ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how mainstream parties reacted to the electoral rise of the populist radical right Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands. Since the stunning electoral breakthrough of the Pim Fortyun List (LPF) in 2002 and the establishment of the PVV in 2006, immigration issues have been high on the political agenda in the country. To assess the reactions of mainstream parties to the PVV, this study analyses changes in policy positions and the parties’ willingness to co-operate in national government. Controlling for public opinion, the choice of mainstream parties to co-opt, challenge or dismiss the positions of the PVV will be shown to depend on the extent to which the latter is thought to pose an electoral threat to them. Using a measure of electoral threat that takes account of voter flows between parties, the chapter concludes that the prospect of ‘electoral theft’ pushes mainstream parties to co-opt immigration proposals by shifting to the right. In contrast, parties that do not fear electoral competition from the PVV opt for challenging or dismissing the PVV’s positions. The national elections of 2010 and 2017 are analysed in-depth to explain the diverging reactions of mainstream parties to the populist radical right.
