Do populist parties better represent their voters than mainstream parties? Evidence from the 2019 European Parliament Elections in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden

Abstract

The rise of populism in Europe has often been described as a response to representation deficits. Arguably, populist parties contribute to the representation of underrepresented constituencies by taking stances that non-populist parties are too constrained to advocate and make a promise of extreme responsiveness to those frustrated with the lack of representation. In this research note, we investigate whether populist parties are indeed closer to their voters in the policy space than non-populist parties (thus closing representation gaps) and are more congruent with their constituencies than the other parties are with theirs. Using data from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, we find that populist right parties are indeed closer to their voters than the other parties, but the correspondence between their positions and those of their constituencies is on average as good or bad as that between other parties and their voters.