Does PR promote political extremism? Evidence from the West European parties of the extreme right1

Carter, Elisabeth

Abstract

Focusing on the West European parties of the extreme right, this article considers the validity of the claim that proportional electoral systems promote political extremism. After a systematic, empirical examination of the relationship between electoral systems and the electoral scores of right‐wing extremist political parties it concludes that there is little evidence to support the assumption that PR fosters extremist party success. Instead, the share of the vote going to these parties appears unrelated to the type of electoral system employed.

Citation

Carter, E. (2004). Does PR promote political extremism? Evidence from the West European parties of the extreme right1. Representation: Journal of Representative Democracy, 40(2), 82-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344890408523252

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 6, 2007
• Publication Date: 2004-01
• Deposit Date: May 17, 2024
• Journal: Representation
• Print ISSN: 0034-4893
• Electronic ISSN: 1749-4001
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 82-100
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00344890408523252
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/829219
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00344890408523252