Populism in the EU and the trade-off between ethical claiming and mainstreaming

Bibliographic Data

ID19217455
AuthorsNuria Font (0000-0002-2629-6829, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, corresponding author), Cristina Ares Castro-Conde (0000-0002-2278-629X, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
Year2026
Pages1-27
Publication date2026-05-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402382.2026.2662870
OpenAlexW7161235137
LanguageEN
References cited70

This article investigates how national government-opposition dynamics influence populists’ ethical claims in the supranational arena. While research on populism highlights moral integrity rhetoric and examines whether populist parties moderate once in office, less is known about how they adjust ethical claiming supranationally when entering national government. Using written questions in the European Parliament, this study asks: Do legislators from populist parties raise more ethical claims than mainstream ones? Do they moderate when their party enters national government? Do they behave differently when targeting European Union (EU)- versus national-level actors? The findings show that, outside government, populist Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) raise more ethical questions than mainstream MEPs, but once in office they moderate more strongly than mainstream legislators. For opposition parties, populist-mainstream differences are larger for EU-level than for national-level targets, and this EU-level difference narrows when populists enter office. The study contributes to debates on populism in multi-level contexts

Democracy · European union · Mainstreaming · Populism · Critical Theory and Philosophy · European Union Policy and Governance · Populism, Right-Wing Movements