikkiä, Helsinki, Tammi, 1972, pp. 174-7.
52. V. Helander and T. Toivonen, 'Vennamolaisuus populismin ideoiden heijastana', in V. Helander (ed.), Vennamolaisuus populistisena joukkoliikkeenä, Hämeenlinna, Karisto, 1971, p. 65.
53. M. Lubbers, M. Gijssberts and P. Scheepers, 'Extreme Right-Wing Voting in Western Europe', European Journal of Political Research, 41 (2002), pp. 345-78
54. W. Brug, M. van der Fennema and J. Tillie, 'Anti-Immigrant Parties in Europe: Ideological or Protest Vote?', European Journal of Political Research, 37 (2000), pp. 77-102.
55. 'Maaseudulla asuvat ja työväestö kielteisimpiä maahanmuuttoa kohtaan', Helsingin Sanomat, 17 March 2009.
56. H. Paloheimo and J. Sundberg, 'Puoluevalinnan perusteet', in Paloheimo, Vaalit ja demokratia Suomessa, p. 200.
57. H. Paloheimo, 'Ideologiat ja ristiriitaulottuvuudet', in Paloheimo and Raunio, Suomen puolueet ja puoluejärjeastelmä, p. 53.
58. I am indebted to Heikki Paloheimo for these data.
59. H. Paloheimo, 'Ideologiat ja ristiriitaulottavuudet', in Paloheimo and Raunio, Suomen puolueet ja puoluejärjeastelmä, p. 39.
60. J. Rydgren, 'Explaining the Emergence of Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties: The Case of Denmark', West European Politics, 27: 3 (2004), p. 497.
61. A. Widfeldt, 'Party Change as a Necessity: The Case of the Sweden Democrats', Representation, 44: 3 (2008), pp. 265-76
62. J. Rydgren, From Tax Populism to Ethnic Nationalism: Radical Right-Wing Populism in Sweden, Oxford and New York, Berghahn Books, 2006.
63. 'Haider is our Lady Di', Guardian, 18 October 2008.
64. J. Rydgren, 'Is Extreme Right-Wing Populism Contagious? Explaining the Emergence of a New Party Family', European Journal of Political Research, 44: 3 (2005), pp. 428-9.
65. 'Finnishness' was also a core component in the SMP's 1992 Programme. See R. Mickelsson, Suomen Puolueet, Historia, muutos ja nykypäivä, Jyväaskylä, Gummerus, 2007, pp. 309-10.
66. For example, the Helsinki City Council leader, Jussi Pajunen, claimed that Helsinki was failing in its aim of converting the flow of immigrants into a source of economic strength. Rather, he claimed that the reverse was the case and that action was needed to restrict immigration. He noted that the proportion of capital city inhabitants with an immigrant background had risen from 2 per cent in the early 1990s to nearly 10 per cent and that at the present rate every fourth Helsinki dweller would have an immigrant background by 2025. 'Jussi Pajunen jarruttaisi maahanmuuttoa', Helsingin Sanomat, 1 December 2008.
67. 'Eniten luopujia on Sdp:n riveissä', Helsingin Sanomat, 9 February 2010.
68. Mény and Surel, 'The Constituent Ambiguity of Populism', in Democracies and the Populist Challenge, p. 18.