Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331215 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] European Journal of Political Research [ISSN:] 1475-6765 [Issue:] First View [Publisher:] Cambridge University Press [Place:] Cambridge [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 1-23
Publisher: 
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Abstract: 
How do far-right actors influence mainstream parties over time? Previous research shows that mainstream parties contribute to the electoral success of far-right parties through coalitions or policy alliances. However, a long-term perspective on the influence of far-right actors, including parties, civil society organisations, and social movements, on mainstream parties’ communication is lacking. This article investigates how far-right actors and issues have influenced mainstream parties’ communication in Germany since the 1990s. Using automated text analysis, we analyse 520,408 articles from six newspapers. First, we semi-automatically collect far-right actors and mainstream parties and implement a structural topic model to analyse their issue agendas. Second, we use time-series analysis to examine agenda-setting effects and their drivers. The results show that far-right influence on mainstream parties’ communication has increased, particularly among opposition parties and around issues of Islam and migration. Notably, the agenda-setting effect cuts across party ideologies, indicating mainstream parties’ impact on the rise of the far right in democracies.
Subjects: 
far right
mainstream parties
political communication
agenda setting
automated text analysis
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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