RIGHT-WING POPULISM & FOREIGN POLICY OUTCOMES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIA’S FREEDOM PARTY AND ITALY’S NORTHERN LEAGUE

Abstract

This thesis attempts to find the conditions that determine the success and failure of populist parties in foreign policy outcomes. Chapter I introduces the research question, along with a definition of populism, survey of populist actors, and current knowledge of populism in foreign policy. Chapter II surveys a breadth of literature focused on the current explanations that determine success and failure of populist parties in public office. Given the current literature, Chapter III builds a theoretical framework. It contains a set of theories that present three necessary conditions: charismatic leadership, previous level of technical and professional experience, and collaboration via contribution and cooperation in coalitions. Each theory consists of several hypotheses, which become observable implications in the proceeding chapters. Chapter IV and V tests these hypotheses in the cases of Austria’s Freedom Party and Italy’s Northern League. Chapter VI provides the results and conclusions. Although the evidence shows that populists manage to deliver their promises, they address relatively few policies – mainly on migration, security, and military intervention, which are aligned with the mainstream agenda. As a result, this thesis finds that previous level of experience is not a necessary condition to determine the success and failure of populist parties in foreign policy outcomes. Although inconclusive, charisma and collaboration provide significant findings that disprove key arguments and claims in the current literature. Instead, they direct further research to external conditions rather than internal conditions.