Various scholars have recently argued that niche parties are to be distinguished from
mainstream parties, in particular because the two party types differ in their programmes …

The eurozone crisis has altered the party political landscape across Europe. The most
visible effect is the rise of challenger parties. The crisis not only caused economic hardship …

This book offers a novel perspective on British elections, focusing on the importance of
increasing electoral volatility in British elections, and the role of electoral shocks in the …

This article presents a case study of the emergence of the issue-linkage necessary for a
cross-cutting European Union cleavage to become electorally salient. We argue that a key …

The concept of the niche party has become increasingly popular in analyses of party
competition. Yet, existing approaches vary in their definitions and their measurement …

Voters behave differently in European Parliament (EP) elections compared to national
elections because less is at stake in these 'second‐order'elections. While this explains the …

The issue of European integration is turning out to be a force that polarises both public
opinion and political elites across Europe. This chapter reviews the literature on the …

Throughout Europe, stateless nationalist and regionalist parties (SNRPs) have moved from
'niche'actors in party systems to mainstream political players. No longer the 'outsider'in party …

Scholars' attention to the concept of niche parties has greatly increased. While researchers
agree that niche parties matter in a variety of ways, the definitions and measurements of …

The 2014 European elections demonstrated the scale and success of the EU's opponents.
Radical and populist parties topped the polls in some countries while others gained …