Stijn van Kessel – författare

The first half of the 20th century saw the rise of political organizations characterized by clearly identifiable ideologies rooted in local communities, the so-called mass parties; however, this organizational model is now widely assumed to belong to the past. Citizens are seen to disengage from party politics, and in an age of mass and new social media, old as well as new parties can reach out to the electorate without the need for extensive face-to-face interaction. However, the mass party model has proven to be resilient and indeed successful among several populist radical right parties (PRRPs), which criticize established parties precisely for having lost touch with ordinary citizens. Through an analysis of party structures and interviews with 125 PRRP elites and 100 active members, this book investigates why and how several contemporary PRRPs in Western Europe adopt this supposedly outdated mass party organizational model. It considers four populist radical right mass party organizations in Belgium, Finland, Italy, and Switzerland, and reveals that party elites consider the mass party model advantageous to their party's electoral goals, organizational functioning, and survival. Populist Radical Right Parties in Action shows how a collective sense of efficacy is key in keeping activist members motivated to invest time and effort in party activities, despite them experiencing stigmatization and getting few concrete benefits in return. Based on its findings, the book re-evaluates conventional wisdom of party organization theory and shows how traditional forms of party organization adapt to changing political contexts and communication environments.This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations

Studies of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union (“Brexit”) have largely focused on the role of politicians and political parties, on the one hand, and the characteristics of Leave and Remain voters on the other. The Failure of Remain offers the first comprehensive study of the UK’s grassroots anti-Brexit movement. Emerging in the weeks and months following the June 2016 referendum, this movement was the most significant and wide-scale mobilization of pro-European support that the UK had ever witnessed. In The Failure of Remain Adam Fagan and Stijn van Kessel assess participants’ ideologies, arguments, and strategies. Drawing evidence from first-hand interviews, an original survey of anti-Brexit activists, and an analysis of their campaign materials, Fagan and van Kessel conclude that while the anti-Brexit movement was successful in mobilizing a large number of pro-European citizens, its impact was limited by weak links to political elites and institutions, divisions between organizations and activists, and the absence of a clear stance on the UK’s relationship with the European Union. In the context of enduring debates about the future direction of European integration, The Failure of Remain reveals the difficulties of formulating effective pro-European arguments.

Studies of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union (“Brexit”) have largely focused on the role of politicians and political parties, on the one hand, and the characteristics of Leave and Remain voters on the other. The Failure of Remain offers the first comprehensive study of the UK’s grassroots anti-Brexit movement. Emerging in the weeks and months following the June 2016 referendum, this movement was the most significant and wide-scale mobilization of pro-European support that the UK had ever witnessed. In The Failure of Remain Adam Fagan and Stijn van Kessel assess participants’ ideologies, arguments, and strategies. Drawing evidence from first-hand interviews, an original survey of anti-Brexit activists, and an analysis of their campaign materials, Fagan and van Kessel conclude that while the anti-Brexit movement was successful in mobilizing a large number of pro-European citizens, its impact was limited by weak links to political elites and institutions, divisions between organizations and activists, and the absence of a clear stance on the UK’s relationship with the European Union. In the context of enduring debates about the future direction of European integration, The Failure of Remain reveals the difficulties of formulating effective pro-European arguments.

Populism is a concept that is currently in vogue among political commentators and, more often than not, used pejoratively. The phenomenon of populism is typically seen as something adverse and, in the European context routinely related to xenophobic politics. What populism exactly is and who its main representatives are, however, often remains unclear. This text has two main aims: to identify populist parties in 21st century Europe and to explain their electoral performance. It argues that populist parties should not be dismissed as dangerous pariahs out of hand but rather that their rise tells us something about the state of representative democracy. The study has a broad scope, including populist parties of various ideological kinds – thus moving beyond examples of the ‘right’ – and covering long-established Western European countries as well as post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It presents the results of an innovative mixed-methods research project, combining a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of populist parties in 31 European countries with three in-depth case studies of the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.